Roatan? San Andreas? Belize? Eastern Caribbean?

[squarepants]

As you can see by my title, I'm very confused.

Hubby and I are planning to use his skymiles to take our late October dive trip this year. We plan to be gone for approximately three weeks, and we'd like to try someplace new, hopefully two new places.

We usually go to Cozumel for about 12 nights, and we really love it there. We wouldn't mind if that was one of the places we went.

I did a search to look up Margarita Island, but it looks like that is kind of a party place, and while we do like to party a bit, we are not in the "young partiers" set :shelli:. You won't catch me on the beach in a thong, but I might partake in a topless beach if the moment was right :embarass: and there were some other less-than-perfects to share it with. Anyhoo, I digress...

When searching Margarita I found mention of a place called San Andreas. Anyone have any knowledge of this place?

What I'm hoping is to find a good place to dive in late Oct. - early Nov. somewhere in the vicinity of northern S.America/Central America/Eastern Caribbean. This is how far our sky miles will take us. We've had good luck, so far with no hurricanes while we are in Cozumel, which is one reason why we choose to go at the end of "hurricane season". We are prepared to hunker down if need be. We missed our trip in 2005, but it would have probably been cancelled or rerouted due to Wilma.

We may need to purchase the airline tickets for the in-between travel, which may be complicated, but that isn't a huge concern.

 

[robint]

it all depends what you are looking for...

how many dives per day do you want to do?
-- if you want to dive dive dive, go to Roatan. Check out http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/central-america/www.cocoview.com
or check out Bonaire. www.buddydive.com

do you want to do 2 dives per day, then hang out on beach or in bar or shop?
do you want to do topside activities like jungle cruise, ancient Mayan ruins?
--if you do, go to Belize.

do you want a remote place with 2-3 dives per day, no big resorts, no big crowds, lots of funky shops and bars?
-- if you do, go to Utila.

I would check airfare and schedules to all the destinations as with all the airline cuts, many places only have flights certain days of week or only one plane per day.

Just a place for you to start in your search.

 

[tadeotadeo]

My wife and son live on San Andres Island I visit about once a month. It is a beautiful place, there are 5 star resorts, golden sand beaches on the north end of the island where most of the city and resorts are. The diving is some of the best in the Caribbean, the east side of the island has a wall starting at about 20 ft dropping to around 200 ft, the west side of the island has a number of ledges and a shipwreck. The night life is there if you want it with a number of discotec. There are certain times of the year you may not want to go, their spring break, and Christmas holiday are pretty rowdy with the youth. All around it is a great experience. Let me know if you want more information I will be glad to answer any of your questions.
Ciao
Tad

 

[Tabbykatt3]

If you like to be in nature's paradise and remote, e.g. away from the hustle and bustle and non-comercialized, then I would recommend taking a look at Little Cayman. Not Grand Cayman, unless you want to stop for a couple days in a tourist trap. You do need to fly through Grand Cayman and take a little puddle jumper to land on a grass airstrip on the 1 x 10 mile Little Cayman island. Went in January 2008 and had an outstanding time. Unfortunately Oct is out due to hurricane season. We stayed at Conch Club Condos and dove with non-cattle boat Conch Club Divers. I would recommend both highly. However, there are a few other excellent options on the small island. Bloody Bay, Bloody Bay Wall and Jackson Wall were all fantastic.

 

[Thatch Caye Belize]

I would recommend Roatan and Belize and it would be easy to do both on a long vacation. There is a ferry to Belize from Puerto Cortez in Honduras (it lands in Dangriga) and it only takes a couple of hours to reach either way. You could start at one place and then head out to the next. Roatan is a beautiful island with some nightlife and great diving. Belize has great diving, Mayan ruins everywhere, waterfalls, cave tubing, jungle tours, and is a very hospitable place.

 

[agilulfo]

What I'm hoping is to find a good place to dive in late Oct. - early Nov. somewhere in the vicinity of northern S.America/Central America/Eastern Caribbean. This is how far our sky miles will take us. We've had good luck, so far with no hurricanes while we are in Cozumel, which is one reason why we choose to go at the end of "hurricane season".

My wife and I will be in Cozumel around the same time. Have you thought about Bonaire? American will take you there and the island is outside of the hurricane belt. Bonaire is not a party island and the diving is great. We used our AA miles to go there last March.

 

[lucidblue]

We just stayed at BIBR in Roatan in February, had a fantastic time and loved the resort. We did about 4 dives per day. The price includes 2 morning and 1 afternoon boat dive each day and 1 night dive during the week. After the last afternoon dive of the day, they will drop you off to dive Spookey Channel on the way back in (you also get unlimited shore diving). The owners Cam and Ted make you feel at home and the food is pretty good.

 

[georoc01]

If you are looking to use skymiles, I would be in contact with Delta to see where you can get seats. I think I would start with Bonaire where Delta has direct flights from Atlanta.

Roatan might work on a code share with Continental. That might be a good option out of Houston.

The challenge is always getting east from Washington State and making connections to the Caribbean. That's what I find is why I end up in Cozumel, its the easiest connection I have from living west.

 

[longliner]

check out coralcavernsresort.com on andros in the bahamas

 

[squarepants]

I'm sorry to have posted a question, and not returned for months. Career change kept me busy, but still, it's rude not to respond.

Thank you all so much for the responses. These all look like great ideas, and now I have someplace to start my research. Our trip is being postponed until March and I'm really disappointed, because that is spring break vacation time in the US, so it will be a busy time of year to travel. Not to complain too much though, as I am grateful to be able to go at all. Travel is travel - and dive travel is even better!

Thanks again!