T&C, First time diving

[Shrew]

Hey guys. This post is all about reassurance for a timid and hopeful newbie.

I've done some comparision of destinations and have come up w/the following wish list for our first time 5 night stay dive trip.

#5 is what i'm having difficulty finding reassurance for. We'd like to find an island that's fairly protected w/in it's geographical location from excessive trade winds and rough water. I've read that the caymans aren't nearly as calm as it's advertised...that after 10 am the tradewinds are blowing firm all day and the water gets a bit rough.

Our trip is the first week of july. Does anyone know when tradewinds are at their strongest and during what months are they at their weakest...or are they always fairly consistent?

Are there any islands that are fairly protected from these winds? or atleast are there any islands whose shorelines are fairly protected from surf by reefs? We'd like to find an island w/ laping clear beaches and excellent snorkeling visability. Well, anyways, onto the wish list

1. Flight coordination maximizes our arrival day and departure day stay at the island.
2. No tourist highrises w/in sight. We like quieter more relaxing vacations, just always have.
3. Beaches!!! We want sandy beautiful beaches w/ tourquoise water. If we're going to an island paradise then we want beautiful sandy beaches.
4. Beautiful coral accessible from shore. We'll charter a few boats for dives, but when we're on shore we'd like to have many options available to us by just walkin into the ocean.
5. Calm waters few trade winds, and excellent visability.
6. No Mexico, gf's not interested in going to Mexico this trip at all.

So after determining what's important to us we have attempted to find a destination that closely matches such desires.

1. All Central American destinations have been ruled out.
2. Cayman Islands, no beaches for easy onshore entry, have heard visability is poor at fringe reefs so it's ruled out this trip.
3. Bonaire is also ruled out for it's lack of beaches mostly, and were unable to coordinate flight times w/ our availability.
4. Saba/barbados, still in the running as possibilities. Concerned about trade winds and surf when compared to other destinations but haven't been able to find any discernable info
5. T&C's seems to be the favorite so far.

T&C's, from what i've read....plenty of beaches, easily accessible off shore reefs, calm atlantic shore, not so touristy

well,that's a lot of mumbo jumbo. If anyone has anythin to add to help facilitate our decision it would be appreciated. Thanks, Shrew

 

[ScubaRon]

The combination beach - shore diving is rare and you will probably only find it along walls. The only two that I am familiar with in the Caribbean are:
- Cane Bay on St. Croix; it's a fairly small beach, but it has great snorkeling and diving.
- Anse Chastenet in St. Lucia; black beach with great snorkeling and diving.

In the T&C I have only been to Grand Turk and while the diving is fabulous, the snorkeling is very poor and you need a boat to get to the dive sites; it is also not a good place for non-divers.

 

[Damselfish]

Hmm, you might be putting too many conflicting conditions on this and not wind up anywhere! Even islands that have most of what you're looking for don't have them all on the same spot.

I haven't paid attention to variations in "tradewinds" at various times of year and places, but summer in general in the Carribean tends to be the calmest water - unless of course there's a hurricane but early July is relatively safe. Wind isn't the only thing that affects how calm the water is, a lot has to do with how the land protects the water in a given area.

Grand Cayman does have good shore diving, not off beaches but off the ironshore areas. This is mostly at a few smaller hotels, or at shore diving facilities where you would pay to rent their tanks to dive there. Not sure what is meant by poor vis at fringe reefs, vis will be down when it's not calm but Caymans are in general noted for good vis.

It's a shame flights to Bonaire don't work out for you, that is a good first trip well known for shore diving and it's almost always like diving in a bathtub. (This is due to geography and the protection of Klein Bonaire rather than lack of wind.) Bonaire does have some beaches. You could look into Curacao, it has beaches, flights are somewhat easier than to Bonaire, there is good shore diving to be had, it's not quite as calm as Bonaire but is pretty good.

Saba may not be a good choice for your first trip, most of the noted diving there starts deep. Saba does not have beaches and it's all boat diving.

I haven't been to Barbados except for the (amazingly busy) airport.

T&C has great beaches on Provo, a fair amount of development but not highrise, pretty laid back, but no shore diving that's I'm aware of. Short boat trips get you to only ok diving. To get to the good diving from Provo requires a longish boat trip. There is good diving off some of the other islands in T&C like Grand Turk, Salt Cay & South Caicos but I've only done these from a liveaboard. I've heard there is some shore diving (with a long swim) off Grand Turk, and you'd get quiet and beaches, but it's also another flight to get there which you may not want on a short trip. And you'll want to research the places to stay carefully as coming and going of facilities on these other islands seems kinda common.

 

[Doc]

Hey guys. This post is all about reassurance for a timid and hopeful newbie.

I've done some comparision of destinations and have come up w/the following wish list for our first time 5 night stay dive trip.

#5 is what i'm having difficulty finding reassurance for. We'd like to find an island that's fairly protected w/in it's geographical location from excessive trade winds and rough water. I've read that the caymans aren't nearly as calm as it's advertised...that after 10 am the tradewinds are blowing firm all day and the water gets a bit rough.

Our trip is the first week of july. Does anyone know when tradewinds are at their strongest and during what months are they at their weakest...or are they always fairly consistent?

Are there any islands that are fairly protected from these winds? or atleast are there any islands whose shorelines are fairly protected from surf by reefs? We'd like to find an island w/ laping clear beaches and excellent snorkeling visability. Well, anyways, onto the wish list

1. Flight coordination maximizes our arrival day and departure day stay at the island.
2. No tourist highrises w/in sight. We like quieter more relaxing vacations, just always have.
3. Beaches!!! We want sandy beautiful beaches w/ tourquoise water. If we're going to an island paradise then we want beautiful sandy beaches.
4. Beautiful coral accessible from shore. We'll charter a few boats for dives, but when we're on shore we'd like to have many options available to us by just walkin into the ocean.
5. Calm waters few trade winds, and excellent visability.
6. No Mexico, gf's not interested in going to Mexico this trip at all.

So after determining what's important to us we have attempted to find a destination that closely matches such desires.

1. All Central American destinations have been ruled out.
2. Cayman Islands, no beaches for easy onshore entry, have heard visability is poor at fringe reefs so it's ruled out this trip.
3. Bonaire is also ruled out for it's lack of beaches mostly, and were unable to coordinate flight times w/ our availability.
4. Saba/barbados, still in the running as possibilities. Concerned about trade winds and surf when compared to other destinations but haven't been able to find any discernable info
5. T&C's seems to be the favorite so far.

T&C's, from what i've read....plenty of beaches, easily accessible off shore reefs, calm atlantic shore, not so touristy

well,that's a lot of mumbo jumbo. If anyone has anythin to add to help facilitate our decision it would be appreciated. Thanks, Shrew

When you find this place, buy all of the land- then let everyone know. Hey- even if you do find it- where will you go after that?

Your criteria have little to do with being a newbie diver versus just being selective as to non-dive related issues. Most dive ops easily accessed by travellers offer pretty simple diving- no currents, etc.

As a newbie, you ask for shore diving. Are you better suited right now to log dives off of a comfortable boat- building those skills- then learning shore entry/exit techniques later? Bonaire shore diving is the most developed and accessable in the Caribbean- but it is an unforgiving mistress. You can get pretty messed up unless trained.

You describe CoCoView on Roatan, but Roatan has no real beaches near diving ops. Maybe you'd like neighboring Fantasy Island which has a man made beach and slightly lower grade shore diving/snorkeling? They'll do a 5 night deal. But you say Central America is out- why?

Many of your criteria describe islands that are not easily accessed by North Americans. You could look at Los Roques, Tobago, San Andres... but they can take some effort to get to.

What, no Casino? Even a 1 story structure?

Maybe you'd find happiness at Saba, Barbados or the Turks and Caicos- as you imagine. These are not in the upper echelon of Caribbean dive destinations, but maybe for a starter dive trip- they'll fit (some of) the bill.

That's the thing about the Caribbean, each island has it's own allure, value and draw. No one island has it all.

Many folks rave about the diving in Cozumel, but what they mean to say is that they enjoy topside activities just as much as the diving. Some people bubble about Roatan- but they are satisfied with just being wet. As islands develop to offer more and more non dive ammenities, this de facto decreases the viability of the reefs- sorry to say but it's true. If you find a beach- you won't find diving just offshore.

I would hope and suggest that you try to look at this a little more openly and accepting the adventure that travel is all about. SCUBA diving is a wonderment, but the challenge lies in the fact that each dive at any given dive location will present new and perplexing challenges to your abilities and experiences.

Go simple, log lots of bottom time, keep detailed log books, explore and absorb.


Have fun and be expansive in your search.

 

[RICHinNC]

Look into Barbados. Lots to do under the water..and tons of fun above. Yell if you want more info.

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

You could also consider Dominica. If so, don't stay at either town on the leeward side - stay in a nice bed and breakfast or such in between the towns along the coast (the wonderful spot we stayed at - Anse-a-Liane - has unfortunately since ceased business, but there are others). Both black sand and gold sand beaches are available, and we really enjoyed Harald & Bea at East Carib Dive. They made us feel like family during our stay there. The ITME marine biology research group on the island also uses the East Carib dive boat, so you can chat with Dr. Sacha, the resident PhD marine biologist and his students on the boat. They'll be doing a working dive while you get a nice recreational dive. If you don't need air conditioning, Bea runs Chez DouDou for lodging too. Their house reef is a nice shore dive, or if you're already a bit tired or lazy, a few $$ for a short run out in the inflatable boat, and there are other shore dive spots along the coast.

 

[Damselfish]

4. Beautiful coral accessible from shore. We'll charter a few boats for dives, but when we're on shore we'd like to have many options available to us by just walkin into the ocean.

It would help to know why this is one of your criteria, or what the real criteria is? Some places are just boat diving places and that's the way it is. Boats vary a lot in size and style and and length of trips. Some places have shore diving too, but the ease of getting to shore dives and into the water varies. Is it that shore diving is cheaper, seasickness on boats, desire not to have a schedule, inexperience with boat diving, a perception that shore diving is easier or calmer, or ...?

 

[Shrew]

thanks for the words guys. I just spent the evening at the library reading up on various destinations.

The truth is that i'm completely unfamiliar w/ any destination. I've read many posts and reviews and trip reports and am in the midst of attempting to find out which islands will best suit our desires.

Our trip is going to be a relatively short one. We also would like to keep expenses down. Our wish is to enjoy many lazy hours enjoying the shores, beaches and water life. Night life isn't important and neither are any other water top activities as we'll be happily content enjoying the quiet peaceful island atmosphere.

Although we plan on making atleast 2 boat dives, we'd like to try our hand at beach diving. The alure or notion that we can access various reefs from the shore seems intriguing for reasons of cost and leisurely flexibility. We'd also like to be able to grab our masks and flippers at the spur of the moment if an ingriguing underwater structure tempts us. We'll have many future opportunities to learn the islands, but are just hoping that our first experience is as well thought out as can be.

The reason why central america is ruled out is b/c my gf has voiced that she's not interested such an exploration this time around.

Our last trip south was to the florida keys and a low pressure up north had the wind whirlin off the atlantic pretty fiercly. That didn't damper our underwater excusions, but it did eliminate lazy day beach snorkeling exploring cuz the winds made it too unpleasant playing on the beaches.

i'm sure whatever we choose will be great choice. It seems though that atleast from what I read the leeside of barbados might be a nice choice as well as provo.

 

[Willar]

I think you are describing Negril, Jamaica. Beautiful beaches 7 miles long. West side of the island and protected by a reef, the waves lap gently at the shore. Reef nearby for very short boat ride and/or shore diving. Negril Cliffs area (south end of Negril) has cool diving right up to the hotels on the cliffs. Easy flight from all major airports in the USA on Air Jamaica. Hotel height limited by law to the tallest palm tree in Negril. Friendly locals, great food & nightlife, water and food is safe to eat anywhere. Diving is not the very best in the carib but very good. Visibility very good except after storms (duh!). Ya mon!