drrich2
Contributor
Been thinking about starting a thread on this since people often post asking about dive destinations, or what destinations would meet some particular need, or how a couple compare. Or just where to go. Sometimes it's shore diving, sometimes it's how a place would compare to Cozumel, etc
So I'd like to hear about destinations in Florida and the Caribbean people think are particularly distinctive for some reason. Something special. And I'm focusing on the diving; if we get into rainforest treks to see Mayan ruins in Belize vs. the Ostrich farm in Curacao, the thread may get over-extended. And you need not have been to a destination to list it. I'm sticking to easily U.S.A.-accessible sites that have warm water and good viz., so the options will be at least in the same ball park.
Mine would be:
1.) Upper Florida Keys - lots of shallow reef diving with ready access to the U.S., including health care, and airfare (from Nashville, anyway) is pretty cheap. Cost per 2-tank trip was cheap with Rainbow Reef Dive Center, 2 trips/day let me do 20 dives in 5 days, and we could also hit some wrecks like Spiegel Grove and the Duane, so deep diving & seeing Goliath grouper was also available. Saw a few reef & nurse sharks. Quite cost effective as a value trip for me, taking wife, baby & mother-in-law along & renting an SUV. U.S. health care access is good when you've got a baby, and there were things for non-divers to do (e.g.: Jungle Island near Miami, the Everglades are nearby, Miami & Fort Lauderdale ).
2.) Bonaire - shore diving. A road runs along the west coast, the reef is close in to shore, you can dive many sites in near-aquarium class conditions, at many navigation is nearly a non-issue, a number of resorts have buffet-style 'all you can dive' unlimited tanks (with free nitrox upgrade common) facilitate this dive style, and you can dive 24/7. Fairly easy to get 20+ dives into a week, which is a lot for a non-live-aboard trip. Airfare can be steep; resort + diving are usually fairly cheap, and with shore diving, you don't need to tip. There's boat diving for people who want it.
3.) Cozumel - high viz., warm water, ride the current drift diving, varied reef topography at different sites, a number of very reputable op.s meeting different needs (e.g.: steel 120's at Living Underwater and Aldora), some big stuff (e.g.: saw a big black grouper, and a large eagle ray, both up close on a dive at the Santa Rosa site), off an island considered pretty safe (though part of Mexico), and Cozumel trips are famous for being a good overall budget value trip that people still love.
4.) Saba - I haven't been. From what I understand, a lush, beautiful island, where you may have some current but the underwater pinnacle diving at least sounded 'special' to me. Some people love Saba. From what I've read, the plane landing bring you in can be something of an adventure itself.
5.) Bahamas - I haven't been. If I ever get to go, I hope to do the AquaCat live-aboard. But the reason I included the Bahamas here was a specialty site, Tiger Beach, where some op.s can put you in the water with a decent chance of cageless diving with a tiger shark. Like the 14 foot Emma the Abernathy has taken divers to see. And the Bahamas is famous for shark dives. Since sharks are high on a lot of divers 'want to see' list, the Bahamas bear a mention. I get the impression it may be the premier shark destination in the Caribbean? Or do some of you know better?
Honorable mention to Curacao, which for whatever reasons doesn't seem to command quite as much mind share on the forum as Bonaire, but has some advantages with some from what I'm told. Here's a link to a thread on Curacao vs. Bonaire for those interested.
Richard.
So I'd like to hear about destinations in Florida and the Caribbean people think are particularly distinctive for some reason. Something special. And I'm focusing on the diving; if we get into rainforest treks to see Mayan ruins in Belize vs. the Ostrich farm in Curacao, the thread may get over-extended. And you need not have been to a destination to list it. I'm sticking to easily U.S.A.-accessible sites that have warm water and good viz., so the options will be at least in the same ball park.
Mine would be:
1.) Upper Florida Keys - lots of shallow reef diving with ready access to the U.S., including health care, and airfare (from Nashville, anyway) is pretty cheap. Cost per 2-tank trip was cheap with Rainbow Reef Dive Center, 2 trips/day let me do 20 dives in 5 days, and we could also hit some wrecks like Spiegel Grove and the Duane, so deep diving & seeing Goliath grouper was also available. Saw a few reef & nurse sharks. Quite cost effective as a value trip for me, taking wife, baby & mother-in-law along & renting an SUV. U.S. health care access is good when you've got a baby, and there were things for non-divers to do (e.g.: Jungle Island near Miami, the Everglades are nearby, Miami & Fort Lauderdale ).
2.) Bonaire - shore diving. A road runs along the west coast, the reef is close in to shore, you can dive many sites in near-aquarium class conditions, at many navigation is nearly a non-issue, a number of resorts have buffet-style 'all you can dive' unlimited tanks (with free nitrox upgrade common) facilitate this dive style, and you can dive 24/7. Fairly easy to get 20+ dives into a week, which is a lot for a non-live-aboard trip. Airfare can be steep; resort + diving are usually fairly cheap, and with shore diving, you don't need to tip. There's boat diving for people who want it.
3.) Cozumel - high viz., warm water, ride the current drift diving, varied reef topography at different sites, a number of very reputable op.s meeting different needs (e.g.: steel 120's at Living Underwater and Aldora), some big stuff (e.g.: saw a big black grouper, and a large eagle ray, both up close on a dive at the Santa Rosa site), off an island considered pretty safe (though part of Mexico), and Cozumel trips are famous for being a good overall budget value trip that people still love.
4.) Saba - I haven't been. From what I understand, a lush, beautiful island, where you may have some current but the underwater pinnacle diving at least sounded 'special' to me. Some people love Saba. From what I've read, the plane landing bring you in can be something of an adventure itself.
5.) Bahamas - I haven't been. If I ever get to go, I hope to do the AquaCat live-aboard. But the reason I included the Bahamas here was a specialty site, Tiger Beach, where some op.s can put you in the water with a decent chance of cageless diving with a tiger shark. Like the 14 foot Emma the Abernathy has taken divers to see. And the Bahamas is famous for shark dives. Since sharks are high on a lot of divers 'want to see' list, the Bahamas bear a mention. I get the impression it may be the premier shark destination in the Caribbean? Or do some of you know better?
Honorable mention to Curacao, which for whatever reasons doesn't seem to command quite as much mind share on the forum as Bonaire, but has some advantages with some from what I'm told. Here's a link to a thread on Curacao vs. Bonaire for those interested.
Richard.
....Remember, I'm NOT talking about the "treks to see Mayan ruins in Belize vs. the Ostrich farm in Curacao"-NO WAY...lol...Did I mention it's where they filmed parts of 'Pirates of the Caribbean--Part 2 & 3(might get a copy of those & watch???).....see below pics/videos
