Best Places to Dive in the Caribbean

We are headed on a trip to some of the Islands in the Caribbean and I was hoping I could get some advice on some great places to dive for some relatively new divers with about 20 dives under our belts. Cozumel is on our list, and we can go pretty much anywhere in the Caribbean and Costa Rica.

Thanks!

Well the carribean is full of great places. I loved Grand Cayman because it was a very beautiful island and its beautifuly maintained unlike places like Jamaica. the staff there was awesome and the islanders very welcoming.

If you decide to go to the Bahamas go to Nassau and try out Unexso. they have a website and you can google it. also look up stuarts cove Havent been to either but both seem to be in the spot light an extremely lot with good feed back

You should look at the Bay Islands, Honduras----Roatan, Utila----can't go wrong with either the all inclusives for value or many other options.

k ellis:

If you decide to go to the Bahamas go to Nassau and try out Unexso. they have a website and you can google it. also look up stuarts cove Havent been to either but both seem to be in the spot light an extremely lot with good feed back

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I just got back from completing my OW cert in the Bahamas. I did all of my dives with Stuart Cove's. While they have a thriving business (and brand new rental gear!!), they are very much a bulk operation. I think our last boat had 26 people and 1 dive master on it. My fiance and I didn't mind that so much (since these were our first OW dives, we didn't know any better), but there were some people there were used to a much more intimate dive experience and were a bit put off by the volume approach. If I were to go back, I might give Bahama Divers a shot (we never heard of Unexso) to see if it had a bit better DM/diver ratio.

Digitalburro:

I just got back from completing my OW cert in the Bahamas. I did all of my dives with Stuart Cove's. While they have a thriving business (and brand new rental gear!!), they are very much a bulk operation. I think our last boat had 26 people and 1 dive master on it. My fiance and I didn't mind that so much (since these were our first OW dives, we didn't know any better), but there were some people there were used to a much more intimate dive experience and were a bit put off by the volume approach. If I were to go back, I might give Bahama Divers a shot (we never heard of Unexso) to see if it had a bit better DM/diver ratio.

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Oh wow. Yea I have heard there are some bulk operations there. Me I dont mind them as I am a firm beleiver in just having fun at the sport. There are those that forget that they too were once new to the sport so they always tend to put down those operations.

Personally I would love being on a boat like that. Kind of give it that party boat atmosphere LOL.

Unexso is an abbreviation for the underwater explorer society. They have an operation that sounds very similiar to Stuarts Cove and has scored high with sport diver it seems.

As for the 1 divemaster thing I think due to my natural tendancy to want to help people stemming from my many years of public safety I dont mind diving with a newer partner. In fact I find it comforting to find new divers actually wanting to dive with me so they can gain experience. Just my two cents on the whole issue.

I am glad to hear also you and your husband have got certified and enjoying the sport. Congratulations!

k ellis:

As for the 1 divemaster thing I think due to my natural tendancy to want to help people stemming from my many years of public safety I dont mind diving with a newer partner. In fact I find it comforting to find new divers actually wanting to dive with me so they can gain experience. Just my two cents on the whole issue.

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Yea, that was the other thing about Stuart Cove's. They actually had two boats going out for AM dives, and they put you on boats based on your skill. So all of the experienced divers went on one boat, and my boat was full of newbies. While we did make friends with some experienced divers who were at our hotel and we would have gladly taken the chance to watch and learn, we didn't get to dive with them because of the way SC groups people. We might could have requested to be on the experienced boat, but I think they went to deeper sites/wrecks than we could go being freshly certified.

I would have loved to have had someone to "take us under their wing" but I got the feeling my girlfriend and I were better prepared than most on our boat having just completed training. There were even people on our boat that couldn't assemble their gear (apparently it was done for them on their previous dives and SC doesn't work that way) so my girlfriend and I ended up helping several people out. I think that's why the 1 DM/26 diver ratio was a bit concerning--if some of those 26 people had been seasoned divers I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it, but everyone seemed new and in some cases, dangerously so.

Please don't get me wrong, we LOVED the diving and the people at SC are super friendly and I'm not trying to bash them--I'm just trying to set proper expectations in that it is more of a party vibe like you said and not as intimate or as attentive as I think some operations are.

Wow now I would be concerned about people not knowing how to assemble gear and getting on a boat with only one Dive Master. I went to the Florida Keys once with a more moderately seasoned diver. He was not the best but he did dive with the group. By the time we got back to the dock I think it was more of a mutual agreement we (The entire rest of the group and crew) were ready to toss him over board.

All he did was knock all of the other divers and point out flaws and beleive me every one was flawed in his words. He talked about how the owner of the charter had to be a drug lord and the dive company was his cover up. But most departures are smooth

Anyway good job on helping your co divers out! thats what diving is trully all about and thats making sure every one gets back safe and has the most exciting adventure possible!

Digital I just realized too my typo from earlier. I Just realized you said your fiance and I refered to in a reply to that being your husband. Sorry I misread that

New divers in the Caribbean? Bonaire is the easiest diving anywhere, and the reefs are healthy and accessible from shore. I can recommend the Harbour Village Beach Club.

I also recommend Bonaire. The diving is as easy as it gets AND beautiful. Stay at one of the resorts like Buddy Dive or others nearby, and the reef there is great and all you need to do is assemble your gear from the gear room on the dock and step in. Little if any current and simple navigation.

Many resorts package in a vehicle and you can drive and dive at numerous shore sites - most of them easy, but check! If you want to boat dive, the accomodations are great and all the boat rides comfortably short. It doesn't get much better than that. Also you are south of the hurricane belt, so little chance of getting blown out by weather.