Hi:
If you guys are about to get certified and plan to do some 'dive tourism,' and especially if your daughter is young enough to be under recommended depth restrictions (but even if she's not), take a long, hard look at a trip to Key Largo, Florida.
Here's my trip report from Sept. 2013. In a nutshell:
1.) You can stay within the U.S. Same laws, rules of the road, healthcare, etc... Travel to the Caribbean is fun, but if it's all new for you, and you prefer a conservative 'grow into it' approach...
2.) At least for me, round trip airfare was fairly cheap.
3.) Courtyard Marriott was decent, and the value got better the more people we put in the one room. Rainbow Reef Dive Center was at the end of the parking lot, had free dives guides, a good operation & let me get in 4 dives per day.
4.) Key Largo has plenty of beautiful shallow reef diving with good corals & plenty of fish. Compared to some Caribbean places, I was pleased at the big barracuda, green moray eels, black grouper, sting rays and, if you do the deep wreck dives, goliath grouper, so some 'big stuff' was there.
5.) Good visibility; not up there with Cozumel or Bonaire, similar to what I recall in St. Thomas, but plenty good enough.
6.) Overall trip cost was pretty sweet for a dive trip. Rainbow Reef has this 10 trip, 20 dive package back then for $600; add tax & tips, and it's still about the cheapest boat diving I've ever done.
7.) You can drive to some land-based attractions; there's some sort of dolphin encounter option not far away, then Miami Zoo, Jungle Island, etc...
If you guys hook up with a local scuba group (e.g.: organized trip by a local dive shop or instructor), you could have a great time hitting Bonaire or Curacao (I hit Bonaire the 1st 4 times this way). Cozumel is very popular, though the diving tends to be deep, and it's drift diving, letting the current carry you along.
My advice is cut your teeth on Key Largo, then plan where to go next.
Richard.
Hi Everyone,
