Rankings are always insulting Robint. Think about 10 Most Violent Places in the World! No matter how you make that list, someone will be insulted because you are objectifying subjectivity. 20 Most Beautiful Women in Hollywood is another brawl waiting to unfold.
When I walk into my LDS, I see a TRIP SCHEDULE advertising that years trips along with the prices. It reads as follows:
Bonaire 850 USD + Airfare
Belize as 2100 + Airfare.
I want to know from the LDS why I should pay 1250 USD more to go to Belize? Is Belize that much better? Since 1250 USD difference in price is a lot of money, I would hate open ended answers like Every destination has something to offer! or You really cant compare one dive destination to another before you actually go there etc. Excuse me but that sales-person crap better be thrown at the next guy who walks in. If you want to make me 1250 USD poorer, you better have some damn good reason. Try selling an auto-mobile with the same lines that dive shops are using to market destinations and no one would fall for such nonsense! Ask your auto dealership Why does this BMW cost more than Honda Fit? Imagine if the salesman (instead of actually comparing features) tries to tell you that Every car is different and there really is no way for you to know unless you become the owner of all vehicles so just buy this one and start driving OK??? Thus when the LDS salesman tries to pull this politically-correct dive-destination BS, I am sorry but I am really not falling for it.
Here is what an honest conversation from an honest LDS would sound like:
Customer: Why does Belize cost so much more than Bonaire? Is the diving there that much better than what I can have in Bonaire?
LDS Salesman: There really is not a lot of difference between Belize and Bonaire and really nothing worth for you to spend 1250 bucks on. The reason why they are priced differently is because Bonaire is shore diving and does not involve boat rides, crew costs etc. Belize tries to give you the same kind of diving but uses boats and boats come with fuel and crew costs so your cost for the same type of diving would be 1250 bucks more if you go to Belize!
WHOAAA!!! Imagine what a disaster it would be for the whole dive industry if LDS people started giving honest answers such as this??? That is why any such list does not go well with a lot of people. Here is another brutally honest conversation you will never hear in a dive shop!
Customer walks in: Hello! I see you have a trip going to Australia that is 6200 with airfare and another one going to Komodo Island in Indonesia for 5100 with airfare. Is Australia really that much better than Komodo island?
LDS Sales person: Not at all! Well you see the dive prices are less connected to the quality of diving and more connected to the local economy. The cost of diving in Australia is higher because Australia is a developed first world economy so when you dive their reef you pay first world prices. It costs a lot of money for an Australian to buy a boat and set up a dive shop in Cairns Australia than it does for an Indonesian to do so in Indonesia. Are you still interested in going to Australia???
WHO LET THE DOGS OUT WOOF WOOF WOOF!!!
Dive destinations will start to vanish from the map if such brutally honest and politically-incorrect conversations started to happen. Unfortunately I am the consumer in the dive industry, not a tour operator, LDS owner or liveaboard owner and this is exactly the world that I would like to create. Anything other than this is insulting to me.
I'm not sure where to start on this one...
First, Bonaire and Belize are nothing alike. Nothing. If you want macro diving, go to Bonaire. If you want to see anything big - sharks or sea turtles, for instance, you need to go to Belize. You won't see sharks in Bonaire or Curacao or any of the "macro" places. Also, Belize is a Central American country with lush jungles and plenty of topside activities. Bonaire doesn't have this, as it is a tiny island with beaches and lots of underwater activity. So if you worked at a dive shop and gave me the explanation you just wrote above, no offense, but I would realize you had no idea what you were talking about and had never gone diving. I would recommend thinking through this stuff a little more rather than assuming you know more about places you've never been. You're right - Bonaire is more shore diving, there aren't as many boat operating costs. That's a factor too. Many people prefer boat to shore and vice versa - and some would rather pay more to do boat dives which take you to better / further out sites. It IS different. That is the answer.
Also, it appears you haven't realized this yet, but often the trips dive shops plan aren't the best deals. (Sometimes they are great, but not often). If you only want good deals and don't care about where you go, don't sign up for dive shop trips. Plan your own and find a good deal. I've done a week in Belize with non-stop gorgeous diving and beautiful accommodations at Ramon's for less than half the price you listed above. INCLUDING airfare. Another poster mentioned flight prices, hotel prices, dive sites - they all fluctuate every day. If you are really searching for good deals, you would monitor flight prices to many destinations until you found them dip somewhere and grab it!
Finally, some of the lists you mentioned have slight facts backing them up, but generally tend to be subjective, silly, irrelevant and worth nothing. I wouldn't compare your own opinions to Hottest Women in Hollywood lists.
Like others, I want to see the merit in this thread you started and the idea behind it, but I'm struggling with the idea of new divers seeing this and believing they shouldn't go to Belize given the opportunity...
