sambolino44
Contributor
I've never done a "dive vacation" before; I've only gone diving a few times on the overseas trips I've taken. Now, though, my wife is also certified and we go diving locally all the time, so for our next big vacation trip we want to try to get as much diving in as we can. However, there's no way we can afford the dive packages we've found so far.
One thing that makes these packages so expensive is the accommodation. We're used to "roughing it" on our trips. On our last trip to Costa Rica we either camped, or were able to find hotel rooms for about $5 -$10 US a night. We paid a bit more in Belize, but still way less than the nightly rates for dive resorts we've found online. Now, these places may look a little sketchy to most of the typical American dive travelers, but the linens were clean, the service was excellent, they were all locally owned, and we never had any problems with security.
When I try to find threads about budget travel it seems to me that what most people consider "cheap" is about five times more expensive than what I'm used to.
For our next trip, we're looking at Baja California. We've been looking as far north as Loreto, but trying to avoid the probably-over-commercialized Cabo area. We're probably only going have two weeks this time, so hopefully the money we save on accommodation can be put towards more diving.
Does anybody have any suggestions how to maximize our diving without spending money on stuff we don't need or want, like pools, beach-front cabanas, air conditioning, included meals, etc? I'm hoping maybe somebody might recommend a local dive operation that may not have an easily-found web presence. I'm thinking we may be able to arrange a dive package for one or two weeks of diving for two, but without the normal accommodations.
One thing that makes these packages so expensive is the accommodation. We're used to "roughing it" on our trips. On our last trip to Costa Rica we either camped, or were able to find hotel rooms for about $5 -$10 US a night. We paid a bit more in Belize, but still way less than the nightly rates for dive resorts we've found online. Now, these places may look a little sketchy to most of the typical American dive travelers, but the linens were clean, the service was excellent, they were all locally owned, and we never had any problems with security.
When I try to find threads about budget travel it seems to me that what most people consider "cheap" is about five times more expensive than what I'm used to.
For our next trip, we're looking at Baja California. We've been looking as far north as Loreto, but trying to avoid the probably-over-commercialized Cabo area. We're probably only going have two weeks this time, so hopefully the money we save on accommodation can be put towards more diving.
Does anybody have any suggestions how to maximize our diving without spending money on stuff we don't need or want, like pools, beach-front cabanas, air conditioning, included meals, etc? I'm hoping maybe somebody might recommend a local dive operation that may not have an easily-found web presence. I'm thinking we may be able to arrange a dive package for one or two weeks of diving for two, but without the normal accommodations.
, you might find that saving $30 a night on a hotel room might not actually save you money if you're planning on doing three dives a day for two weeks.
