Dive Center vs Self Booking

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DiverDean59

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Messages
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Location
Virginia
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50 - 99
I am a new diver and tossing around in my mind about booking a dive vacation through my local dive center vs bookin a trip on my own. My 12 year old son are currently the only divers. My wife and other children are not currently certified. We want to book a vacation that would be enjoyable for the entire family. Plus we want the most cost effective way to book the trip.

Any input or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance and Merry Christmas.
 
Bookings thru your local dive center, photo center or dive clubs are usually for dive only or mainly dive vacations.

My suggestion to you would be to find a place you want to go that has nice diving and book on your own. You can always ask the resort you chose what dive center they work with and call them to book the dives you want. That way you can pick a place that has activities that the wife will enjoy too.

What kind of stuff does your wife and other family members enjoy?

TOM
 
In my experience booking through a dive center is a good way to go on your first dive trip or if you want to travel with some more or less know other divers. Or to have a "guide" to a new place. On the other hand, expect to pay between $100-300pp more when using a dive shop. The cost saving doing it yourself can be considerable. The other "problem" with going with a dive shop is most (all) of the people on the trip are there to dive, not do land activities.
I have had good luck taking a middle of the road approch. I use a dive oriented travel agent ( http://www.caradonna.com/caradonna/Default.aspx ) to book most of my trips. I don't pay the dive shop preimium, get someone who understands dive travel and if you get a few more to go along, you can often get one or more rooms free. If your wife and other kids like hanging out on the beach and snorkeling, look at Curacao. There are a lot of really nice wide sandy beaches that also offer some really good (and easy) shore diving. Perfect for new and inexperienced divers with the advantage of having nice beaches to leave the land lubbers on while underwater.
 
Some dive shops have partnered with travel agents to assist in booking. You can come into the dive shop and get advise on travel. You can then call the travel agent that the dive shop uses and book your own trip but using the dive shop as a reference. You pay the same rate either way but just get a travel agent that is familiar with booking trips for divers. If it is a dive shop guided trip, meaning I go along on the trip it costs a little more as you are paying for the trip and the instructors/divemasters time as a guide. But you can also use a suggested travel agent independant of an official "shop" trip and just get the benefit of a dive friendly travel agent that has been proven.
 
This doesn't answer your question, but...

In the January 2007 issue of Scuba Diving magazine, they have a listing for the top destinations for diving. One of the categories is "Best Destinations to Take Kids".
1) Cozumel, Mexico
2) Maui, Hawaii
3) Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
4) Key West, Florida Keys
5) Cancun, Mexico

These don't seem to be listed on their site (http://www.scubadiving.com/top100), but pair these with another category, like "Top Snorkeling" or "Best for Beginners", and look for matches. This way, you find a great dive destination that won't leave your family bored in the hotel.

I would then call Caradonna Dive Adventures (listed above) and see what they have to offer. And I would call one or two other travel agents to see if they have anything. At the worst, you may get a good deal on your travel and/or lodgings.
 
DiverDean59:
Plus we want the most cost effective way to book the trip.

That probably means booking yourself. The first thing I'de look at is what's around local. Or at least in your half of the country. Florida has good topside activities for the non divers. Great diving for you and the kid. The next few months are a good time to see manatees in the springs. The non-divers could enjoy that too.
Freshwater diving in manatee country is pretty good too!
 
First thing is to decide WHERE in the world you want to go.

If it is a tourist related area with diving call several of the dive shops in the area and find out what hotels they have working reationships with. Often you can get enough of a break on the hotel/dive combo to cover the extra cost of the non-divers in the hotel. Fla Keys often works that way, as does several shops between Miami and Vero. Keys is easier diving for beginners. Coz has this arrangement almost built in as the shops there work with several hotels, but there is not as much to do on the island for the beach bound, unless they happen to really like beaches.

In any case doing your reserch up front pays off big time if done BEFORE you start burning up phone lines.

For easy and awesome diving with a laid back atmosphere and beach side good island eco based experiences Small Hope Bay Lodge is a good bet if you can stand the isolation, top end island food, and general lack of electronics. That last part on top of the diving is what I really like. No room phones & no ever-on TV is a major plus as far as I'm concerned. This is laid back at its best!

FT
 
The only real plus of going through a shop is for ease of finding familiar dive buddies when you go, but thats not really an issue if you have a wife or child to dive with.
 
A dive shop might be able to find you a better deal. I have had divers come to me to setup a trip for them, and it usually saves them more money than if they did it by themselves. Im not just talking about a group or one of our trips either, Im talking sometimes, like yourselves, two divers, a family and so on. It might not hurt to check with your LDS....they might be able to give you a better deal. Or let me know where you want to go and when and I will give you a price and options in less than 48 hrs

Mike
 

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