Where do I go to vanish from the earth?
- Thread starter CAPTAIN SINBAD
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Sinbad, I can't compare it to all my other dives, only my other Caribbean dives and that I had just come to Carriacou from two weeks of diving Grenada. I'm surprised Grenada diving doesn't get more play. The viz wasn't great this trip and hopefully it's not always like that.
At Grenada, we saw everything ever seen in my previous Caribbean dives, but critters were far more numerous, much larger and not shy or afraid (ie: yellow striped arrow crabs, Pederson cleaning shrimp, large schools of various fish). Trunk fish of varying sizes all over the place, often curious to see what we were looking at besides the trunk fish. 3 or more arrow crabs the size of lunch plates hanging out with a couple of kinds of cleaner shrimp and red banded coral shrimp. Flounders hanging out in groups, manta shrimp, fields of banded jawfish, seahorses . . .and on and on it goes.
In Carriacou, the viz still wasn't all it could be but there was so much going on in some sites, the viz barely mattered. Lovely gardens, lovely. Never seen before nor even supposed to be a behavior, scrawled filefish schooling in the vertical head down way, as you've probably seen their juveniles do to hide out. Only these weren't trying to hide at all. Incredible to me. Even the dive op owner said he's never seen that before. Spotted drumfish are all over the place and barely shy. Schools of palmeto, honeycomb and scrawled cowfish, wahoo coming by now and then, small schools of barracuda, nudibranchs and flatworms . . .
I've not been to Bonaire, perhaps it's similar?
All that said, much of the reefs are covered with algae. I'm told this is a combination of things, the most obvious of which is a distinct shortage of parrot fish.
The island of Carriacou is lovely with many pretty but deserted beaches. I stayed in Hillsborough so can't speak to other areas.
Over all I am enchanted. I'll be back.
At Grenada, we saw everything ever seen in my previous Caribbean dives, but critters were far more numerous, much larger and not shy or afraid (ie: yellow striped arrow crabs, Pederson cleaning shrimp, large schools of various fish). Trunk fish of varying sizes all over the place, often curious to see what we were looking at besides the trunk fish. 3 or more arrow crabs the size of lunch plates hanging out with a couple of kinds of cleaner shrimp and red banded coral shrimp. Flounders hanging out in groups, manta shrimp, fields of banded jawfish, seahorses . . .and on and on it goes.
In Carriacou, the viz still wasn't all it could be but there was so much going on in some sites, the viz barely mattered. Lovely gardens, lovely. Never seen before nor even supposed to be a behavior, scrawled filefish schooling in the vertical head down way, as you've probably seen their juveniles do to hide out. Only these weren't trying to hide at all. Incredible to me. Even the dive op owner said he's never seen that before. Spotted drumfish are all over the place and barely shy. Schools of palmeto, honeycomb and scrawled cowfish, wahoo coming by now and then, small schools of barracuda, nudibranchs and flatworms . . .
I've not been to Bonaire, perhaps it's similar?
All that said, much of the reefs are covered with algae. I'm told this is a combination of things, the most obvious of which is a distinct shortage of parrot fish.
The island of Carriacou is lovely with many pretty but deserted beaches. I stayed in Hillsborough so can't speak to other areas.
Over all I am enchanted. I'll be back.
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Cozumel does have a lot of cruise ship folks but they stay in town pretty much so if you get a place outside of town, you really don't even see them. If you get a place south of town, you can meet the boat at a nearby dock and be on your own after your two tanks (provide you aren't tempted to do a 3rd or nite dive after enjoying your dives!). .....if you are curious about this, check out Aldora....steel tanks, small boats. They also have a villa but you might be tempted to socialize with others so suggest finding accommodations down south.
Saba is a pretty island (didn't stay the night so no experience with vermins)....wasn't crazy about the dives after cozumel....however, be sure to check out Culebra.....right off of Puerto Rico. Only two ops in town, only a handful of restaurants....beautiful beaches and diversity underwater and absolutely nothing else to do....!
Not familiar with the Puerto Galera hotel but i agree that it offers one of the best underwater diversions ....but topside can also be very distracting for some....
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Saba is a pretty island (didn't stay the night so no experience with vermins)....wasn't crazy about the dives after cozumel....however, be sure to check out Culebra.....right off of Puerto Rico. Only two ops in town, only a handful of restaurants....beautiful beaches and diversity underwater and absolutely nothing else to do....!
Not familiar with the Puerto Galera hotel but i agree that it offers one of the best underwater diversions ....but topside can also be very distracting for some....
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About a 6 hour flight out of Honolulu are Kosrae or Pohnpei islands...remote and quite.
Kosrae Village Dive & Eco Adventure Resort, Micronesia, Exceptional Eco Adventures
SCUBA Diving | Pohnpei Eco-Adventure Map Guide Series
Kosrae Village Dive & Eco Adventure Resort, Micronesia, Exceptional Eco Adventures
SCUBA Diving | Pohnpei Eco-Adventure Map Guide Series
Charles2
Contributor
What you are looking for sounds like a trip that my wife and I took a few years ago to The Best of Belize Hotels & Belize Resorts | Welcome to Hamanasi!. Although all of the rooms are quiet, roomy, and pleasant, you could get one of the treehouses and really have no neighbors. All they provide are two morning dives and all you have to do is to show up on the dock at 8:30 to meet the boat. They will have your gear on board and you will be set to go. After the second dive, you will be back at the resort usually by noon or 1:00. They will take care of all your gear, carrying it back to the shop, cleaning, drying, and return to the boat tomorrow. The rest of your time is all yours. When we were there, the only requirement that you might have found lacking was the internet. It was only available in the lobby, and it was slow. They may have fixed that by now.
After your arrival at the airport in Belize City, you will transfer to a Cessna and fly to Dangriga (about 45 min) where you will be met with a van ride of about 1 hour down to Hopkins. Truly, it is pretty isolated, but it will be one of the most comfortable isolations ever.
Cheers
After your arrival at the airport in Belize City, you will transfer to a Cessna and fly to Dangriga (about 45 min) where you will be met with a van ride of about 1 hour down to Hopkins. Truly, it is pretty isolated, but it will be one of the most comfortable isolations ever.
Cheers
mikeycanuk
Contributor
The villa we rented in the Brac would fit the bill for sure, set back from the road, right on the beach, utter complete privacy, never saw a soul from our "beach" *more rocks than beach). Quiet island, good internet with 3 great grocery stores and generally very very quite. It gets a lot of $ support from Grand Cayman as it's too built up for such a small island.
Did Carriacou as well, had an awesome villa with a great view. Enjoyed ourselves but it's a bit more of a schlep to get there and it doesn't get the support from Grenada so it's bit rougher round the edges. Groceries are more of an effort with selection not what I thought it would be, rum is plentiful and cheap! There can be water issues in the dry season.
I would give the Brac the edge as diving goes, there were great sites on Carriacou but a lot with algae problems and no pet groupers!! Nor many/any fish of any decent size but there were more critters though. Fishing is more of a mainstay in Carriacou.
Did Carriacou as well, had an awesome villa with a great view. Enjoyed ourselves but it's a bit more of a schlep to get there and it doesn't get the support from Grenada so it's bit rougher round the edges. Groceries are more of an effort with selection not what I thought it would be, rum is plentiful and cheap! There can be water issues in the dry season.
I would give the Brac the edge as diving goes, there were great sites on Carriacou but a lot with algae problems and no pet groupers!! Nor many/any fish of any decent size but there were more critters though. Fishing is more of a mainstay in Carriacou.
DiveShopBarbie
Registered
A few places come to mind.
Roatan: If you stay at the right place (TranquilSeas, some other great spots too) you feel like you are in a treehouse in the jungle (with wifi) and no noises but bats and waves.
Kauai: Kauai is perfection in the pacific. Unlike some of the other Hawaiian islands, it is extremely rustic and there isn't anything to do past 8 PM so might be right up your alley. Get an AirBnB on a mountain or coast somewhere, dive in the mornings and write in the afternoons while the palms are swaying in the wind
If you want to go more fancy - French Polynesia: It is in the middle of the ocean, it is quiet, there is nothing to do (on some of the islands - I'd suggest Bora Bora or Rangiora) and you won't be distracted by ANYTHING but how goddamn gorgeous your surroundings are
Hmm... all this talk makes me wonder if maybe I should write for a living?
Roatan: If you stay at the right place (TranquilSeas, some other great spots too) you feel like you are in a treehouse in the jungle (with wifi) and no noises but bats and waves.
Kauai: Kauai is perfection in the pacific. Unlike some of the other Hawaiian islands, it is extremely rustic and there isn't anything to do past 8 PM so might be right up your alley. Get an AirBnB on a mountain or coast somewhere, dive in the mornings and write in the afternoons while the palms are swaying in the wind
If you want to go more fancy - French Polynesia: It is in the middle of the ocean, it is quiet, there is nothing to do (on some of the islands - I'd suggest Bora Bora or Rangiora) and you won't be distracted by ANYTHING but how goddamn gorgeous your surroundings are
Hmm... all this talk makes me wonder if maybe I should write for a living?
Sinbad, did you ever find a place to "vanish from the earth" and work on your script, or did you decide to stay home and tough it out?
OP
CAPTAIN SINBAD
Contributor
Right now I am roughing it out. The deadline has been extended so I am not under the same pressure. From the suggestions I have received, it would either be Roatan or Cozumel. I got back from Bonaire and while it was an awesome dive place, I would not go there to work on my script. Driving all over in a truck every morning, picking up tanks, then looking for food all over the place is way too time consuming to leave me much time.
Thanks everyone for you help.
Mikeycanuk, I saw all kinds of fish on Carriacou. A severe shortage of parrotfish though, that's true and if they had parrotfish, there might not be such an algae problem. In any event, and I saw any number of schools of fish, including barracuda, Chevrons I think.
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