Carribean destination, Macro, convenient from NY area airport?

[Gerry359]

I’m starting to plan a dive vacation with my son (24). My objective (besides hanging out with my son) is to work on my macro photography. I am looking for a place to go with excellent macro subjects and convenient (preferably) from either Newark, JFK, or LaGuardia. Any suggestions?

 

[diversteve]

Oddly though i live in the west, I've connected thru Newark several times to Carib dive destinations (direct flights)

So here's a couple:

Provo, Turks & Caicos which will mostly be boat diving. We did a live aboard there and one of the divers was a serious photographer - a couple times I just saw his legs under a coral head - he got some amazing macro - had the gear for it and knew how to use it.. Some NYC doctors on our boat flew in directly from one of the airports.

St. Thomas which has a few shore dives, is 1/2 hr. by ferry to St. John where there's a marine park and you can actually go via fast ferry to the BVI's for a lot of other shallow diving. My buddy is a photog and found plenty to shoot there.

Grand Csyman is another obvious choice - direct flights from NYC. Lots of reef so lots of photo ops. Cathy Church's photo school is located there at Sunset House.

The other obvious macro choice is Bonaire/Curacao. IDK the east coast flights as we go thru IAH. I'm pretty sure there is/was a direct flight to Bonaire on Saturdays.

 

[KathyV]

@diversteve's suggestions include some great choices, but I'd like to add St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands to the list.

Shore diving the Fredricksted pier on St. Croix would be an easy, fun, and inexpensive way to enjoy great macro opportunities. I did a quick google search and there are direct flights available from New York to St. Croix. Take a look at this recent trip report from @choiahoy:

St. Croix 2018 - Trip Report and Video

 

[Gerry359]

Oddly though i live in the west, I've connected thru Newark several times to Carib dive destinations (direct flights)

So here's a couple:

Provo, Turks & Caicos which will mostly be boat diving. We did a live aboard there and one of the divers was a serious photographer - a couple times I just saw his legs under a coral head - he got some amazing macro - had the gear for it and knew how to use it.. Some NYC doctors on our boat flew in directly from one of the airports.

St. Thomas which has a few shore dives, is 1/2 hr. by ferry to St. John where there's a marine park and you can actually go via fast ferry to the BVI's for a lot of other shallow diving. My buddy is a photog and found plenty to shoot there.

Grand Csyman is another obvious choice - direct flights from NYC. Lots of reef so lots of photo ops. Cathy Church's photo school is located there at Sunset House.

The other obvious macro choice is Bonaire/Curacao. IDK the east coast flights as we go thru IAH. I'm pretty sure there is/was a direct flight to Bonaire on Saturdays.

Both islands are all small stuff, seahorses, nudis lots of eels and small invertebrates. Mostly shore diving so you save some money. Actually it's rare to see a shark on either island unless you go to specific dive sites.

Thank you! I’ve been to Bonaire many times. Love it but looking for something new. Was in Curaçao last Feb - I thought it had gotten a bit run down. Have also been to Cayman a few times. What liveaboard operation did you use at T&C?

 

[Gerry359]

@diversteve's suggestions include some great choices, but I'd like to add St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands to the list.

Shore diving the Fredricksted pier on St. Croix would be an easy, fun, and inexpensive way to enjoy great macro opportunities. I did a quick google search and there are direct flights available from New York to St. Croix. Take a look at this recent trip report from @choiahoy:

St. Croix 2018 - Trip Report and Video

Really nice video. Thanks!

 

[KathyV]

Thank you! I’ve been to Bonaire many times. Love it but looking for something new. Was in Curaçao last Feb - I thought it had gotten a bit run down. Have also been to Cayman a few times. What liveaboard operation did you use at T&C?

When you say that you've been to Cayman have you only been to Grand Cayman? There is excellent Caribbean diving available on Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.

 

[Gerry359]

When you say that you've been to Cayman have you only been to Grand Cayman? There is excellent Caribbean diving available on Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.

Yep, just Grand Cayman so far. Thanks!

 

[diversteve]

Turks and Caicos Diving | Liveaboard on Turks & Caicos Explorer II

but the Aggressor also runs the same route - in fact twice were at the next mooring over.

Explorer is the bigger, older boat. I liked it better because our cabin was main deck with a window vs. below deck with a porthole. That's simply the reason we chose it - plus a sale.

Both boats move over to the Silver Banks in Spring tp whale watch but there's no diving on those trips.

 

[diversteve]

Roatan's south side is supposed to be excellent macro. Read some of Doc's posts here. I've only mostly dove the north side.

Probably a connection thru IAH though. Thw good news is there's a Pappadeaux up the elevator from the gates.

 

[Doctorfish]

For me, the top caribbean macro locations have been Bonaire and Little Cayman. I've also found the shore dives on Grand Cayman to be good for macro, particularly at night.