Recommendation for Feb/Mar trip short(ish) flight from Scotland

[KathyV]

So Scotland to Milan, then on to Cairo?

Perhaps the problem for the OP is first getting out of Great Britian?

You are probably right, it may be necessary to fly to Heathrow first to get to Cairo.

 

[KathyV]

We're edging towards Tenerife. Appears to be the easiest of the Canaries to get to from Edinburgh. Would love to do the Red Sea but flights are a nightmare from up here so might need to wait until we can take two weeks off.

Any recommended dive shops in Tenerife? Also any recommendations for good areas to stay would be helpful - ideally with fewer tourists and more locals. The more people who don't speak English the better.

I just did some online searching and I found some nonstop flights from EDI to JFK, and from New York you can fly non-stop to several popular destinations in the Caribbean, where the water is warm in February, including: Curacao, Provo, St. Martin, Grand Cayman, St. Lucia, and other spots.

English is pretty commonly spoken/understood throughout the Caribbean and tourism is the main industry, but there are rural and remote places with good diving available.

Curacao has less developed areas with quiet places to stay/dive that are away from the capital city.

You can stay on the East End of Grand Cayman away from the more developed areas, or you can take a half-hour flight to the quiet, rural islands of Cayman Brac or Little Cayman. You can also fly to Roatan or Cuba from Grand Cayman.

I have never been to Grand Turk but you can take a short flight there from Provo in the Turks & Caicos.

And from St. Martin you can take a short plane ride (or ferry) to Saba or St. Kitts.

And if you think that you might like Caribbean liveaboard diving then there are LOBs that depart from some Caribbean destinations including St. Martian and Grand Cayman.

What is your approximate budget per person and does it include airfare? It would be helpful to know because February and March can be an expensive time of year to travel to some destinations.

 

[Storker]

Any recommended dive shops in Tenerife?

We went with Atlantic Divers in Arona, Diving Tenerife With Atlantic Divers They're on Facebook, too.

The shop is run by a Brit who is familiar with North European diving culture, decently competent divers in real buddy pairs. After our first dive, we weren't herded like sheep and our guide was only a guide, not a babysitter. And their RIB was never stuffed when we were there, unlike some of the other boats we saw. They also provided free pickup from nearby towns.

Dive centers are dime a dozen down there, so I'm sure there are other ops which are just as good. I chose them because Geoff is BSAC as well as PADI affiliated.

Arona is a funny little town, BTW. Rather few short-term tourists and thus a bit different from the tourist machines in the area, but a bunch of expat Brits. Almost every cafe along the beach offered inexpensive, quite good English breakfasts.

Also any recommendations for good areas to stay would be helpful - ideally with fewer tourists and more locals. The more people who don't speak English the better.

Well, good luck with that. The main source of living in the Canaries is tourism and a little agriculture. We quickly gave up and just went with the flow, but avoided the most blatant catering to the average sun-and-cheap-booze motivated tourist.

 

[caydiver]

How about Mauritius or The Seychelles. BA flies to both. Also using Manchester or Gatwick as a changeover might be cheaper and more efficient than Heathrow. Flew through Manchester last year. Awesome for connection as it is such a user friendly sized airport.

 

[ross9]

Thanks for all the tips.

The problem with Egypt or anywhere further afield is that Scotland (Edinburgh) doesn't have the same selection of direct flights as Manchester or London. And since we only have a week off it's hard to justify spending 12+ hours on a multi stop flight as it'll limit the actual number of days we get diving. I realise that means we don't have a huge selection of available options!

I might see if we can squeeze an extra couple of days off to see if we can make the Red Sea work as it does sound like the Canaries might be a bit cold.

The Caribbean and Mauritius/the Seychelles are both on the list for the future, but we'll need at least a couple of weeks off work for those trips I think.

Assuming we don't manage the Red Sea, thanks @Storker for the tips on Tenerife. As long as we avoid the worst of the tourists I'm sure we'll survive!

 

[ross9]

If we could make the Red Sea work, any liveaboards and itineraries you’d recommend for our dive experience? I see some boats have 20/30/50 min dive requirements. We’re comfortable in most conditions aside perhaps particularly strong currents.

Are the min dive requirements strict requirements or recommendations? I.e. if my partner has 19 dives will she be ok on a min 20 itinerary?

Thanks again!

 

[UFOrb]

I have done a liveaboard in the red sea but I think I've heard or read somewhere that you're expected to have at least 50 dives under your belt for many of the dive sites visited by the liveaboards. If that's the case then there's plenty of decent shore based diving along the red sea.
Not sure what the flight availability from Scotland is like, but we went to Marsa Alam (direct from Gatwick) last April with access to some very good shore and boats diving.
Have you also considered Lanzarote? Safari Diving are based direct on the beach at Playa Chica and do shore diving direct from the beach and nearby as well as boat trips.

 

[UFOrb]

If we could make the Red Sea work, any liveaboards and itineraries you’d recommend for our dive experience? I see some boats have 20/30/50 min dive requirements. We’re comfortable in most conditions aside perhaps particularly strong currents.

Are the min dive requirements strict requirements or recommendations? I.e. if my partner has 19 dives will she be ok on a min 20 itinerary?

Thanks again!

Sorry, didn't see this post before sending my previous reply.
I would've thought you'd be absolutely fine on a min 20 dive itinerary as I'm sure they build in a safety factor and will only do relatively easy dives on that itinerary, but as I haven't done a red sea liveaboard, hopefully others should be able to confirm.
It would be a bit harsh not allowing your partner on with 19 dives. Best to contact them about that...

 

[Dan]

Turkish Air has a flight from Istanbul to Hurghada, skipping Cairo. I'll be diving in Red Sea Southern Route from Marsa Alam in December, flying from Houston to Hurghada with 1 stop in Istanbul.

 

[chillyinCanada]

If we could make the Red Sea work, any liveaboards and itineraries you’d recommend for our dive experience? I see some boats have 20/30/50 min dive requirements. We’re comfortable in most conditions aside perhaps particularly strong currents.

Are the min dive requirements strict requirements or recommendations? I.e. if my partner has 19 dives will she be ok on a min 20 itinerary?

Thanks again!

Why not start with a shore stay. One of my dive buddies, a very discerning person and someone who has been on many liveaboards including in Red Sea, much prefers to dive out of Camel Divers at Sharm el Sheikh.

You will love the diving and it will also give you both those extra dives to be ready for a liveaboard next trip.