Trying to get back into the fins
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zeppelindiver
Contributor
Take a look at Roatan, Utila & the Bay Islands. With regard to cost there are few places in Central America or the Caribbean where the diving is as affordable as the Bay Islands. From what I have seen, Roatan & Utila have the lowest cost per boat dive anywhere in the Caribbean, and possibly all of North & Central America.
There is a wide variety of accommodations available, from hostels to all-inclusive high-end resorts to boutique hotels & B&B’s. There are also over 30 dive operators, both independents & attached to resorts, and you can find pretty much any size & type that you like. You should be able to find great deals on accommodation & diving packages. A good place to look for deals & info about Roatan & Utila dive shops, hotels etc. is actually on Facebook, many of the resorts & dive operators, especially the smaller ones, primarily use Facebook to communicate and do not keep their websites very current. The Facebook pages however are often current right up to that day.
As far as diving Roatan is concerned, like many places you have to know where to go to get the best diving. The diving on the south shore & east end of Roatan is better than in the West End/West Bay area in our opinion, however that is a matter of personal preference, the diving around the west end of the island is also terrific. There is not much in the way of large marine life, this is not where you come to see that. However the coral reefs are beautiful & the fish life is incredible at the right dive sites, at times totally surrounding us. The whale sharks are here in May through July & are often sighted daily off both the south & north shores & Utila has even more of them than Roatan. The reefs are very healthy and the coral off the south shore of Roatan is outstanding, dramatic walls full of color that plunge from 30 feet to over 140, with overhangs, swim throughs, canyons and chimneys. Roatan's reputation is built on the vibrancy of its coral reefs & they are the main reason divers come here.
The island is beautiful & once you get away from the touristy western end much of it is untouched. There is a mixture of cultures that is quite fascinating and areas like Port Royal, Henry Morgan's old stronghold, are full of great history as well as terrific diving on pristine reefs. There are few places to go on islands that have the variety of things to do in addition to diving that Roatan offers. The biggest challenge our guests face is trying to balance diving with sailing, exploring, relaxing, and taking part in the many activities available. Many people come here for a week & leave with no idea that 2/3 of the island is still undeveloped jungle and once you leave the tourist zone in the West End of the island you can spend days exploring the East End of the island, where much of the area does not even have roads & is only accessible by boat. The locals commute from village to village through channels cut through the mangroves, it is a complete contrast to the modern resorts of the West End of the island.
There is a lot of info from many posters in the threads under the Bay islands sub-forum of the Central America forum. If you take a look at our website Zeppelin Dive & Sail | Roatan Live Aboard Sailing & Diving Charters and our Facebook page they will also give you a good starting place for information about Roatan & all the island has to offer. Even if you have no interest in our services please feel free to contact us with any questions about Roatan & the Bay Islands at zeppelinsail@gmail.com. We are more than happy to help anyone with questions about the area. Good luck with your decision & if we can help with any questions about Roatan & the Bay Islands just let us know!
There is a wide variety of accommodations available, from hostels to all-inclusive high-end resorts to boutique hotels & B&B’s. There are also over 30 dive operators, both independents & attached to resorts, and you can find pretty much any size & type that you like. You should be able to find great deals on accommodation & diving packages. A good place to look for deals & info about Roatan & Utila dive shops, hotels etc. is actually on Facebook, many of the resorts & dive operators, especially the smaller ones, primarily use Facebook to communicate and do not keep their websites very current. The Facebook pages however are often current right up to that day.
As far as diving Roatan is concerned, like many places you have to know where to go to get the best diving. The diving on the south shore & east end of Roatan is better than in the West End/West Bay area in our opinion, however that is a matter of personal preference, the diving around the west end of the island is also terrific. There is not much in the way of large marine life, this is not where you come to see that. However the coral reefs are beautiful & the fish life is incredible at the right dive sites, at times totally surrounding us. The whale sharks are here in May through July & are often sighted daily off both the south & north shores & Utila has even more of them than Roatan. The reefs are very healthy and the coral off the south shore of Roatan is outstanding, dramatic walls full of color that plunge from 30 feet to over 140, with overhangs, swim throughs, canyons and chimneys. Roatan's reputation is built on the vibrancy of its coral reefs & they are the main reason divers come here.
The island is beautiful & once you get away from the touristy western end much of it is untouched. There is a mixture of cultures that is quite fascinating and areas like Port Royal, Henry Morgan's old stronghold, are full of great history as well as terrific diving on pristine reefs. There are few places to go on islands that have the variety of things to do in addition to diving that Roatan offers. The biggest challenge our guests face is trying to balance diving with sailing, exploring, relaxing, and taking part in the many activities available. Many people come here for a week & leave with no idea that 2/3 of the island is still undeveloped jungle and once you leave the tourist zone in the West End of the island you can spend days exploring the East End of the island, where much of the area does not even have roads & is only accessible by boat. The locals commute from village to village through channels cut through the mangroves, it is a complete contrast to the modern resorts of the West End of the island.
There is a lot of info from many posters in the threads under the Bay islands sub-forum of the Central America forum. If you take a look at our website Zeppelin Dive & Sail | Roatan Live Aboard Sailing & Diving Charters and our Facebook page they will also give you a good starting place for information about Roatan & all the island has to offer. Even if you have no interest in our services please feel free to contact us with any questions about Roatan & the Bay Islands at zeppelinsail@gmail.com. We are more than happy to help anyone with questions about the area. Good luck with your decision & if we can help with any questions about Roatan & the Bay Islands just let us know!
You might also want to check out Cozumel. My dive club in Las Vegas is doing a week of diving with all food, lodging, booze and 5 days of boat diving with afternoon shore dives included for $1075/person (not including air) at Casa Del Mar (nice place). Since you are in Canada, another Caribbean destination you might want to look into is Cuba. Not sure about costs, but I hear the diving is fantastic.
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Bonaire. Per dive, you shore dive so there is little to no cost. A little more expensive to get there but the dives are basically free. Most places include tanks and nitrox in their packages, along with a rental truck.
you might want to get a package that includes a kitchenette. That will save on meals. I always bring a soft side cooler and pack fruit, sandwiches for lunch and snacks so that we don't have to go back to the room all day.
you might want to get a package that includes a kitchenette. That will save on meals. I always bring a soft side cooler and pack fruit, sandwiches for lunch and snacks so that we don't have to go back to the room all day.
Check on one of the all inclusive Cozumel hotel & dive packages. Most of these packages will include you food and some drinks at the hotel, a couple of dives per day, and some will also include shore diving.
Bonaire can also be very competitive when looked at as a cost per dive. As it is easy to make 4 to 5 dives per day. Make sure you are nitrox certified before you go, as it makes it easier to make lots dives.
Make sure you compare the packages to make sure that they are offering the same thing, for example, some meals vs all meals. Some of the hotels will have kitchenettes and it will be cheaper to go to the local grocery store and buy food than to eat out.
Bonaire can also be very competitive when looked at as a cost per dive. As it is easy to make 4 to 5 dives per day. Make sure you are nitrox certified before you go, as it makes it easier to make lots dives.
Make sure you compare the packages to make sure that they are offering the same thing, for example, some meals vs all meals. Some of the hotels will have kitchenettes and it will be cheaper to go to the local grocery store and buy food than to eat out.
LWB
Registered
I second Roatan. When I was there in 2009, it was very affordable. There are many threads here about Fantasy Island Beach Resort and that's where I stayed. It seems to me like it was $750 per person for 7 nights (double occupancy). This included food (left a little to be desired, but certainly didn't go hungry), alcohol, two morning and two afternoon dives per day, 1 night dive during the week, shore diving, NITROX (except for the first day), and airport transfers. That was 4 years ago, so it might have changed a little.
DjDiverDan
Contributor
My personal view is that Cozumel is the best combination of great diving and great value. Yes, you can get all-inclusive packages at the bargain locations, like Scuba Club Cozumel, Blue Angel, or Hotel Cozumel, but IMO you can do much better by going ala carte and booking each element separately. You can find nice, clean no-frills lodging in Cozumel for as little as $25 a night at places like Suites Vima or Hotel Flamingo, and for as little as $35 a night, you can even get a place with a pool, like Hotel Casa Real. Cozumel has a ton of good restaurants, and you can eat well for as little as $25 a day (or even less) by sticking to the local places like loncherias that serve the comida corrida, a full 3-course lunch with drink for 65-80 pesos (about $7.00) and the taquerias. For $45-50 a day, you can splurge and get great meals at places like Casa Mission, Guidos or La Terraza. Diving is all boat diving, and you can go high end valet operators, like Aldora or Blue XTSea (?), where you'll get Steel 120 tanks, 90 minute dives and Lots of bottom time, or you can go the more budget operations with standard AL80 tanks, less bottom time and less personal service. If budget is your choice, you can set up multi-day packages with any of several operators for as little as $55 a day. I don't favor the AI packages because: (1) I love to eat, and I love the variety and quality of Cozumel restaurants, whereas most AI places have mediocre to bad food; and (2) I don't want to get tied into the house Dive Op, some of which are fine, but some of which (like Del Mar Aquatics and Aqua World) I will not dive with.
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