Just Returned from Another Coz Trip, Looking for New Dive Destinations

[doogisar]

Not sure if you have chosen your dive trip yet. We have been to a few places on the Caribbean and price and quality are our preferences. We like boat dives. We did Curacao and since it was near Bonaire I figured it would be just as good diving. Boy was I wrong. We really didn't like the diving, very boring at the Southwest side. Good topside for non divers though.
Weve done Belize at San Pedro often and seen the marine life drop off drastically.
Puerto Rico: We have dove at Fijardo, I would not bother, very touristy and alot of sand. I was disappointed.
Dominican Republic: We dove Bayhibe recently, I was bored. the most life was on the reef which was so close to the shore that the sand and sediment covered everything, we were there for a week and dove that same reef about 5 times due to the rest was pretty bland. The large Wreck "St Gorge" I think it was called as exceptional but deep. we did that one twice.
Little Cayman: We dove twice for 10 days each time. Very good diving, Walls are what they are known for. My wife isn't into was and she got bored but I am emulsified by the shear size of the walls. Excelent destination but $$$.
We have dove Cozumel since 2015 and usually 2 times a year. It is out new favorite for now.
Recently: last fall we went to St Estatius, next to Saba. Excellent diving and not too expensive. We went in Sept 2019 and had tropical storms and just missed by Jerry. 3 weeks later we went back because the dive shop we went with gave us a nice discount to come back and dive with them. I will definitely be back in that area in the future. Were currently looking at the next door island of Saba, Dominica, or Grenada for our next trip besides our yearly may trip of cozumel.

I hop this helps in giving you some insight to where to go next. We really liked St Estatius or "statia" Wonderful locals , no resort and small operations. We dove with Golden Rock dive center.

Ryan

 

[lionfish-eater]

I agree about Statia.

You might notice that at about 2min 50 sec I turn around to discover that my buddy bailed on the penetration. I really should have turned around at that point. No need to scold me, nothing bad happened, but lesson learned.


If you have a way to watch in hd on a big screen, its much better than a monitor.

 

[doogisar]

I agree about Statia.

You might notice that at about 2min 50 sec I turn around to discover that my buddy bailed on the penetration. I really should have turned around at that point. No need to scold me, nothing bad happened, but lesson learned.


If you have a way to watch in hd on a big screen, its much better than a monitor.

The Charlie Brown was a fantastic Wreck and the vis was excellent for us. There are so much marinelife with little current most of the time, more lobsters than I could count on a few dives. Our last dive was found 4 Octopi, One I got about 3-4 mins of footage one out in the open. We will be back for sure and its fairly easy to get to. I noticed Saba does not have any lodging near the water or SeaSaba? We stayed at the Orange Bay hotel, nice place, and 5 min walk to the diveshop and boat. We want to do Saba but may return to Statia instead before our annual trip back to Cozumel.
I think Statia is a hidden gem.

 

[FT]

It is true that Windwardside is where you’ll end up staying on Saba, but the cool breezes are welcome, and Sea Saba will send a van to get you. Hiking is easier to access and there are more good restaurants, if those things matter to you. Because Saba’s unique feature is the pinnacles, which start at like 27 metres, dives can be shorter IIRC.
Liked Statia just fine and would happily return to either, given infinite diving dollars and time. Oh wait no, if I had infinite dollars and time it would be PNG, Indonesia and the Philippines.

 

[Kensei]

Save your money for Indonesia.. you will never go back to the Caribbean - Raja Ampat - Komodo no place as good on this planet. I go at least 1 or 2 times a year for the last 20 years, never get tired of it. If you need more tips let me know.
here pictures from last week..
White Manta 2019 - reefseeker

Agree. RA is on a different scale.... but the flight is a killer. About 23 hours of flight time... and that's from LAX. My other favorite in that neck of the woods is Palau... which shouldn't come as any surprise.

 

[Guitarcrazy]

Great video lionfish-eater. Thanks for the suggestions. We are back to Cozumel the first week of Feb, and then we will start planning our next trip.

 

[bshort4]

Having had the pleasure of visiting both Eygpt for a liveaboard (September) and a trip to the Philippines for diving (November and December) from a starting point in Colorado which is a little closer to Montana. Logistics to Eygpt--6 am flight Denver to New York--6 hour layover--direct flight to Cairo on Eygpt Air arriving at 11 in the morning. I could have caught a connecting flight from Cairo to Hurghada later that afternoon but decided to stay in a hotel next to the airport and combat a little jet lag. I was met at Cairo airport by a tour company who did a meet and greet--handled getting my visa, picked up my luggage, walked me through immigration and customs and out the door to the car in about 30 minutes of deplaning. The next morning they picked me up from the hotel and took me back to the airport for my flight to Hurghada (they took my passport to the counter and got my ticket--walked me through security too) and I was off to the Red Sea! In Hurghada my dive boat met me and we did the three and a half hour drive to Port Ghalib where I boarded my live aboard. The tour company met me at the boat after my dive trip and drove me to Luxor--two days and nights of touring then a plane trip back to Cairo. Two more days and nights of touring--back to the airport for flight again on Eygpt air to New York, 4 hour layover then Jet Blue back to Denver. If I had it to do over again I would have added at least two more days and nights for the touring of the sights---both Luxor and the Pyramids in Cairo blew me away. And yes I rode a freaking camel! The tour company was fantastic--on time and had my own private guide and car wherever we went-- was a solo traveler. Total of 13 nights.

I'll do a separate blog for the Philippines

 

[bshort4]

Logistics from Colorado to the Philippines. This was my 7th trip to the Philippines so I'm quite familiar with the trip. Colorado Springs direct to LAX on United using frequent flier miles there and back from LAX. Landed at LAX at 2:45 pm and had a long 8 hour plus layover for the 11 pm boarding on Asiana Airlines to Korea. I much prefer Asiana over others I have used--EVA air is pretty good too. Two and a half hour layover in Inchon then four hour flight to Manila arriving at 11 am. Met by friends who I spent a week with before flying to Bali from Manila for a week of diving and touring then back to Manila on Cebu Pacific airlines. Fly from Manila to Dumaguete on Cebu Pacific and a week of diving in Dauin and Apo Island with Mikes Beach Resort (fourth time with them--love it) Fly back to Manila from Dumaguete on Cebu Pacific--air travel in the Philippines can be quite cheap--our round trip tickets to Dumaguete and back were about $100 each with the added 20 kilos of baggage allowance. Spent the rest of my trip visiting friends south of Manila (I stay away from Manila as much as I can), celebrated New Years there and flew home again with Asiana back to Korea, then to LAX and a five hour layover then back to Colorado. I usually pay around $700 for my round trip plane ticket from LAX to Manila and back and use frequent flyer miles for my ticket from Colorado to Lax. If I try to buy one ticket from Colorado to Manila and back the price gets real stupid--like $1600. I can buy the ticket to Lax and back separate and its much less than that--go figure. Once you're in the Philippines the diving is pretty cheap--about $60 for a two tank dive trip--I've paid less if I bought a package dive deal like I did in Bohol or Sipalay. Puerto Galera was about $60 too for a two tank trip but not on a package deal. So Eygpt was a little more expensive--but totally worth it--My pane tickets and live aboard and touring was around $3200 for just me as a solo traveler--with double occupancy on the tours I'm sure that price would go down. My pane ticket and one week of diving in Dauin ran about $1,700 not including the side trip to Bali. When I was not diving I was staying with friends (I was there for 46 days) so that helped me with the costs. Hope this gives you some ideas on costs to both places.

 

[Guitarcrazy]

Wow, thanks for the great writeups. I will likely contact you when we get to making firm plans if you don't mind. I would like to do two weeks and see the sights in Egypt, and then do the red sea. I will have to convince the wife she can be away from the animals for a little longer in order to make it happen. Sounds like an awesome trip in both cases.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Wow, thanks for the great writeups. I will likely contact you when we get to making firm plans if you don't mind. I would like to do two weeks and see the sights in Egypt, and then do the red sea. I will have to convince the wife she can be away from the animals for a little longer in order to make it happen. Sounds like an awesome trip in both cases.

Do you have a house/pet sitter?