Favorite Dive Vacation, when and where

[Ron Brandt]

COZUMEL !!!!!!

Ron

 

[Carribeandiver]

I have been to Cozemel twice, Costa Maya, Belize, the Virgin Isles (St Thomas, Tortola) and in the Bahamas with Blackbeard. Blackbeard is by far the best dollar for dollar trip around. The sites are tremendous, the dives are plentiful, the cost is doggone cheap and the crew is great. The only negative is your cabin about the size of your closet but hey, I was there to dive, not sleep.

 

[mjh]

Been to Coz twice and it is great value but if you want an adventure, warm water, warm weather, incredible reefs and reef fish Papua New Guinea, Milne Bay is the place to go. At my website I have trip reports and photos for some of the locations named in this thread.

 

[GFOX]

Couldn't agree more with RoatanMan, CoCoView is in a league by itself. It's hard to put your finger on what makes CoCoView so phenomenal, but I often tell people it's like visiting your best friend. While your best friend doesn't wait on you hand and foot, he does try to make sure that you have the best time possible. The staff and diving are great, the food is really good, and the accomodations pleasantly rustic.
I went to Bonaire this summer, and while the diving, divemasters, & accomodations were excellant it just didn't leave me with the warm fuzzies that CoCoView did.
As far as the states go, Key Largo has some amazing dive sites. I did the Heavy Metal Tour (The Bibb, The Duane & the Spiegal Grove in one day) about a year ago with Dave Hartman @ Fantastic Endeavors and can't say enough about the wrecks or Dave.

Take care,

Greg

My favorite dive place might not be yours, but okay...

We keep going back to Roatan's CoCoView, sometimes twice a year, usualy for two weeks at a crack.

Is that the only place? Heavens, no, but it is "home".

Since our last visit to CCV we have also been to Galapagos, Tobago, Sharm Red Sea, Philippines, Bonaire, Nekton and in a whole lot of July afternoon pools here with children in the midwest!

CoCoView is the kind of place that people adopt as a second home. It just feels good. It is a diver's resort- no illusions of Cozumel/Cancun/Cayman. You go there to dive, and dive you will.

You'll be surrounded by old hands who will gladly offer thoughts if asked, they will show you the cool microscopic critters that the South side of the island is noted for. The dive staff is very long term and you'll get to the point where you'll know their families and by bringing down gifts for their specific children.

The boats are aces. A center cut moon well for easy access in pitching seas. They are exceedingly camera friendly. The wet rooms are intelligently laid out and access to the boats and the resorts is close to 100% handicapped accessable. You might not be in a wheelchair, but as you get older...

The rooms are fun as they are out on posts over an active changing reef. The food is good and fattening and tasty. No shortage of it, either.

The best resort based shore dive in the Caribbean, and I've pretty well seen them all. 200' offshore of your room, follow the anchor chain out from 3 feet of water, explore the 140' tanker (Prince Albert Wreck), sitting upright in 35>65fsw, or wander off to the DC3 aircraft. Meet the critters- above and below the water.

We go to a lot of places, CoCoView is home. www.cocoviewresort.com and the bulletin board is http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/ccv, but the webcam can really make you homesick: http://www.cocoviewresort.com/cam.html

 

[REII]

My top two are Belize and the Bahamas. Very nice people (more so in Belize), good food, and laid back atmosphere. The diving has also been great.

TOM

 

[caymaniac]

Ive been to Aruba, Bonaire, Bahamas (Eluthera, Nassau, Freeport), Cozumel, Cayman (Grand, Brac, Little), Turks & Caicos (Provo), St. Thomas, St. John, St. Maarten for the Atlantic and Carribean...
the Florida Keys, Hawaii, Oahu, Maui for the U.S. warm water...
then there's the Red Sea (Egypt), the Indian Ocean (South Africa), and certainly we've enjoyed Australia (GBR, Coral Sea), and Papua New Guinea (Coral Sea, Bismark Sea)...
And the Big question is what do we like better????, the answer is what do you mean, what or where is the better diving?
The Carribean = Little Cayman, Turks & Caicos.
USA = Maui (Maui has the most to do topside)/ Florida Keys is a close second
the Best diving is Papua New Guinea/ Australia is a very close second, the best animal viewing topside would be South Africa, the best tourist things to do would be N.E. Australia.
The most beautiful water/beach veiwed from the surface would be Turks & Caicos.
The most beautiful swaying palms= Hawaii
The most jungly= PNG
The most naked beach = St. Maarten
The most traffic jams = St. Thomas
The most place you wouldn't want to be left apart from a group = Egypt
The best visibility = Little Cayman
The most variety of species by far = PNG
The biggest shark = South Africa (Sodwanna bay)
The most sharks = N.E. Australia
The easiest to get to = the Keys

so what exactly did you want to know about what was the best? :>)

 

[ronrosa]

In my limited experience....Curacao. Total freedom of shore diving. Good topside, great beaches, plenty of daily flights, healthy reef, good variety of life.

Been to:
Key Largo
Turks & Caicos
Little Cayman
Cozumel
San Andres
Maui
Kona
Costa Rica
Bermuda
St Vincent
Aruba
Dominican Republic