List of dive destinations to not go to...

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CAPTAIN SINBAD

Contributor
Messages
2,997
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Location
Woodbridge VA
# of dives
200 - 499
This is written purely from the perspective of a US based East coast diver. Everyone talks about places to go to before you die so I thought it would be a great idea to compile a list of places to not go to. The reason is not that these places are bad diving but mostly because the type of diving experience they offer can be had for a cheaper price somewhere else. Feel free to add to this list based on your experience too.

1. Caribbean: Most destinations here need to be avoided because the dive prices seem to be up there with the worlds best destinations but the quality of diving is not. The only exception is Bonaire where cost / dive evens out as it allows unlimited diving. Cozumel could also be one of the places to go because it offers Cenote dives along with the reef dive experience and there are not a lot of places that enable you to combine both in one trip. The rest of the Caribbean (Belize, Caymans etc) would force the tourist to pay more for the same type of dives that one can have in Bonaire (or even Florida Keys).

2. Australia: Needs to be avoided, once again for high prices. Great Barrier reef is "Great" for being the largest reef but not necessarily the prettiest. Better reef diving can be done in Indonesia for a cheaper price tag.

3. Hawaii: Needs to be avoided because the lack of color makes diving bland! The large animal encounters that it boasts can be had for a cheaper price in Bahamas and also in Azores (Which has a volcano too).

4. Florida Gulf Coast: Now I am not too entirely convinced on this myself but the overall perception tends to be that the best diving is on the Atlantic coast. For someone who is visiting Florida only for diving, it would be a waste of $$$ to leave the Atlantic coast and go West to dive the Gulf coast. Exception to this would be technical dives on the Oriskany.

5. Galapagos: Once again I have to force myself to write this. There is an iconic value attached to this place but Socorro and Cocos offer the same kind of animal encounters without the price tag. If one could do both the Cocos liveaboard and the Soccorro liveaboard for the same price as one Galapagos trip then Galapagos loses on price vs quality to the combined trip value of both these areas combined.

6. Virgin Islands: Reviews generally say that for diving alone, this is not in the same league as rest of the Caribbean.

Just thinking loud and trying to generate a controversy :crafty:. Did I miss something?
 
This is written purely from the perspective of a US based East coast diver. Everyone talks about places to go to before you die so I thought it would be a great idea to compile a list of places to not go to. The reason is not that these places are bad diving but mostly because the type of diving experience they offer can be had for a cheaper price somewhere else. Feel free to add to this list based on your experience too.

1. Caribbean: Most destinations here need to be avoided because the dive prices seem to be up there with the worlds best destinations but the quality of diving is not. The only exception is Bonaire where cost / dive evens out as it allows unlimited diving. Cozumel could also be one of the places to go because it offers Cenote dives along with the reef dive experience and there are not a lot of places that enable you to combine both in one trip. The rest of the Caribbean (Belize, Caymans etc) would force the tourist to pay more for the same type of dives that one can have in Bonaire (or even Florida Keys).

2. Australia: Needs to be avoided, once again for high prices. Great Barrier reef is "Great" for being the largest reef but not necessarily the prettiest. Better reef diving can be done in Indonesia for a cheaper price tag.

3. Hawaii: Needs to be avoided because the lack of color makes diving bland! The large animal encounters that it boasts can be had for a cheaper price in Bahamas and also in Azores (Which has a volcano too).

4. Florida Gulf Coast: Now I am not too entirely convinced on this myself but the overall perception tends to be that the best diving is on the Atlantic coast. For someone who is visiting Florida only for diving, it would be a waste of $$$ to leave the Atlantic coast and go West to dive the Gulf coast. Exception to this would be technical dives on the Oriskany.

5. Galapagos: Once again I have to force myself to write this. There is an iconic value attached to this place but Socorro and Cocos offer the same kind of animal encounters without the price tag. If one could do both the Cocos liveaboard and the Soccorro liveaboard for the same price as one Galapagos trip then Galapagos loses on price vs quality to the combined trip value of both these areas combined.

6. Virgin Islands: Reviews generally say that for diving alone, this is not in the same league as rest of the Caribbean.

Just thinking loud and trying to generate a controversy :crafty:. Did I miss something?

Gosh I hope no one comes along and says diving the Exumas Bahamas aboard the Aqua Cat in the April time frame is the worst thing since Obamacare...

Oh, and I CAN say I've dove the Azores! Never saw any large animals while diving though...cute young women, awesome wine and food however! LOL
 
This is written purely from the perspective of a US based East coast diver. Everyone talks about places to go to before you die so I thought it would be a great idea to compile a list of places to not go to. The reason is not that these places are bad diving but mostly because the type of diving experience they offer can be had for a cheaper price somewhere else. Feel free to add to this list based on your experience too.

1. Caribbean: Most destinations here need to be avoided because the dive prices seem to be up there with the worlds best destinations but the quality of diving is not. The only exception is Bonaire where cost / dive evens out as it allows unlimited diving. Cozumel could also be one of the places to go because it offers Cenote dives along with the reef dive experience and there are not a lot of places that enable you to combine both in one trip. The rest of the Caribbean (Belize, Caymans etc) would force the tourist to pay more for the same type of dives that one can have in Bonaire (or even Florida Keys).

I disagree that Bonaire would be considered a place to go, but the rest of the Caribbean is not. Turks and Caicos is well known for big animals, and beautiful corals. I was a dive instructor in St. Lucia, Saba, St. Kitts, and I would rank them very high, although large animal encounters is not all that. Mona, the Caymans, the Southwest of Puerto Rico, and St. Croix have a large diversity of macro life, and exquisite wall diving. The Bahamas offer anything you want from Sharks to frogfish. The Caribbean would be the choice for those who don't want to travel for 2 days to get to where they are going.

2. Australia: Needs to be avoided, once again for high prices. Great Barrier reef is "Great" for being the largest reef but not necessarily the prettiest. Better reef diving can be done in Indonesia for a cheaper price tag.

I see you haven't yet had the opportunity to take the SpoilSport to the Coral Sea. While the GBR itself is somewhat shopworn, the Coral Sea is excellent. The last time I was there they were experiencing a bleaching event, but I'm told that it has healed up.

3. Hawaii: Needs to be avoided because the lack of color makes diving bland! The large animal encounters that it boasts can be had for a cheaper price in Bahamas and also in Azores (Which has a volcano too).

And Azores is easier to get to than Hawaii? You can have any kind of diving you want in Hawaii. I might not go as a destination from the East Coast, but I'd surely stop for a week on my way to Indonesia.

4. Florida Gulf Coast: Now I am not too entirely convinced on this myself but the overall perception tends to be that the best diving is on the Atlantic coast. For someone who is visiting Florida only for diving, it would be a waste of $$$ to leave the Atlantic coast and go West to dive the Gulf coast. Exception to this would be technical dives on the Oriskany.

Depends on what you want. The Gulf coast offers excellent spearfishing, lots of natural and artificial reef wrecks. As far as price goes, the Destin Jetties are a place to go between manatee dives that has excellent life for free.

5. Galapagos: Once again I have to force myself to write this. There is an iconic value attached to this place but Socorro and Cocos offer the same kind of animal encounters without the price tag. If one could do both the Cocos liveaboard and the Soccorro liveaboard for the same price as one Galapagos trip then Galapagos loses on price vs quality to the combined trip value of both these areas combined.

But it's Galapagos.

6. Virgin Islands: Reviews generally say that for diving alone, this is not in the same league as rest of the Caribbean.

Just thinking loud and trying to generate a controversy :crafty:. Did I miss something?

You're reading reviews. You need to look at the bigger picture. There are few destinations in the Caribbean that cannot be accessed in a day, where going to some of your more exotic destinations take 2 or more days to get to, then another 2 days to get over the jet lag. For those with a week's vacation, flying to Raja Ampat is a once in a lifetime 3 week trip. I'd spend some time looking at more than strictly the diving before you dismiss a destination out of hand, after all, you wanted to rent a charter boat to go look at Maine shipwrecks. There is better color on Hawaiian reefs than in Maine. IJS.
 
SINBAD, are you trolling? Very bizarre post particularly since you haven't been to most (if any) .
 
SINBAD, are you trolling? Very bizarre post particularly since you haven't been to most (if any) .

When you choose to go to a destination for the very first time, how do you make your selection? Do you read reviews or do you select destinations in strict alphabetical order with no research? What makes you select one over the other for the very first time? Do you close your eyes and drop your finger on the map? Obviously when you reject certain places, are you not going through the same process in your head that I just posted above?
 
None of those places are, by themselves, places I would not go. Your comparative reasoning paints a pretty dismal picture of some otherwise wonderful spots. Perhaps a more objective list should start with your city's water treatment plant...but then you might catch flak from the commercial guys.

However, I second the notion to avoid the FL gulf coast. There is nothing worth seeing here, not even fish. And you can forget about any fish large enough to spear, they don't exist here - at all - they're all on the Atlantic side :wink:
 
I think it is an interesting idea for a thread, sometimes when reading positive reviews of places it is difficult to discern accurate reviews from marketing ploys.

However, I have only been to 3 of the places that you mention, so will only comment on those.

Carribean - If Cenotes are your thing, you are far better off on the mainland, between Playa Del Carmen and Tulum, rather than Cozumel.

Austrailia - I was not certified when I was in Australia, but had a fantastic dive on a very shallow reef as part of a discover scuba.

Florida - Gulf coast has the Spiegel Grove and the Duane, both were very cool dives, and Molasses Reef was a lot of fun too.

As for places to avoid?

I don't really have any. The only time I was disappointed on a dive was in Paraty, Brazil since I was there after some strong rains and visibility was down to about 10 feet. Visibility is usually much better, so I was really just unlucky more than anything.

---------- Post added September 9th, 2013 at 03:10 PM ----------

None of those places are, by themselves, places I would not go. Your comparative reasoning paints a pretty dismal picture of some otherwise wonderful spots. Perhaps a more objective list should start with your city's water treatment plant...but then you might catch flak from the commercial guys.

However, I second the notion to avoid the FL gulf coast. There is nothing worth seeing here, not even fish. And you can forget about any fish large enough to spear, they don't exist here - at all - they're all on the Atlantic side :wink:


If you receive any flak from the commercial guys, ask them if they would dive in the water treatment plant for fun (i.e. no pay) :)
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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