Christmas in the Caribbean

[fred]

Hi! Everyone. I'm totally new to this - just registered today - so I am not quite sure how the system works. I am posting this message in the hopes of joining with someone or a group interested in diving somewhere in the Caribbean over the Christmas period (Roatan, Caymans ?). I need to decide this soon because of the need to book air fares. Looking forward to a reply.

[BartBe]

Hi Ed,

My girlfriend and myself will be going to Grand Cayman over newyears. We'll only arrive the 27 of december but we'll stay till the 11th of januari.

I'm a newbe diver (certification in a week or two) and am looking in to some options myself. I heard it's pretty easy in GC to to shorediving, but would need a buddy. My girlfriend is not in to the diving yet so what diving is concerned i'll be on my own :/

Let me know...

[fred]

Hi! BartBee,

I really would prefer to be there over the Christmas period. Also, one of the reasons for my post was to find a way of sharing accomodation costs (the single supplement usually brings it close to the double occupancy cost). Since you would be with your girl friend, this might not work.

Thanks for replying.

Ed

[BartBe]

would be a bit of a croud :)

[padudle]

My wife and I are looking for a place where she can get certified and I can do some dives for fun.

Do you think Grand Cayman would be a good place for that?=-)

[fred]

Hi! Paduddle,

Never been there but I have talked to people who have and who rave about it. Both islands have many splendid dive sites but the larger one has more apres scuba activities. If you haven't already looked at Cayman web sites, that would be a good place to look for answers to your question.

Ed

[exoticorchid840]

Hi Fred,

I'm new to this also. Haven't certified yet and would love to find some friends to organize some trips with. I'm not sure how Christmas would work for me. Will look into it a bit. Could you e-mail me directly with the dates and particulars? My e-mail is exoticorchid84044@hotmail.com.

Deborah

[aquagirl73]

Hi Fred,

My husband and I will be taking the NCL Norwegian Wind over Xmas. It stops at Caymans, Bay Islands, Belize and Cozumel. He is looking for a buddy. The have dive excursions at all of the sites.
He is doing his open water next weekend is a newbie.

AG

[fred]

Hi! AG,

Many thanks for the reply to my post. I haven't found a scuba companion yet and I am also having a little difficulty finding an affordable fare to a Caribbean destination at Christmas.

Ed

[BartBe]

Hi Fred...

Me again... :) Have you descided yet where you are going ?
I know finding the flights can be a bit of a pain... We booked our flights to GC about 5 months ago and still payed about 1750 Euros for the both of us. The closer it gets to Christmas the more expensive they get.
As for a place to stay we have descided on 'the Harbour View' its probably the cheapest place to stay on the island. Its a place that has appartments and little studios and for those its about a 100$ a night. The advantage is that it is self-catering so that gives the opportunity to save a bit more of the green stuff :)
I know you are looking to stay with someone to share the costs but if you find nothing else this could be a possibility.

They are supposed to have great shore diving right of their beach and some good night diving too. The hotel/appartments don't offer any diving facilities but there are some diveshops close to it.

I hope you get your holliday sorted and if you do descide on the caymans let me know... i'm still looking for a buddy :) The shore dives are not extremely deep (only 10 to 25 ft) but i prefer not to tempt my luck going solo.

Good luck

Bart

[Drew Sailbum]

Save that green (and blue, purple, brown, and orange - Cayman cash is very colorful) stuff and get a condo. Preparing some meals yourself is about the only way to save that time of year.

There are probably still some condos available, but Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year. You'll need to decide if you want to be near the action of Seven Mile Beach, or if you want to find a quiet spot in Cayman Kai.

Airfares are really high for Christmas. Airlines black out the deep discount fare for the dates around Christmas. You'll have to adjust travel dates as early as about Dec 18 to have a chance at lower fares.

Grand Cayman is a great place for new divers to get certified. Dozens of dive shops to choose from means lots of choices. Keep in mind that very small operators may be so busy that they can't afford to put aside one instructor to handle training for just one person. Go ahead and start emailing now and confirm details of training well before coming down.

For newly certified divers, Grand Cayman has a multitude of dive sites no deeper than 60ft. You can even see the top edge of the Cayman Wall which starts at 45-70ft and plunges thousands of feet into the depths.

[BartBe]

Drew Sailblum...

Do you have any advice on finding a buddy while i'm on the island ?

[Drew Sailbum]

but you can hang out at shore dive sites and just keep asking. Be up front about your training level, and you can probably hook up fairly easy.

You can hire a dive guide at most of those shops, but that increases the cost substantially. For about the same amount, you might can get a two tank boat dive.

[fred]

This is general reply and thank you note for those of you who were kind enough to reply to my original posting. After much searching, I found a package trip to Cuba for the Christmas period which is at a very modest price, with excelllent diving and no single supplement. I would be pleased to provide more information to anyone who is interested but be aware that, although the company works in various countries, my costs are from Montreal, Canada.