I want to do a diving trip, but I have no idea where to!

[AZNetEng]

My wife and I are doing a Belize Aggressor in 10 days. Ill post up a trip report so be on the lookout for that.

There are quite a few specials out there right now for liveaboard trips, so money to be saved!

 

[Nasser]

If you're willing to travel consider Palau, Komodo, Raja Ampat, Sipidan, Maldives ... and of course my favorite - the Red Sea. These are all world class destinations that offer great diving and excellent liveaboards. The only downside is the distance and cost of flights.

 

[Moray]

Hello,

First I would like to introduce myself: me and my wife are experienced divers (AOW, need only rescue for master diver certification) who have around 60 logged dives and have dived in Thailand (just 2 dives, close to Phi Phi), liveaboard in the Bahamas and also a some dives in Cozumel.

We are looking for another diving vacation, with a preference for a liveaboard (we loved the experience) and not ridiculously far from the americas. Also we don't want a repeat experience.

We also prefer warm water (24 C+) and good visibility (but we accept colder dives although we have zero dry suit experience).

Any suggestions appreciated!

Cocos island in Costa Rica ( Undersea Explorer), or Socorro Islands in Mexico ( Nautilus Explorer and the Valentina)

 

[KathyV]

As mentioned by others, either of the liveaboards that service the Turks and Caicos (the Aggressor and Explorer) would be a good choice to see beautiful walls and large creatures, including lots of sharks. Another good reason to pick a liveaboard to dive the T&Cs (and in some cases, Belize) is because you often have long boat rides to the better dive sites with the day boats - but a liveaboard avoids that issue.

Liveaboards may seem expensive but they include your food, lodging, and diving and you often get to do lots of diving in the best, most pristine locations - so the cost per dive is usually much better than a land-based trip.

You don't mention budget, but the Aggressor recently launched a Roatan liveaboard. My memories of Roatan include beautiful reefs but not as many large fish as some areas of the Caribbean. However, the introductory price on the new boat is very good, so this could be an excellent opportunity to try out a liveaboard and see if you like the experience.

If you plan to do a lot of Caribbean diving then it is likely that you will eventually get to many of the locations mentioned here, so pick one that seems attractive to you. Have fun!

Aggressor Fleet - Official Website

 

[AZNetEng]

Id add to the post above from @KathyV that the resort dive ops in Roatan offer some great diving at very affordable pricing. The reef is close, the rides short, and the cost is much cheaper than 3k per person. Anthony's Key, CoCoView, Fantasy Island all offer quite a bit of diving including unlimited shore diving in addition to several tanks a day from their boats. The last two trips to Roatan Ive done in excess of 20 dives each trip.

Ive only seen a few sharks (reef and nurse) in Roatan but there is a shark dive available. I have seen alot of Tarpon, rays, turtles (though not as many as you might think, the locals eat them Im told) and the biggest Angel Fish Ive ever seen. Tons of Lionfish if you like to spearfish, lots of eels, some large Barracuda, and what I think is a huge variety of tropical fish on the reef.

 

[scubadada]

Id add to the post above from @KathyV that the resort dive ops in Roatan offer some great diving at very affordable pricing. The reef is close, the rides short, and the cost is much cheaper than 3k per person. Anthony's Key, CoCoView, Fantasy Island all offer quite a bit of diving including unlimited shore diving in addition to several tanks a day from their boats. The last two trips to Roatan Ive done in excess of 20 dives each trip.

Ive only seen a few sharks (reef and nurse) in Roatan but there is a shark dive available. I have seen alot of Tarpon, rays, turtles (though not as many as you might think, the locals eat them Im told) and the biggest Angel Fish Ive ever seen. Tons of Lionfish if you like to spearfish, lots of eels, some large Barracuda, and what I think is a huge variety of tropical fish on the reef.

As above, the Roatan Aggressor starts June 3 and is currently on sale for $1995 pp. SB's @CajunDiva is very knowledgeable about the area and will be on the Roatan Aggressor in Sept

 

[carlosrjbr]

Thank you so much for all the replies guys, plenty of ideas now! I will go through them with the wife.

Also, Nasser you mentioned the Red Sea... while I have heard great things about diving there, I am concerned with security and safety on shore there... any experience in regard to that?

 

[scubadada]

Thank you so much for all the replies guys, plenty of ideas now! I will go through them with the wife.

Also, Nasser you mentioned the Red Sea... while I have heard great things about diving there, I am concerned with security and safety on shore there... any experience in regard to that?

Hi @carlosrjbr

My wife and I did 2 weeks in Cairo and on the Nile, Luxor to Aswan, a little over a year ago. I did 2 weeks on the Red Sea a year ago, Red Sea Aggressor April-May 2016 We were living in Switzerland at the time, the flights were not expensive. We felt safe on both trips, the Red Sea particularly. Liveaboards are currently very inexpensive, you can get a week for less than $1000 or euros per week. Tourism, including dive tourism is having a tough time and is very competitive. I had a wonderful time

 

[diversteve]

For sharks/rays I'd go to Turks. We saw more there than in the Bahamas. And that includes the 15-18 reef sharks we saw off the Bahamas Banks (my avatar is one)

Just some anecdotal experiences:

The first couple days on the T/C Explorer are spent off Provo. A couple interesting dives but mostly shallower to get you ready for the deep walls. Might see Jojo the Dolphin - we didn't.

Then the boat moves to West Caicos. I'm pretty sure we saw at least a couple reef sharks on every dive there. Also at one mooring while hanging at my stop I counted 24 Stingrays near the mooring - most with their symbiotic fish nearby.

Also intermingled with a school of Cuda there including one that let me film him for over 5mins. Also I was ambushed by a very old turtle - he rushed me just off the mooring b4 I was even filming - the DM has seen it b4. That night we saw the biggest Eagle Ray I've ever seen and reef sharks fed in the bow lights while we observed from the stern 100' away.. About midnight they moved to the stern also - pretty cool to see them from the surface 10' away.

French Cay a few days later was even better. So many sharks it wasn't worth mentioning on the boat since we all saw them. Some dives I must've seen a dozen different ones hunting on top of and down the walls.

Also huge lionfish down the wall deeper, they seemed to know you weren't hunting them.

The wall diving there is about the healthiest I've ever seen. That includes Grand Cayman.

Two minor points - both T/C boats whale snorkel during the spring off the Silver Banks - no diving. And certain times of year weather prevents the Cayman Aggressor from making the trip over to the Sister Islands - read the trip reviews to find out when.

Do check the Explorer specials - we saved $400 pp. on our spring trip. From the US we almost did the whole trip including airfare for under $3K - although we had miles, I'd priced flights also.

 

[scubadada]

My son and I went to T&C and also saw many sharks off West Caicos and French Cay. Personally, I think the walls off Grand Cayman, and certainly, Little Cayman, are superior. This is a brief video from the cut in the wall off Boat Cove