Cheap shore diving vacation?

[Icculus]

What is your definition of cheap? We all have different versions.

Bonaire is a great destination to go shore diving. There are places that give you better deals there than others.

Safe diving.

Preferably below 3 grand would be preferable.
We are gonna be in Orlando in January to visit her parents at their time share.
However I would love Bonaire more than anything.
Pill look at flits for these two. Had no idea Fort Lauderdale had great diving. I was actually thinking of applying for a job there as my wife loves florida. It would be a huge payout though.

 

[Diver Lori]

You could do the Florida Keys etc and on your way back home hit the springs around Gainesville.

 

[uncfnp]

If you truly want shore diving, Bonaire is the place to go. You can get a nice condo Beachcomber Villas for 1035 to 1200 depending on unit and season, unlimited shore for 288 (2 persons), truck around 300 to 336 and airfare (inset amount). Budget a few hundred for occasion meals out and roughly the same food as you would spend for groceries at home. About 50 for gas. And add a little more for taxes and fees... A quick check shows flights out of Houston at 660 x2= 1320. So roughly 3300 plus groceries.

 

[diverjen]

And there are cheaper accomodation packages too. So you might be able to get it in under $3k if you get a deal on airfare. We almost did coming from Denver for a week last time and were still staying at a pretty good spot ( sand dollar A3)

Den Laman has studio packages with truck, room and diving that really are a nice deal. Bamboo bali, Dive Hut, and Bridanda also popped up as being good values in my recent comparative spreadsheet for our return trip. There seems to be a broad range of accommodations so you can pick and choose what matters to you for the price. As newer divers on a relative budget who love to shore dive, we can't wait to return!

If you truly want shore diving, Bonaire is the place to go. You can get a nice condo Beachcomber Villas for 1035 to 1200 depending on unit and season, unlimited shore for 288 (2 persons), truck around 300 to 336 and airfare (inset amount). Budget a few hundred for occasion meals out and roughly the same food as you would spend for groceries at home. About 50 for gas. And add a little more for taxes and fees... A quick check shows flights out of Houston at 660 x2= 1320. So roughly 3300 plus groceries.

 

[Drewpy]

Bonaire AF from from TX can be reasonable..that would be my choice! An unlimited air and truck package ($150) will be much cheaper than COZ at 70 bucks a day for only 2 tanks.

 

[farsidefan1]

One alert. Most the cheap flights I have found to Bonaire are redeye specials. Arrive at 5 in the morning. Can't get into most places till after 3. The shore diving is excellent and worth it but you might be pounded for a couple days.

 

[diversteve]

There's really 4 places for shorediving in the Caribbean. (I consider Cozumel as part of Mexico)

Bonaire (60+ sites)
Curacao (40+ sites)
Aruba (15 sites)
St. Croix (9 sites)

www.shorediving.com lists most of them.

Look at Curacao also, it's the same diving as Bonaire (same reef), slightly cheaper flights and easier to get to generally. You'll do more driving between dive sites but just about all of them have on-site operators. And most are nice beaches. We did a week at a better dive resort on Bonaire (Belmar) for about $1800+ food. We did 10 days on Curacao for $1700 and that included $200 for the dolphin dive.

Here's a couple places we've stayed (costs are per unit not pp):

http://www.mydreamapartments.com/index.php?lang=en $600/wk but more remote in the western area in Playa Lagun
http://www.piscaderabayresort.com/index.php?topic=home_en just over $1000/wk - full kitchen, resort area, 10min to downtown - 15 min to the western dive sites. Most dive sites on Curacao are on beaches and have on-site dive operators.

All things Curacao: www.curacao.com

Use this to compare flight costs for the four locations: http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

If you decide on the Houston red-eye to Bonaire many of the properties know about it. So if possible they'll let you have your room on arrival,will hold your luggage if not and since you have to do the BMP orientation before you can dive, most hold it around 9AM. We were in the water by 10:30.

The other thing to be aware of is that winter is high season in the Caribbean so rates go up.

 

[KeithG]

i will chime in with another vote for Bonaire. We stay at the Divi flamingo and dock dive most of the time. We do not rent a truck. We only grab the breakfast food package (i claim the on site food is poor to terrible...).

But we love the Divi's easy dock dive and the closeness to town for supper.

 

[Icculus]

Wow folks, you guys are far exceeding my expectations. I'm blown away.

 

[diverjen]

Some places (like Sand Dollar) will let you pay a nominal fee to check in early. If you have a redeye this is good to know...

One alert. Most the cheap flights I have found to Bonaire are redeye specials. Arrive at 5 in the morning. Can't get into most places till after 3. The shore diving is excellent and worth it but you might be pounded for a couple days.