@BlueSpirit - I just copied this from another post and thread and thought you might find it helpful. (See below)
As for you question regarding packing- that is a tough one for such a long trip and really a personal preference. Personally, I always carry all of my own gear on any dive trip, but those trips are not 3 months long and a lot of over-landing. I hate renting gear and don't trust it. I think it is going to come down to how much stuff do you want to lug around or are willing to lug around. Bare minimum, I would be traveling with my reg, computer, mask and booties. BC is probably the bulkiest thing to carry, but I cannot imagine diving without my backplate/wing and fortunately, my complete rig only weighs 2.3 kilos, so it would be going with me. I have a neutrally buoant wetsuit that weighs next to nothing and doesn't take up much room, but that is one thing I might consider renting along the way, just to not have to hassle with it. Get some short small travel fins-- Hell-- just take all of your own gear if this is really a dive safari- LOL and pack light for clothes and other stuff- you don't need as much as you think. I would carry a padlock of some sort for locking stuff up, when warranted. Here is the thread I mentioned:
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Some things you may find useful:
Probably the cheapest flights are to Cancun if you want to start in Mexico. From there you can do the bag/drag to Cozumel - it's generally several hundred dollars cheaper than flying there direct. Bus from near the airport then the ferry over. Described in detail in a post in our Cozumel forum.
The ferry leaves from the Playa Del Carmen area - also good diving. Then head south via bus - Tulum has both diving and a Mayan ruin right on the water - probably about the only place that exists.
Make your way down to Chetumal and the
Belize Water Taxi will pick you up for Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker or Belize City. If you want to detour to south Belize (Placencia area) Tropic Air flies down there for about $90 one way. Dive with
Splash Dive and they;'ll pick you up at the airport, take you to your lodging and pick you up for diving.
From there one option might be to fly onto Honduras via
Tropic Air - they have weekly flights to Roatan where you can also catch the ferry to Utila. In Roatan's West End there's a couple of hostels and a whole lot of under $50 small resorts - that buys you a small apt. with kitchen at some. The hostel in town -
Chilies - also owns Native Sons Diving. We used
Coconut Tree Divers in the heart of town, their boats are across the street and they have a pretty good Roatan/West End info page on their website.
There's at least a dozen other shops in town and boat dives are currently 10/$350. Food is also real cheap, there's small restaurants, the food trucks sell fish/produce on the street mornings and there's a couple small stores in the area. We didn't even rent a car all week - the whole West End is walk able. I believe the fare from the airport is about $25 if you fly in.
You can also take the
Galaxy Ferry from La Ceiba on the mainland to Roatan - it docks in Dixon Cove.
The
Dream Ferry also runs between Roatan and Utila on weekends. It ports in the West End afaik and the dock on Utila. Most of Utila lives in town, it's a backpacking destination so rooms start at $10/nt. and the diving is also around 10/$350 in town from what I was told as there's also a lot of competition there.I believe during the week the Dream runs between La Ceiba and Utila - probably replacing the Princess?
I know someone who goes to Costa Rica to dive regularly. I'll leave that up to others since I've not been there.
sounds like fun...
