alternative to Puerto Rico for Christmas?

[swim deep]

We are booked for 8 nights in Puerto Rico at Christmas time, but I'm pretty sure the island is not going to be recovered by then. Airline tickets are already purchased, rental car booked, and multiple hotel deposits paid! We are a family of 5 adults traveling from SFO, CHI, and JAX and had plans to meet up in SJU. Two of us are experienced divers, two are new divers, and one will just be snorkeling a little. We love Puerto Rico at Christmas time, and chose the island in part because there are a good variety of topside activities, and surfing (one great surfer with us). We had hoped to dive Desecheo, and La Parguera.
I know it will not be the Christmas we were hoping for because of hurricane Maria. (We are so very sad to see the pictures and hear of the suffering there now.) I think we need to find another Caribbean destination. Something with a good mix of easy dives, fun land activities, and maybe some surfing? Any suggestions? (We will definitely return to Puerto Rico another time.) Thank you for any ideas.

 

[Snoweman]

I love diving in Cozumel. I would think all of you should be able to fly direct, but those that can't can fly into CUN and take the bus/ferry to CZM. Hotels can be very reasonable. Tres Pelicanos is the company I have dived with in my two visits. Drift diving will spoil you - enter the water, sink, float along, rise, get picked up. It's awesome.

Check with the airlines. They may let you change for only the difference in the airfare.

 

[ibj40]

Can't say anything about the surfing, however our two alternatives to PR are Negril, Jamaica or Puerto Aventuras, Mexico. Both offer a broad menu of non-diving activities; along with good diving.

 

[flyboy08]

Pacific side of Costa Rica, Flamingo Tamarindo fits your bill! Us, we're going back to CZM

 

[ibj40]

Pacific side of Costa Rica, Flamingo Tamarindo fits your bill! Us, we're going back to CZM

Yeah, probably should have added the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica, dive a few days and then head up to the mountains for some volcanoes and ziplines.

 

[diversteve]

My friends dive and surf. They go to Costa Rica also. I don't know where but do know they do one then move somewhere else for the other. I've heard them mention Guanacaste but IDK the context.

Two other surf places I know of are Tortola in the BVI's which got hit as bad as Puerto Rico or Barbados which I know nothing about except a friend took her classes there and later compared it to Roatan for almost as good diving. We planned a group dive trip there once but went elsewhere instead.

 

[Snoweman]

I've dove the pacific side of CR twice. First time was with dive buddies, and we were staying in the Manuel Antonio area. We took a cab to Uvita and dove Cano Island. Great diving, but very different from the Caribbean. No big corals or barrel sponges. Lots of pelagics and sharks. Probably about 60 - 80' of viz. It's easy to get into a school of over five hundred fish. Sharks were very docile, and even seemed a little put off by us going by them. The real weird thing was the thermal currents. You would be at depth, and you would fin through an area where you could see the heat eddy's [sp?] in the water. It felt over 90 degrees, but I forgot to check my computer. On the second dive we went down into a thermocline that took my breath away. I would guess about ten degrees lower. I highly recommend Mad About Diving for this location. Husband and wife operation that is really well run. Very communicative on email.
The second time I went, I was on a solo dive with Rocket Frog divers to the Catalina Islands. They claimed a hurricane had passed by three weeks before I go there and the viz was still crappy. I don't think the viz was more than 20', and the water was a bit chilly. I don't normally wear a suit, but I took a shorty from them. I got cold on the second dive. Not hypothermic, but still chilled. I liked Rocket Frog a lot, but I really didn't enjoy the diving.

Another choice, if you're in Playa del Coco area, is the Bat Islands. There, you're diving with bull sharks. I wouldn't recommend that dive if the viz is the same that I experienced.

 

[swim deep]

Thank you all! I am checking on Costa Rica and Puerto Aventuras now. Can you recommend any hotels/dive operators there? Is the diving good for beginners? Any ruins or other top side activities you enjoyed? We will probably return to Cozumel when we don't have a non diver with us. Jamaica is great too, but we may be going there with a group of non divers in the next year or two.

 

[ibj40]

Thank you all! I am checking on Costa Rica and Puerto Aventuras now. Can you recommend any hotels/dive operators there? Is the diving good for beginners? Any ruins or other top side activities you enjoyed? We will probably return to Cozumel when we don't have a non diver with us. Jamaica is great too, but we may be going there with a group of non divers in the next year or two.

Here's a recent thread on PA. Dive op we use is Dive Aventuras. They can put packages together for you.

First couple of times we went, we stayed at the Catalonia; since that time (another ten trips or so), we stay in a condo and do a lot of our own cooking (only two of us).

Diving is perfect for new divers, as well as those who are experienced. DA can also take you to the cenotes.

In terms of top side activities, the Xcaret theme park is one that we have really enjoyed. Tulum is just South of PA, other archeological sites, such as Coba (day trip) and Chichen Itza (long day trip) are also accessible.

As you get closer, please feel free to PM me for details.

 

[npole]

A lot of people in the Caribbean area diverted to Cozumel (it's expected to be the year with more tourists there since pre-Wilma). A lot of hotels there are full already and you could struggle to find a convenient place. I'll be there, and I luckily booked my holidays two weeks before Irma.