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My husband and I were certified about 7 years ago. We have very different styles when it comes to diving vacations. I want to do as many dives as I can. He prefers 2 - 3 dives with afternoons off. He would go stir crazy on a LOB so we stick to land based lodging
We've been to St. Lucia, Cozumel (5 times), Roatan and Utila. Roatan and Utila were both diving vacations. Cozumel and St. Lucia were vacations with heavy diving. It was a fair compromise for both of us. We're going to Bonaire for the first time in October. In terms of cost it won't be much more expensive than Cozumel. Air fair and lodging is costly but diving is included so it will balance out. I'm sure food will be more expensive than Coz but we're prepared for that.
Here's my input
1. Cozumel
2. Roatan - CocoView
- Cheap and pretty quick to get there from the east coast. We've been 5 times so far but decided to explore some other destinations this year.
- Drift diving with incredible clarity and beautiful reef systems. Lots of turtles, and larger pelagics (the only time I get to use that word
). Sometimes hard to explore the reefs due to the current but one of my favorite places to dive. Absolutely beautiful!
- We've done both condos and all inclusive. We prefer condos. The last time we got a condo in town so we could walk to restaurants, bars and the ferry pier. Previously we had stayed in the southern hotel zone and rented a car.
- Lodging is pretty inexpensive
- Great restaurants - also pretty inexpensive
- Our DM is a valet dive operation - he picks up our gear from the condo when we arrive and takes care of it all week. It's set up and waiting for us each morning.
- Generally the least expensive of our destinations but the higher cost of diving tends to balance out the air fair/food and lodging.
3. Utila - Laguna Beach (no longer in business)
- Expensive air fair
- All inclusive "Dive Camp". Lodging is not cheap but all the diving you could possibly want is included.
- Diving is very different than Cozumel. Not a lot of the larger fish but you can hover in one place and watch the reef reveal itself. They also have a beautiful house reef you can dive to your hearts content.
- Not as much for the hubby to do in the afternoon. This was the trip he discovered he wants to do more than dive on a vacation. I was in heaven.
- Overall, this was our most expensive trip. I would love to go back. My husband, not so much.
4. St. Lucia - our first vacation after we got certified.
- LOVED Utila. Great, walkable town. Very friendly and welcoming
- Air fair is expensive and the island requires a separate flight or ferry from either the mainland or Roatan.
- Diving is similar to Roatan. Some will argue it's better, I'm not sure that's true. We went for the possibility of whale sharks. One of those bucket list items. Unfortunately, no luck.
- Cost was on par with CCV. I want to go back and stay at Utopia Village but we have to build up the finances for that. The resort is beautiful but definitely not a budget destination.
- We stayed in a private villa outside of Soufriere and dove with Scuba St.Lucia.
- Since it was our first blue water experience it seemed incredible at the time. However, looking back on it I realize now the visibility was not not great but that's because we were there in the rainy season.
- Travel time is an issue from the east cost and it was expensive
- I loved the diving, was not impressed with the Island. We were there in the rainy season so a lot of things were closed. Soufriere itself was not my favorite place.
Did you book directly with El Galleon or did you go through a 3rd party like Bluewater Travel? Gonna book this for April. THXAre you restricting this solicitation to the Caribbean?
The best diving (quality) while keeping in mind the per tank or all inclusive basis is in the Philippines or Red Sea (Egypt).
I’d suggest Puerto Galera in the Philippines based on what you’ve told me about your wife. Concierge diving at its best. I showed up for every dive with computer and mask and the rest was done for me. I stepped off the boat and deck hands were waiting to analyze nitrox; I only needed to sign and watch. My gear and tank was on the boat for every dive, including my camera, just as I like it. I walked off with the same gear I went on with. Next dive, they lay my wetsuit and boots, socks or for me to put on. I ordered my meal before departing for the dive and it would be almost ready by my return. They rinsed my gear and dried it before departure. The only thing I carried all week was my mask and computer. They take care of everything else.
A full week with nitrox, 4 dives a day on a boat with a DM or instructor, ocean view room, private round trip transfers, all meals....$1200 at Asia Divers/El Galleon which some people will tell you is a “premium” aka on the expensive side. I happily pay it for the dock and it was so worth it to me. It’s a top notch op.
Should you want to a la carte it, you can get nitrox dives for $25-30 a tank on a boat with a DM, possibly with equipment rental as well.
Another one you should look at is the Red Sea out of Egypt. Land based diving and liveaboards are very affordable. 3 tanks on a boat with a DM with lunch for $50, easily. You could probably package a dive arrangement quite cheaply. To give you an idea, including taxes per night at the Marriott in Hurghada, we are paying $120 a night for 2 adults in an ocean view room which includes breakfast and dinner. (We opted out of lunch since we would be diving). You can opt be on a luxury dive yacht liveaboard for about $1200-1300 a week with free nitrox. Lots of options.
The flight to Egypt is more expensive than the flight to the Philippines for us but I know there are always deals to Asia from Texas. It’s obviously more time but it’s often same price to fly to Caribbean or out to Asia so the decision is always easy for me, given the quality of the diving. The only thing is it’s a larger time commitment but your landing costs (eating/diving/lodging) are substantially lower than the Caribbean.
Great to hear- I was planning to book through them, as well.I booked with Bluewater. Credit card payment with travel bonus on my credit card since they are a travel merchant and they are great! I had to make a trip interruption claim and they were super helpful in providing the items I needed post-trip, even months after.
