Caribbean Shallow, Accessible and Abundant Sea Life

[Suppresst]

My wife just learned to SCUBA. Owing to proximity to Michigan (USA) and warm, clear waters I selected Grand Cayman as place for her to learn and take her first dives. It was a compromise - I wanted access to deeper wall dives, but I wanted to make sure she could have access to shallower reefs nearer in shore, but still by boat.

Turns out, as doctor explained after the fact, when she is under substantial stress she imbibes air into her stomach (happened too when she was in labor) and this air she took in when diving off boat (that freaks her out) then expands as she resurfaces from depth and forces acid into her stomach and she gets terrible heartburn.

Bottom line - for now, at least, we're looking for dive spots with following parameters:

1. Affordable - not too far from us (don't want to pay really high air fare; Caribbean okay, but open other suggestions...South America, or Hawaii perhaps, or maybe one of the other Cayman Islands would be more suitable).
2. Guided diving like we had in Cayman's. My wife likes to dive with divemaster in water, at least until confidence develops.
3. Abundance of shallow reefs, and perhaps shore accessible too
4. Reasonable abundance of sea life, including coral. Her primary motive to dive is to see fish.
5. If possible, area known for calm seas
6. In short, a very user friendly dive environment for a beginning diver.

Input will be greatly appreciated.

 

[edwants2dive]

Bonaire, the airfare is steep but there are all of the other things you are looking for. There is a forum dedicated to it here Bonaire There is member @Paul - Bonscuba who is a local guide there. I believe it would fit the bill nicely for you.

 

[furym]

My wife too just got certified. She did not care for the low visibility of the quarry dives. We just came back from Cancun, shallow reef, 30 min boat ride on calm seas, and she said if all dives were like that she would go all the time. Plenty of small fish and a sea turtle on a short afternoon dive. Cancun can run cheap to expensive depending on the level of comfort you want. We stayed in town and rode the bus to keep costs to a minimum.

 

[KathyV]

My wife just learned to SCUBA. Owing to proximity to Michigan (USA) and warm, clear waters I selected Grand Cayman as place for her to learn and take her first dives. It was a compromise - I wanted access to deeper wall dives, but I wanted to make sure she could have access to shallower reefs nearer in shore, but still by boat.

Turns out, as doctor explained after the fact, when she is under substantial stress she imbibes air into her stomach (happened too when she was in labor) and this air she took in when diving off boat (that freaks her out) then expands as she resurfaces from depth and forces acid into her stomach and she gets terrible heartburn.

Bottom line - for now, at least, we're looking for dive spots with following parameters:

1. Affordable - not too far from us (don't want to pay really high air fare; Caribbean okay, but open other suggestions...South America, or Hawaii perhaps, or maybe one of the other Cayman Islands would be more suitable).
2. Guided diving like we had in Cayman's. My wife likes to dive with divemaster in water, at least until confidence develops.
3. Abundance of shallow reefs, and perhaps shore accessible too
4. Reasonable abundance of sea life, including coral. Her primary motive to dive is to see fish.
5. If possible, area known for calm seas
6. In short, a very user friendly dive environment for a beginning diver.

Input will be greatly appreciated.

Little Cayman's reefs on Bloody Bay Wall and Jackson's Bight start shallow (around 20 to 40 feet) and are not far from shore but also provide options for beautiful, deep walls. The best walls in the Caribbean in my experience.

We usually stay at Little Cayman Beach Resort and dive with the onsite dive op Reef Divers, see link below.
Little Cayman Beach Resort

What time of year do you plan to travel? We've been to LC when it has been flat calm and when it has been windy. It is more likely to be windy in late fall and winter months - but that is true of many areas of the Caribbean - and there are never any guarantees about the weather. There usually isn't much current around LC when we've dived there.

When it is rough on BBW the dive ops can usually dive the calmer south side of the island. I think the reefs start pretty shallow on that side too. The south side isn't as dramatic or beautiful but you will see corals and plenty of colorful fish there too.

The divemaster will lead the group through the first part of the LC dives. Some folks choose to follow the guide and others prefer to go off on their own. The DM will eventually lead the group back to the mooring site, then he/she will exit and join his/her fellow DM in assisting divers as they get back on the boat. Divers often spend the remainder of their dive in the shallow areas near the boat until they are ready to surface.

There are some short swim-throughs on BBW but you don't have to go through them. My ears don't like sudden changes so we usually just swim over them and rejoin the group on the other side.

The nearby Cayman Brac Beach Resort is another nice option, and a little cheaper than LCBR, but the reefs start a bit deeper there, around 40 - 60 feet.
Cayman Brac Beach Resort

The Clearly Cayman resorts are all-inclusive but the food at LCBR and CBBR is quite good and the resorts are clean and well-maintained but not fancy. The dive op provides valet diving services at no extra charge and that might also help to put your wife at ease.

 

[ibj40]

Contact Dive Aventuras, in Puerto Aventuras. We have been diving with them for over a dozen years.

 

[Doc]

I see this as a post better suited to the forum, “Newer Divers and Overcoming _______”.

I know of no physical explanation for any given specific depth over and beyond any other depth that would create or increase the symptomology of what you describe, if it’s happening at 75’, it will happen at 10’. Now, you’ve spoken with a Physician, so they’ve ruled out medical causes such as a weakened Cardiac Sphincter.

If a diver is swallowing air, yes that can complicate buoyancy to the very small extent represented by the volume of air that a human stomach can hold. At the high end (without breakfast and in a male) that amounts to 1 liter.

That liter is not much air to compensate for by adding a bit more lead weight, pre-dive.

To look for a dive site based on the premise that it is easier to manage hyper buoyant objects at shallower depths is faulty on its face. It becomes easier to manage buoyancy once past the shallows, that magic number is different for every body type (wetsuit thickness, body fat and whatever amt of stomach gas retained), but many people stumble past this into “stasis” at 18fsw.

If stress is causing her to swallow air, I do not see any shore dive entry as suggested above in Bonaire to be a stress reducer of any fashion. They are quite simple by any standard, but they do have unique challenges can be quite stressful just to start, and adding stressors of the actual dive beginning inherent to that entry. Lots of new stuff. Any less stressful than sliding off a step of a boat, all positively buoyant, floating till you’re relaxed enough to slowly deflate and.....no- no Bonaire shore dive is easier than that simple entry.

So, in my experience, a shallow dive profile will complicate the inherent inability of a newb to present a flat dive profile, and will always result in a sawtooth pattern, usually with the diver making ongoing uncontrolled ascents followed by repeated fights downward.

As to having her stomach contents appearing in her esophagus and mouth? That tells me a few more things. Number one is: her stomach was not empty, so let’s cut that theoretical max buoyancy of 1 Liter down to a more realistic 1/2 Liter. The other huge factor is: What’s her u/w attitude? Gravity dictates that she is “head down”, otherwise she wouldn’t be burping her biscuits. She is probably head down because of over-buoyancy. Easy answer: stop doing that.

The lifetime, overall, simplest fix for your intended lifetime dive buddy? Get her a one-on-one instructor who is a real-deal expert on buoyancy. Not all of them are, you haven’t found one, yet.

Also find an instructor of an empathic nature. Your dive buddy needs to find a path to relax, calm down, and decide if this is what she wants. If you can combine this with. “Naturalist” Course, something to distract her from that “diving thing”, she just might forget about burping.

Fix the problem, don’t avoid the symptom.

 

[Bubblesong]

St Croix frederickstead Pier has seahorses, loads of variety and cheap. But check cruise ship schedule before booking. I dove it with my daughter, then the same shop near the pier took her to the other side of island for shore to wall dive.

 

[Reelman1]

Key Largo ticks all those boxes nicely...

 

[KathyV]

Key Largo ticks all those boxes nicely...

True, and that's where we started our diving - but it can be windy and rough (and cold) in the winter and spring and @Suppresst didn't mention the time of year that they plan to travel.

 

[GrafCanuck]

Bonaire, the airfare is steep but there are all of the other things you are looking for. There is a forum dedicated to it here Bonaire There is member @Paul - Bonscuba who is a local guide there. I believe it would fit the bill nicely for you.

+1....Bonaire is great for a rookie/novice diver given the number of shore dive sites and the relatively mild current. Paul @ BonScuba is a super local guide and affordable. Agree with edwants2dive that it can be pricey to get there and back but the accommodations are reasonably priced as are the dive shops. Comparatively speaking with the rest of the Caribbean.