You Have $3-4k, the Last 2 Weeks of Aug 2021 Available, No Kids.....

[tridacna]

Philippines is closed to foreign tourists for all of 2021 already announced by the government.

What is your source for that? I heard "tourist bubbles" opening in second half of 21. Yours even more restrictive than that. If so, dang.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

I would stay in the Riviera Maya, Mexico. There are flights from almost everywhere and almost daily. There are a lot of really nice all inclusive resorts, as well as non all inclusive.ones. I would stay close to Playa Del Carmen. From there you can dive the cenotes and take the ferry over to Cozumel. There is a lot for your wife to do such as visit some of the ruins, visit the adventure parks, snorkel with the turtles and rays at Akumal bay and shopping if that's her thing, etc.

 

[drrich2]

If you managed nearly weeks in the Caribbean for under 4 grand, even with 1 week hotel paid, bringing a wife on a honeymoon and including airfare, you have an economical wife and should be thankful! I'm thinking Cozumel or mainland Mexico, but since I mentioned Turquoise Bay Resort in Roatan, here the budget I worked out not long ago when I was considering it as a possible future option (with me as a solo traveler paying a single supplement and flying out of Nashville Airport):
Turquoise Bay Resort Roatan.
Garden View Diver 1 week stay. Package rate doesn’t include 19% tax!
$1,100 (extra $100 for ocean view).
$180 (single supplement).
$130 (nitrox).
$210 (tax on basic package rate).
3 Dive/day, I think maybe 18 for the week? It does say with 6+ night stays you get 1 night dives. So maybe 18? Seems like I’ve heard that. All boat dives, no shore diving.
3 Meals/day + afternoon snack. I see mention of some alcohol included, and Honduran coffee…but not soda?
If tipping $25/day at 3 dives/day, maybe $150 in tips?
So, that’s add up to $1,770 + airfare, parking fee at airport, baggage fees, airport food and tips going & coming. Maybe trip insurance.
Airfare: Roundtrip via Orbitz. Sat. - Sat., May 1-8.
United Airlines: 6 Hour, 1-stop going, no carry on bag (so pay to upgrade), return 6 hour 7 minute, Orbitz price $550.09. Don’t think Southwest or JetBlue fly there.
So, trip looks like $2,320.09. Not sure whether the pandemic has depressed airfares. Add $120 for baggage fees, and it’s $2,440.09. Would have to upgrade flight to allow carry on, so I’m guessing an easy $2,500.

Okay, for the 2 of you, knock off the $180 single supplement and the $130 nitrox, each.

I don't think Bonaire is a great choice, but it could be for some. My budget trip report -
Bonaire at Dive Hut 2012 - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/bonaire/432576-solo-diver-dive-hut.html Where Bonaire tends to wipe the budget out is on airfare.

Cheap airfare destinations I think of with Grand Cayman and the Bahamas. G.C. is seen as a pricy destination; I've read of good package deals with car rental included at Turtle Nest Inn (?IIRC), and there's shore diving and the option to prepare your own meals.

Utila has a 'backpacker culture,' I've heard. So I take it that can be done on a budget? Wonder what the options for a trip based out of Roatan's West End area might cost? Haven't priced those.

Richard.

 

[scubadada]

My wife and I spent a week at Turquoise Bay in August 2017. We has a very nice trip Turquoise Bay Resort/Subway Watersports August 2017

 

[drrich2]

A little follow up; one of my old instructors does group trips, and they've got one set up for Oct. 2021 to Ambergris Caye, Belize. $1,285 apiece, deduct $300 if she's a non-diver, 7 nights, 5 dive days (10 boat dives, option to buy more), roundtrip local airfare to get your there from the airport in the mainland.

I imagine you guys might not get quite as good a deal, and you need to factor in food...but I doubt you'd need a rental car. IIRC, roundtrip airfare to Belize is fairly moderate.

If there's enough topside to entertain her, this might work.

 

[drrich2]

He went windsurfing for a day or two instead, and had a great time with that. Apparently there's world-class windsurfing there, who knew! And we all ditched diving for a day to go on a guided tour kayaking in the mangroves, which was one of the highlights of the trip

Just remembered your post. Yes, Bonaire has both windsurfing (Jibe City area, east coast), and kite-boarding (Atlantis area, west cost). I've read of mangrove tours; haven't done that. A drive one afternoon through Washington-Slagbaai Park is pretty nice, with some interesting landscape features and other items. But Bonaire doesn't have much sandy beach. I love it for shore diving, but if topside entertainments are a concern...Curacao may pull ahead.

 

[Andrew Dawson]

Very interesting info, everyone!! Y'all are awesome!! Thank you!!!

Now, my wife is a non-diver...but would do the Discover Experience. Which, IIRC, is where she would do a class or two, a pool dive, then a very closely guided scuba dive in the ocean....calm bay, etc.

I heard those are are Roatan...any confirmation, other places, more info, please?

 

[MichaelMc]

Now, my wife is a non-diver...but would do the Discover Experience. Which, IIRC, is where she would do a class or two, a pool dive, then a very closely guided scuba dive in the ocean....calm bay, etc.

I heard those are are Roatan...any confirmation, other places, more info, please?

Belize has three or four dives that are inside the barrier reef and thus shallow, a requirement for your wife. Parts of the marine park are very shallow, like stand up on your fin tips outside the boat shallow. So rather benign. The shallow site I dove, Mexican Rocks, was nice, at all of 11 feet, but nice.

I went there in 2017 and liked it. The island and town have a few things to do for a few days. We were a bit out of town to the south though.
Trip report - Ambergris Caye, White Sands - April 2017

 

[chillyinCanada]

Lots for your wife to do, assuming she doesn't mind a bit of touristic trinket shopping.

And you'd be back in time to have lunch with her. Rent a golf cart and tour the island. Skip a day of diving and the two of you head over to Caye Caulker for an afternoon.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Belize sounds like fun. So far away from me though.