August????

[Inspector#2]

Our 10th anniversary is Aug 01, and I'm trying to find a cool place to go. Romantic setting and of course great diving with warm water. I would prefer not to sell any important body parts to pay for it! Hopefully under 2G's a head.
Any suggestions from the crowd?

Dave

 

[TexasMike]

Yup! Got a great idea!

TEXAS! :shades:


Actually, for that budget, Belize might be a very good choice.

 

[herman]

Hi Dave,

A little better discription of what you are looking for may help us give you better ideas. For example, do you want lots of nightlife, casinos, shopping and lots of touristy stuff or do you want to be left alone in a place with small restaurants , pretty resorts and small crowds?
Myself, I like Bonaire. It's a small island with a laid back atmosphere. Lots of good places to stay, plenty of places to eat and some of the best diving anywhere. I can spend a week there for about $1500-1800pp, including airfare/unlimited shore diving/food/room/car rental. I will admit that most lunches are PBJ and my bar bill is very small but I go to dive. We do eat a good breakfast and have a nice evening meal. I can give you web sites and places to stay on Bonaire if you like.

 

[Rick Murchison]

You didn't give the other side of the equation... how much time do you have to burn?
I know what I'd do - if I had only a week I'd go to Bonaire, stay at Buddy Dive.
If I had two weeks I'd spend two weeks on Blackbeard's.
Rick

 

[Inspector#2]

As appetizing as a Texas swamp dive sounds I will pass. We are looking at 7-9 days. We do not like crowds nor touristy spots but do like some top side sceenery for hiking or biking. Due to a past history with sea sickness the liveaboard has been ruled out. The breakfast/ dinner plan sounds about right and my bar tab with spouse present is real low. We have only been to Florida together for diving and she is OW cert.
Sounds like Bonaire has made a lasting impression on you guys.
Thanks for the help.

Dave

 

[Hawk]

http://www.wildernessriver.com/barbareta/




The place is beautiful. The people who run it are from Idaho also.






Later, Hawk.

 

[SDAnderson]

My wife and I love Bonaire and in August you can have most of the place to yourself. There are a bunch of great places to stay and I haven't heard much negative about any of them. My personal favorite is the Plaza, best beach, best dive boats, best hotel, etc. Biggest hit on the wallet, however.

Call Andy Repetto at Great Southern Adventures - he's helped us out in the past and knows the island like the back of his hand. Don't have his phone number, but here's his website: Great Southern Adventures

 

[Ontario Diver]

Did you consider going North?

Aug is a really nice time of year in Ontario. If you hit Kingston or Brockville there are lots of great wrecks to see. The countryside is very nice especially around Picton or north of Kingston. and if you want you can drive two hours and be in the middle of Toronto for that big clean city feeling.

There are lots of Scubaboard members in the area to show you around - and reccomend those good restraunts !!!

Oh and don't forget - - $0.60 us = $1.00 Cdn

 

[Inspector#2]

Hey all,
Thanks for the help. My wife prefers warm water whereas I love cold. Wanna guess who will win this one? I will try and get her doing the drysuit thing before the end of June but I'm sure she will still want warm (70+degrees) water.

Dave

 

[herman]

Well Dave,

Looks like Bonaire might be for you. Here are a couple of web sites to check out : http://www.infobonaire.com/index.html

http://www.BonaireTalk.com/newsgroup/messages/board-topics.html ( this is a board similar to this one of Bonaire lovers, if you have questions, it's the place to ask)

We usally stay at Buddy Dive, www.buddydive.com . They have a "dive and drive" package that is hard to beat.

The only thing about Bonaire that was a big suprise to me was that it is an arid island. Lots of cactus, lizards and goats. Kind of like what you see in an old west movie but it has a beauty of it's own we like. We are planning our 4th year in a row in June.