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If you get started right away, you could turn your non-diving wife into diving version 1.0 just in time for vacation. Then I’d suggest a Blackbeards trip and add on a few extra days.
Dive, dive, dive!!!
Win, win, win!!!
Sorry I departed from the original criteria, I just couldn’t help it.
my wife claims she cant even swim never mind dive. . .
but after convincing her to just hang on to me with borrowed fins, snorkel, and mask, (and life jacket), she came back from the vacation and got her own fins, mask and snorkel.
we returned to the Caribbean and this time to cozumel and the snorkling was terrific, the beach at Occidental Grand was great (especially for her) and i'd like to hear a single person with first hand occidental grand location scuba say a single negative thing ...
any of the cozumel dive shops will pick you up right on the OG dock and you will most likely be the last one picked up on the boat since it is one of the more southern resorts (did i mention all inclusive) so the popular dive sites are super close to the resort and you are not on the boat long prior to being in the water ...
meanwhile back at the resort, they have great food (american hamburgers during lunch that taste like real american hamburgers ... (not kidding) as well as terrific food from many different cultures with fresh fish everyday. they have shows at night, they have huge showers in the room (would come back from a dive and get right in the shower with all of my gear and shower it down with fresh water) that can fit multiple people (yes we tested this) ... its far enough from town that it is quiet and family oriented but you can just grab a taxi to run up to town ... or rent a vehicle to drive around the island (which can be accomplished in one day) seeing the "locals beach", the tequila "factory" the local ruins, shops in town, etc.
the main restaurant for dinner changes their culture of food each night to curtail from repetition
also, i believe there is a saturday NON STOP flight from nj to coz ... but only on saturdays ...
the only question would be, what is your relative definition for bargain? (last june i paid $1500 total soup to nuts for me) $1500 for my wifey, and asked my aunt and grandma to join us and they got a suite in a different building which was a slightly different set up but they paid closer to $2800 total for the both of them ... (for 10 days though)
not sure if i can give you more info but feel free to ask,
oh, a few more things, you WILL see sharks, you WILL see turtles, you WILL see puffers and octopus and eel if you opt for at least two night dives ... night dives are S I C K !!!!! in COZ
i dove with three different dive shops while down there for 10 days and would be happy to tell you about my various experiences. some of them are cookie cutter and some of them are actually well run.
with whatever you decide, please keep your wife as top priority and diving as second ... the best diving can easily be ruined by your return to the dock only to find a miserable loved one ... i do NOT speak from my own experience, but was wise enough to learn from others ...
my wife came back and convinced the rest of her family to go next time ... cozumel is safe, fun, can be quiet, romantic, and as relaxing as you want ... and as for the person talking about the beachesin an earlier post, our beach was terrific ... but it wasnt on an $80 a night resort (or was it?) 1500 by 10 days - airfare with food and drink included ???
oh and i just asked my wife if she had anything negative to report and she said only the airport was bogus with the taxi situation ... next time we would do the car rental for $120 a week ... it pays for itself after you get ripped by the airports own taxi service plus any taxis later ... (yes the local laws only allow certain taxis to take people "out" of the airport)
I'd go to Canada. The St. Lawrence is warm by then, the diving is great, the towns are a ton of fun, and Brockville has festivals and events almost every weekend, all summer.
You could probably drive there from NJ in less time that it takes to get to the airport, park, get through security and wait for your plane.
Much as I'd like to be patriotic, I wouldn't recommend the British Virgin Islands for those on a tight budget. Within the Caribbean, Cayman and Bahamas are also quite expensive places to stay, so if things are tight I'd look further down the chain.
The USVI is cheaper (and flights are much cheaper), so that might be an option. I have never done it, but I hear the wall diving in St Croix is supposed to be very good. St John is a lovely island (look out on it from my office window), but never done any diving there. I know there are St Thomian dive instructors who post on the site regularly.
Normally I'd recommend the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao) for good, cheap diving (it is mostly shore based, and certainly in Bonaire you can get "free refill" deals and get in up to 5 dives a day (or so one of my instructors says), plus there are direct flights). But if you are from the US, all the prices will be in Euros and the exchange rate is a bit rough at the moment.
There are some cheaper Caribbean locations more off the beaten track (like St Kitts, St Lucia etc.) which have nice diving and are cheaper, but it usually involves a longer journey and so for a shorter trip like yours it is probably not worth it.
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Rhone Man British Virgin Islands
"Divers go down more often." Warning: This member is known to make flippant comments in his posts. Don't take them literally.
Then I’d suggest a Blackbeards trip and add on a few extra days.
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