Your Favorite Repeat Travel Destination?

[Freewillow]

I understand that the carribean bassin is largelly favored by american citizen, due to short and economical travel to your favorite destinations.

I have more that 500 dives all over this bassin I but think that the bodiversity is way greater in the Indian Ocean. But I understand that distances are playing a major role for you guys .

 

[rhincodon]

1. Blue Heron Bridge
2. Key Largo
3. Cozumel

Mainly because they are close and inexpensive. I usually do one "big" dive trip per year and go to these places in between to get my dive fix.

 

[DeputyDan]

I understand that the carribean bassin is largelly favored by american citizen, due to short and economical travel to your favorite destinations.

I have more that 500 dives all over this bassin I but think that the bodiversity is way greater in the Indian Ocean. But I understand that distances are playing a major role for you guys .

Many Americans only have two weeks vacation each year.
Even if they could financially afford to go there, they don't have the time.

One of the reasons Cozumel is popular is not only the price but most of us can leave in the early AM and catch the afternoon boat dives.
That gives more vacation time in our vacation time.

If I lived in Europe. I would go where you suggested or the Red Sea for diving.

 

[Freewillow]

Many Americans only have two weeks vacation each year.
Even if they could financially afford to go there, they don't have the time.



If I lived in Europe. I would go where you suggested or the Red Sea for diving.

One of the reasons Cozumel is popular is not only the price but most of us can leave in the early AM and catch the afternoon boat dives.
That gives more vacation time in our vacation time.

Thank you Dan, I agree. It is totally understandable. What is interesting is that Cozumel is hardly mentioned as a diving possibility in the dive travel agencies in French speaking Europe. Even if vacations to Cancun/Playa del Carmen are a very popular vacation spot.

 

[Colo Hippie]

Our go to list is.

Roatan
Truk - Oddyssey
Wakatobi

 

[Freewillow]

Our go to list is.

Roatan
Truk - Oddyssey
Wakatobi

WAkatobi, interesting. Do you have a CR on it? How did you go there? With whom did you dive. This is the end of the world .

 

[wildbill9]

We go on 3-4 dive holidays each year. One of these is always Little Cayman at Southern Cross Club. We love the relaxed atmosphere, great diving, wonderful staff and meals. Weve really enjoyed other vacation but haven't found a place that trumps it - trying Roatan in March.

 

[majik]

Hi. Sinbad's thread on Bucket Lists got me thinking about a very different question; what dive destination do you keep returning to? Who gets your repeat business? What's so great about them that you forego heading elsewhere for new experiences because the tried & true is so good?

If your repeat favorite is such because it's in your neighborhood (e.g.: you live in North Carolina, southern Florida or coastal California & dive locally heavily), that's fine to share, but I'm putting more weight behind choices where people plunk down cash for plane tickets, and have the option to fly to other places.

For me, it was 8 trips to Bonaire. Loved it. The independence of shore diving, knowing my way around because I've been there several times, warm water year round with minimal concerns about hurricane or rainy seasons, fine viz., bundled nitrox, very good viz., usually minimal current, nice reefs & fairly fishy… Expensive airfare & the need (for me) up pay more for an automatic transmission truck run up the bill. My solo week there I got in 28 dives. How sweet it is!

I've been diving elsewhere to broaden my scuba horizons. Loved Key Largo; another budget option where I could rack up a lot of dives fast (4/day) with bundled guide (Rainbow Reef Dive Center).

I've really enjoyed other trips; Sun Dancer 2 out of Belize (very nice!), Jupiter (Fl), Morehead City (NC), I've been blessed with some fine diving. But there are so many other places to try… (I'm not counting various cruise ship stops with 2 dives here, 2 there, etc…).

On the forum it seems to me Cozumel is probably the front runner for repeat travel trips; great viz., warm to fairly warm, varied underwater topography, varied life & some big stuff, judging from this forum perhaps the most consistently praised varied dive op.s of any place I've noticed, drift diving (if you like it; some don't), good food & friendly people topside…and, as scuba trips go, a budget destination. I get the sense Cozumel trips are amongst the cheapest for many U.S.-based divers.

My 2 dives there on a cruise stop with Living Underwater put it on my radar, hoping to hit it in the future.

I'm under the impression CocoView in Roatan does a lot of repeat business.

Money talks; who do you 'vote for' with your money most often?

Richard.

P.S.: If I'm blessed to keep diving after I'm done roaming, I imagine I'd set up a rotating trip pattern between Bonaire, Key Largo & (if experience agrees with me) Cozumel.

 

[majik]

Cozumel is my go-to dive destination. It's one of the few dive destinations I can reach from Detroit without changing planes. It's a real advantage to make the flight in one hop. Fewer chances for things to go wrong and the flight is a little under four hours. I love the diving. I probably like the diving better at Little Cayman, but it's a little harder to get to and more expensive. Cozumel is quite reasonable. One summer recently, I went to Cozumel for 10 days rather than make the two long-weekend trips to the Straits of Mackinaw that I usually do. The cost was pretty comparable. Now that I've found a dive operator and a place to stay that I really like (Aldora Divers and Villa Aldora) and been there several times, it's like going to visit old friends. I also enjoy the restaurants and the general atmosphere on the island. I am sure I would enjoy Indo-Pacific diving (which I haven't done yet), but the length of the trip alone will always keep it from being a go-to destination for me. It's hard to get away for more than a week. I would not rule out "local" diving from this discussion. You may not be paying for airfare, but it doesn't mean you are not making a significant investment of time and money. I try to go to the Straits of Mackinaw two weekends each summer. It's a four-hour drive from the Detroit area and has outstanding Great Lakes wreck diving. Plus there's a place in St. Ignace that has great pie: Bentley's. They have several kinds every day, all good. We'll have lunch there, order pie, and then reserve pie for our dessert after dinner. We often have pie there after having dinner somewhere else. Usually bring a whole pie home, too.

1) fiji aggressor
2) turks and caicos aggressor

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

1. Mayan Riviera for Cenote diving
2. The Great Lakes for wreck diving