What kind of dive traveler are you?

[nimoh]

There are two kinds of people in this world,
People that divide people into two groups,
and those who do not.

There are 10 kinds of people in this world. Those that understand binary and those that don't

 

[gypsyjim]

There are two kinds of people in this world,
People that divide people into two groups,
and those who do not.

there is also another group that does it's level best to keep the first two groups always fighting with each other. Well, maybe that is just in Washington.....

 

[mikeycanuk]

So in French Polynesia the ratio is wrong because the diving is bad? or was it the expense?

Curious also.

Tentative on a list. Wife isn't convinced, that shark rave video of people snorkeling while a shark feeding FRENZY goes on a few feet away did not impress her in the least. I also don't get the French or Euro practice of dives down to 190', why????

maybe PNG instead.

 

[Donnah]

I guess I'm a three, also. We go back to Cozumel every year and also a week someplace different every year. Usually the Caribbean, but try to go exotic once in awhile.

 

[gopbroek]

I think a lot of it has to do with accessibility. I live in an area that lacks decent local diving but I am 2 ½ hours by air from Cozumel. This means that in the last 18 months I have done about 200 dives in Cozumel, which I still thoroughly enjoy. I still plan on diving other destinations (Roatan next month) and plan to get back down to Xcalak sometime this year for some great ‘end of the road’ diving. If I still lived in the Pacific Northwest I would probably dive Puget Sound, if I lived in SoCal I would be going to Catalina, If I lived in South Florida I would be diving locally or Bermuda. Life is hectic and you need to dive when and where you have the opportunity, distance and time are big factors for us ‘workin’ folks. I do not think that most divers are strictly in either category.

 

[drbill]

I like to dive a destination often enough to get a basic understanding of its ecosystems, but that focus is primarily at home where I've been diving for 45 years (and still don't have a "complete" picture). When I travel, I like to spend enough time in a destination to gain a reasonable understanding of the basics of that site's ecosystems. That requires a minimum of 2-3 weeks of intensive diving. I do like to cover a broad sampling of the globe's dive destinations with my current focus on two continents I've never dived... Africa and south America.

I don't have enough $$$ to go everywhere I'd like to dive or enough time in my life to spend as much time in each as I'd like to.

 

[Mossman]

Curious also.

Tentative on a list. Wife isn't convinced, that shark rave video of people snorkeling while a shark feeding FRENZY goes on a few feet away did not impress her in the least. I also don't get the French or Euro practice of dives down to 190', why????

maybe PNG instead.

I had the pleasure of diving off the Tahiti Aggressor when it still plied the Tuamotus and more recently a trip on the Paul Gauguin which included dives in Bora Bora, Moorea, Rangiroa, and Nuku Hiva, plus we did a couple on Tahiti itself before the cruise.

The Tuamotus have amazing pelagic diving. Tahiti is a "quick" 8 hour flight from LAX and then a short (2 hour?) hop to Rangiroa or Fararava, not at all hard to get to. Cost is definitely a factor, though, as FP is not very cheap in general and especially not at the luxury end. That said, one can find more rustic accommodations that are relatively affordable. The diving in the Society Islands lacked the wow factor, though the water was nice and clear and the dive sites were littered with sharks of various types (Bora Bora and Moorea, that is; Tahiti was a different story). I wouldn't make it a destination, but worth getting a few dives in if you tack on days besides Rangiroa.

Getting to equivalent quality pelagic diving can be expensive elsewhere and much harder to get to: Cocos and Galapagos are inconvenient and expensive. Haven't experienced the Maldives, but they're pretty remote and expensive too. Palau is inconvenient and expensive. Komodo is very inconvenient and can be expensive.

(note, all convenience factors are based on originating out of LAX)

I rarely dove below 100' on any of my dives, but then again we weren't diving with a day boat operation except when we were in Tahiti and that was all shallow stuff.

Oh, yeah, and as to the original poster's question: I'm yet another one of those 3's.

I'd gather that the majority of well-traveled divers do fall in the 3 category. There are a small bunch that really do go nowhere else but the same place year after year, decade after decade. But most of us didn't get into diving because it's a boring activity. If we wanted that, we could golf. We like adventure and experiencing new locales is adventurous. On the other hand, it's easy to go back to favorites because they are dependable, easy to plan, and perhaps more convenient and budget friendly. If I had all the time and money to travel across the Pacific and do expensive liveaboards then perhaps I'd be a type 2. But because there aren't too many divers with such unlimited resources, I'm guessing pure type 2's are as rare as pure type 1's. I've made multiple trips to Cozumel not just because I like the diving, but because there are two flights a day in season and you get a lot of bang for your buck. Bonaire is a bit harder to get to and more expensive, but still nothing like the expense and hassle of a remote liveaboard trip, and I love the place and its easy (and cheap) shore diving. I've even made multiple trips to Hawaii, not because the diving is so great compared to the expense of staying and diving there, but because it's such an easy hop from LAX.

 

[Lorenzoid]

There are two kinds of people in this world,
People that divide people into two groups,
and those who do not.

There are two kinds of people on SB: people who respond the way the OP asked (in this case by picking one of two choices), and people who refuse to follow what's asked.

 

[Hintermann]

I started diving in 2006, when I was already into my 51st year. Knowing that my diving career would be limited to around 10 years (I plan to retire from diving in 2016), I decided to dive around different places in the world. I also prefer liveaboard diving by far and tend to look at destinations where there are liveaboard boats operating. There are exceptions, of course like Cozumel, Malta/Gozo, Bonaire etc. So far I have been to Australia, Phuket (twice), Red Sea (thrice), Maldives (twice), Bermuda, Malta/Gozo, Cozumel (twice), Philippines, Turks & Caicos, Belize, Sipadan, Truk Lagoon, Fiji and Cayman Islands. Coming-up are Bali/Komodo, Raja Ampat, Bonaire, Socorro, Wakatobi, Utila and British Virgin Islands.

 

[gypsyjim]

I don't have enough $$$ to go everywhere I'd like to dive or enough time in my life to spend as much time in each as I'd like to.

Amen to that