Your Favorite Repeat Travel Destination?

[chillyinCanada]

This Canadian weighs in with 30+ trips to Belize (no lob), 7-8 trips to West End Roatan (forgive me for not being able to remember exactly for these two areas). I'll shortly be on my second trip to Grenada. I've recently returned from lob at Turks and Caicos, and will probably repeat that too, given the opportunity. Very nice diving. Maldives lob 3 times, will be 4 at New Year's.Of the many other places I've been diving, high on my list for a return is Raja Ampat. So hoping I can join the Damai II end of January.

 

[Steve_C]

My diving consists of three types.
1. Work in a few dives while traveling on business. That is where ever I am working (Greece, Mexico, Hawaii, Vancouver, San Diego, LA, Florida, etc.)
2. One and two day trips to NC coast.
3. Short diving jaunts by self or buddy. (wife does not dive and gets bored sitting around a pool). So we are talking 3-4 days of diving. I fly not liking to drive all day. I have life time elite on American so baggage is free. There are American nonstops from my town to Miami. Wrecks are nice but I prefer poking around reefs.

Key Largo meets all the food groups and I have been there a number of times. Still see new stuff. I can fly out in the AM and be diving that afternoon. Stay at the marina so can walk to the boats. Hope to hop down late Dec or early Jan again.

 

[ronscuba]

......
But I think those distant destinations seasoned divers who've sampled a variety keep going back to must have something special. Especially if you forgo more exploration to do it. And when such a site speaks to several people, that means something.

........

This kinda describes me. I've been to many places in the Caribbean. Driven by the fun of diving someplace new and checking places off "Top" lists. There still are places in the Caribbean I have not been, but I no longer have big motivation to go there.

Having dove Indonesia, Galapagos, and Maldives, Caribbean diving is several notches down. Red Sea, Asia and the Pacific are destinations that excite me.

I still dive the Caribbean when I only have a week. Like you said, I go back to my favorites.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Explore the Coral Triangle and SE Asia/Oceania --Pick a different country in the region on each return visit: Philippines; Indonesia; Borneo/Malaysia; Papua New Guinea; Solomon Islands. .

.https://worldsbestdiving.wordpress.com/the-coral-triangle/

 

[dmoore19]

Don't really like trips with long flights and multiple stops to get there. My wife does not dive so places need to have something extra. I have been on trips without her. She will never join me on a LOB so those trips are on my own.

Repeats?

1. Cozumel, very reasonably priced and great diving. 5 trips there. Direct flight from here. My wife likes it there just fine.
2. Roatan, 3 trips via Houston, easy and fairly quick.
3. Cayman Aggressor. I have only done the trip once but would be ready for another.

Bahamas and the Aquacat would be okay for another trip but any of the 3 above ranks higher than this.

 

[KeithG]

It may be worthwhile to quantify the responses so far. 11 North American respondents (1 didn't indicate a history of repeat business yet so count as 10), 1 Australian. I figure we can group Canada with the U.S. for point of origin.

Destination answers suggest options chosen include Cozumel, Bonaire (will count all resorts as one place; dive experience similar), south Florida (I lump Jupiter, West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, Ft. Lauderdale & Blue Heron Bridge together as they're geographically close, & I figure most people dive BHB a day or two as an add on to another destination), the Florida Keys (a different kind of diving than further north), Indonesia (overly broad, with many places to dive, but what we've got so far), Belize via live-aboard (I'll lump Sun Dancer 2 & Belize Aggressor III together), Turks & Caicos via live-aboard (I'll group Explorer & Aggressor together), God's Pocket Resort near Ft. Hardy (British Columbia).

People who hit more than one place repeatedly can 'vote' more than once. I only counted Bonaire for myself, as it's the one place I've hit repeatedly as a primary dive destination.

Of the North American folks, the destination vote so far:

Cozumel 3.

Bonaire 4.

Belize via Live-aboard 2.

Turks & Caicos via live-aboard 1.

South Florida 2 (maybe 2 1/2; Lorenzoid was on the fence on this one).

Little Cayman Island 1.

God's Pocket Resort 1.

Indonesia 2.

Be mindful 'Indonesia' is a large conglomeration of destinations.

Only one location, & one vote, for a cold water destination (far as I know) from our North American divers, and he does a lot of local cold water diving in California.

Easy, convenient & cheap diving are motivators, although 'great' diving also came up - sending DirtFarmer to Indonesia and one factor sending CNYMAC to Little Cayman.

Wingy posted about choices from Australia, and point-of-origin has a big impact on what options are practical.

Interesting so far. Surprised we didn't see another vote or two for Cozumel, or at least one for the Florida Keys.

Richard.

P.S.: I know the thread's not a poll, but it functions somewhat like one.

As per standard SB protocol this thread appears to want to go off the rails and is confusing "real repeats" with "i wish i went there more often". But I could be wrong? I wish I went to PNG more often... (well I really wish my dive buddy took me to PNG more often...)

I was asked in an early post "why do we repeat" (which could be a whole nother thread?).

Simple: Easy diving on our own schedule! On our OWN SCHEDULE. This is the most important part. After many years of hustling our butts and gear to get to the dock on time and then cooling our jets until the laggards finally showed up, we finally wised up. We now repeat places where our prep time is a minimized compared to dive time. I am very lazy.

a) Bonaire & Divi: We d do not do truck diving - too much effort for my my lazy azz. We mostly do dock diving, but take the afternoon boat dive (it allows 60 minute bottom time) and jam in a dusk dive just before diner. No current, easy navigation. My favorite dive profile is the Divi dock (Calabas reef?) 90 feet for 90 minutes. There is a dinghy south of the dock at around 90 feet that hosts Sargent Majors guarding purple patches of eggs. Sporadically we get to interact with a school of squid. Awesome night dive spot (orange cup corals are back on the dock, barracudas during the day). Lots of Juveniles on the bulldozer south of the dock.

It NOW sucks big time when a cruise ship leaves the dock! Big current silt out. We all need to complain to Stinaapa.

We have been to several other Bonaire resorts north of krinkydink, but none allow me to walk to diner.

b) Belize Dancer: We have been doing this trip for way too many years. First attraction was the dive sites. We now love the crew as well. This boat has had the same crew for very many years. I hope they do not hate us. (Well maybe John hates us each night dive since we stay the full 70 minutes...). I now feel like we have become part of the extended family. Minus the blue hole, the dive sites are interesting and easy.

c) T&C Explorer: EV is an excellent operator. Our first liveaboard was the original EV scow in Saba. Scow. SCOW! But we had fun so we tried the new T&C boat (after 1 land T&C and 1 Dancer T&C liveaboard trip). Great vessel, great crew, but more crew substitution over time. The diver sites are easy, but minimum depth is generally around 50 ft.

For liveaboards my divebuddy (who books ALL of our trips) prefers a room above the waterline so she can have a big window. This may explain some preferences?

 

[chillyinCanada]

OK, if we're doing reasons for repeats. I fell in love with San Pedro and Belize diving 18 years ago. San pedr was a quaint quirky little place where one could walk everywhere and anywhere in bare feet. I had a Canadian friend living there for a bit and so had a place to stay. Got to know many locals quite well for a little while I rented a place there too and would have long stays with trips back and forth from home. I gave that up but having a stressful life , it has been so wonderful to go back to the same hotel, time after time, walk down the dock in front of my hotel and roll into the dive boat every morning with a crew I've known for years (and vice versa). It's easy for me to get to, all things considered. I can go alone, dive buddyless with zero hassle factor. I have friends and acquaintances there that I miss like crazy after awhile. I love the whole darn country, not just San Pedro. There are amazing things to do there beyond diving and it's pretty there too! I find it extremely economical but I'm not bound to be found at the expensive resorts/lodgings. I'll often eat at local places rather than gringo places. And while many of those things remain true, I've become a bit bored of the local diving, except for when the dolphins show up, and besides that, nothing stays the same . . . . San Pedro isn't the sleepy little town with sandy streets anymore. Bare feet? Perish the thought. Streets are almost all paved now, golfcarts clogg the streets, one needs to be more wary of crime . . . Gosh, I still love it though when the immigration guy says "Welcome home" even though that's a Belizean catch phrase. Uh oh making myself homesick but I've no time in my current schedule to fit in a trip, short or long.

I loved West End too. I find the diving quite sweet. The sandy road is paved now too. much nicer when it rains though and not as dusty when it doesn't. I miss my favorite little kitchette room at the well run place in the middle of town. I miss some of the people I know but the people that I got to know best have moved on. I'd go back in a heart beat but I've developed an allergy to one of the bugs there. Sigh. Can you imagine, when I first started diving there, dives were $10/tank. They're still only 30! Gah! Maybe when I get the time this spring, I'll go back and see if I've built up any immunity to whatever little bugger that I became allergic to.

Maldives, super easy for me to get to from Singapore, where ive been spending a good portion of every winter for the last couple of years. The Carpe Vita is an awesomely comfortable boat. The crew is very good. The diving is super exciting due to mantas, currents and sharks!

Grenada, gosh . . .I dunno. To me the diving has been underrated there. I'm looking forward to re-examing that on my upcoming trip. The island is stunningly beautiful. It doesn't have to be diving-centric. Oh gosh, I'm so excited to be going back and having Canadian friends coming down too! Not that easy for me to get to but fortunately, I no longer need to be in a hurry and can take my time optimizing flights and enjoying overnight stays along the way there and back. Uf I'm still in love with it, perhaps next winter I'll spend more time there and take a break from Singapore. That's a year away, anything could happen..

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . .

Put in other words; Diver X gets his cert. & variously dives Key Largo, Bonaire, Cozumel, Bahamas via live-aboard, & Roatan at 'pick your favorite op.' Enjoyed them all. Now, he could keep exploring full-time; what about the Belize, Turks & Caicos via live-aboard, Saba, St. Lucia, St. Croix, Curacao, California…hey, what about Trinidad & Tobago, Grenada, Puerto Rico, Dominica, St. Kitts, & other places that aren't 1st tier but some people love?

But Diver X decides every other trip will be…Key Largo, or Cozumel… Gotta be something special to him about that place.

The "something special" to me about the places I return to again and again are mainly that they are known entities--we have the routine down--and time/cost/convenience. I would enjoy to "keep exploring," but there are practical constraints in my life. I can arrange yet another trip to Cozumel in 30 minutes--no research required--and I know exactly what I am going to get. Tried and true. Consistently "good enough."

 

[vincent54]

I have been to a lot of dive sites.

When I first dove Cayman Brac years ago, I thought it was the best place ever. I still feel that way. The diving is fantastic, and the people on the island are the nicest around.

A close second for me is Hawaii. People are wonderful and if its too windy, the capital of windsurfing. Of course the Florida keys are awesome..... oh well too many nice spots to dive!!!

 

[Manneca]

If Indonesia is one destination, then that. And Malaysia. And the Philippines. But much of the time, I'm going to a different destination there. With a couple of exceptions: I've been to Lembongan twice and to Bunaken twice. Lembongan is usually attached to another Indo destination because as long as I'm going that far, I'm gonna spend a month there. Revisited Bunaken because it was on the way back from RA. There is nothing to match the diving in the Coral Triangle. (I'm off to PNG and the Solomons in Feb, so I may change my mind.)

That said, I've been to Bonaire the most number of time (maybe 8 or 9), then Grand Cayman. I went because they were close and I was working so I didn't have a lot of time.

I've also been to the Maldives 3 times; mostly because the diving is decent and I really like the resort and it's a place I can pay for with points, not cash.

Still looking for the perfect place to dive, though.