What kind of dive traveler are you?

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I was talking to a travel agent and she was telling me that there are two types of dive-travelers. There are those who believe in finding a particular destination and then diving the hell out of that destination until the day they die. They pick a place after a few trips and then repeatedly go to the same place over and over. Such folks don’t have a resume filled with dive destinations but the places that they have been to, they have dived quite extensively. Then, there is another type of diver who does not want to go to the same place twice. These guys want to go to a different place every year.


Which category are you in and how many times do you have to dive a particular destination to not want to travel there again? Just curious. Thanks.

 

[mikeycanuk]

We are constantly moving, the world is a BIG place! Did Cayman Brac twice though.

 

[nimoh]

I fall into both. I return to my favorites, but sprinkle in new places.

My favorite is the Cenotes in Mexico, but have been diving in Lake Ontario and Florida caves recently.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I think your travel agent's observation is spot-on with the two kinds of divers.

My wife and I fall into the category of making an effort to try many different places. There are a few that we keep returning to, but we only return to them because we also manage to visit a new place once every year or two.

 

[nimoh]

It's a pretty easy statement to make, since there are no alternatives to being a dive-traveler in category 1, category 2 or both. As a new diver, you do your first trip and you fall into category 1 since you have only been to one place. On your next trip, return to the same place and you remain in category 1. Go to a different place and you end up in category 2. Third trip (and subsequent), you could end up in category 1, category 2, or both...but there isn't any other category you could be in.

As a corollary, there are 2 types of divers. Those that only dive within their home country, and those that dive outside their home country, and those that do both...unless you would call doing both a type 3

 

[LarryHinDC]

I used to be in the "keep moving" category, but I'm afraid I've fallen into the other. My wife and I took a trip to Saba and fell in love with the place and, especially, the people there. We subsequently bought a cottage there and, while we talk a lot about going other places, we usually end up going back there. We love the diving there and it has great hiking, too.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I've only been to Cozumel, and do see myself going back. But I do plan on going to a lot of other places as well, some of which I might return in the future, others I will not.

 

[Lorenzoid]

It's a pretty easy statement to make, since there are no alternatives to being a dive-traveler in category 1, category 2 or both. As a new diver, you do your first trip and you fall into category 1 since you have only been to one place. On your next trip, return to the same place and you remain in category 1. Go to a different place and you end up in category 2. Third trip (and subsequent), you could end up in category 1, category 2, or both...but there isn't any other category you could be in.

I think for the question to make any sense, it really has to apply only to divers who have taken at least a handful of trips and have made some decisions about what they want to do in the future based on those trips.

Also, I interpreted the question as excluding a diver from category 1 if the diver has made a conscious decision to visit a variety of new places, even if the diver returns now and then to somewhere he especially liked. As I interpreted it, that's a category 2 diver.

Whatever.

 

[gypsyjim]

Type #3. A bit of both.

Bonaire, many, many times. Coz, more than a few times. Same for Turks, and for St Thomas.

We also love to get to dive new destinations we have heard of but never had the chance to explore ourselves.

---------- Post added March 5th, 2014 at 06:00 PM ----------

For @8 years it has been one week each year on Bonaire, and a week somewhere else.

 

[Phil_C]

I definitely fall into the first category at the moment for diving. I travel for work and am always going back to the same island (Cyprus) - usually once a month - so I take my dive gear and dive a regular set of sites within an hour or so of my hotel all the time. Because I am away so much with work, when I am not away for work I very seldom travel to dive, as my wife doesn't dive I feel it would be unfair, so we tend to go other places which are not dive orientated.

For our 'recreational travels' we have a world hit list and are slowly working our way through them, so although we have favourite regions, such as Scandinavia, that we do go back to more than once we don't stick to the same resorts or countries. When I stop travelling for work and don't have warm water Mediterranean diving on tap on my doorstep, then I suspect I would then do the same for diving, different places and experiences with an occasional favourite. - P