Travel destination for beginner

[Raphus]

Hey, first some Infos about me:
I did my owd 1 year ago.
Since then I made about 30 dives in germany and 25 in bonaire. I also made the aowd in Bonaire and already signed up for the rescue course in April.

My girlfriend dives with me and got the same amount of dives and qualification.
We feel confident with our skills, but we still lack experience.

We are going to do a diving holiday in July and need some advice about the destination.
We loved the independed diving in Bonaire, but we are still very beginners with about 60 dives only.

We thought about cozumel or other destinations in Mexico, but we are a bit scared about the strong currents. It would be nice, if we find a place with a nice house reef, so we don't need to hire guides.

Another possibility is egypt(dive boat) , but diving is not always easy over there for beginners like us.

It would be really nice, if we can get some advice from the more experienced scuba travelers

Thanks
Raphus

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

Breakers resort soma bay hurghadha. German owned kite surfing and diving resort. Spectacular house reef. I’m going back for my 2nd visit in feb. orca dive club onsite. It’s excellent. They also have early morning zodiac dives and 1 and 2 dove drips every morning. You could do 4 dives a day for 7 days and not dive the same site twice. Tobia Arbaa is still one of the best pillar reef dive sites I have ever been on. Very dense and varied fish.

relatively cheap too. I think it’s around 50 euro a night per person including breakfast and dinner.

 

[KathyV]

If you are interested in the Caribbean then the destinations that are the most popular for shore diving include: Bonaire, Curacao, Grand Cayman, Roatan, and St. Croix.

I'm guessing that it would be pretty easy to fly to Grand Cayman from Germany via Miami, correct? There are a few dedicated dive resorts on Grand Cayman with onsite dive ops and house reefs for shore diving:

Sunset House - breakfast included and restaurants onsite:
https://www.sunsethouse.com/

Lighthouse Point, restaurant onsite:
https://www.lighthousepointdiveresort.com/

Cobalt Coast, all-inclusive:
https://www.cobaltcoast.com/

But if you want to do a lot of diving and increase your skills you might consider a liveaboard, perhaps in the northern Red Sea out of Sharm. I have only been to Egypt one time and in the autumn and the weather was gorgeous, but I understand that it can be sizzling in the summer.

 

[Raphus]

Thanks you!
How difficult is the diving in Hurghadha?

Grand Cayman is a good option I guess.
I live in Frankfurt, so I can fly to most locations without stops.
I will look some stuff up about grand cayman and hurghadha. Is July a good time to travel to those destinations?

 

[KenGordon]

Red Sea Diving Safari - Marsa Alam - Home

I have been to Marsa Shagra. You fly to Marsa Alam. If has an excellent house reef, small boats that can take you to Elphinstone and run land based trips further afield. There is a chamber nearby.

 

[scrane]

Diving in Cozumel is very easy. I've seen many beginners dive there without incident. There is some current, but the dives are designed to "go with the flow". Very limited opportunity for shore dives.

 

[KathyV]

Thanks you!
How difficult is the diving in Hurghadha?

Grand Cayman is a good option I guess.
I live in Frankfurt, so I can fly to most locations without stops.
I will look some stuff up about grand cayman and hurghadha. Is July a good time to travel to those destinations?

It goes without saying that it will be very hot in the tropics in the northern hemisphere in July.

I know that it is generally a good time for diving in Grand Cayman because it is usually very calm and you can usually do boat dive the sites on north wall, the west side, and the east end depending on where you are staying - and most of the popular shore dives should be easy diving - unless the weather turns stormy but that is true throughout the Caribbean in July.

July is a quieter season in the Caribbean so it tends to be less expensive and less crowded than the peak seasons of winter and spring, but it is still a popular travel time for families with kids.

None of the 3 GC dive resorts that I've listed above are located in the popular tourist areas of Seven Mile Beach and George Town, they are a bit off the beaten path. Sunset House is only a mile from George Town and the cruise ship harbor but it is not a tourist destination. You could get by without renting a car at Sunset House and just walk or take a bus to town during the quieter hours - walking in July will be hot!

You would definitely need a rental car at Lighthouse Point, but it is just north of Seven Mile Beach on the west side with easy access to restaurants and attractions. They drive on the left in the Caymans.

If you don't plan to leave the resort then you wouldn't need to rent a car for the all-inclusive Cobalt Coast but it is further north on the west side of the island, so if you want to do some exploring then you should consider renting a car at least for a few days.

 

[1isNone]

Just curious, how are you considering 55 dives with AOW certification "inexperienced"? What criteria are you using?

 

[formernuke]

Just curious, how are you considering 55 dives with AOW certification "inexperienced"? What criteria are you using?

I'm at around 150 ish (I stopped logging a while back) with a master diver cert, I consider myself inexperienced compared to a lot here, it's all relative.

OP, the only trip I've taken was roatan, I found the diving very easy. It will be hot, I went in March and is hot.

 

[CanadaDan]

I originally certified OW in Playa/Cozumel. Drift dives are a blast as long as you don't fight the current. One of my first OW dives and favourite diving memories to date was a fast drift... just flying along without a bit of effort.We came up when air dictated and the boat was there in a moment. They know what they're doing.

You can also look a little further down the road on the mainland at Tulum. Easy close to shore dives and quick access to the Cenotes. Bit of a trip to Coz from there but the cenotes are worth a trip in themselves.

Liveaboards are indeed a great option. I did the Cat Ppalu out of Nassau for a week. VERY reasonably priced and the dives are easy to moderate with some great coral in the protected areas.

Roatan has places with onsite dive shops and shore dives available with plenty of boat doves as well.