As a novice diver, I am hungry for more, but being a college student in Minnesota makes scuba diving a little difficult. I have been looking for somewhere to dive in mid-March over spring break. I plan on making this trip solo and on a budget. I originally was looking into diving in Utila as I have heard it is great for solo travelers and those on a budget. I looked into diving with Alton's dive shop while staying in one of their dorm rooms for practically nothing. However, the flight would take up most of my budget. So, I have looked into flying into Florida or SoCal, staying with a friend or in a hostel and diving as much as I can with a local outfit. I have a couple of concerns with this plan. First, how difficult is it traveling to these places and being able to make a relatively large number of dives in a weeks span especially traveling solo. Is it easy to find dive packages with a local dive ops? Also, as a novice diver I would like to be able to dive with a buddy, but I am concerned that everyone on the dive trips will already have a buddy or don't plan on buddying up with a novice diver. Feel free to share your experience, give advice, or recommend some places/dive ops for a novice solo traveler looking for some great diving at a great price.