Economy affect your dive travel plans?

[OSUcowboyinSPFD]

Makes for a very long day of traveling.[/quote]


Which is why Cozumel is my destination of choice.

 

[scubawife]

From NY you can catch a red eye on Continental from Newark, avoid American if you can. The San Juan airport, your connection using AA, is known as "the eater of cameras". From San Juan you fly on an American Eagle turboprop to/from Bonaire. Makes for a very long day of traveling.

I've avoided American for years... Almost all our flights to the Caribbean are CO (cheap fare and miles to upgrade. )

Problem for me with the red eye is that I'd be a zombie the first day there. No way I'd be diving. With the flight being weekly only for the non-stop that really cuts the dive days down.

The CUR flight is fantastic. Leaves around 9am going out of Newark and 2pm return from CUR. I know there are inter-island flights, so that'll be something to look into for future trips. Maybe do a split between Bonaire and Curacao for trying Bonaire the first time. If we aren't so keen on it, we'd be ending with days in Curacao which we already know we like.

... now back to Cozumel... I still need to book my December tickets, and still kicking myself for not doing it over Memorial Day. Of course, the price went up now. ityparty:

(Also working on Indonesia for the sometime in the next year. :14: )

 

[driftwood]

I've avoided American for years... Almost all our flights to the Caribbean are CO (cheap fare and miles to upgrade. )

Problem for me with the red eye is that I'd be a zombie the first day there. No way I'd be diving. With the flight being weekly only for the non-stop that really cuts the dive days down.

My wife sleeps from getting on the plane till after it lands. I have never mastered that skill, so I hear you about the red eye.

When we took the IAH/BON flight it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Had breakfast and got our truck/room sorted out and spent the early afternoon stocking the frig (a multi store trip on Bonaire). Got our first dive in around 4 that afternoon. Didn't do any night dive due to all the sea wasps in the water, eight divers got stung at Buddy's pier the first night we were there. Why my LDS always schedules their Bonaire trips for the week following the full moon I do not understand.

 

[mksmith713]

I did Roatan in March and the airfare was $500. on the nose.
With that price, I was able to do decent accomodations (not a resort, I like to hang with the locals) but a nice place just the same.
The thing with that was there were no food prep facilities where I stayed so I was forced to take meals in the local restaurants.
I'm going back to Roatan in August and the airfare is now over $700.
This time, I'm going to have to rent a house from someone for about the same price as where I stayed the last time I visited in March.
Reason being the house has a kitchen and I'm going to have to use the $$$ I saved from not eatting at the restaurants to cook my own meals and pay for the extra airfare.
Kinda sucks because I liked going out to enjoy different restaurants about the West End.
The people I met there were so wonderful.

 

[scubawife]

Found some GREAT prices last night for JetBlue flights from JFK to Cancun. Non-stop for $111 each way... with taxes & fees for two people they come to $636 TOTAL!

Now just have to way out the downsides and the real savings... JFK is about 90 min away, PITA and $$ to park (so add $200 for rt car service), there's a $20 charge for the 2nd bag (add $40) The $400 savings vs going with Continental out of Newark get's knocked down to about saving only $160.

 

[scubawife]

My wife sleeps from getting on the plane till after it lands. I have never mastered that skill, so I hear you about the red eye.

When we took the IAH/BON flight it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Had breakfast and got our truck/room sorted out and spent the early afternoon stocking the frig (a multi store trip on Bonaire). Got our first dive in around 4 that afternoon. Didn't do any night dive due to all the sea wasps in the water, eight divers got stung at Buddy's pier the first night we were there. Why my LDS always schedules their Bonaire trips for the week following the full moon I do not understand.

If the Bonaire trips are Sept or Oct, those are the spawning weeks. We went to Curacao last year for the 1st spawn week and are going this year in Oct for the 2nd one. No sea wasps that we saw (and hope it stays that way :11: ) Even if you don't see spawning activity, there is more marine life out night and day those weeks. It was by far the best night diving we've done anywhere (well, maybe with the exception of the manta night dives off Kona). This year we're planning to do at least 2 night dives every evening.

 

[deborahdelamar]

Scubawife - Maybe this will work for you, maybe not -- but it's saved us a bundle on NY-area airport parking fees for trips that last longer than a week. (Started this after a car service failed to show for a trip to the airport at 4am -- there's nothing like being masters of our own destiny now...)

We rent cars -- there's a local Avis agency nearby & we rent a car the day before we leave for around $50 & drop it off at the airport. Same coming home - a rental from the airport to be returned the following day runs around $80. All of our rentals are 24 hours or less. If you do this, remember to take your EZ-Pass.

 

[driftwood]

If the Bonaire trips are Sept or Oct, those are the spawning weeks. We went to Curacao last year for the 1st spawn week and are going this year in Oct for the 2nd one. No sea wasps that we saw (and hope it stays that way :11: ) Even if you don't see spawning activity, there is more marine life out night and day those weeks. It was by far the best night diving we've done anywhere (well, maybe with the exception of the manta night dives off Kona). This year we're planning to do at least 2 night dives every evening.

We were in Bonaire Sept 05 at the tail end of the coral spawning and the night diving was great. Then my wife got stung by a sea wasp at Town Pier. Thankfully, I travel with a small pharmacy and we avoided a hospital visit (also had two RN's in the group and we monitored her all night). After a day of hydrocodone and cortizone (the only anti inflammatory I had), she was up and around. To this day she still jokes that something that hurt so bad should leave a scar or something as a badge.

The sea wasps we saw had a body about the size of three fingers and tentacles in the 12" range. They congregated at the lighted docks/piers and we were surprised to see how fast they could move. If I know that I will be diving with these critters, any exposed skin will be vasolined. One encounter, even though I didn't get stung, is enough for me.

 

[scubawife]

Scubawife - Maybe this will work for you, maybe not -- but it's saved us a bundle on NY-area airport parking fees for trips that last longer than a week. (Started this after a car service failed to show for a trip to the airport at 4am -- there's nothing like being masters of our own destiny now...)

We rent cars -- there's a local Avis agency nearby & we rent a car the day before we leave for around $50 & drop it off at the airport. Same coming home - a rental from the airport to be returned the following day runs around $80. All of our rentals are 24 hours or less. If you do this, remember to take your EZ-Pass.

We usually fly out of EWR and park off-site about a 2min van ride from the terminal. I get discounts there and it works out very convenient and easy.

I'll have to check out the rental idea for JFK. Interesting. For JFK it's more an issue of I just don't want to do the driving, especially in Dec when we can have bad weather... and I've yet to go to that airport and not get lost before I get to the right part of it that I need to be at.