50th BD in January...where should we dive?

[KristenK]

I'm OW with Nitrox cert. Hubby is AOW. We've dove Roatan, Keys, and Jamaica. Snorkeled all over Caribbean. We'd like to go for a week.... could extend to 10 days. Want to spend most time diving then just relaxing. Nightlife isn't important. Good food is helpful. We love to meet friendly and fun people. We love seeing all things under water....haven't seen a shark yet. Warm weather is a must!

Would love to go to Thailand or Indonesia...but I'm a travel snob and can't imagine flying there coach and don't have enough points to upgrade.

How's Cozumel in January? Are the winds a problem? Haven't been to the Keys in a long time and hear the reef isn't in good shape. How's diving in Trinidad and Tobago? Out Islands of Bahamas??? Should we do a liveaboard? Decisions, decisions.

For my birthday I want to celebrate an amazingly 50 years and get ready for another 50 more doing what I love the most....be on/under/near the ocean and palm trees.

I'd appreciate your ideas to my very first world problem.

 

[AdivingBel]

Check out the Juliet in St. Croix...

St. Croix Liveaboard Diving

 

[diversteve]

You basically just described Provo in the Turks and Caicos except it's pricey.

It's very (reef) sharky - we swam with dozens over the week. Also lots of Stingrays showing their natural behavior - not being fed. Frequently turtles also.

It;s outstanding deep wall diving so your certs will be useful. The nutrients come up from the depths so the coral life is amazing - one on top of the other. Also promotes a lot of macro life - each big coral head is it's own mini-ecosystem.

The best diving is a longer boat ride from Provo though - an hour or more each way out to West Caicos or tiny French Cay. Usually includes a shuttle to the boat,, 2-3 dives and lunch then back between 2:30-4:30. They also local dive off NW Point and even off Grace Bay farther out than you can swim.

No shore dives there that I know of. Not sure there's any wrecks either.

Provo has Grace Bay Beach - one of the nicest in the world. It even has it's own website.

Good to excellent restaurants in all price ranges. Foodie's will have no complaints since many of the upscale properties provide somewhere for their guests to dine.

It's a direct flight from Charlotte and not too long. It;s seriously better than the Bahamas but being nearby will have the same potential hurricane risks in summer/fall.

I also think Grand Cayman could work - equally good deep wall diving but much shorter boat rides - the North Wall is maybe 20mins from most of the marinas. They likely have even better restaurants since some of the famous chefs have a place there,

Seven Mile Beach is almost as nice as Grace Bay and there's resorts in all price ranges, a Westin, a Marriott Grand, the Ritz - a couple more affordable off-beach Suites. Even 2-3 dive resorts but they don't have much of a beach being on the ironshore.

Short hop from Miami also and the same hurricane problem,

Either one is among the best Caribbean diving I've done and I or my buddy have dove all the places you listed.

Both also have liveaboard options - there's the Cayman Aggressor which most of the year also visits Little Cayman and Cayman Brac (arguably better diving still) or both the T/C Aggressor pr T/C Explorer which spend most of the week around West Caicos and French Cay - leaving from Provo.
We did the Explorer - it's easy - they pick you up at the airport. Our flight was in at noon so they dropped us a a local mall till the ship sailed that night.

The Cayman boat may be weather limited to just around Grand Cayman in winter months when they can't always make the crossing - better IMO to stay on shore as they dive the same sites then. Also both T/C boats spend most of Jan-April whale watching off the Silver Banks (DR) but it's snorkel only.

 

[diversteve]

You basically want to go through Trinidad as fast as possible on the way to Tobago - one is safe, Trinidad isn't.

Also Tobago diving is better. One thing both suffer from is the outflow of the Orinoco River which makes them cloudy at times - IDK when. I've also read that the Mantas aren't showing up as reliably off Tobago as they did a decade ago - that would be my reason to go there.

One other option - and this is dependent on how much they've been able to rebuild since last summer's hurricanes - the BVI's.

Not the deepest diving but pleasant. We did see a few sharks during the week - including one hitting a baitball in front of us but I wouldn't go there for that. They have some nice wrecks fairly shallow including the famous Rhone and recently dropped Kodiak Queen.

The two main islands are pretty quiet. Tortola is big with several small populations clustered around the harbors. We stayed on Virgin Gorda - it has some outstanding beaches and a smaller population. However they also have a lot of big villas up the hills which brings in money so restaurants are way better than you'd expect - one has a known wine list.

It's pretty casual, the people are very nice. We rented a villa (11 of us) and noticed there were no door keys provided - the mgr. said that they'd never needed them as there was no theft - the locals would consider us guests of the owner and not want to offend him. He was right - I left computes, video gear, lots of cash in my room all week. Anyone could have known we were gone all day diving.

DiveBVI is one of the best dive operations I've encountered. They wouldn't let us touch our gear once we dropped it off until they returned it cleaned our last day - they even offered to pack it if we provided our luggage.

It's pleasnt diving but nothing epic. Painted Walls was an excellent site due to the profusion of corals also the Rhone may have been the best wreck I've dove - but I'm not a wreck person. It's cool because it's so big that you can go in the front w/o any wreck certs - they filmed the famous scene from "The Deep" there.

The BVI'S took a big hit in the last hurricane though so verify what may still be rebulidling. I know parts of St.John across the channel still are.

You fly into St Thomas and cab to one of the ferry ports. The fast ferries take an hour to Tortola, 90mins. to Gorda. They're so reliable that two of my friends who left a day early took one back at 8am for their noon flight.

 

[scubadada]

Go to Little Cayman or Cayman Brac

 

[KathyV]

I'm OW with Nitrox cert. Hubby is AOW. We've dove Roatan, Keys, and Jamaica. Snorkeled all over Caribbean. We'd like to go for a week.... could extend to 10 days. Want to spend most time diving then just relaxing. Nightlife isn't important. Good food is helpful. We love to meet friendly and fun people. We love seeing all things under water....haven't seen a shark yet. Warm weather is a must!

Would love to go to Thailand or Indonesia...but I'm a travel snob and can't imagine flying there coach and don't have enough points to upgrade.

How's Cozumel in January? Are the winds a problem? Haven't been to the Keys in a long time and hear the reef isn't in good shape. How's diving in Trinidad and Tobago? Out Islands of Bahamas??? Should we do a liveaboard? Decisions, decisions.

For my birthday I want to celebrate an amazingly 50 years and get ready for another 50 more doing what I love the most....be on/under/near the ocean and palm trees.

I'd appreciate your ideas to my very first world problem.

What kind of water temps are you looking for? I wouldn't dive Florida or the Bahamas in January, too cold, but I'm a wimp.

Even Provo waters are a bit chilly in the winter, mid to upper 70s. In the winter I tend to head further south where the water is warmer, but you are more likely to see sharks in the colder northern waters - and the air temps are warm.

When in January to you plan to travel? The 2 liveaboards that work in the Turks and Caicos are diverted to the Dominican Republic from mid-January through March for whale watching trips.

Cozumel's waters should be warm in January, around 82 or 83F I think, and you may see some sharks there.

It should be fairly easy to travel to Hawaii from Colorado, the water will be on the colder side (around 76F, I think) but you may see sharks, and it would be a good place for a 10-day trip.

Cayman's waters will probably be around 80 (78 to 82F) in January. We usually see some sharks in the Caymans, mostly nurse and reef sharks, but not as many as you will see in the T&Cs, but you will see lots of turtles and stingrays.

I think that St. Croix's temp will be similar to Cayman, and you may see some sharks there, and the Fredricksted Pier is a great shore dive.

I've never been to Grenada but it has a lot of fans.

If you can forego the sharks and want warm water, you can head further south to Bonaire or Curacao; boat diving is available but shore diving is the most popular, especially on Bonaire.

Do you have a target budget in mind? Do you prefer all-inclusives, condos, house rental, or hotels? Do you like shore diving as well as boat diving? Do you want to try a liveaboard? Where did you stay in Roatan and Jamaica and how did you like them?

January is a peak season, things are pricey and they book up quickly so don't delay too much longer. Happy Birthday!

 

[diversteve]

I missed the January part so disregard the hurricane warnings - they don't apply. Both liveaboards list the last date they;re operating in the T/C's on their websites - it's early Jan when they move IIRC.

Not sure on the water temperature but it might be a little colder since they're near he Bahamas which are.

 

[flyboy08]

Go to Little Cayman or Cayman Brac

Ditto! We'll be there in Jan.....water will be 79-81 on average....do an AI.....unless you'll stay on Grand and food on Grand is pricey...

Cozumel on the cheap if you never been, you won't regret it!

 

[ibj40]

GBR live aboard, never done it, but would be my choice.

 

[outofofficebrb]

I can assure you...it’s worth the travel in coach to indonesia for a liveaboard if you are celebrating a special milestone birthday. Nothing else has compared and I have dived the outer GBR on liveaboard as well as the Caribbean.