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scuba kbell

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Location
NJ
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I am starting to plan a 8-9 night trip for June and am looking for suggestions. My last trip was to Taveuni, Fiji and I believe that I am now spoiled after seeing such amazing reefs/fish life. I loved seeing the abundance of fish life and the beautiful soft corals. I would prefer to go to someplace new, and a place that is a bit quiet. My preference is also to not do a liveaboard because I also like to do some land based activities such as the beach, hiking, etc. I also prefer warm water dives even though I have done some colder dives.

I have been fortunate to travel quite a bit. In the Caribbean I have gone diving in: Aruba, Bahamas, Bonaire, Curacao, Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, Provo, Grand Turk, Virgin Gorda, St. Thomas, Florida Keys, Turneffe Atoll, San Pedro Belize, Roatan, Cozumel, and Playa del Carmen. In the Pacific, I have gone diving in: Kauai, Maui, Oahu, Hawaii, Guam, Palau, Byron Bay Australia, GBR, Moorea, New Zealand, and Taveuni Fiji.

A few places that I have been considering:
Little Cayman - How does the diving compare to Cayman Brac? Is it very similar?
Dominica - Island looks beautiful, but how is the diving? There seems to be a few reports of low fish life.
St Vincent - Seems like it might be a bit difficult to travel to.
Bonaire - I have been there twice, but the convenient shore diving always draws me back.
Rangiroa/Fakarava - I did not like the diving in Moorea since the reef seemed dead every site we did. There does seem to be reports of great diving at these 2 islands. Which one of the two is better? How is the fish life and reef? What would the conditions be like in June (their winter)?
Anything in Europe worth trying? Malta?
I like diving in the Pacific over the Caribbean, but I think this trip is too short to cross the dateline. Any other places to consider?

I would appreciate any suggestions! Thanks!
 
Little Cayman: Much better than CB for sure. CB is only worth a day of diving compared with LC.

Dominica: I'd skip it, not worth it for a dive vacation but if you love hiking, it is a good place for it.

St. Vincent: EXCELLENT especially for macro.
 
I have dived all 3 of the Cayman Islands several times and although I agree that Little Cayman has the best diving because the Bloody Bay Wall is fabulous, I don't agree that Brac is only worth one day of diving, but the OP has been there already and can form his/her own opinion. Little Cayman is the best, but it books up fast so you may have trouble trying to find accommodations and airfare in June.

Have you considered a liveaboard trip to the Turks and Caicos? Beautiful walls, lots of healthy reefs and fish life, sharks on almost every dive, frequent encounters with eagle rays and other large creatures. I think that West Caicos and French Cay in the T&Cs are right up there with Little Cayman for some of the best diving in the Caribbean - but the reefs are rather far from Provo and best dived from a liveaboard.

St. Croix is another place to consider for a land-based trip, good Caribbean diving and the Fredricksted Pier dive is a very special experience.

Have a great trip wherever you go!
 
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Saba. Not in the Pacific, but pretty good Caribbean diving. On par with any other Caribbean location IMHO and the hiking is spectacular. A very small island so much more than a week might be too much, but well worth the trip. Combine it with St Martin (diving meh, but land based stuff is interesting).
 
I don't see any SE Asia stops in your history. Spend another couple days on the trip, and I think you would find yourself feeling similarly spoiled like after your Fiji trip. In my experience, it is THAT good.
*Bali safari to 2-3 locations.
*Philippines
 
Little Cayman: Much better than CB for sure. CB is only worth a day of diving compared with LC.

Dominica: I'd skip it, not worth it for a dive vacation but if you love hiking, it is a good place for it.

St. Vincent: EXCELLENT especially for macro.

Why would you not recommend Dominica? What are the negatives?

I have dived all 3 of the Cayman Islands several times and although I agree that Little Cayman has the best diving because the Bloody Bay Wall is fabulous, I don't agree that Brac is only worth one day of diving, but the OP has been there already and can form his/her own opinion. Little Cayman is the best, but it books up fast so you may have trouble trying to find accommodations and airfare in June.

Have you considered a liveaboard trip to the Turks and Caicos? Beautiful walls, lots of healthy reefs and fish life, sharks on almost every dive, frequent encounters with eagle rays and other large creatures. I think that West Caicos and French Cay in the T&Cs are right up there with Little Cayman for some of the best diving in the Caribbean - but the reefs are rather far from Provo and best dived from a liveaboard.

St. Croix is another place to consider for a land-based trip, good Caribbean diving and the Fredricksted Pier dive is a very special experience.

Have a great trip wherever you go!

I stayed 5 nights when I had gone to Cayman Brac and did enjoy my time there. We did not make it to Little Cayman for a day trip from the Brac, so I have not yet experienced Bloody Bay Wall. What can I expect for fish life on the wall? Do you tend to see larger fish/sharks or larger schools of fish? The place I was considering does still have availability for the week I am planning. I also like that this island seems quiet.

I did dive in Provo and Grand Turk, but am not looking to do a liveaboard for this trip.

I didn't really consider St Croix at first, but I'm looking into it a bit now. I'm a bit intrigued that they also have shore dive options. Downside is that the flight options are slim.

Saba. Not in the Pacific, but pretty good Caribbean diving. On par with any other Caribbean location IMHO and the hiking is spectacular. A very small island so much more than a week might be too much, but well worth the trip. Combine it with St Martin (diving meh, but land based stuff is interesting).

I also didn't consider here. What type of life can you expect to see while diving? I would probably combine it with a few days in St Martin to get a few beach days since Saba doesn't have any. What would be a good amount of time here, 5 nights? Is it reasonable to take the ferry back to St Martin to not have to worry about no fly time?

I don't see any SE Asia stops in your history. Spend another couple days on the trip, and I think you would find yourself feeling similarly spoiled like after your Fiji trip. In my experience, it is THAT good.
*Bali safari to 2-3 locations.
*Philippines

I'm planning a SE Asia trip for next year...probably Bali and Raja Ampat. I can't take another 2 week vacation this year, since I already took one and need to spread my vacation days out a bit. So for this trip I need to stay a bit closer. I'm not opposed to travelling as far as Rangoria/Fakarava, since I did Moorea in a 1 week trip. Crossing the dateline would be too far though.
 
Why would you not recommend Dominica? What are the negatives?

Diving there isn't great at all. There is only one dive site that maybe worth diving. They may have "Whale Shark" season there but I am not sure when or how true it is.
 
I also didn't consider here. What type of life can you expect to see while diving? I would probably combine it with a few days in St Martin to get a few beach days since Saba doesn't have any. What would be a good amount of time here, 5 nights? Is it reasonable to take the ferry back to St Martin to not have to worry about no fly time?

That is what I did. (Ferry both ways) However as I understand it the flight does not go high enough for that to be an issue. Many people fly there in the AM dive all day and then return in the evening. If you take the ferry you miss the first dive of the day. Both crossings are very short - you can see Saba from StMartins. I would say that 4 or 5 nights would let you do all the diving you wanted to do. As all of Saba is a marine park it is just a very healthy Caribbean ecosystem as opposed to most other locations that are fished out. Have a look at Saba Conservation Foundation - Preserving Saba's natural and cultural heritage to get an idea.
 
I used to live and work on Cayman Brac. The last dive I did before being hit by a car and medevaced was on Little Cayman. The dive op for which I worked would dive it every Thursday. On my last dive as a guide we saw a large school of squid in the daylight shallows on Bloody Bay Wall. That night, BAM! Hit by a car a mile away from my house like I was a deer.

All three Cayman Islands have different things to offer. My night time hobby was spelunking the dry caves of Cayman Brac. You could also consider looking into spending time on all three and doing both famous dives and out of the way dives, as well as land adventures. For a little extra tip money we were always willing to go the distance to ensure guests got the most out of their visit.
 
With the experience you listed, I do not think any place in the Caribbean is going to offer something substantially different or impress you for 8-9 days.

Maybe Red Sea Egypt, Sea of Cortez Mexico ?

You said June, but for something different you have not listed:

2-3 days in Cabo Pulmo in the fall for the fish schools. Combine it with Cabo San Lucas or Sea of Cortez to fill the week.

2-3 days in Palm Beach Florida in September for the goliath groupers. Combine it with beach time or wreck diving in the keys.

2 days in Cancun in July/Aug for whale shark snorkeling. Combine it with cenotes in Playa or scuba in Isla Mujeres.
 
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