DreadnoughtNH
Contributor
In the Caribbean, Roatan ticks all your boxes, particularly towards the northwest end of island.
I dove with Bananarama on Roatan last year, and all dives were from panga boats with less than 10 minutes run to the dive site. Roatan has done an extremely good job of reef stewardship IMO and the dive operators police reef etiquette from divers and snorkelers alike (which I am a HUGE fan of), so there is a lot of sea life (the place is LOUSY with turtles ). Dives are $40 a tank, but they offer a lot of different discounted packages for multiple dives. I stayed at Caribe Tesoro, a boutique hotel a 10 minute walk down the beach from Bananarama, and had a LOVELY long weekend.
In the same geographic area, I've heard Utila is fantastic for young budget 'backpacking style' divers (but do not have first hand knowledge).
I dove with Bananarama on Roatan last year, and all dives were from panga boats with less than 10 minutes run to the dive site. Roatan has done an extremely good job of reef stewardship IMO and the dive operators police reef etiquette from divers and snorkelers alike (which I am a HUGE fan of), so there is a lot of sea life (the place is LOUSY with turtles ). Dives are $40 a tank, but they offer a lot of different discounted packages for multiple dives. I stayed at Caribe Tesoro, a boutique hotel a 10 minute walk down the beach from Bananarama, and had a LOVELY long weekend.
In the same geographic area, I've heard Utila is fantastic for young budget 'backpacking style' divers (but do not have first hand knowledge).