Help me please, I'm going crazy! Where to go diving from Toronto - July

[rossyl]

Hi,

I'm going to Toronto for a wedding this July. From Toronto I'd like to go anywhere chilled out, with a bit of nice diving, beaches, and maybe a jungle, or something else to occupy me. I don't want to be on a packed beach surrounded by high-rise hotels. (If any of you had been to Thong-Nai-Pan on Koh Phangan Thailand, a few years back, that's the atmosphere I'm after).

I had started another thread asking where to dive in Belize or Honduras. However, I'm not sure if that is now looking too expensive.

The flights were coming in at £400-500, on top of flights from London to Toronto costing £500. So £1,000 on flights and we've not even had a beer yet...or a snorkel!

Accommodation, according to my girlfriend, cost £60 a night in Caye Caulker...and that is way too much for me, if we're going for 10days. But i'd loved the idea of the Blue Hole and similar round there.

However, is the weather even that nice in late July round there? Would be awful to spend all that money to watch it rain.

So can anyone recommend anywhere else? Reasonable to get to from Toronto, cheap but nice accommodation and a chilled out atmosphere, but with some bars is what i'm after.

Greatly appreciate your help!

Cheers
R

 

[sashaz]

If you have a wet suit only you could fly to Florida. Try Toronto-Fort Lauderdale/Miami or if too pricy (Canada charges lots of air taxes) you could take a bus to Buffalo, NY (2 hrs) and fly out from there, which sometimes can mean cutting the price in half.

I loved Florida diving... Lots of bars around also.

 

[ScubaduoAdventures]

Minus your airfare it is hard to get a lot better prices than what you will find in Honduras. You can stay,dive,eat and drink if you want for a little over a hundred US dollars a day.
You may want to check on flights to Cozumel as you can also get some good packages there.
Florida is another possible choice as you probably can get a good price into Miami and then rent a car, I would suggest coming down here to the Keys though as it is more of what your looking for and it has some small boutique motels you can stay in for a reasonable price.

 

[robint]

July-Oct is hurricane season in the Caribbean, so you can expect either sunny weather or rainy weather, no way to know which day to day. Prices are the lowest of the year for that reason.

cheapest place - Cozumel Mexico. From Toronto I am sure there are direct flights.

look at:
Scuba Club Cozumel Dive Resort (all-inclusive hotel, diving, meals)
Bay Adventures Dive Travel Agency (package deals, all priced in US dollars, though)
Aqua Safari (good deals on diving and also some budget options)
Blue Angel Resort
Papa Hogs Scuba Emporium of Cozumel - Mexico

robin

 

[grf88]

You could save a lot of money by having a diving adventure in The Great Lakes. There are very few other places where you can find such fantastic diving on wooden schooners.
Take a look at some of these, many within a couple of hours drive from Toronto.
ScubaQ
Warren Lo Photography
Wreck Galleries summary

 

[rossyl]

Thanks guys.

Got to say I'm still leaning towards the carribean and with Belize or Honduras. I just love the thought of going jungle trekking as well as diving. But all these ideas are great.

What is Cozumel like? Is it quite built up?

Great lakes - is that wreck diving?

 

[robint]

Thanks guys.

Got to say I'm still leaning towards the carribean and with Belize or Honduras. I just love the thought of going jungle trekking as well as diving. But all these ideas are great.

What is Cozumel like? Is it quite built up?

Great lakes - is that wreck diving?

Belize and Honduras do have both diving and jungle trekking, but you have to travel a distance to do either one. Diving areas are on outer islands, not the mainland. Same goes for Cozumel.

Since you want to do some jungle trekking as well as diving, Cozumel might be a great destination. Over on the mainland you can visit Mayan ruins, jungle ziplines, etc.
If you are staying over in Cozumel, you would need to take the ferry over to Playa del Carmen. But if you stay in PDC, you can take the ferry over to Coz a few days to dive. There is diving at PDC also. In fact, during the summer there are whale shark snorkeling excursions you might be interested in.

I have some things for you to check out:
Cancun/Cozumel Maps & information (go to this website, map/travel guides of the whole area, each city plus the Mayan Adventure map gives you tons of info and maps for all the ruins, things to see)
Alltournative - Off Track Adventures
playa del carmen trip planning menu
Geofish Dive - Scuba Diving, Snorkeling & PADI Instruction in Playa del Carmen & Cozumel, Mexico
Playa del Carmen Diving, Dive Packages and Fishing in Playa del Carmen, Cozumel and the Riviera Maya, Mexico - Fantasea Dive
http://www.rnrscuba.net/MayanRuins/ChichenItza_March2009.html

robin

 

[WOODMAN]

Cozumel is massively built up all along the western shore (where the majority of the diving is), but has almost no development on the other three sides of the island. You can arrange horseback trips and dune buggy excursions back into some pretty jungley areas if you want, and still have the diving and cheap hotels to come back out to. And Cozumel is probably one of the more accessible areas for you in the Caribbean, airfare-wise. But if you really want to get away from development, and are prepared to travel as far as Honduras or Belize, you might think about Old Providence Island, off the coast of Nicaragua. I just got back from there, and will be posting a massive review soon on the South America forum. (This place is owned by Columbia, despite it's being way out in the Caribbean.} This place is really off the radar, and surprisingly cheap, once you get there. Getting there is no picnic, however. Wait for my review for the good, bad, and the ugly. Woody

 

[rossyl]

Thank you both for your help.

When you say cheap flights to Cozumel I've found CAD$600, is that what i should be expecting.

 

[robint]

It's not just the flights to Coz that are cheap, it is the whole thing. Hotels and diving are cheap, and food is cheap. Overall package, Cozumel is the cheapest place to visit in Caribbean area.
If you are going to do the Mainland side for your trip and only visit Coz a few times, then you should fly into Cancun instead of direct to Cozumel. Look at where you want to stay and decide from there which airport.

There is tons of information down on the Mexico Forum, Cozumel sub-forum, here on SB.

robin