List of dive destinations to not go to...

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Y'all are lucky to be able to plan a vacation for diving. It is something that has eluded me.

I do dive many places, but the vacation or work-cation destinations are chosen for other reasons, I merely alter my schedule to allow diving. I make this point because then the cost of transportation is pulled from the equation and I am left with the daily cost of diving and maybe an extra hotel night. At that price, almost anyplace looks great.

 

[koozemani]

I agree on the tier system rather than "go/don't go".

 

[Doppler]

Not at all mate. These are all wonderful places like I myself mentioned above but are they the best value for money diving wise? A liveaboard in Australia is 3500 plus airfare to Cairns is 2200. If you were to spend nearly 6000 then would you go to Australia?

You are right, you have a VERY east coast US-centric view of the world.

 

[ronscuba]

............

Just thinking loud and trying to generate a controversy . Did I miss something?

Your thread title has potential. Read opinions from people that have actually dove certain destinations and were not happy.

But your original post is silly. Except your last sentence which I quoted above.

So of the places you listed, which have you dove ? Give us your opinions based on your personal experience.

 

[mathauck0814]

Your thread title has potential. Read opinions from people that have actually dove certain destinations and were not happy.

But your original post is silly. Except your last sentence which I quoted above.

So of the places you listed, which have you dove ? Give us your opinions based on your personal experience.

The OP doesn't dive much he just posts on SB a lot

 

[KeithG]

The list of places not to go is fairly short if you reduce the criteria to "not worth diving compared to some thing else nearby"

This gets rid of the travel time and expense factors since you can pick a better alternative for the same price and time.

Would you travel to the caribbean and dive Jamaica if Turks & Caicos was an option?
Would you travel to Australia and dive Tasmania instead of the gbr?

So my list is pretty short ( since I have stopped going to the do not go there places)
- Jamacia
- St martens
- most of the "French" Caribbean islands
- ...

 

[DjDiverDan]

Thinking about places I haven't been, and why. Bonaire is at the top of my list. From what I hear, and seen in a few dive videos, the diving there is great. But it's a real pain in the ass to get there from Dallas - no direct flights at all, and long layovers on most 2-stop flights. When Scuba Board set up the Bonaire Invasion for this last July, I did a LOT of searching on all sorts of sites for reasonable airfare out of Dallas. Initial searches showed RT flights at $1400-$1600 - much more than I wanted to spend. I was finally able to find airfares closer to $800, but the scheduling was horrific - Dallas to Miami to Aruba to Bonaire, and with layovers, total travel time was 14-18 hours. I didn't go. Hell, in 18 hours, I can be in Tahiti or even Fiji. I can get to Cozumel or Grand Cayman in 2-1/2 hours; even the Virgin Islands in 4-5 hours. Bonaire seems to be a much more reasonable trip if you are traveling from Miami, Atlanta, or the East Coast. Similarly, the Pacific Islands seem much more reasonable for someone on the West Coast. I loved my trip to Tahiti, but I could have done without the 4 hour layover in the LAX Transit Lounge. That kind of traveling just wears me out, and I doubt that I'll go to the Pacific again unless I can find a way to spend 2 weeks or more there.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Your thread title has potential. Read opinions from people that have actually dove certain destinations and were not happy.

But your original post is silly. Except your last sentence which I quoted above.

So of the places you listed, which have you dove ? Give us your opinions based on your personal experience.

I bet you read read the first post and the last post and missed a whole lot of conversation in between.

 

[doctormike]

You are right, you have a VERY east coast US-centric view of the world.

I don't understand. What other views are there?

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I like the tier system more too. Here is a list of dive destinations of the world with approximate/ball parks costs involved to travel to these places and dive them. These costs include air travel (from DC area where I am based) and dive and stay packages.

NFL and Labrador 700 air + 1700 =2400
Iceland 700 air + 2500 (Westfjord), 3621 (Highlight), 1168 (Silfra+Strytan) = from 2000 to 4300
Alaska 700 air + 2700 = 3400
Gods Pocket (Browning Pass) 700 air + 2000 = 2700
Socorro (Nautilus Explorer) 2750 + 500 air = 3250
Cocos 4935 liveaboard + 600 = 5535
Komodo 2700 (Liveaboard)+ 1800 air = 4500
Raja Ampat 3000 (Liveaboard) 1950 air = 4950
Fiji 3000 (Liveaboard) + 1800 air = 4800
Palau (Liveaboard) 2630 + 2000 = 4630
PNG (Liveaboard) 3000 + 9430 = 12430
Galapagos (Liveaboard) 5395 + 687 = 6082
Bonaire 700 air + 1000 = 1700
Belize 707 + 2400 = 3107
Cayman 730 + 2000 = 2730
Puerto Rico 350 + 1500 = 1850
Playa Del Carmen + Cozumel Flight = 700 + 7 nights 1200 + 300 = 2200 including meals
Little Cayman = 565 + 2814 = 3379
Turks and Caicos = 500 + 900 (5 days) = 1400
Blackbeard Bahamas = 1000 + 400 = 1400
Bonne Terre mine: 450 Car and Flight + 480 diving and hotel = 930
Tobermory 80/ dive 160 + hotel 3 nights = 330 = 490 (wont need airfare)
Catalina LA 400 air + 3 day liveaboard 750 = 1150
Dry Tortugas = 1000 + 400 flights = 1400
Croatia 600 (6 night 10 dives) + 1300 airfare = 1900
South Africa = 1200 + 407 (6 night 10 dives) = 1607

As you can see some destinations are really high on the overall cost but relatively low on quality. Example Belize and Little Cayman. Granted there are a lot of people who have gone there and had fun but just scroll up and look at the places that they could have gone with that kind of money. Once you put marketing aside and look at the numbers in comparison to everything else available, Belize and Little Cayman are actually places to avoid (if you want your money's worth diving wise).

There are many other tourist traps up there on that list. Yes PNG is great diving but is it worth over 12000???

Similarly there are some great dive destinations that offer more value for the money but are less known. Croatia for example is one place that is insanely cheap! 6 days of diving plus hotel accommodation and some meals for 598 USD. This is Adriatic sea and is considered world class diving.