diving on a budget

[CODMAN]

Roatan in my oppinion! Fantassy island beach resort. Last october, there was a fall deal for 599$ US (plus taxes; 16%) for an all inclusive 7 nights/ 6 days of diving, 3 boat dives a day plus unlimited shore diving. I logged a total of 19 and was taking it easy. The food was bad (read not to my liking), but the rest was great (boats were a bit crowded though). Airfair there was 900$ canadian (I have no idea what the cost would be from the US). The diving is awesome...

You could probably pull something off around 1200-1300$ each, but for a lot more diving!!!!

Hope this helps!

 

[robint]

--when are you looking at going? Time of year makes a big difference in prices.
---since you are flying out of the west coast, have you considered Hawaii? It might be cheaper airfar by far and therefore a less expensive trip overall.
---I second the vote for Ft. Lauderdale or Keys as the cheapest place but not necessarily the best diving.
---as far as Caribbean, Cozumel is the cheapest.
-- check out a package deal on www.caradonna.com or www.bayadventures.com they seem to have the best deals on Caribbean travel for those needing help.

 

[rufous]

Thanks everyone so far for the suggestions. I have not looked into Hawaii much yet or Florida. As I said I have enough frequent flier miles that I will probably use them so air fare is not the issue. It is the diving/lodging/food/equipment rental costs. I am a winemaker so going in the fall is not possible. We would most likely go in April if we can find a spot that meets our needs and budget. Rufous.

 

[airsix]

Rufous,
Have you talked to Gene Bruns at Undersea Adventures in Kennewick? (Maybe he was your OW instructor?) They do several warm water trips each year and tend to do them on a pretty reasonable budget. Beyond your OW dives, which were likely in Puget Sound, have you been back? For diving on a budget there is some wonderful diving right here in Washington.

-Ben M. (up the road in Kennewick)

 

[Doc]

quite difficult to do it for less than $2000 not including airfare by the time you add in lodging, food, diving, equipment rental and taxes.

$2,000 with no airfare? Are you talking about 2k per person? There are a lot of possibilities.

 

[rufous]

RoatanMan, no I am talking about $1000/person as being out of my budget. I wish $2000/person was manageable but even $2000 total is pretty steep for us. Brian.

 

[vincenoir]

If you want to budget in a big way Then go to indonesia the foods great and the people frendly. With gf and i sere there in 2001 and travelled most of the way round the main islands on £1000 between us for four months we were not diving at the time which i really regret but i've heard that the Gili islands off lombok are cheap. but if you can try to get to sulawesi the snorkeling of the islands in the north was as good a the diving i've done in many places.

Me i'm off to a livaboard on the red sea for a week 450 notes, the Bella if anyones heard of it should be good

 

[victor]

If your frequent flyer miles covers a trip to Thailand / Malaysia then you should think very seriously about doing it.
The cost of staying in most resorts is very low.
The diving is fantastic.
Beware some of the web sites charge US prices where as if you had negotiated locally you would have paid less than 1/4 of that.
Ask around on scubaboard to make sure you are getting a real price not one inflated for the rich westeners.

 

[rufous]

Victor, thanks for the suggestion. Can you recommend something specific? Thailand/Malaysia is rather broad. Brian

 

[Peter Guy]

From Walla Walla I'd suggest you look at Hawaii. FF seats are often available to Maui for example on NW -- perhaps even taking Horizon to SeaTac rather than driving over.

Check out the non-resort, non-beach places to stay at websites like:

Hale Huanani -- where you can get studio apts. for as little as $85/night and you have a kitchen so you can keep your meal costs to a minimum.

Then hook up with a place like B & B Scuba in Kihei -- do ONE day with them (about $250 for a couple) and then shore dive. There are LOTS of places to shore dive and they are fantastic. Don't forget to let the Island people know you are coming -- Tim (Kidspot) is a wonderful guide, not to mention great diver and fantastic person.

Yes, you can do a very nice trip to Maui on the cheap -- I know -- I do it all the time. (Although for me it has been REALLY cheap because my parents live there and they have, up until this coming trip, have provided housing, food and a car -- but, alas, they have moved to a small house and so we now have to get our own housing -- but still pretty cheap at $125/night.)