very quick trip for some experience

[Garrobo]

In the last couple of months I've made some trips to Ft.Lauderdale, Pompano Beach and Key Largo. The dive ops at all three locations provided me with an experienced dive buddy on all the dives who knew how to take care of things. I also only had 8 dives under my belt and was a little worried about my inexperience. But it all worked out in the end. On all the dives the buddy was keeping an eye on me and seemed to enjoy it. I well still let them know that I am a beginner ahead of time so that they will sort things out so that I have someone watching out for me.

 

[LekicINC]

the last problem I have run into is that I dont drive. I have grown up in the city and never needed to drive. That pretty much ruled out cyrstal springs as I was ready to book. Is there a way to find if people are going there the same time as me on this forum?

 

[Doc]

Crystal rivers sound awesome, anyone rec a dive op out there?

Awesome or not, those Sea Cows don't like bubbling SCUBA divers. Manatees like snorkelers.

If you are going to travel solo, understand that you are going to be paired up with whoever or the DM. Sooner or later you're going to come to the realization that you are in charge of your own safety and destiny- so the selection of buddy will be secondary.

If you are looking for a small op, all well and good that you think the DM is going to be your buddy as well as your instructor, but really- don't count on it.

I would say- go Keys, Go Fort Lauderdale- go cheap, get some real world experience. Anguilla is lovely, but it is not the last place you will dive. You won't need a car in Florida to get to the dive ops.

Show up. Meet your buddy. Converse and communicate before the dive. Stay close. Any downsides? The price you pay for learning and travelling alone.

 

[diversteve]

With no car, these are places I'd consider:

Nassau, book at any of the hotels on Paradise Island (Atlantis??) You'd have plenty to walk to and Stuart Cove's will pick you up there. The other diveop, Bahamas Divers is at the base of the bridge to the island. Without gear you could walk there.

St. Thomas - try Admiralty Divers, they're co-located at the Holiday Inn. I think it's right in Charlotte Amalie so I'm guessing there's restaurants etc. nearby. Never been there though so check first. Close to the airport also.

Or go out to the East End and stay at the Sapphire Beach Resort, DiveIn is their onsite diveop and their boat is docked there. They do a shared van ride to the resort from the airport, I think it cost us $20. But pretty isolated from anything else except the restaurant at the resort, it would be a $10-15 cab ride to Red Hook for dinner etc.
And on St. Thomas it's all cabs, the resorts don't have any courtesy vans that I saw.

Bonaire would be perfect, the Divi, Buddy's or Capt' Don's Habitat. All have onsite restaurants, the Divi has a casino also and you can walk to town from there. Be easy to find a divebuddy also there. But kind of a long flight for a 3-5 day trip.

On Grand Cayman you could stay at Sunset House and dive there. It's a dive resort so easy to find a buddy. It's reasonable(for Cayman) 5mins. from Georgetown and the airport, the shorediving is excellent, they do boat trips to the good southern sites and will take you in a van to Stingray City. And the water is wicked clear there.

Also My Bar is the local dive hangout there for lunch and they have another onsite restaurant. You could probably walk to Georgetown if you were ambitious for lots of other eating/shopping options. If you're into photography, the Cathy Church school is in the basement of the main house, they do classes daily.

And take your gear over once in a cab to Georgetown and dive Eden Rock or Soto's Reef, both are decent shoredives. Cost you probably $10 each way.

my .02

 

[Garrobo]

I just booked a flight on USAirways for the 22nd to the 26th to Key Largo again for some reef dives and a wreck dive with Horizon Divers. I fly to Ft. Lauderdale and then drive on down because the car rental is a lot cheaper than Miami. Flight $182, dives $70 a day, Staying at Ed n Ellens $59 a night, and car $29 a day. Comes to a little over $800 for my short trip out of Col's Ohio. USAirways' hub is in Philladelphia. They fly direct to Ft. Lauderdale. I transfer in Charlotte. Might want to consider something like that. I went with Horizon before and they were OK by me.

 

[Fish Wrangler]

I'll second the Keys, but I drive. Since you don't drive, I guess you need to check out transport between the Miami airport and Key Largo. I have also dove with Horizon and stayed at the Ramada next door. This could be one possibility -- I wouldn't let the size of the op scare you away; there are times when the boats are not full.

Also, I can recommend two smaller hotel/dive operations Aquanuts (operating out of Kelly's on the Bay), and Amy Slate's Amoray Divers next door. I have dove with both and have been happy, although it takes their boats longer to get out to dive sites since they are located on the bay side of Key Largo. The motels are very basic, but you're there to dive, right?

 

[LekicINC]

I feel very silly saying this after all the VERY HELPFUL responses but I have come down with the flu and have to cancel my trip. RoatanMan, I understand your comments, but as a novice diver I dont want to be thrown in the ocean with someone I have never met before. Also, there is no diving with manatees in Cyrstal Rivers, its just a snorkel. Its the other dives that sounded nice and convienent. I dont think its unreasonable to expect a little attention from a DM when you are a newbie. Also, it is my opinion that buddy is not secondary, buddies are important in safety. I once had a dive in anguilla where my buddy swam away, had something happend to me or him, it would of been bad. If buddies were unimportant I do think it would be stressed so much. I know its not the philosophy of a lot of dive ops to pair someone with the DM while traveling solo, thats why i posted on this thread to find one that might.

sjspeck, thanks so much for the detailed info, I will be re-planning my trip for march and will keep that post handy.

Garrobo, enjoy your trip!

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[kidsdream]

I'll second the Keys, but I drive. Since you don't drive, I guess you need to check out transport between the Miami airport and Key Largo. I have also dove with Horizon and stayed at the Ramada next door. This could be one possibility -- I wouldn't let the size of the op scare you away; there are times when the boats are not full.

Also, I can recommend two smaller hotel/dive operations Aquanuts (operating out of Kelly's on the Bay), and Amy Slate's Amoray Divers next door. I have dove with both and have been happy, although it takes their boats longer to get out to dive sites since they are located on the bay side of Key Largo. The motels are very basic, but you're there to dive, right?

Just an update, Kelly's is no more. Kelly's, Hobo's and the place next door are all just rubble, awaiting some future resort condo development.

Amoray's is still there and fully operational.

 

[Fish Wrangler]

Just an update, Kelly's is no more. Kelly's, Hobo's and the place next door are all just rubble, awaiting some future resort condo development.

Does anyone know if Hobo's relocated, or is it truly gone? That was one of my favorites, and Key Largo has a lot of good restaurants!

EDIT: Found the answer -- Hobo's is at a new location around MM 101-102 ocean side. Fantastic!

 

[DIVINGDAMSEL]

i did a weekend trip with blackbeard's and it was perfect. board on friday night and dive 3 days returning on tuesday morning. was cheap, all inclusive and met some cool people! they take singles all the time so easy to make friends-