goofygirl:
Thanks for your replies!
So do you get better prices through a dive travel agent with a package deal, or by doing the legwork and booking everything individually on your own?
I'd recommend Dani @Aquadreams -
www.aquadreams.com. Although on our last trip Caradonna was a very close second.
I've done both, our last trip she was able to get us a better deal than advertised anywhere else - direct booking, Expedia, Travelocity or Maduro - to Bonaire. We even received a better deal than the special Dive Festival rate at the same property. We booked our own flights directly through the airline, but Aquadreams could have done it for us, they had the same rate as we did. I did it just to ensure our seating preferences and also we booked on the last night of a special offer from American Airlines, through their travel consolidator, Aquadreams couldn't guarantee our seat selection.
And someone at Caradonna alerted us via e-mail to the fact that the fare special on AA was ending that night. Without that update, it would have cost us an additional $300. So I'll give them another chance at my business next trip.
However prior to that, we were able to book a better deal ourselves to Grand Cayman by e-mailing/phoning the condo rental agent here in the U.S. She offered us a better deal than what was even on the website that listed her as the contact. Just because she knew her projected occupancy was low for the week we wanted. We booked our own flights on this trip also because they didn't really offer the option. And we booked our own diving directly through the diveops 800#.
So in the future, I'm going to see what deals everybody lists and then make a few calls anyway.