Top sites for beginners

[Kimela]

@Silty Sam - I'm not so sure about Key Largo. We LOVE the Keys, but it's expensive because everything is a la carte (and it's the Keys so that means more expensive anyway); with the exception of Rainbow Reef, you have to pay to put a dive master in the water with you (which is a big help for new divers); also, if you go between November and March you run the risk of choppy water (surge and currents), which is tough for a new diver. We really, really love diving Key Largo, but we have to be prepared to drop some money to do so (and that danged Divers Direct is there - and they steal money from us just about every trip!!).

I was afraid of diving Cozumel as a new diver - until I dove there and realized that drift diving isn't really a big deal. Coz is affordable. You can get a Southwest flight to Cancun and take the ferry over, and there are very affordable dive resorts/ops (ScubaClub Cozumel - which has shore diving too).

Grand Cayman is great for a new diver - vis is wonderful and plenty to see. Now that Southwest flies there too, it may be within reach financially. We're going later in the year but we managed to finagle and RCI place with time share points - and used Southwests point for the flight. Wish there was a points program for diving!

What does CNN know?!

 

[chillyinCanada]

@Kimela, what do you mean about CNN please?

 

[Kimela]

@Kimela, what do you mean about CNN please?

The original post had a link to a CNN story on 50 best dive sites - and the OP gave the link as an example of NOT inexpensive or easy options for new divers. Most of the sites are fairly exotic and, for me, way too expensive. The story also mentioned that spot in Cancun when they have the underwater statues, and I've never heard of Cancun being a good dive location other than that specific spot. So I'm sort of poking fun at CNN.

 

[Diver2019]

Well it's all downhill from there then

Just back from Tulamben a couple of weeks ago and it was so nice to have 20m vis compared to my local 2-5m vis.

My local diving off the east coast of UAE can vary between USD55 to USD96 for two boat dives depending on the dive op and own gear and tanks supplied. A Nitrox fill in Dubai costs almost USD7.

Cheapest place I ever dived was on the Saudi side of the Red Sea back in the 80s and 90s, USD1 for an air fill and whatever and approx USD0.18 for a liter of fuel and basically the whole coastline was diveable with some restrictions around military places and cities.

However, the Red Sea is available through Egypt or Jordan with some great diving if you want to leave the US, or go back to SE Asia.

Personally I'm a fan of Indonesia and Philippines for specific marine life reasons, but you can't go wrong with @outofofficebrb and @Trailboss123 recommendations for Asia Divers at Puerto Galera as I've done several trips to PG and highly recommend them.

Enjoy your new life as a diver.

I heard red sea is fantastic many times but also heard terrorist stories... especially where westerners go...

Any relatively quiet places along Egypt coast? I gues the less popular the safer?

 

[outofofficebrb]

I heard red sea is fantastic many times but also heard terrorist stories... especially where westerners go...

Any relatively quiet places along Egypt coast? I gues the less popular the safer?

It is very good diving but not as good as Philippines or Indonesia in my opinion. It is safe to travel to - just stay out of the areas the government tells you to stay out of. Refer to the UK and US State Department government websites for reference. I’ve been there twice and have traveled as a single female traveler one of those times before meeting up with others.

If you’re on a liveaboard - you’re even safer there. The best diving (in my opinion) is by liveaboard there.

Hurghada had good land based diving. I didn’t care for the few dives I had out of Port Ghalib but I took 2 liveaboards out of there and the diving on liveaboards were good. Others like Sharm but I’ve never been.

 

[Diver2019]

The original post had a link to a CNN story on 50 best dive sites - and the OP gave the link as an example of NOT inexpensive or easy options for new divers. Most of the sites are fairly exotic and, for me, way too expensive. The story also mentioned that spot in Cancun when they have the underwater statues, and I've never heard of Cancun being a good dive location other than that specific spot. So I'm sort of poking fun at CNN.

That's exactly how I felt. BTW where do you fly from? Southwest is great but still rather expensive from SFO to Caribbean. I saw most flights are from Ft Lauderdale or Houston.

 

[Searcaigh]

I heard red sea is fantastic many times but also heard terrorist stories... especially where westerners go...

Any relatively quiet places along Egypt coast? I gues the less popular the safer?

I've also heard how dangerous the US is!

If you go by the media you'd never travel anywhere. You do know about the Bali bombers?

I've lived in the Middle East for over 30 years, and stand out more than most as a non-Arab and never had issues.

Egypt is great and if you want shore diving where you can pick and choose when and for how long you want to dive then it's a good option. Especially for slowly exploring reefs that rise to the surface.

 

[Kimela]

That's exactly how I felt. BTW where do you fly from? Southwest is great but still rather expensive from SFO to Caribbean. I saw most flights are from Ft Lauderdale or Houston.

We fly out of St Louis. Love the 'two free bags' allowance of Southwest - and I put just about everything on my Southwest credit card for the miles. They add up fast.