The Next Dive Trip... Is A Group Trip Worth It?

[gryffin]

Hello all:

After a couple of years of lurking and asking questions my husband and I completed our OW certifications in Grand Cayman at the beginning of this month. Including the certification dives, he did 6 dives and I did 9 (he came down with a virus after the 3rd day of diving).

We had a great time and are looking forward to our next dive trip. We plan to dive locally once it warms up a bit in New Hampshire, but I would like to plan another Caribbean area trip for October/November, as well as one in February/March.

The first choice is between doing something on our own or going on a group trip with a local dive shop. The shop is planning a trip to Bonaire in late October.

Pros: Meet and spend time with other divers from our area- it would probably be Fall 2017 before we had another opportunity to join a group trip with this shop.

Cons: Airfare is > $1100 per person that week, it is only $650 per person for other weeks in October and November. Shore diving included in the package (at Habitat) is unguided- we were planning to dive with our own divemaster for awhile. We can dive with the group, but we don't want to be a burden. We could possibly arrange a divemaster if we find an independent shop to shore dive with. We could also do the boat dives which are guided, but I haven't looked into whether we could hire a divemaster.

If we went on our own, we'd probably choose between Cayman, Curacao, Bonaire and maybe Aruba for the fall trip. Spring trip would depend on where we go in the fall- if we don't go back to Cayman this fall, we definitely want to go back in the spring.

Thanks for any advice regarding the pros and cons of the group trip

 

[AdivingBel]

The house dive at habitat is very straightforward and very easily accessed. It would be a great way to get some easy dives under your belt. Going with a group would also let you hit some of the other sites as your confidence builds. If that is your option as opposed to waiting until Fall 2017 for a trip, I think I would bite. I generally wouldn't recommend going on your own to one of the big shore dive, "diving freedom" locales until you have a bit more experience. Not that you can't do them, but you would probably have more fun, less worry, and take more advantage of the "on your own" perks if you have a few more dives under your belt and more confidence in your dive routine. All IMHO, YMMV. Have fun.

 

[drrich2]

My 1st 4 of 8 trips to Bonaire were with a group; no regrets about that. Driving a truck in a foreign country where I don't understand the road signs and am unfamiliar with the layout is daunting. Even though once you've been and gotten used to it, it's pretty easy. If you go and get intimidated, you won't get full mileage out of your trip.

Now, if you want to go somewhere else, alone, I'd consider an all-inclusive or a place where grocery stores, restaurants, etc..., were close at hand. Maybe see what the water temp.s & conditions are like a Little Cayman Beach Resort, or for cheaper diving, Cozumel. On Curacao, you could hire the Dive Bus for guided shore diving, which might be a good option.

Richard.

 

[Steve_C]

Depends on you, your self reliance, and desire to have control over what you do and when. Do you like a lot of socializing in the evening or do you just want to have a decent meal, a glass of adult beverage, and a good night sleep.
If the group wants to go do X and you want to go see the blue iguanas again do you feel free to do so or are you the kind that feel you should do everything with the group.

No right or wrong but I think you and your husband's personalities have a lot to do with the choice along with the personality of the group. My wife does not dive so we do not do the group trips but I know some groups in our area that I could see going with and would enjoy and there is one that if I know they will be on a boat with me I change my charter if possible.

 

[FinnMom]

Kinda hard to say if you don't know any of the folks on the trip. According to the experiences of friends, some LDS guides can be far less good than a destination's guide would have been, therefore a negative. These LDS leaders can also sometimes try to dictate far more than was ever actually necessary, or turn unnecessarily much of the trip into a group activity. Divers from home with poor social skills can also be harder to escape or ignore than total strangers. I've never been on the receiving end of these difficulties but I can believe it happens. A diver(s) from the LDS with poor social skills might also be more difficult to ignore or avoid than a total stranger.

On the other hand, I have personally experienced, being on a trip with friends can be a wonderously fun. It gives you flexability too because you have alternative buddies if needed, other people taking photos that will happily show & share in the future, and folks helping you notice/remember/ID and maybe even repair things. You also know you have others on board who converstaion you find interesting and whose company you enjoy. Remembering your trip together will also be fun for all of you long after the trip is over.

Maybe you should either get to know some of the people who would be joining you or at least talk to others who know them.

 

[gryffin]

One of the things that I am struggling with is that the airfare to Bonaire is very expensive on the weekend of the group trip. It seems like a good opportunity to meet and socialize with other divers. But, on the other hand, is it worth the extra $1000 for the airfare? That might be enough to cover the airfare for another trip.

We will go on a dive trips in both October/November 2016 and February/March 2017. There isn't a group trip running in February/March 2017, so we will definitely be on our own for that one.

 

[KathyV]

We often take dive trips in the fall when the water is wonderfully warm all over the Caribbean. I am a warm water wimp so I would plan a trip to the northern Caribbean (maybe Cayman) during the fall and I would go further south in the winter/spring to someplace like Bonaire or Curacao because the water will be warmer at that time of year.

But the possible flaw in my reasoning is that hurricane season extends through November and Bonaire and Curacao are below the hurricane belt and less likely to get hit by bad storms - although it can be rainy and windy.

You will probably be more comfortable diving with a divemaster until you get more experienced so you may want to hold off on Bonaire for a while.

If you do decide to go to Bonaire with the group in the fall, you should search for better airfare options. There are threads about getting there in the Bonaire forum. Also, the airfare might come down although I know you won't want to wait too long to book. good luck!

 

[oly5050user]

Just because then airfare is high right now does not mean it will be in the future. It's always a bit of a gamble. A LDS running the trip can lose or make money on this. We are happy to usually just break even and hope to make up the loss with gear sale and any continue education classes. A good group leader / LDS would keep an eye out for any changes, can go up or down months and weeks before the flight. I have a group leaving in April to Buddy Dive on Bonaire. We reserved/ booked a group airfare for 28 seats 5 months ago at $710.Did not want to take a chance that we would not have enough seats on the plane.. I thought at the time acceptable, but still a little bit high for leaving out of Newark. Airfare just dropped this week to $ 568 so just this week before writing out the tickets we had our booking agent , renegotiate with the airline for the lower fare and got it. Taking 34 people now.
Some of our customers are using mileage / points and purchased their own tickets , for the rest we booked for them ourselves.

 

[stuartv]

If you go somewhere in the Caribbean that has boat diving instead of shore diving, you will likely have a DM provided on each trip, without having make any special arrangements.

From what you said, I would skip the Bonaire trip and go somewhere less expensive that has boat diving instead.

I really (REALLY) liked the diving off Cozumel. And dive vacations there seem to be VERY inexpensive compared to other Caribbean destinations. But, Coz and the Playa del Carmen area are the only places I have been, in the Caribbean, so take that for what it's worth.

 

[dmaziuk]

One of the things that I am struggling with is that the airfare to Bonaire is very expensive on the weekend of the group trip. It seems like a good opportunity to meet and socialize with other divers. But, on the other hand, is it worth the extra $1000 for the airfare?

So can you fly in separately and meet them there? An extra day or two at Cpt Don's isn't going to cost extra $1000.