Best option in April for a single diver within a $1,000 flight from US?

[JDelage]

All - I'm researching where to go for a trip in April. My goal is to max dive time and dive quality. I want to stay within a $1,000 flight (roughly) from the US. I am not flexible on dates so I cannot wait for a special. I cannot afford a liveaboard at this point. I will be traveling solo and relying on dive operators (I don't want to have to rely on meeting compatible strangers). I'd like to dive >3 times a day for a about a week.

Right now I'm considering Cozumel and the South coast of the Dominican Republic. I was in Coz about 10 years ago, so there's that. On the other hand, I get the impression that Coz is probably much better than the DR.

Am I on the right track? Is there anything else I should consider?

Many thanks! Joss

 

[diversteve]

From Seattle Belize might be an option. Looks like about 7-9 hrs. thru DFW both ways for about $750. Short inexpensive flight to Ambergris Caye or there's a ferry.

Can't help much with dive operators/lodging as I've never been there. Ramon's seems popular and I've seen Mayan Princess mentioned on dive travel sites.

 

[herman]

If you want max bottom time then go to Bonaire. 6 or more dives a day are possible if you are up to it....not as easy as it use to be.
My average dive is 75 minutes with 90 minute ones common. It's shore diving but you are only limited by your NDL and endurance. Even if the flights are a little higher than other places, the extra dive time ($120 buys you 5 days of all the tanks you can stand and free nitrox), that more than balances out any higher air fairs.

 

[JDelage]

Do you have a good operator to recommend?

 

[herman]

On Boniare, sure. Most any of them are fine, I do not know of a single one of them that I would tell you to avoid....well one owner is an ass but even they are not bad. That said, if I were to choose a couple it would be either Buddy Dive (3 locations) or Wannadivebonaire (at least 3 or 4 locations). Most resorts have an affiliated shop, most of the time it's just best if you use it to make your life easy.

When looking at airfare, besides direct flights, check flying into Curacao (CUR) then taking an island hopper across. There are almost hourly commuter flights between the islands. The cost is $100-150 range RT.

 

[diversteve]

Everything herman said^.

One other advantage Bonaire has is that just about everybody buys the shore dive pkg. including a small 4-door truck. So it's fairly easy for a couple of divers to accommodate a third for local shore diving. And most everybody there is a diver or related to one. Almost all the bars, restaurants, the Houston red-eye on Fri night/Sat morning, will be full of divers. We had two potential dive buddies by the time our flight took off - my buddy's t-shirt encouraged people to ask.

Also while waiting for my buddy at both Bonaire Dive/Adventure and Habitat - I was asked if I needed a buddy. We dove with Toucan Divers at the Plaza that week - anytime there was a single diver on the boat they were encouraged to stay near the group or pair up with the DM - probably the best idea since they find all the good stuff.

All the ways to get there: Info Bonaire - Airline Information and Connections

One advantage Curacao has is that there are shops at almost all the shore dive sites. But that doesn't necessarily promote finding a buddy. The only place we were asked there was at Porto Mari - a locals beach in addition to being a great dive site. I expect Lions Dive might be another good place but I've not stayed there. The difference being that on Curacao most resorts offer diving - on Bonaire many of the waterfront resorts are dive resorts. At several of the shore dive sites we were the only ones diving for several hours.

---------- Post added December 29th, 2013 at 06:24 AM ----------

My other suggestion might be one of the AI resorts on either Roatan or Grand Cayman. Since they're more isolated, they're almost all divers generally. Cayman's pretty expensive though. One advantage to Roatan is you won't need a car. Several of them offer airport transfers as part of the price.

Look at Cocoview, Reef House Resort, Fantasy Island Beach Resort or Anthony's Key on Roatan. Barefoot Cay is a little more upscale and smaller - they also get non-divers there so might be harder to find a buddy. Sunset House or Cobalt Coast on GC. All also have shore dive options right off their property. If you're looking for something to do at night, AKR is 5 mins. by cab ($6) from Roatan's West End which is where all the nightlife is. Similarly Sunset House is walking distance to downtown Georgetown.

 

[Hawkwood]

On Boniare, sure. Most any of them are fine, I do not know of a single one of them that I would tell you to avoid....well one owner is an ass but even they are not bad....

Too funny...I have no doubt who you mean!

 

[robint]

I agree about Bonaire, but as a single it might end up being more expensive than you want. Just my opinion after 2 trips there. Food and car rental tend to bump the price up, even when cooking for yourself. Not saying it isn't good, but might be more than you want to spend.

Cozumel is a good option but you will have to look for packages that give you a good single rate. There are several places that can get you a 3-dive a day package but shore diving is limited.

My personal favorite, especially for singles, is Scuba Club Cozumel. You pay for room-2 boat dives-food-unlimited shore diving as a package and can add on more boat dives there. No need for rental car and you are walking distance from town. We know several singles who go there often because it works so well for them. Everyone there is a diver or with a diver so very social and friendly place geared totally around diving. Eat -dive - eat - dive - eat... just like a liveaboard in many respects.

Check out my website for info on my trips to both Bonaire and Cozumel.

April is a good time for both locations. For Cozumel it is the beginning of the summer/off-season so prices are cheaper.

 

[DjDiverDan]

Just my personal opinion, but you can do better on Cozumel than the package deals by booking lodging and diving separately and eating out on your own. Cozumel has several very cheap hotels - you can stay for as little as $25 US a night, if you are not looking for luxury. And there are several dive ops that will book you for 4 dives a day, 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. And Cozumel has a lot of very good, very reasonable local restaurants where you can eat very well for very little - $25 a day or even less - provided you like local cuisine. And if you stay downtown (which is where the cheap hotels and the cheap local restaurants are), and pick a dive op that will either pick you up downtown, or provide a ride to/from the Caleta, you can even avoid most taxi rides. I never liked the AI option on Cozumel because in my experience, with the exception of the high-end All-Inclusive Resorts, the food was almost always terrible. You could almost always do better in terms of price, quality, and variety by eating at the local places.

 

[JDelage]

Thank you all. If I were to go to Cozumel, I would rent a place on airbnb and eat out. I can easily live a week on 'tacos al pastor' & other street food. The nice thing about traveling solo is that I can live on the cheap.