"Beginner" Dive trips?

[tomfcrist]

Most dives in the florida keys are 50' or less, unless its specifically a wreck trip which will be in the 100-130 range on average. Most resort town dives that i have been on (bionare, cozumel, BVI, aruba etc.)have been intermediate level dives(drift dives, deeper dives etc.), however there are plenty of shallow dive spots in those places as well. You may have to shop around to find a boat that is doing the type of dive that you want to do on that particular day. If you have no other option than the intermediate dive, let the DM know your skill level, and keep close to him/her. Most DM's that i know are more than happy to walk you through some more challenging dives, and will take good care not to put you in harms way. Just remember to take care of your DM afterwards, and he'll take REALLY good care of you on your next dive with him.

Have fun, and enjoy some good dives.

 

[Papa_Bear]

I would think so, especially at the popular places. sounds like a business opportunity!

I think you find most resorts cater to the "Vacation diver" in the first place and especially on the first dives! The DM will size each diver up and adjust accordingly! To get more advanced dives you have to ask or be a boat load of advanced divers asking for the more advanced dives! Dive operations are geared toward easy and safe, as their business is 80% vacation divers! Now if you LDS tells the operator they are looking for something more they adjust to that as well...... You find that the business plan is "Keep it simple" and "Bring them back alive"! Depth is not a problem at 90% of thses dives! You control your depth!

 

[OceanEd]

Here in Jupiter, Fl. we have a more challenging diving environment. When people let us know they are new to diving we can accomodate them on some of the boats by teaming them with the DM on the boat or offering them a private DM to dive with them. We also routinely set up some dives to shallower depths for new divers.

In this area some boats specialize in dives to about 60 - 70 ft. on easy reefs and beautiful conditions. They also have great, thoughtful, and excellent DM's on the boat to help. Wetter The Better comes to mind as such a boat. Blue Tang is another that does a lot of diving with classes.

Another way is to talk to the boat and find out when they have a class going out for their final 2 OW dives. That will ensure good depths for your level of diving.

 

[BodenseeDiver]

bevor you make a Dive-Tripp lern to dive, until you are certainly you it is able and than go to a Dive- Tripp

 

[moneysavr]

get some diving in first before you pay all that money to travel to that far off tropical location IMO
AS SAID
Key Largo=Florida Keys is a great start save the air fare and get some more dives in!
many great operators to work with you like a DM in the waters a guide,
Welcome to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park - Key Largo, Florida Keys

Molasses Reef - Key Largo SCUBA Site - Dive Spots

Or do the Florida springs! they never get blown out-well they do during major rains but some don't!the money you save again on airfare pays for day long diving working on skills,hanging out eating and getting back in the water all great ways to dive,dive dive on your own schedule! and if you need a dive buddy,DM,instructor the shops nearby will set you up!!all at reasonable charges
Main Page - Troy Spring State Park Florida State Parks
Main Page - Manatee Springs State Park Florida State Parks
<<< Blue Grotto >>>
Florida's Pre-Historic Spring -- Devil's Den!
This is just a few ideas based on my experiance with new divers,the springs can offer marine life and great visibility,safe enviorment,ease of entry & exit,controled tempetures 72 deg's year round!
The Keys patch reefs have tons of marine sea life to see,not much in currents and your in America!no passport needed, once you have some dives under your belt travel to the great getaways and spend the big $$ on air fare/hotel deals in all they can be a lot of fun but we have some much great diving in our back yards to enjoy try it!
MI2Cent's
Brad

 

[halocline]

Roatan would be a good place to go. The conditions there are ideal for new divers. Coconut tree divers in the West end might be a good dive op for you, they always have a lot of new divers and OW students on certification dives. The DMs are all instructors, and there are almost always DM trainees on the dives to help with new divers.

Bonaire also has great dive conditions for new divers, but the shore diving is typically done without a DM. If you're confident enough to do that, fantastic. You could opt for guided boat dives there as well, and I'm sure you could hire a DM to go shore diving with you if you wanted.

Cozumel is a very popular dive destination for newly certified divers, and it's great diving, but to me it's more advanced due to the depths of Cozumel reefs and the currents. In Roatan and Bonaire, you rarely encounter any significant current and you can easily spend the majority of your dive above 30 ft and still be on a beautiful reef.

 

[me_diver]

get some diving in first before you pay all that money to travel to that far off tropical location IMO

Thanks, point taken, but I live in Maine and have little desire to dive in Maine waters in January!. The trip to the BVIs is mainly a sailboat charter trip - that was planned with some friends before we decided to do some diving during it. *If* we end up in Oahu this year that will be a company trip, so no worries there.

The Keys are a great idea! Thanks.

 

[BTravlin]

Have you chartered a crewed sailboat that offers diving or were you planning on doing the rendezvous diving? Either way I think you'll really enjoy the diving there.

 

[halocline]

The keys are terrific conditions for new divers, but you can't compare the quality of diving there to Cozumel, Roatan, and Bonaire. If you can afford it, a good long trip to Bonaire for unlimited shore diving with an instructor/guide would be ideal. You could also take some more classes there; either AOW or just some adventure dives. There are lots of excellent instructors in all of the caribbean dive destinations.

 

[TravisD]

MY wife and I did our first "real" ocean dives on a live-aboard trip after certifying and doing some diving in the local quarry. No complaints or regrets - there were plenty of dives available where even if we hadn't felt comfortable with the site, there was no pressure to not miss one. It was a great way to get a lot of bubble time in, and get comfortable with the environment and gear, including being able to adjust weighing.