Most beautiful dive site : difficulty ratio

[Trailboss123]

I love Grand Cayman and the diving is definitely easy and gorgeous and meets your criteria. However, it is also a costly option (more costly). If I had to pick 1 place only, I would select Bonaire. So much so, that I am taking 2 of my very best friends there next month. They have a grand total of 40 dives combined and I chose Bonaire as the most favorable location for them to get in lots of dives and improve their diving skills, at a reasonable price, with very easy diving conditions. Even if all you did was boat diving, which you don't want to do, the cost of boat dives in Bonaire is 1/2 the cost of Grand Cayman. My 2nd choice would probably be Roatan and Coco View Resort or Anthony's Key Resort.

 

[flyboy08]

Shore entry and exit is far more difficult than jumping off a boat. Hence, Bonaire is a bit more difficult than my other selections.....

 

[Schwob]

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Shore entry and exit is far more difficult than jumping off a boat. Hence, Bonaire is a bit more difficult than my other selections.....

Fair enough.

Strangely, when I was brand spanking new to diving I felt a little different and in some ways still do:
Cost wise, the shore diving was simpler.
On Bonaire it was as simple as the entry point chosen + a little swim. And some entries really are very simple, but yes there is more to do and move.

I particularly liked the fact that I knew where the shore was and that it won't go anywhere for whatever reason, just no chance. Unlike with a boat. I initially, when starting out really valued the fact that we were not relying on someone else and that unless we screwed up, we'd be fine...

But I have since also been spoilt by a LOB experience and from that point of view concur in part.

But I've also been riding put some larger stomach churner waves in a small open boat... up to an hour and.becausecwe were asked to sit sideways (standing would have been nice, maybe even sitting pointing forward) did a number on my lower back slamming as the boat kept slamming hard into the waves...
... and from that point of view, walking into the water on a comparatively calm lee shore actually seemed quite simpler and more preferable to me and non stomach churning at all...

So, I'd call it even...

 

[blac86]

Jupiter Florida. You giant stride in, descend in a group with the DM who is towing a huge high viz ball, and do absolutely nothing for 45 minutes as the current carries you along shelves and ledges, drifting past rays and turtles and Goliath grouper and all manner of fish and even some nurse sharks and lemon sharks.

 

[Brian Robinson]

Go to the Keys in Florida. Most dive operators supply guides and the reefs go from 15' to 45' You just follow the guide around for 45 minutes then get back on the boat and go the next dive location and do over again. $80 Rainbow Reef. Allot cheaper then leaving the country

 

[tridacna]

Shore entry and exit is far more difficult than jumping off a boat. Hence, Bonaire is a bit more difficult than my other selections.....

If shore diving presents such a big hurdle, do the dives from a boat! There are plenty in Bonaire: Captain Dons, Buddy etc etc.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Go to the Keys in Florida. Most dive operators supply guides and the reefs go from 15' to 45' You just follow the guide around for 45 minutes then get back on the boat and go the next dive location and do over again. $80 Rainbow Reef. Allot cheaper then leaving the country

I agree. Keys dive ops are accustomed to newer divers, and the reef dives just could not be easier and more pleasant (assuming the weather cooperates, but that's true everywhere). There are lots of fish. The logistics of a FL trip are just as easy: fly to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale, rent a car, and you're on your way. No hassle of foreign travel.

Someone mentioned Bonaire, and I have to say that as a boat-only diver I found my first trip to Bonaire to be a little intimidating at first. The idea of having no divemaster or anyone to show me where to go, etc., was sort of an eye-opener. "You mean I just wade out into the water and start diving?!" Nevertheless, by the end of the trip I felt completely comfortable with "shore diving." It really IS easy--it just may not seem so to the person who has only dived from boats.

 

[flyboy08]

If shore diving presents such a big hurdle, do the dives from a boat! There are plenty in Bonaire: Captain Dons, Buddy etc etc.

I've done both....how do you derive a bit more difficult into a big hurdle?

 

[Schwob]

I agree. Keys dive ops are accustomed to newer divers, and the reef dives just could not be easier and more pleasant (assuming the weather cooperates, but that's true everywhere). There are lots of fish. The logistics of a FL trip are just as easy: fly to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale, rent a car, and you're on your way. No hassle of foreign travel.

Someone mentioned Bonaire, and I have to say that as a boat-only diver I found my first trip to Bonaire to be a little intimidating at first. The idea of having no divemaster or anyone to show me where to go, etc., was sort of an eye-opener. "You mean I just wade out into the water and start diving?!" Nevertheless, by the end of the trip I felt completely comfortable with "shore diving." It really IS easy--it just may not seem so to the person who has only dived from boats.

If you do that first thing after OW cert. it seems totally normal because you don't know any better... and following someone when you do it the first time later sort of feels weird & touristy...

 

[Damselfish]

The diving in Bonaire is easy and nice and I think it's a good choice for a first trip. Yes, some of the shore entries on Bonaire can be challenging, some will be easier than others. But as I often remind people, you can certainly boat dive there! I know that's not why many people go there but it's a perfectly valid option for people who prefer it. Boat diving obviously costs more than shore diving, but it's still much less expensive in Bonaire than about anyplace else in the Caribbean. If you stay someplace on the water with a good setup you can do a bunch of shore dives there easily too. Captain Don's and Buddy as mentioned are good choices for this.

To the OP - I'm not a big fan of wrecks either, but most are at least as much about what's living in and on them. They attract a lot of marine life, often large fish hanging in the area or inside and large schools of fish. And if they're down long enough they're usually encrusted with interesting stuff.

Don't get too hung up on most beautiful and best right at the beginning. Sure you want to look for good diving with appropriate conditions for your skills, but many places with nice enough diving will look good to you in the beginning. Sometimes it can be good to hit some of the good but not best places before you get spoiled.