Newly certified, where should I go for a solo trip??

[Wstranahan]

Did you go anywhere? I am in the same boat, new cert, no buddies that dive...... Sometimes you just got to break out the CC and book something. I am in the airport heading to the aquacat for a liveaboard as I type this. Interested in where you ended up with your search.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I'm glad you're not looking at Saba. In general, the first dive of the day is around 100'.

 

[daniel1948]

I don't have a lot of experience, so I'll just mention the best places I've been:

Cozumel. Fabulous diving, lots of corals and turtles. But the first dive each day was down to around 80 feet, which felt deep to me as a new diver, and the currents down there were a bit scary. I could not swim against the current, and I had great difficulty staying with my group.

Off the Wall dive resort on Long Caye, Glover's Reef, Belize. Very rustic "resort" with the dive sites only 5 or 10 minutes from the pier by zodiac, so surface intervals were always back on land. Amazing diving. As the name implies, it's all wall diving, drifting in a very slow current.

Little Cayman Beach Resort. All-inclusive, fabulous boat diving. I think it was 3 dives per day, two in the morning with a surface interval on the boat, then lunch back at the resort, followed by one afternoon dive. There might have been some night dives. I don't do those because I'm too tired by then.

AquaCat, liveaboard in the Exumas of The Bahamas. Five-star luxury boat. Great diving, including a shark dive with Caribbean Reef sharks. The boat has a very shallow draft because the crossings are shallow there, so in rough water it bounces around like a cork. One morning we made a crossing to another spot and the breakfast dishes were flying off the table and across the floor. But the accommodations were big (nearly unheard-of on a boat) and the food was fabulous. Really great boat.

I dived in Fiji, but honestly, I didn't think the diving was as good as the Caribbean (except I saw soft corals for the first time) and it was a LONG trip to get there.

I dived in the US Virgin Islands on a now-defunct liveaboard, but the diving was not one of the better places I've been.

 

[KathyV]

You might try the Brac Reef Beach Resort on Cayman Brac; they recently advertised a special that "waived the single supplement" but the reservation deadline ended on 8/22 - but that is the low season so they may be able to do something for you.

 

[diver 85]

14 Hours LAX to Fiji???????

Try 10 1/2 hours, not 14.

.........talk about---that's Manila time he/she is speaking of---actually not even that far......AND, lol, I thought from OP's post title, he/she was talking about SOLO diving---not single occupancy...

 

[Learn It]

Cayman islands have lots of novice dive sites, as for single diver accomadations I'm not sure.

 

[ezediver]

Not a lot of nightlife some small bar and grill type places...no huge clubs.Still a good place for a lot of easy dives. If you want nightlife and diving try a cpl days in Ft Lauderdale/Miami area dive a cpl days party a night then drive to the Keys for a few more days of serious diving. Thats what the wife and I did the first week in August before going to St Croix for a cpl weeks diving.

 

[ScubaDoo83]

Sadly I didn't get to go anywhere as I experienced a loss in the family a week before I was to head to the keys. I was able to get 4 more dives in at the quarry though so that was good. Still looking forward to continuing my diving adventure soon.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

If I was a newly certified diver, I would be more comfortable with boat diving in a group than shore diving and dealing with the hassle of finding buddies. Secondly, for the first 20 dives I would not want to go to some place exotic. That I would leave for when I have a little more comfort. I would treat my first 20 dives as learning opportunity to develop good buoyancy skills and also develop good buddy skills. For that I would go to the cheapest place that I could and would also hire a Divemaster if the budget allows me.

 

[diverjen]

Sorry about your loss... It's hard when life doesn't care about our plans or best intentions. Its great that you are out there diving and I am sure you will make it to the Keys or elsewhere sometime soon.

Its funny how everyone feels differently about boat v. shore diving for new divers, ie is Roatan/Bonaire/Curacao a good dive destination for a newba diver? I'm still a pretty new diver, but I find shore diving WAY less stressful/intimidating than boat diving, where its basically hurry up and kit up and backroll off, don't slow anyone down, don't suck through your air, stay with the group, dive this specific profile, etc. Now, with having to find a buddy, that does make it harder for sure and I do agree better to go somewhere where you can hire a private DM affordably for the beginning of your trip. I don't know how you guys comfortably instabuddy, that concept is terrifying to me!

Also, I can't imagine doing my first twenty dives in the 20 foot deep mud pond by my house, but also wouldn't feel the need to go to Indonesia, either..... However, if I had a dry suit, maybe it would be different!