Best place to go during Thanksgiving Week (End of November)

[gyselle29]

Hi there,

We are looking to go diving in Central/South America for about a week over the Thanksgiving week.
We are looking for somewhere with a nice beach so that we can spend our surface time on - no liveaboards.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Cheers,
Gyselle

 

[Doc]

That time of year, due to common storm paths, look at (from "left to right"):

Utila
Roatan
Guanaja
San Andres
Aruba
Curacao
Bonaire
Los Roques

Before anyone can legitimately toss out any reasoned ideas, they would have to know your specific desires for the number of dives you want daily.

 

[diversteve]

I might add mainland Belize around the northern Placencia/Dangriga area to that list.

There's no nice beaches on Utila though. Not really...unless you want to share with the Sand Flies.

 

[Doc]

My experience (and a perusal of NWS Storm Track data) shows me that "common" November storm path put Belize and Cozumel in the area of high strike potential. The list I proffered are of islands that are not "storm proof", but those that merely lie (just) to the South of common storm tracks.



diversteve does sharpen the point about beach access though. I was just focusing on weather, which- anywhere you decide to go, will be iffy. Plan on rain, at the very least.

 

[gyselle29]

That time of year, due to common storm paths, look at (from "left to right"):

Utila
Roatan
Guanaja
San Andres
Aruba
Curacao
Bonaire
Los Roques

Before anyone can legitimately toss out any reasoned ideas, they would have to know your specific desires for the number of dives you want daily.

Thank you! That is a good list to start with.
We will initially looking at Nicaragua or Colombia.
We were looking to do 2 -3 dives a day. My husband has about 30 dives so we are looking at intermediate or easy dive sites - nothing too advanced.

Thank you.

 

[DiamondD]

Bonaire except for the hanging on the beach part. Buddy Dive has a tiny man made beach right next to the swim up bar that worked perfectly for me.

 

[diver 85]

psst........Doc, don't worry about hurricanes the week of T'givin'.....even Mitch was a month earlier than that(T'givin')-----& everything was up & running on Roatan by then.....

 

[diversteve]

Curacao has a lot of nice beaches. And easy, low-current shore diving with simple entries - most right off the beach. There's also several dive guide operations - Bas Harts or the Dive Bus get recommended often. See them here: Shore Diving Site Listing for: Curacao
It's also below the storm track in case the season is later this year. Piscadera Bay is a resort area close to downtown with some nicer beaches. And several dive operators at the resorts there. Plus it's still in north Willemstad - once you drive 10mins. farther west things get really quiet and food is harder to find. Curacao Travel- Caribbean, Curacao, Dutch Caribbean

There really are no good beaches on Bonaire. The best is at Harbour Village Resort but their house reef isn't great. Or the Plaza Resort south of town has a good one and also a known shore dive. Most beaches off Bonaire eventually turn into ironshore/coral rubble though. Buddy Dive drops some sand on top of the ironshore and calls it a beach. Except that it's 15-20' above the water on ironshore. http://www.buddydive.com/images/resort/resort_01.jpg

If you wind/kite surf Lac Bay is pretty nice. Too shallow to dive plus there's all those windsurfers to dodge... http://www.tourismbonaire.com/en/

West Bay beach on Roatan is also very nice. Several shops boat dive right from it, Bananarama, Infinity Divers, Mayan Divers etc. The cruise ship excursion operators think the beach is nice also though so it can get a little crowded. http://www.vacaybuddy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/westbay_beach.jpg

 

[Jash the Explorer]

Thank you! That is a good list to start with.
We will initially looking at Nicaragua or Colombia.
We were looking to do 2 -3 dives a day. My husband has about 30 dives so we are looking at intermediate or easy dive sites - nothing too advanced.

Thank you.

Good choices. I can attest to the wonders of Nicaragua because I was there twice with my family and then with my friends on my second visit, and I gotta say that it's a real beaut. Colombia, I haven't yet (I will soon) but I heard a lot of vacation stories from my friends that it's a diver's paradise too. So do what you gotta do gyselle29 and make the most out of it.

 

[gyselle29]

Thank you all! So many dive places, not enough vacation time!