Considering the Caribbean,,,, but where?

[DivrBikr]

I'm trying to plan a trip for early next year (Feb/Mar/Apr2014) to a dive destination in the Caribbean. The question is, "where to go?"
I am, like many of you, NOT heavy in the dollar department. I'm a single diver and would consider myself, by standard, an average, but novice diver.
I would like to take 4-5 days and dive someplace WARM! (I'm in Colorado...)
I know there are a bazillion places to go and things to see.
I'll put on my old steel pot and wait for the bombardment...

Regards to all!

 

[DeputyDan]

How many dives do you want to do a day?

If alot consider cocoview dive resort on Roatan.
If two a day - I would go to Cozumel.

 

[tracydr]

Or Bonaire-unlimited!

 

[drrich2]

My cheapest warm water dive trip so far was to Key Largo diving with Rainbow Reef Dive Center.

Transportation costs for airfare will be a big part of your bill.

Cozumel is a popular and relatively 'cheap' destination, I agree.

Richard.

 

[KeithG]

If cheap is the focus then you are likely stuck with Florida or Cozumel.

Shore diving on Bonaire can be very cheap, but flights normally are not.

 

[Doubler]

What is your approximate budget? If you don't mind.

 

[cbm32]

Airfare is going to be such a big part of the cost I would do all I could to make it longer than 4-5 days. Especially for anyone that is on a tight budget it just doesnt make sense to me to a big chunk of money on getting there just to turn around and go home in a few days. Who knows when your budget will allow you to make another trip? Make the most of this one.

 

[boulderjohn]

Speaking as a fellow Coloradan, I can say with confidence that the easiest and cheapest places for you to get to (by far) are Cozumel and the Yucatan peninsula. Both offer excellent diving.

After that, you can get to Belize fairly easily and at a good price.

After that, it gets increasingly hard to get places, and the cost of living on those places goes up pretty quickly as well.

You can take a flight to the east coast (Miami or Charlotte) and then transfer to the eastern Caribbean with almost equal ease. There are lots of places there.

I suggest you go into the regional travel forums on ScubaBoard, pick out a couple of places that look good, and just browse through old threads to get a sense of where you might want to go.

 

[DivrBikr]

I appreciate all of the input. Please keep it coming.
To answer some of the questions above,,,,
Dives per day: at least two per day would be optimal. I do like the wrecks Certainly nothing wrong with shore diving either!
Budget: the Taxman Cometh,,,, i'm hoping for a return that will fund this trip. If I can get away with paying not more than $1200 for the 4-5 days, (airfare probably not included) that would be a plus. Not sure if that is being realistic or not.
Belize is one place I have looked at more than others. (my passport is current and ready for stamp abuse)
Having been on virtual "lockdown" since my divorce, travel has been nothing more than dreaming. Now, on the backside of things, I would like to pursue something that I came to love strictly by accident.
To my bretheren BoulderJohn, you advice of browsing the old threads is a good. I guess I'm trying to narrow the field a little by asking the question, "where to go?", in hopes that others will pass on their good experiences and places they enjoyed.
Again, thank you all for your input. I look forward to reading more as this progresses.
Regards,

 

[CT Sean]

Another thing to consider is what you define as WARM. In Feb/March and April, parts of the Caribbean can be quite cool. I'd want to be traveling as far south as possible - As in Bonaire and Curacao. My family just returned from a southern/eastern Caribbean cruise last April (14th - 21st or so) out of San Juan and neither the air nor the water temps were what I was hoping for - I think we were lucky if the air temps broke 80 and the water was in the mid 70's - cool enough that we got quite chilly snorkeling without a wetsuit for more than a half hour or so (even in Aruba). Great weather for a land based vacation but not at all what I was hoping for on a water based tropical vacation.