hi, from los angeles!

[claire-lo]

hello, divers!

i'm brand spankin' new to this community and really looking forward to connecting with you all i'm solo backpacking in sept/oct and am looking for a few great places to get my open water and advanced ow. i'm able to travel anywhere in the world. do you have any recommendations? i was hoping to dive in philippines but the weather around that time is not too great (lots of rain - boo). i have already been to indo and thailand so in that area, those are off the list.

any help would be great appreciated - need to book my ticket asap! happy diving, everyone!

claire

 

[outofofficebrb]

October....Australia!

Welcome to the forums!

 

[reks_mallo]

Welcome! hope your training goes as well as mine did!

 

[Dorian]

Cozumel is nice that time of year. Prices are great and there are a lot of divers. They also are very well set up with medical care and a hyperbaric chamber in case of an emergency.

 

[drrich2]

I suggest you get OW & AOW trained & certified locally before you go. You'll be trained to handle more difficult conditions, which should provide you a greater appreciation of the 'tropical aquarium' conditions at some tourist areas, a good comfort level to enjoy local trips out to the Channel Islands & so forth, and let you enjoy your vacation without the burden & distraction of scuba training.

You're already in a good place to dive. You don't have to wait.

Richard.

 

[tsuyoshi]

I did my OW certification in Philippines. on Palawan. If I do it again, i would negotiate a reasonable deal for at least a "referral type of cert." w some pool sessions for the confined water dives back in the states then finish OW dives out in the tropics. Unless you are super comfortable in water or familiar w skin/free diving. Still there are just things only experence w bottom time can teach.

Or as Rich says just spend the time and money to get ow cert done before you go. You arent really saving that much money abroad for training. Vacation time is most valuable.

I witnessed this poor girl at a world class dive site, Mioskon, at Indo last trip. Probably paid a pretty penny for LOB, struggling just to get down and have no buoyancy control all most the whole dive. It reminded of myself in PH.

We jumped in to snorkel w whalesharks in Mexico. Next thing i know my girl nearly climbed onto our guide cuz she wasnt comfortable amongst the frenzy.

Now you only been to Indo but not dived it. SB & Dive videos on Youtube etc can also helo research your destination. Gotta have that comfort level to enjoy.

Happy bubble trails!

 

[claire-lo]

hello, all! i'm just seeing these replies thank you all for the advice and kind words. i went with nicaragua at the dos tiburones dive shop on big corn island. had an excellent experience and had my dive instructor all to myself as that was the slow season for them now looking to get my advanced open water and i'm thinking mexico or someone in central america. can't wait! and the idea of drift diving has gotten me so excited

 

[diversteve]

Utila is a big backpacking destination - surprisingly since it's a small island off the Honduran coast.

On the ferry over there were 3 groups - about 10 divers, about 20 backpackers and the rest locals. Rooms in town are really inexpensive and dives should be around $35 in any sort of package deal. In the spring it's also reliably possible to snorkel with Whalesharks there.

A cheap way over ts the Utila Dream ferry from Roatan or La Ceiba on the mainland - either is about $30? but San Pedro Sula (the airport you fly into) is pretty unsafe so I would assume getting out of there backpacking is also - I think La Ceiba is about a 4 hr. drive from there.

Every summer they hold SunJam on a nearby Cay - probably the only time it's really crowded there. This year appears to be Aug 4th-5th.

There's also a couple hostels on Roatan - Chillies in the West End even has their own dive operation - Native Sons. Food is reasonable in that area also. Dives cost the same if you wanted to split your trip between islands and the ferry picks up off the West End dock for Utila. There's a lot of $20 rooms in the West End also, double that buys you a kitchen. Out front daily a variety of fruit, produce and fish trucks sell fresh stuff - all properly iced etc. We bought from them more than once. Two small markets in town also.

You can also to fly out of Roatan or the mainland to Utila, the Utila airport is a day-use grass strip and the flights tend to be pricier. I think I've seen about $150 r/t from the mainland to Utila. Worldwide Travel lists the local options - Alice lives there. Roatan from the US will be a pricier flight.

Either Utila or Roatan have probably in excess of 2 dozen dive operations - both turn out a lot of DM's. So you can easily get your advanced at either. I don't really know the in-town accommodations/dive operations since we stayed at a nearby AI resort.

Here's some links:

Utila Official Site - Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras - Tropical Island Paradise
http://utilaguide.com/

Roatan Bay Islands, Roatan Hotels, Resorts, Diving, Real Estate, Tours
Roatán - Honduras.com

Coconut Tree Divers also has a West End focused website - the Roatan section has some general info:
https://www.coconuttreedivers.com/