New diver trying to book trip to do checkout dives

[eroth187]

Sounds good. I was thinking about doing my check out dives with SCUBAWITHALLISON in Cozumel. From what I have read she is great.

[eroth187]

I don't want to spend a crap ton of money but want to be safe as well. It's down to Cozumel and the Bahamas. I go to Florida for work several times a year so that is out.

[eroth187]

The only thing that scares me about Mexico is the unstableness of the country and the currents.

[PARADISE HUNTER]

I love Cozumel and have dove there 8 or 9 times. But I personally wouldn't recommend it to someone brand new to diving because of the current. If you go to the Cozumel forum, you will get a lot of die hard Coz divers that will tell you no problem.

But I think ones first few dives are better spent continuing the practice of your basic skills than contending with constant (and some times ripping) current.

Coz isn't going anywhere. Dive it after you have some more dives under your belt.

JMTC.

PH

[diversteve]

I agree with the above, drift diving is not often something that's done on the first dives after certification. Not that it's all that difficult, in fact you'll use less air doing so but the task loading of descending and ascending with the group can sometimes be too much. Also a lot of the better Coz diving is deeper so I'd wait till your air consumption is controlled so you can enjoy it more.

Another option might be St. Thomas. There's a lot of shallower diving, a lot of wreck diving - non penetration at your exp. level but still interesting. Check out Admiralty Dive or Blue Island Divers. Lots of nightlife in Charlotte Amalie. Cabs everywhere if you don't want to rent a car. And it's the U.S. so no immigration hassle. You could also day-trip to St. John - there's a car ferry - it's a little different. And dive since you wouldn't be flying.

Roatan is less developed than Nassau or St. Thomas. The nightlife on the West End is mostly bars/restaurants/shops down one main street. The pub crawl on Fridays is pretty good - there's some beach bars etc. also. Food in all price ranges. The diving is really good there, probably in the top 5 in the Caribbean. One interesting dive there is the Dolphin Dive at Anthony's Key - after you're certified you could do it as it's only 60' and on a flat sand bottom so you wouldn't have to worry about your buoyancy. And there's lots of tropical fish, the reef is pretty nice and often you'll see turtles. No sharks though except at the Shark Dive, the currents there would preclude you from doing that most likely - at least this trip. Downside is it can be really buggy - sand flies and mosquitoes. So deet or equivalent is almost a must. There's also several All-Inclusive dive resorts - Cocoview, Anthony's Key, Barefoot Cay, others but they're more isolated - you'd mostly dive/eat/socialize there. It's generally an easy flight to Roatan through Houston - we leave here early AM and are there by noon.

[RonFrank]

I could name off dozens of awesome places, but you are going to get certified and IMO will not really get a chance to pay that much attention to the UW scenery. Save your money for when you are a more experienced diver and spend a few quality days at Lauderdale by the Sea. It is a perfect Checkout dive location (shore dive) with a reef right there and the depth is 15-20 feet on the first reef. For the second day of checkout dives the boat is appropriate and you get a bit more depth. An instructor is not a problem as they do CO dives every week.

As for Beaches and night life LBTS has that as well, but maybe not as resort-ish as say Cozumel. And that brings me to a next point. If you want more exotic locale maybe consider Cozumel, Belize or Cancun. The diving in Cancun is nowhere near as good as Cozumel, but for CO dives very adequate and not as deep as Coz. These places will be more vacation oriented, also more expensive. Any time you leave the country it gets more exotic and expensive.

CA would also be a great option except the water is cold, so not very tropical. You likely want warmer. I personally think LBTS has it all, shore diving, beaches, nightlife. I personally like LBTS but maybe I should also mention South Beach. Another FL option.

[Bratface]

My opinion...stay in the US. There are several places in the Florida Keys, or you could come to St Thomas or St Croix. Both are US territories in the Caribbean. If you want to travel internationally, Roatan is a good option. I dove with Coconut Tree and CocoView when I lived there. I wouldn't plan on doing too much partying and nightlife. It doesn't really mix with diving. New divers tend to get very tired and very hungry.