Advice required please - Places to dive in the Caribbean / Asia

[spestonji]

Folks

Am an Open Water certified diver. got certified about 2 years ago (mentally kicking myself why I didnt do this about 20 years ago ) . Have done about 50 dives in Roatan and Cuba.

Need to take 2 weeks between Aug 17 - Sep 1 or between Sep 14 - Oct 31 (else I'll lose my vacation :-( )

My budget is about USD 3,000 for flight (from Toronto or Vancouver), + accomodations.
My main interest is either huge schools of fish, or big fish like groupers, rays, sharks etc, and of course turtles

I am torn between Cozumel, Utila, Florida, and some far eastern sites like Malaysia and Thailand
Bahamas, Belize etc are a little too expensive

Any ideas would be really appreciated

Thanks and Kind Regards
Shahrukh

 

[drrich2]

Fairly broad interests you have there.

Well, you could try the wreck diving out of North Carolina (e.g.: Morehead City with Olympus Dive Center) to see the sand tiger sharks. Big and numerous from what I hear.

You could try Jupiter, Florida, of the goliath grouper aggregation (but check the dates; I don't know how late it goes). My trip report.

But the above wouldn't give you much lush coral reef. Perhaps a week at Jupiter, then the other week at West Palm Beach, Boyton or on down to Key Largo? I love how you can cram a lot of dives into a Key Largo trip (trip report).

Bahamas wouldn't be too expensive if you did a couple of Blackbeard's cruises, would it? Camping at sea, but cheaper than some other live-aboard options.

Here's a thread on distinctive Caribbean & Florida dive destinations that might interest you.

Richard.

 

[phlegm]

komodo, Indonesia. for the sharks, supersized fish (many kinds of groupers, titan triggerfish every dive, the odd (gigantic) napoleon/Maori wrasse) mantas and eagle rays. And lots of turtles (I saw three species). even saw mandarin fish but you've gotta be seriously lucky for that

 

[ZzzKing]

If your budget is $3000 you can rule out Malaysia or Indonesia. You would spend close to a third of your budget and a day and a half each way getting there. The diving can be good though. I don't know why you ruled out Belize. You could easily get a nice trip on Ambergris for that amount of money. You might also look at Bonaire. The diving is mostly shore diving unlimited tank rental is often included in the price of the room.

 

[Centrals]

The Coral Triangle.
But the flight is expensive, eg. YYZ to MNL is around $1,200.00, a third of your budget.
How about Cocos Island in Costa Rica for school of hammerheads?

 

[diversteve]

Cocos Trips on Undersea Hunter start around $4900 - not including the flight. Over $6K is more typical.

From what I've read, September is the 2nd best time to see Whalesharks off Utila. Snorkel only but it's still pretty cool. In spring we dropped on about 8 over two days. Most in the 12-20' range.

We saw about 7 or 8 reef sharks during the week and got within about 10' of a small group of 3-4' grouper at Black Hills once. There's Goliath's there also but we didn't see any afaik. I saw my only electric ray off Utila's south side once - we didn't get too close. Some schools of French Grunts on some of the shallower seamounts in the hundreds. I don't recall any turtles but there probably were some - you see them on Roatan and it's not that far away. Also about 50 cuda once in a school. Stingrays also.

It may've changed but the cheapest way to Utila is probably fly into San Pedro Sula then connect on a local airline to Utila direct. You can also fly into Roatan and take the ferries - that costs $100 r/t but takes longer and flights to Roatan are likely several hundred more. Utila travel is only day flights since the airport is really just a grass strip. You can definitely find cheap lodging in town or at some of the dive-focused resorts within walking distance. All of Utila is basically in town and it's all walkable. I believe dives go for around 10/$300 or so - haven't checked lately. Start here: Utila Official Site - Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras - Tropical Island Paradise Whatever you price Honduran Tax is now up to 19% and generally not added in the rate.

Given time and flight costs I think most of the South Pacific is out. Maybe Thailand or the Phillipines depending on what you require for housing - I really don't know. I can't see Komodo or the Maldives on less than double that budget - probably the best of which is done by liveaboard also.

 

[KathyV]

You don't mention if you will be traveling solo or double occupancy? If you are traveling alone than you may have to add a hefty single supplement fee to the price for dive/accomodation packages.

You said that your budget for a 2 week trip was USD $3000 for flights and accommodations; what about diving and food?

The all-inclusive Autumn Escape package on Cayman Brac at the Brac Reef Beach Resort is USD $1185 for one week and it covers everything but airfare and tips for the dive op. You can add a 3rd dive per day for a modest fee - not too bad. So 2 weeks plus airfare would be close to your $3000 budget, but again, it is based on double occupancy and I don't know if that applies to you.

The BRBR is doing renovations during August, Sept, Oct so they might not have any space - or you might be able to get a good deal - it's hard to say. But it's a lovely spot with great food, excellent diving, and a terrific dive op, but there's not much night life.

Tarpons, Rays, Turtles, friendly Nassau Groupers, Morays, and some Nurse Sharks and Reef Sharks, along with healthy corals and beautiful reef fish are the norm. There's a wreck dive too, a sunken Russian Frigate.

You might also try looking at Cozumel to try and find some options in your price range, lots of big creatures, and healthy reefs and fish life there. Good luck!

Cayman Islands All Inclusive | Cayman Islands Vacations

THE AUTUMN ESCAPE PACKAGE
Brac Reef Beach Resort
USD $1185

Valid for travel Aug. 1 – Oct. 31 2015
7 Nights Accommodations
Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
12 Boat Dives
Free Welcome Rum Punch
Airport Ground Transfers
Hotel Taxes & Service Fees

BRBR also has a Clearly Cayman package with 3 dives per day and 3 drinks per night, and all meals and accommodations for $1590 per week (per person double occupancy) if that is of interest?

 

[drrich2]

Some places, such as some live-aboards, don't require you to 'bring your own roommate' to get a double occupancy rate, just be willing to get put in a room with a random roommate. Be aware and check how that works at your destination.

While Bonaire is a great place, in 8 trips I've never seen a shark there, while fairly 'fishy' I don't see a lot of huge schools, and 'big fish' sightings are mainly tarpon, with a few cubera snapper, barracuda and green morays in the mix, ray sightings are spotty for me, and the main 'big grouper' are tiger grouper, which I didn't find especially numerous & they were skittish of me being near. I love Bonaire, but be mindful of what it is & is not.

Here's a thought - do a live-aboard trip for you main diving 1 week (perhaps cramming into that week the amount of diving you'd do in 2 weeks at some places), then do something else (cheaper) the 2nd week? Still gonna be hard to come in under $3,000 total, unless you go for budget options like Blackbeard's, Juliet, etc...

I like KathyV's suggestion. Otherwise, I'd lean toward Key Largo, basically the trip I did but 2 weeks, and diving more than 5 days/week. You can cram in a whole lot of diving, see some big fish, do some deep wrecks to mix it up from the shallow reefs, & head in to the mainland for non-diving diversions if needed.

Richard.

 

[spestonji]

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions folks
Really appreciate your help

Kind Regards
Shahrukh

---------- Post added July 27th, 2015 at 12:01 AM ----------

Thanks vm for this Kathy
This sounds really interesting
have emailed them
Thanks vm

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I just a couple months ago did an 8-day trip to Fiji for less than $3000, airfare from LA included. It cost me an additional $470 round trip from Seattle to LA. The total cost of the trip was around $3200, which included six days of diving, food and lodging ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)