List of dive destinations to not go to...

[ronscuba]

..........

Just thinking loud and trying to generate a controversy . Did I miss something?

The last sentence in his opening message starting the thread.

I asked him how did he price up all those destinations so fast and where did the pricing come from. He did not reply.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

1. The price list isn't very accurate, lower and/or higher.
2. This seems more like "Can I find some info to support my pre-conceived notions about some places?" For every anecdote, there is an equal and opposite anecdote. How can you possibly figure out where to go based on this?

As I said the price is ball park so if you have more accurate numbers then send me along with the link and I will update the list for better reference.

---------- Post added September 30th, 2013 at 08:11 PM ----------

You can't. That's why I originally asked OP if he was trolling. His premise is completely flawed for more than one reason. At this point in time. I'm left wondering if Sinbad has some other bizarre motive for pursuing this. Is he trying to write an article of some sort?

Be honest ...

Before reading this thread did you know that for the cost for diving the Caribbean, you could a shark week in South Africa? Flight is 1200 and week long package is 1100 USD. Plus they give you your money back in dives on which sharks are not seen. If you were already aware of this then this thread did not add anything to your knowledge. Did you know that Coral Divers in SA offers a week long dive stay and eat package for (73 USD / Day). If you were already aware of these numbers then this thread did not add anything useful to your info.

Did you also know that you could dive the Adriatic from Croatia for the less money than he trip to the Caribbean (airfare included)

After this thread I was reached by a few travel agents and I am being told that a trip to Egypt (Liveaboard) is going to cost me the same as Bonaire. Hell Egypt was not even in the list and I am also told by the same agent that for less than 700 USD I can do a land based trip in Sharm plus flight. With a flight it is equal to the cheaper prices in the Caribbean! Did you know that? I know I didn't.

Did you also know that the cost of a Thailand liveaboard would be in the same range as a caribbean liveaboard Flight included?

I will be the first to admit that the Numbers can be tweaked more because more and more people are approaching me with newer cheaper rates specially from South Africa, thailand and egypt. If any of the above is new to you then at least admit that you have seen a whole lot of nonsense on these boards and this is not the lowest point of it.

 

[chillyinCanada]

You still don't "get" it. Be honest? You first.

I try to compare apples to apples but at least I know the difference. Whereas you don't seem to care whether you are comparing apples to cabbages.

But it matters not. You seem satisfied with the personal outcome.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

The last sentence in his opening message starting the thread.

I asked him how did he price up all those destinations so fast and where did the pricing come from. He did not reply.

Sorry. Did not mean to ignore you on that one.

FYI the rate list did not begin in the middle of this thread. I was compiling information months before this thread began. It was for a dive-club that we are still in the process of forming. The goal was to get the lowest rates for every possible destination in the world because everyone in our group is scuba-backpacker. We were not interested in top-side activities or luxury resorts. Different members of the club pulled out different rates from different places and that is how the list was compiled. After I posted this here, better/cheaper rates were provided by some readers for Belize, Egypt, Thailand and South Africa. So if you think that certain places in that list are over priced, then it means that the person who was assigned to pull out cheapest possible rates for that area did not know about those packages. If you can send me the link to better packages for that area then I will update this list accordingly. This is for my own purposes as well as anyone else who could possibly benefit from this.

 

[phoenix31tt]

your list is flawed for the reasons mentioned above.. it is not apples to apples...

you cant tell a group go get me prices for vehicles and one person gets prices for a motorcycle while the other gets prices for a 18 Wheeler. Additionally, travel and lodging are affected greatly by Seasons, is research being done into the peak and off peak time for rates etc i doubt that... if you want a real comparative list you choose the time you want to go, choose the number of dives you intend to do, choose the amenities you require, then get the price for all the places...

but i'm sure you already knew that... but using this approach wouldn't generate a controversy and thus would defeat the purpose of the thread

 

[tridacna]

The might as well treat the Atlantic and pacific ocean as a big swimming pool..

Ahem. The Atlantic, Pacific (and Indian) ARE one big swimming pool. We've divided them into geographical entities and given them names. There is only one ocean.

 

[greenliger]

So I can fly and stay cheaper to Florida then Vegas, so why go to Vegas?? Also Egypt don't think I would go no matter how cheap it is, and it's one of the places that I always want to go since I was a kid.

 

[drrich2]

No one methodology for selecting dive destinations is going to satisfy everyone, or is right for everyone, but then again, everyone with a choice to make needs a means to decide, and many people need help in that regard.

This thread has been enlightening in that some exotic destinations are not as greatly more expensive as I would've thought.

That doesn't change the fact my butt rebels at the thought of over 4 hours in a plane seat, so I don't know that it'll change my dive site selection, but it's still good to know.

Richard.

 

[jake11]

IMHO you can not base your choice for a dive trip based solely on the cost. I know that you have to take that into consideration for sure. We tried various locations based on " it's a fairly cheap dive trip" and basically wasted our money. If we had saved that money and put it towards a quality trip we would have been better off. In your initial post you lumped Galapagos with Cocos and Socorros. I can speak from experience for Galapagos and Cocos. Galapagos was COMPLETELY worth the money! Topside and underwater it was AMAZING!!!! Cocos was a fun trip but in no way did it compare to the Galapagos. Someone else might have had a totally different experience in these locations but I feel you can not mark them off of the list based on money! Maybe you can hold off on some " cheaper" locations and save your money to dive some of the locations you have written off! Just saying....

 

[Shasta_man]

I suggest that these prices aren't so useful because first, a package price rarely shows you the actual full cost and second, because there are a lot of unsynced variables rendering these comparisons as apples to oranges. However, this is all alien to me because I already have a general list of places to see in the world, based on what you can see (diving, critters, land) and the general cost profile (is it Tahiti or Guatemala?) and then I have to figure out how to go there within a budget I can handle. Again, that would make for a boring thread though.