good scuba vacation

[XPATMANX]

hey. im planning on going on a dive vacation sometime next year. where would you suggest i go being my first time in an exotic environment. Tell me where youve gone for your trips and how they went. all input is higly appreciated.

 

[Doc]

Sargasso Sea is lovely. It went great.

How much money you got to spend?
What do you want outside of diving?
What kind of exotic diving environment are you ready for?
Everybody else on this vacation have the same goals?

 

[frankmzd]

0-24 dives ... go to bonaire. diving cannot get any easier, and there are plenty of great dives at 40ft or shallower.
all shore dives, and lots of interesting critters to see.

no nightlife though...

 

[Garrobo]

Personally I like the Upper Keys.

 

[tmorg]

I dont think you can beat Bonaire for your first dive vacation.Unlimited shore diving,friendly people,easy to get around.It is called a divers paradise ,but dont expect to do much else thier.

 

[Nismo]

Bonaire if you plan on nothing but diving. Most resorts include a vehicle. You grab a tank and do the house reef, sign up for a boat dive, or take your truck load up a few tanks and find a yellow rock with no cars. All dive sites are marked with yellow rocks and the reefs name. Coral and fish in waist deep water. Drop off starts around 15-20 feet. There's so much to see in shallow water that I would be done my safety stop with out even knowing I had done it. Everything starts in about 5 feet of water in gently drops off to around 20 feet then it drops. Keep an eye on depth and you'll be fine. Currently is little to none so no worries there. Not a lot of big fish but the bright colored corals and the small micro widlife is the best. I loved the clear anemone with purple outlines with a matching cleaner fish. You will see lots of sea turtles as well. Bonaire is Dutch so it's very European. Most stores close between 5 and 6. Breakfast buffets will usually include cold cuts. I really enjoyed the diving. I felt there was not much topside to do and there are no sand beaches since the island itself is coral. Not a lush tropical island at all. It's very desert like and fairly barren. English is well spoken and money is not an issue. Every place takes cash, but don't be surprised to get guilders back. Not many stores. Water is clean and drinkable from your hotel room. Very safe. The main town is very small. Oh yeah, don't hit the wild donkeys!


Cozumel was cool. It's pretty much all boat diving. It'll be morning dives or night dives. Nothing like the flexability of Bonaire. However I feel Mexico was much friendlier to it's guests and the locals much more personable. Stores can be a little pushy but never a problem. I liked what else there was to do in Mexico compare to Bonaire. If you have non-divers it may be better as there are sand beaches, shopping, and more activities. People want dollars and you can negotitate prices on just about everything including t-shirts. Very humid with lots of lush vegetation when it's not destroyed by hurricanes. Very safe no reason not to bike, walk, or rent a car. Lots of shopping in town and restraunts. Very easy to navigae as well.

Not a typical diving destination but Bermuda is supposed to have good diving, and it's the only place my parents ever enjoyed enough to go to more than once and talk about going to again.

I would like to go to Grand Cayman but find it to be a pricier destination. However you can do unlimited diving and there appears to be a lot of top side things to do. Safest island in the caribbean.

We almost went to Roatan this year but due to our vaation coinciding with the start of rainy season, we decided to not take the risk of an allrain vacation. A lot of the resorts look great with some non-typical topside activites.

We are going to Curacao this year which looks like it'll be a very nice trip. Lots of diving if we want and a lot to do topside.