New diver wants to take a trip in sept

[Pyro_]

So I have a week off at the end of September and am strongly considering doing a diving trip. Would be going by myself.

i am a fairly new diver with 12 dives. Two of those on a discovery dive in Cuba and the rest from when I got my OW cert in belize earlier this year

budget would be in the 1500-2000 range including flight out of Toronto or buffalo

any thoughts on places I should check out? Would be willing to consider just about anywhere

 

[diversteve]

It's more difficult because you're a single diver.

Reef House Resort on Roatan has single AI rates. $1200 + 16% tax. There's also a good shore dive there. Cocoview with a single supplement will be closer to $1400.
Coconut Tree Divers, Reef Gliders, West End Divers, Native Sons are options with any # of rental properties on the West End. CTD lists some resort options here. Dives are around 10/$300. Food is cheap. No car needed everything is walking or cabs are cheap.
Deep Blue Resort on Utila - might be more expensive/harder to get to. It's a full AI for $1150/wk. It's 5mins. from town by boat so no car needed there either. Plus you might see Whale Sharks in Sept. Nice place, good food, kind of quiet.
Villablanca Garden Hotel on Cozumel with Dive Paradise - my friend did 15 dives/room there for $800.
Probably Curacao - many apts. rent by the night not PP. There's also escorted shore diving with the Dive Bus but it's not cheap. You'd need/want a car there as cabs are high. Maybe at Atlantis Apts. - Atlantis Diving is on-site. And a shore dive.
Off-water properties on Bonaire. Lagoen Hill is extremely reasonable since it's two miles from the water. You could likely find a buddy at any of the dive resorts, most restaurants, the flight inbound etc. Cars are a little more since ABCarrental has mandatory CDW now.
Maybe a bundled deal with Stuart Coves on Nassau. Hotels on Paradise Island or Cable Beach can be pricey. Look at Orange Hill Inn - they have single pricing. Coves will pick you up for diving but it's 20 mins. to downtown so you may want a car.

At $2000 including flights places you probably can't afford:

Grand Cayman
Turks & Caicos
I'm guessing Freeport/Grand Bahama also but not sure.
BVI's
probably USVI's also - more expensive than I thought.

Remember it's hurricane season. I'd say chances are minimal in Roatan, Curacao or Bonaire. Roatan hasn't been hit for a while and the ABC's are below the hurricane belt.

 

[Scubagolf]

ScubaClub Cozumel. All-inclusive with nice accomodations, good food, good boats, good DMs. You can usually do 3 dives a day, but at the end of Sept there may not be a full house which may make the third dive "iffy." I think a week will be about $1,000 for the room, food, and diving. The odds of catching a hurricane during a given week is remote.

 

[Doc]

Out of Canada, there is some charter operation (Sunjet? Funjet? Sunwing? Snickerdoodle?) that packages super cheap flights and more than reasonable resort accommodations. The stuff I had seen in the past was to Roatan's offerings- isn't the top rung diving resorts, but if price is an issue they had their following. They were running a lot of people down to Roatan and putting them in Fantasy Island and Henry Morgan, etc.

 

[gypsyjim]

For budget it is hard to beat Cozumel, if you shop around and find a good deal. Diving is more often cattle call type, and somewhat deep, and can involve very strong currents that may be a bit much for beginning divers, IMO.

Bonaire is a better dive for new divers, simply because there is a lot to see, and you do not need to deal with deep, high current conditions like you often do on Coz. If you do a shore diving package you can get good deals too, because you do not need to pay $$ for boat diving, which can result in a huge savings over other dive vacation destinations! Do one or two boat dives, to get the feel, and then go shore diving!!!

Traveling solo always complicates picking up resort bargains.

---------- Post added August 9th, 2013 at 09:11 AM ----------

Instead of traveling completely solo, have you thought of posting a thread, to see if you could pull another diver or a few, together, and shop for a group deal?

I just did a group of 28 to Bonaire, and we saved a LOT of $$, and had a great time. You get to meet new divers/friends that way too!

 

[Coconut Divers]

It depends on what kind of a Hotel you are looking for because you can get a room here in Cancun for 50U$ or for 500US a night. A 2T dive is about 70U$ minus the package deals.

Check it out!

 

[Pyro_]

Thanks for the ideas guys, i will check them out.

I know it makes it more difficult going solo, but unfortunately that is how i travel most of the time, especially since most of the people i know are not interested in the activities i normally do.

As for what kind of accomidations, i am not too picky, more often than not when i am traveling i stay at backpacker hostels or camp.

 

[DeputyDan]

Scuba Club Cozumel will meet your needs.
It's also a good introduction to Cozumel.

 

[herbdb]

If you pick a location within the North Atlantic Hurricane Belt, be sure to get trip insurance that will cover you if a Tropical Storm pops up.

The Dutch Antilles will usually be OK because it is far south, so Aruba, Curaco or Bonaire would be my recommendations.

 

[tkaelin]

Have you thought about a blackbeard dive live aboard?