Traveling on a budget

[arew+4]

Pilling on to Curacao, there are some beautiful beaches with shore dives, and on site dive shops, restaraunts, lounge chairs etc. If the non divers are good swimmers they can even snorkel above you as you and your buddy dive.

 

[Rob9876]

As a new diver, don't waste your money going to Asia (at least not now). Build up your experience first. It's cheaper to design your own trip rather than joining a group trip. With the higher per-person cost, you're likely paying for the trip leader's fare and/or profit for the shop.

Cozumel is drift diving with sometimes very swift currents. I would not recommend Cozumel for a new diver. It's not as cheap as it used to be and you risk being blown out by weather very often. I just returned from Cozumel last week. We were there for 10 days and only got to dive 5 days due to windy weather. I went with two friends, one was a non-diver, and he was bored out of his mind. He posted on Facebook, if you're not a diver or a cruise ship tourist, there's nothing to do. If you're not staying in an expensive beach-front hotel or an all-inclusive, there are not a lot of sandy beaches. It's a rocky coastline, for the most part. Yes, there's jeep tours and bike rides but little else for the non-diver except shopping. In October, I was there for 12 days and only got to dive 6 days because of weather.

The Cozumel forum here is heavily weighted with postings, but there's a lot better places to go for diving. It's certainly a convenience for those living in Texas. There's a lot of corruption and thievery in Cozumel. The taxi drivers will rip you off at every opportunity. If you rent a car, your hotel may not have parking or you may not find a place to park anyway, and you risk a break-in or it being stolen. Some restaurants will purposefully overcharge you, and if you pay with a credit card, they'll tell you it's because you're using a credit card, which is a lie. There are NO mandatory credit card fees in restaurants. You have to haggle price on everything.

Some places you could try in the Caribbean:
Honduras
Belize
Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac
St. Croix
Turks & Caicos
St. Maarten
Curacao

I'm sorry you had a bad experience on your last trip in Cozumel, and you are certainly entitled to your perspective. But having read your trip report, I must respectfully say that it sounds like your trip was not planned to best meet your needs (and you also had the misfortune of going when there were more port closures than I can ever recall). I probably would not say anything, but the OP asked for budget diving info and I am budget-minded also, and Cozumel is the best overall diving value I've found (traveling from the USA), and also has the most non-diving things to do of any island I've been to.

Your hotel in town (Casa Mexicana) is great for divers who will be on the water each day and not so concerned about the beach, and whose dive ops leave from the town pier or provide transport (so you don't have to deal with taxis each day). But it would not be as convenient for a non-diver unless they just wanted to hang around town. Perhaps a hotel with beach front south of town would have been better in conjunction with a dive op that would pick you up and drop you off each day so you minimize taxi use.

Your dive op (Jungle Divers) are nice people and good at spotting macro for photos, etc. However, they use bigger, slower boats and on their website they are clear that their dive trips run from about 9:30 to 3pm at the marina -- so adding about 15 minutes travel time each way your non-diver friend was alone for 6+ hours including lunchtime each dive day. Chosing a different dive op who leaves earlier and/or has fast boats would have meant that you could meet your friend for lunch around 1pm each day and have more time together in the afternoon. Also, we travel with non-divers most of the time, and Cozumel has a ton of activities in addition to normal beach & snorkeling. For example, see this tour site for ideas (many of them, such as touring the Mayan ruins in San Gervasio, can be done without a formal tour).

I agreed with your other post that I do get tired of taxis trying to over-charge, so you have to know approximately what your fare should be (can Google for the fare rates) and agree before getting in the taxi. However, it's important to keep in perspective that taxis in Cozumel in general are much cheaper than other islands that you mentioned, like St. Croix (taxis very pricey and not that many, so renting a car is practially required) and Curacao (even very short taxi rides were $20 or $25, some much more). Curacao and St. Croix were also much more expensive on everything (flights, lodging, diving, restaurants, etc.). In Cozumel it is possible to plan a dive trip where you don't rent a car and hardly ever use taxis either, but again you need to plan accordingly.

Again, @living4experiences I respect your perspective and sorry your trip was disappointing to you. I just wanted the OP to know that with some fairly easy planning many of these issues can be avoided, and Cozumel can still be a great option for budget-minded divers.

 

[living4experiences]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience on your last trip in Cozumel, and you are certainly entitled to your perspective. But having read your trip report, I must respectfully say that it sounds like your trip was not planned to best meet your needs (and you also had the misfortune of going when there were more port closures than I can ever recall). I probably would not say anything, but the OP asked for budget diving info and I am budget-minded also, and Cozumel is the best overall diving value I've found (traveling from the USA), and also has the most non-diving things to do of any island I've been to.

Your hotel in town (Casa Mexicana) is great for divers who will be on the water each day and not so concerned about the beach, and whose dive ops leave from the town pier or provide transport (so you don't have to deal with taxis each day). But it would not be as convenient for a non-diver unless they just wanted to hang around town. Perhaps a hotel with beach front south of town would have been better in conjunction with a dive op that would pick you up and drop you off each day so you minimize taxi use.

Your dive op (Jungle Divers) are nice people and good at spotting macro for photos, etc. However, they use bigger, slower boats and on their website they are clear that their dive trips run from about 9:30 to 3pm at the marina -- so adding about 15 minutes travel time each way your non-diver friend was alone for 6+ hours including lunchtime each dive day and have more time together in the afternoon. Chosing a different dive op who leaves earlier and/or has fast boats would have meant that you could meet your friend for lunch around 1pm each day. Also, we travel with non-divers most of the time, and Cozumel has a ton of activities in addition to normal beach & snorkeling. For example, see this tour site for ideas (many of them, such as touring the Mayan ruins in San Gervasio, can be done without a formal tour).

I agreed with your other post that I do get tired of taxis trying to over-charge, so you have to know approximately what your fare should be (can Google for the fare rates) and agree before getting in the taxi. However, it's important to keep in perspective that taxis in Cozumel in general are much cheaper than other islands that you mentioned, like St. Croix (taxis very pricey and not that many, so renting a car is practially required) and Curacao (even very short taxi rides were $20 or $25, some much more). Curacao and St. Croix were also much more expensive on everything (flights, lodging, diving, restaurants, etc.). In Cozumel it is possible to plan a dive trip where you don't rent a car and hardly ever use taxis either, but again you need to plan accordingly.

Again, @living4experiences I respect your perspective and sorry your trip was disappointing to you. I just wanted the OP to know that with some fairly easy planning many of these issues can be avoided, and Cozumel can still be a great option for budget-minded divers.

I appreciate your commentary. There are a few factors I had to consider when planning this trip for us. My diving friend has knee issues, so a larger boat with a platform was best suited for ease of entry and exit. Some of the fast boats have those flimsy ladders they throw over the side that tend to curve under the boat upon exiting the water, which is difficult if you have a bad knee. Or the ladder doesn't have enough rungs to sit in the water, so it's too short to get onto that first step without a lot of struggling. I knew it would be a longer day with the slow boat and longer ride, which was fine, and lunch and beverages was a very nice inclusion. With a fast boat, you trade comfort, shelter, a marine head, and space to move about the boat.

Honestly, I just never even knew that dive shops with brick-and-mortar buildings did not have their own boat. I can understand the illegal operators that just have a presence on Facebook might lease spaces for their customers or rent a boat from a buddy, but I don't use Facebook and would never book diving that way and I wouldn't knowingly give my money to illegal operators.

Because of the high winds, snorkeling wasn't an option and the surface conditions were brutal. Plus, the ocean is stirred up so much that you wouldn't see anything anyway. I can only estimate what the wind speeds were, maybe 40-50 miles an hour, with sideways rain at times. It was wicked.

As for the hotel, one of the AI hotels in the south would have been preferred, but there were three of us, so we needed two rooms, which means one of us (me) would be paying double for single occupancy, which is beyond my willingness to pay. When I was there in October 2023, I stayed at Iberostar as a single, but I booked it before IHG bought them, so my price as a single booked in early 2023 for 10 nights was about $1600. After IHG bought the Iberostar hotels, the price of a single was about $3000. And that's not including any diving with Dressel Divers.

I don't disagree that taxis are cheap in Mexico. That is true. My problem is the overcharging, and I stand on the principle of fair dealing with the tourists. If we rented a car, Casa Mexicana has no parking. Then we drive to the marina and have limited parking, and I don't know where you'd park when they run out of spaces. There's some ongoing battle with the cartel and the owners of nearby property about the parking. There's also the gas scam at the pumps you have to monitor and the risk of theft or break-in of the rental car. None of us wanted to bother. Our taxi use was getting us from Casa Mexicana to Jungle Divers and back. Then we rode along in their vehicle to the marina. For everything else in downtown, we walked everywhere.

 

[jmb]

If you should decide to give Cozumel another chance, Scuba Club Cozumel does offer triple occupancy rooms, is mostly all-inclusive, and has boats that would meet your needs, While I have not stayed there, I've walked through property and talked to people who have and it gets good reviews. Fairly close to town, and might avoid the need for dealing with the taxi issue.

 

[ColinT3]

Egyptian Red Sea land based to do your OW, ie Hurghada or Sharm, very good value, swing by the historical sites too. Warm water, abundance of marine life etc. Camel Dive club currently doing 7 nights B&B Accommodation and OW course for Euro 644 (USD 700). Eating out is cheap (restaurants and bar on site at Camel too).

Camel Hotel + Open Water Diver Course

Learn to dive in Sharm El Sheikh: holiday package including Camel Hotel + Open Water Diver course.

www.cameldive.com

Egypt is safe, never had any issues (I'm going back for the Xteenth time on Wednesday for another liveaboard). Make it a 2 week trip, 1 week of diving, 1 week seeing the sites.

 

[ColinT3]

Egyptian Red Sea land based to do your OW, ie Hurghada or Sharm, very good value, swing by the historical sites too. Warm water, abundance of marine life etc. Camel Dive club currently doing 7 nights B&B Accommodation and OW course for Euro 644 (USD 700). Eating out is cheap (restaurants and bar on site at Camel too).

Camel Hotel + Open Water Diver Course

Learn to dive in Sharm El Sheikh: holiday package including Camel Hotel + Open Water Diver course.

www.cameldive.com

Egypt is safe, never had any issues (I'm going back for the Xteenth time on Wednesday for another liveaboard). Make it a 2 week trip, 1 week of diving, 1 week seeing the sites.

To add - I think return flights can be had for around USD1000 each - so there's a 7 day trip, flights, accommodation, OW course, for ~USD 3400 for the pair of you, plus food et on top, so well within the 5K budget.

 

[Big Dan K]

When you travel also makes a big difference in cost. We really like AKUMAL and Cozumel in mid October. Weather is usually good and prices are still low.

If traveling with a non diving spouse who actually wants to spend time vacationing with you, I also suggest paying attention to how long it takes to get to the dive sites. Some places you can do a two tank dive and only be gone from the hotel for 4-5 hours, other places it can be an all day affair.

 

[justspacelover_]

congrats on pursuing your OW cert! check out Cozumel, Grand Cayman, or Florida for cheaper saltwater options with wrecks. The Great Lakes have decent diving too in summer.

 

[GF99/99]

I'm in the process of getting my OW cert. I have so many questions regarding where to go and how to afford it, it isn't even funny.

My dive center (Minnesota) has trips available but they are typically $4600ish for the diver and $3400ish for the non diver so that is $8000 dollars for just my wife and I to have a trip... Thats not even including airfare to get there or food. That trip was to the Philippines.

Please tell me there are much more affordable places to go.... I want to wreck dive and I'm not finding much along those lines either for resorts or anything that offers just wreck diving. I am open to the Great Lakes as those are close. But I want to get into some warmer salt water if that's possible.

My wife says I have to pick trips up to 7 days, including food and airfare for $4000 to $5000 for both of us to go.

Is that even possible?

I can't help but think I'm new to this so I'm doing it wrong. Any guidance or direction would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Kevin

Obviously Mexico is the go to close place for Americans and Canadians and yes you can get cheap airfare but having just come from there last month I would much rather dive in SE Asia for ocean diving. I was in Tulum for 4 weeks and never once went diving in the ocean, just not very great diving compared to Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, etc. And the dive centers there are just dive factories. Now yeah if your going there for 4 weeks of epic cave diving like I was then nothing else in the world compares to it. I finally did the Wakulla room!!!

So if you want to dive wrecks in the Philippines. It is easy to do it on a budget. The Philippines is very affordable once you get there. I have done lots and lots of budget backpacker diving trips through Asia. Even Raja. Komodo, etc. you can do on a budget.

If I was you this is how I would do it.

If your in MN I would say go on your holiday during the winter when you want to get out of the cold and lucky for you that is usually dry season in the Philippines. I just randomly picked 1 November from MSP to MNL ticket is about $700-$800 and I picked a flight 3 weeks later for return and they are the same price. So figure $1400- $1600 per person for the major air fair.

Once your in Manila its honestly not that great of a city but your going to be exhausted from flying and jet leg so spend a night or 2 there check out the city and get over your jet leg then get a cheap domestic flight to Coron. These flight are literally like $40-$50

There is tons and tons of cheap accommodation in Coron look on booking.com agoda etc. etc. But you will literally only be spending $30-$50 a night

As for the diving just walk down the main street there are lots of dive centers, dives are about $30/dive. If I remember correctly there are about a dozen different wrecks to dive around the area.

After Coron I would say get a flight to (same thing these flights are like $40-$50) to Boracay, Bohol, Cebu, El Nido, etc. the list is endless. There are so many beautiful place to visit. Spend some more time on another island soak up the sun, enjoy the beautiful beaches, and do some more diving.

Then fly back to Manila and fly back to the States.

If you take crappy airlines and long connection on random days you can go an the cheap cheap so I would say $1600 per person for airfare.

Accommodation if you go with budget accommodation figure $30/day So if you go for 3 weeks that's $630

Diving if you do say 15 dives at $30 per dive that's $450

Food well if you go cheap and eat local for 3 weeks your looking at $400 max for two people I know my girlfriend and I could easily do this for much less.

2x person flights $3200
21nights hotel $630
15 dives $450
Food $400
Total $4680

And if your really on a backpacker budget and have the time you could do it even cheaper. You can get really creative with the flights by searching individual flights and taking lots of discount Asian airlines. And if you put it the time you can find some very affordable homestays, but usually this is all done through WhatsApp. Also ask around at all the dive centers for who can help give you a package deal for multiple dives.

 

[Centrals]

Jan - Mar is the best time to visit Philippines.
PG should be suitable for non diver.
Diving rate is about US$25.00 to 30.00. All the sites for beginners are within 15 mins by boat and the boat only goes out for 1 dive and return to base. So by the time the diver return from the first dive of the day, the non diver is probably still in bed or having late breakfast.
Accommodation is plentiful from budget to luxury.
US$5,000.00 is more than adequate for min of 10 days(all inclusive) for two persons.
Using public transport to PG is not difficult at all but the saving is HUGE as compare with private.

I am about to finish a 8 days trip in Koh Chang(Thailand). Not counting the airfare and accommodation(6 nights), the bill came at less than US$500.00 which included six dives over 3 days. Some of the dives are pretty ordinary but for beginner divers that is NOT really critical. BTW, snorkellers can also accompanying the divers on the same boat. It is an whole day trip in which lunch is also included.
Sight seeing in Bangkok would round up nicely for any first time visitor.
Pad Thai with green papaya salad(not too spicy) and wash down with Chang beer! And cost B200.00(US$1.00 = B35.65). Bargin.