1 month work and dive locations

[beth_castroll]

My husband and I are AOW Nirtox Divers with about 150 dives each. We spend a month a year in Mexico between Isla Mujeres, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel and work from home and dive on weekends or take a week off during the month to dive. Over the last several years we have begun to wonder where else we can go as we feel the areas we started going to 15 years ago have become over developed. It does not need to be in Mexico . I'm hoping a hive mind can help. We speak passable Spanish We have several key needs.

1. Within 1 hour of an international airport and no more than 8 hour flight to USA as we may need to travel from destination to work in USA.
2. Must have stable wifi, electricity and things within walking or collectivo type travel
3. Good local food
4. More than 10 dive sites to keep us interested.
5. We prefer coral and walls to west coast diving. Which takes places like Cabo and La Paz out of the running.

Thanks for any help

 

[Johnoly]

Grand Cayman East end (which isn't built up) fits that perfectly. Plenty of condos for rent, great dive boats, calm seas and easy flights.

 

[robint]

Bonaire

 

[diversteve]

Bonaire

probably won't have the flights currently - except Delta thru Atlanta - and some of those are seasonal. Insel Air recntly shut down completely - they used to fly from MIA.AA and several other US-based airlines fly out of Curacao - I believe to MIA or DFW twice daily (at least) I live in Phoenix, I left Curacao at 8am and arrived home by 3pm. We flew AA/Anerican Eagle to Bonire thru PR - had to spend the afternoon there waiting for 7pm flight which arrived at 9PM. I think the customs/immigration person went home after she was done with our pax.

Curacao is a bigger version of Bonaire. More to do, bigger airport, the regional medical center for the Antilles is there - at Bonaire's "hospital" I think you still bring your own sheets.

Curacao shore dives are off sandy beaches instead of iron shore. You can drive to about 2 dozen and most have shops on site for tank rentals and food from snack bars to restaurants.
Bonaire probably has closer to 50 shore dives but 30-40 of those have no facilities at all on site.

Curacao is the deepwater port for the area - most things going to Bonaire go thru there first - guess where prices are cheaper.

Once you leave town in either direction, Curacao gets quiet fast. We spent a few days in Lagun - lots of condos overlooking the water - some above the dive site but food shopping was 30 mins. back to town and only 3 restaurants nearby. Even Westpunt - the other big town - has abut 6 options and one food store. We also stayed in Piscadera Bay which except that there's only a marginal shore dive - was about 5mins. drive north of downtown yet still quiet at night. There's a seldom used convention center there so WiFi was fast at a nearby resort - the only time we tried it. Even that area is pretty dead at night. Some nice condo rentals up the hill overlooking the water - Royal Palms looked nice.

Based on your requirements, I don't see Bonaire as a good match.

The downside to either - there's some theft. On Bonaire the standard rule - it's on a sticker on some truck rentals - is leave nothing of value in the truck, doors unlocked, windows down. Several parking areas there are littered with broken glass from those that didin't. Curacao Tourism has security patrols at the more popular sites but only during the day. There our apt. mgr warned us about 2 far west sites - we did not get to either. She mostly said don't leave anything out while diving though - previous guest has items stolen from their truck bed.

hth,

 

[caydiver]

Minimum work permit for newbies is 3 months in Grand Cayman. Most ops are looking for people to stay at least a year as it costs them money and time to arrange the permits which include medical, health insurance, pension etc. Everyone working unless they are Caymanian requires a permit.

 

[diversteve]

Minimum work permit for newbies is 3 months in Grand Cayman. Most ops are looking for people to stay at least a year as it costs them money and time to arrange the permits which include medical, health insurance, pension etc. Everyone working unless they are Caymanian requires a permit.

I don't believe the OP is looking to work as a dive person there - just fast internet to keep in touch with their day jobs.

 

[KathyV]

St. Croix might be another option for the OP to consider.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

I suggest you take a look at Bayahibe. It is a small fishing village on the south Caribbean coast of the Dominican Republic. If you fly into La Romana airport, you are about 15 to 20 minutes away and if you fly into Punta Cana, you are about 45 min to 1 hour away. There is reef diving, wall diving, wreck diving and even a cave dive if you are so certified. The dive sites are only about a 10 to 15 min boat ride unless you dive some of the Eastern sites, then they are about 40 to 45 min. away. I always dive with John from Scuba Fun. He is the #1 recommended dive shop in the Bayahibe area here on Scubaboard. ScubaFun | Dive Center Bayahibe

 

[scubadada]

I've never heard that the diving in the Dominican Republic compares favorably with be best diving in the Caribbean, is that wrong?

 

[KathyV]

Grand Cayman East end (which isn't built up) fits that perfectly. Plenty of condos for rent, great dive boats, calm seas and easy flights.

Since the OP wants to live, work, and dive for a month, I'm thinking the area north of 7MB on the West side of GC might be a good option because cheap and easy shore diving will be readily available. A month of boat dives in the Caymans could get expensive - although I don't know the size of the OP's budget - but if they are used to traveling to Mexico then they may be looking for something more economical.

@beth_castroll Where are you traveling from, what time of year are you planning to travel, how much diving do you want to do, what else do you plan to do beside dive and work, and are you looking for economical options?

If you are planning to travel in the high season (the Christmas holidays through Spring Break and Easter) the prices may be at their highest and places can book up quickly. This is true all over the Caribbean.

If you decide that you are interested in Grand Cayman you might take a look at Lighthouse Point, Coconut Bay Condos, or a 1-bedroom cottage at Cobalt Coast. These are places offering rental properties with kitchens, an onsite dive op with boat-diving, and a house reef for unlimited shore diving. If something appeals to you then try to work out a package for accommodations, shore diving, and boat diving. If you are planning to travel in late fall or winter then Cobalt Coast wouldn't be a good choice because the house reef often gets winded out at that time of year.

Here's another thought, you could spend a month in the Cayman islands but split your time between the 3 islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman; they all offer great diving. There are more than 300 dive sites (boat and shore) across all 3 Cayman islands, so you would have lots of choices. The interisland flights only take a half-hour and there are a lot of flights into and out of Grand Cayman.

Good luck!