Where not to go

[mjrob]

I clicked through your website, looked at your current list of trip offerings, and then looked at your archived "past" trips.

Your destinations as shown on your website look to be well within the my range of acceptable places, certainly the ones that I would offer to an LDS audience.

You have some mild emphasis on Cozumel with multiple (OW cert portion?) trips, and this is quite understandable due to an enticing price structure. The rest of your offerings are extensive and far better than the average LDS spread. You have avoided a number of other "lowest common denominator" destinations. This may be because of your Nebraska/Missouri base, keeping you focused on areas of the Caribbean other than the SE regional LDS defaults of Nassau, Grand Bahama, and Grand Cayman- three islands that would make my no-fly list. But, for whatever marketing reason, you have chosen well, at least by my standards.

What were you really trying to get at?

I'm really just doing research. We do, as you noticed, a LOT of travel and, as part of that, we're always looking for new places. One thing we do is site inspections for each of our destinations--we won't take a group anywhere we haven't been to check out the dive op, resort, etc.

There are lots of great places to dive, but, by experience, I've found a few that don't make the cut. I'm asking this question just to help us do a better job of picking locations. For instance, I wouldn't go back to Little Corn Island. We gave it two chances but the fish life is nearly non-existent and the reefs are in sad shape. Lodging can be, well, dodgey. I've been to Nicaragua many times but would not fly across the country and out to the Corn Islands again. It didn't help that we nearly died getting there and back both times. I have stories.

And I'm sure I'm the exception here but I was not impressed with the Maldives. Maybe it was just the week we chose (for a site inspection) but the viz was not particularly good and the currents were ripping. There were sites we couldn't dive and some we probably shouldn't have. If I'm going to travel that far, there are better places to go...IMO.

I'm hoping to get opinions and, if they seem off, would like to follow up with individuals to get more info. Pretty simple, really.

And we do a bunch of Coz trips. It's easy to get there from here, the diving is usually good, sometimes great, we use several resorts and operators for different levels of divers/service and yes, we do a lot of checkout dives there. Nebraska's not conducive to winter diving, particularly your first four. Missouri's a bit more forgiving but still not quite as warm and welcoming as Coz in, say January or February.

I appreciate any input.

 

[Hintermann]

Are there places you've been that you would NOT recommend? Any reasons why?

I choose my dive holidays with care and so there is not a single one of them that I would not recommend. However, I have been disappointed with a couple of trips, albeit for different reasons.

1. Malta & Gozo: We went in July 2008 with Paradise divers. The dive centre appeared to have some staffing problems or whatever and we were led by some guides not very familiar with the dive sites. We did very little diving in Gozo and overall the quality of dives was very below par.

2. Fiji: I went on board the Island Dancer liveaboard in July 2013. Fine boat and a fantastic crew. But poor weather conditions meant we missed a lot of the best dive sites.
My strong recommendation to anyone planning a visit to Fiji is to contact the local dive centres or other locals to check about the best time to go. The weather in and around Fiji is changing and the recommendations by Dive advisory groups are NOT up to date. The local authorities can slap-on no go routes to boats at short notice (which happened to us) and so it is best to check with the locals.

 

[Doc]

....I'm really just doing research. We do, as you noticed, a LOT of travel and, as part of that, we're always looking for new places....

So, again, considering your past and current destination list on your website....

Retail buyers who are just beginning to do dive travel are influenced to specific travel destinations by familiarity. This name recognition is a huge factor in selling a trip. This familiarity can come from multiple sources: from cruise ship accounts to unbiased Dive Magazine advertorials; internet research (equally unbiased); pay-for dive review newsletters of bar-sinister heritage; or accounts from past visitors who are quite eager to validate their last vacation. Whatever- potential buyers like to have heard of the destination in some manner, at lest be able to pronounce it. This last issue may cause some problem with Maldives, much as Saba stirred up in the 1970's. If I can't pronounce it, I aint going.

You say you had a negative experience in the Maldives. Since most real deal diving is done liveaboard, I would posit either you were land based or had an idiot for a boat captain. For US based travelers, the Maldives is pretty well on the opposite side of the Earth, not a lot of direct connections, although we have done the route through London, then stopped in the UAE and done some indoor skiing (just to say we did that).

I also see that your one Caribbean offering on a liveaboard is the cheapest option, and at my level of finely aged sensibilities- you couldn't get me on that barge with a gun. I suggest you offer a more upscale choice of Caribbean liveaboard. I do like that option of the out-islands of the Bahamas, which I put in the medium-hard-to-sell category.

All the rage? Wakatobi. And Raging Armpit, whadyacallit. SCUBABoard's Invasion trip to Philippines (Atlantis Puerto Galera)? Finally SB has hit it on the head. This is what the audience knows about and wants today.

I would look to an outfit with your trip spread to take me to places that I can't or won't do myself. The Galapagos is passe at this juncture, although you can really lure smart travelers with a land based offering at 1/2 the price of a confined ship board experience.

I would say that the big seller for US Divers would be Red Sea (Sharm). It is a survivable air flight, you can tie it in with an overnight+ in London (or pyramids?) and give them a whole lot of what any diver has the ability to see : Wrecks. Shallow ones.

Palau, Yap yap yap.

But again, much as I found in skiing- we would find new design and current technology ski resorts in Europe, yet all the customers wanted were the names that they had heard, like innsbruck. There is so much more. Thus continues the ongoing marketability of Cayman, Nassau, Grand Bahama and even Jamaica. Momentum goes a long way in creating perceived value and desirability. You gotta sell what sells.

Ever heard of Cuba? Boy, that's going to be a daisy-chain.

Here: Travel - Houston's Premier Scuba and Dive Shop Oceanic Ventures Inc. is what I point to as an industry model. They run lots of interesting trips, they do not overcharge participants to pay for their full staff, they do polite and interesting emails to market their trips and monthly hosted Club meetings.

They have marketing nailed, trip destination selection easily followed. When they go to a well-trodden destination, it's usually a heavy metal excursion for those tech types.

 

[Diver0001]

Just curious, but there are some dive destinations I probably would not return to...at least without a really compelling reason.

Are there places you've been that you would NOT recommend? Any reasons why?

I wouldn't be inclined to go back to the Czech republic for diving. I liked the people but the diving is all lake based and kind of dull. We were there for ice diving, which was good, but outside this one little niche it's not worth spending the time to get there.

R..

 

[Kharon]

I would not go back to Grand Cayman West side. Don't know about the rest of the island but my experience with west side dives was simply disappointing beyond words ... no coral, no fish, just mostly dead rock. Devil's Grotto and Eden Rock were especially terrible. Unfortunately my experience was limited by the group I was with. Given the availability of much less expensive and far better diving elsewhere I can't imagine I'd ever go back.

Just was on St. John for hiking & snorkeling. Hiking was great, snorkeling was nothing to write home about. I heard diving was pretty poor as well, though no direct experience.

 

[RJP]

Let's face it, diving is fun -- some diving is more fun than other diving, but it's the logistical considerations that make or break a place as a dive destination for me.

If you had told me years ago I'd be diving in a quarry in rural Pennsylvania I'd have thought your were nuts.
:d

 

[Bryan Cunningham]

Hi RPJ,

Next time you are in Antigua look me up. I will comp you a dive. Re open my dive shop in July 2015, so come dive, its free.

Cheers
Bryan

 

[coldwaterlloyd]

Never met a destination I would not return to ... if the price is right

I did ten days on Roatan in 2000 and to this day have no desire to return

Grand Turk was great but the price is over the top for limited diving

Got a bout of dengue on Bonaire in 2009 , still no desire to return although it is a fantastic do it your self destination , an on land liveaboard

I enjoy exploring new destinations rather than returning to places I have visited , however , it is all budget designated

Scubaboard is great for getting info about places I am thinking about , you can get a pretty good idea if the destination is a place you would like to try , dive magazines can make my kitchen sink look good

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

I wasn't impressed by St Maarten, though the dive op did take us to a couple of mildly interesting wrecks, not much else to see. That's odd, when Saba, is said to be great, and it's quite close to St Maarten

I have to concur on St. Maarten. Only made a couple of dives there, but nearly everything we saw was dying/dead. Not much to see at all from my limited experience...

For those of you that dove St. Maarten did you dive French or Dutch side? Do you mind sharing what dive company you used?

Sint Martin , forget about it: French and Dutch sides. Much better around this island are St Barth, Saba and BVI

I did Saba on a day trip and did 8 dives off St Marteen, I felt like I wasted my time and money doing the Saba trip. there was much more sea life on the St. Marteen dives I went out with Aqua Mania Adventures. I learned very early not to ask opinions about vacations, it's so hard to gauge until you go for yourself.

Home - Aqua Mania Adventures - St Maarten

 

[Damselfish]

We are most interested in group trips that we won't get around to or can't easily do on our own for some reason. Usually that means far away (not garden variety Caribbean trips), involve liveaboards that are hard to get on otherwise because they tend to be booked up by groups, or have something else special about them.

I'm pretty careful about researching trips and the places we probably won't go back to, isn't because they're bad per se. Might be a place that many like but isn't really our thing, maybe ok for one trip but once is enough for us. There are some places I'm tempted by but think we wouldn't wind up liking that much, so I keep resisting. Coz in particular - obviously popular with many, but from everything I know I suspect we wouldn't be fans or want to do it a second time.

I thought the diving in the Maldives was great, probably the best we've done, and it's a unique place. But the currents were often way too crazy for my taste. (One issue being my ears often have trouble with the fast descents frequently required in those conditions.) I'm not sure if we will go back there or not, since if I'm doing a long trip I'd sooner go back to the Philippines or Palau (both planned) or check out other places in the Pacific and Indonesia.

I like Cayman in general, been many times and will return. But I don't see myself doing another trip that involved West end diving. And while it's been a really long time since my 2 stays at Sunset House, I wasn't a fan and haven't heard anything recent that would make me go there again. (Might visit the photo shop or eat and hang out, but not stay or dive there.)

I like Curacao, another place we've been many times. But I wouldn't stay at Lion's dive (again), or whatever that AI place is called now. The area is too busy and congested for my taste, and the dive op isn't my style.

We did a few trips to Bonaire but haven't been back in a long time and probably won't. It's ok, but the things that appeal to many people about it don't appeal to us.

St. Croix was ok for one trip, but I wasn't impressed enough with the diving to return. Same for Turks & Caicos, another place I'm not sure we will return. Just have trouble getting excited about it for some reason, and my husband isn't happy about the deeper than average starting depths on many of the dives. (Last time part of our trip was a liveaboard doing Grand Turk-Salt Cay-South Caicos. I would consider another liveaboard there if it did something other than the usual route.)