Suggestions for beginner diving (OW) in Central America or Caribbean in November / December

[Troelsrc]

Hi - I have a few weeks off (Late November / early December) and was thinking of going on a diving trip, but I have no previous diving experience. I am based on the US East Coast, so I was wondering: Where is a good place to go? A few considerations:
1. Needs to be beginner friendly + have a good PADI Open Water school
2. Preferably not too far from US East Coast—like Central America or Caribbean. E.g., I did consider going to Thailand as I have heard the diving is good, but the 30-35 h of travel each way just seemed like it was too far
3. I am planning on going solo and I have seen some previous discussions here mentioning large additional fees for solo divers.
4. Preferably also a place that is interesting to visit outside of the diving activities.

Thanks in advance

 

[Litefoot]

If I understand correctly that you are not already certified, then I would suggest that you do your OW certificaton where you live. You'll support your local dive shop, get connected to the local dive community, discover nearby dive spots and what gear you'll need, and start networking with potential buddies. Then, later, when you get back from that cool trip, you won't miss a beat.

 

[arew+4]

Would also recommend local training at least up to check out dives, unless you want to dive locally. Also you could do online book work, with destination skills and check-out dives. Recommendations, the keys are nice and a good place to start. You don't climb Everest for first mountain, save the exotic for when the other stuff stops doing it for you. There are many good shallow sites throughout the Caribbean hold off on Turks and Caicous, and the Caymans as they tend to have some nice deeper dives you won't want to miss, but might not be ready for

 

[Damselfish]

Doing at least academics (quite common to do online now) and pool work at home makes for a more efficient use of vacation time. Then you can do your checkout dives at the destination (called an OW referral) and have more time to just go diving. That said, it sounds like you’re talking pretty soon, so finding pool sessions in time may be tricky, especially this time of year when some shops are doing fewer classes.

(Doing the whole thing at home is of course an option, but aside from finding a complete class this time of year before you travel, not everyone wants to do that.

Note that PADI is the most well-known but there are lots of other agencies that are as good or better so don’t exclude others if it comes to that. Especially don’t fall for thinking you need a PADI 5-star shop, it’s not better just a marketing thing which means nothing to you. (Technically you can even start with one agency at home and finish up with a different agency when you travel someplace, but I don’t recommend complicating things like that.)

The Keys could be good. It’s akso a good time of year to look at places further south. Perhaps Curacao, you could stay at Lions Dive and have everything in one place. There’s a variety of options on Roatan. All of those should be pretty easy to fly to.

There is a lot of great diving throughout the Indo-Pacific. Some is easy, a lot is more advanced because of depth or currents. Pretty much anyplace will be neat to see when you’re new, save the big/far destinations for later.

When talking about diving, it’s probably best to say you’re traveling alone. A solo diver is someone diving without a buddy, and not something you would be doingbas a new diver. As far as fees, they’re not really. Just like most hotels, a room is a room whether you are occupying it yourself or splitting it with someone. So if you’re buying a package deal including diving, room, and maybe some meals, that’s just how they account for that. Sometimes though, especially less popular times, you can find places offering a special deal to single travelers in order to fill rooms, as half is better to them than nothing.

 

[Litefoot]

I would say especially do the checkout dives locally to experience what that’s like in your area. But if you plan on travel diving only, disregard the above.

 

[FreqFlier]

Late November / early December

Sounds like next week or so? 2023 or 24?

I'd say dive resort? Maybe smth from this list? 40 Dive Resorts in the Caribbean | PADI Travel

 

[PatW]

I am going to echo the worthies above.

It makes sense to do your dive training before going on a vacation. Who wants to spend time doing the book work and tests at a resort? I mean, you are at a resort, you want to do the diving there and not studying the material so you can dive a week from now. You can jdo the training just as easily do at home. Also, you will have time to actually absorb some of this stuff. So try to do all of your training before going except for possibly the check out dives. But even there, try to get those done at home. Also, try to get tied in with your local dive community. If you are lucky, you might find a like minded, compatible dive buddy to go with you. I know assigned dive buddies on the boat (insta buddies) can range from superb to maybe they are somewhere in the same ocean.

Another thing, it is nice to have a certain minimum amount of your own gear, At a bare minimum, you want a mask, fins and snorkel. It is good to have a mask that fits, does not leak and does not fog (when dosed with a decent defog). Better yet is to have your own wet suit, octopus and basic dive computer. Having gear you are familiar with makes things a whole lot easier, Finally, you might go the whole boat and get the BCD,

Also, getting some training and a few dives under your belt might give you some insight as to what kind of diving you like. You might like going deep and seeing big fish. You might like poking around in the sunlit shallows with the abundant life. You might like finding the truly strange critters. You might like night dives and the wonderful world of nocturnal marine invertebrates. Knowing what you like will give you an idea of where you might want to go. For example - liking strange critters would mean that the Blue Heron Bridge is you kind of place. You might be a shark kind of person and the Bahamas with their shark dives might be your thing.

Of course, it is your decision and your choice.

 

[Litefoot]

I am going to echo the worthies above.

It makes sense to do your dive training before going on a vacation. Who wants to spend time doing the book work and tests at a resort? I mean, you are at a resort, you want to do the diving there and not studying the material so you can dive a week from now. You can jdo the training just as easily do at home. Also, you will have time to actually absorb some of this stuff. So try to do all of your training before going except for possibly the check out dives. But even there, try to get those done at home. Also, try to get tied in with your local dive community. If you are lucky, you might find a like minded, compatible dive buddy to go with you. I know assigned dive buddies on the boat (insta buddies) can range from superb to maybe they are somewhere in the same ocean.

Another thing, it is nice to have a certain minimum amount of your own gear, At a bare minimum, you want a mask, fins and snorkel. It is good to have a mask that fits, does not leak and does not fog (when dosed with a decent defog). Better yet is to have your own wet suit, octopus and basic dive computer. Having gear you are familiar with makes things a whole lot easier, Finally, you might go the whole boat and get the BCD,

Also, getting some training and a few dives under your belt might give you some insight as to what kind of diving you like. You might like going deep and seeing big fish. You might like poking around in the sunlit shallows with the abundant life. You might like finding the truly strange critters. You might like night dives and the wonderful world of nocturnal marine invertebrates. Knowing what you like will give you an idea of where you might want to go. For example - liking strange critters would mean that the Blue Heron Bridge is you kind of place. You might be a shark kind of person and the Bahamas with their shark dives might be your thing.

Of course, it is your decision and your choice.

Great advice!