BEST and WORST dive vacations

[Nehallenia]

What is the best dive vacation you have ever had? What made it great?

And how about the worst - had an experience travelling where you were scared to death, rented lousy gear, felt ripped off, etc.? Did the dive boat captain make you feel welcome or resented?

What can dive tour operators learn from ScubaBoard users?

For me, best dive trips are when the boat operator pays me lots of attention, buddies me(I am a single diver) with someone compatible, and makes sure we are all comfortable, see all there is to see, and are having a great time!

 

[slipslop]

my best diving vacation was to Sodwana bay in Kwazulu Natal. fantastic reefs, wildlife, the african bush, I saw a humpback whale with calf, mantas, 2 whale sharks, dolphins, sharks. it was really fantastic.

The worst was to The great Barrier reef, cod hole and osprey reef in March this year.
the diving was poor due to cyclone ingrid which caused rough seas and poor visibility
it was my own stupid fault for going in cyclone season. the overnight trip to and from osprey was very rough. I had to hold onto my bunk to stop myself falling out.

 

[Albion]

Sangalaki off east kalimantan Indonesia. There are only around 10 huts or so on the whole island but for most of the week there was only me, my GF and a japanese couple. For a couple of days there were only the two of us. Manta dives every single morning and macro every afternoon. as an added bonus we had turtles digging nests within feet of our hut at night. And one evening whilst watching movies we found a nest had hatched and the baby turtles were running amok so we helped scoop them up and deliver them to the beach

 

[drbill]

Best dive trip- nearly three months of backpacking and diving through SE Asia, Australia-N.Z. and the South Pacific (Cook Islands, Fiji and Tahiti) four years ago. Only thing that would have made it better would have been a partner of the female persuasion. It would be hard to call any of my trips the worst.

Dr. Bill

 

[Nehallenia]

my best diving vacation was to Sodwana bay in Kwazulu Natal. fantastic reefs, wildlife, the african bush, I saw a humpback whale with calf, mantas, 2 whale sharks, dolphins, sharks. it was really fantastic.

The worst was to The great Barrier reef, cod hole and osprey reef in March this year.
the diving was poor due to cyclone ingrid which caused rough seas and poor visibility
it was my own stupid fault for going in cyclone season. the overnight trip to and from osprey was very rough. I had to hold onto my bunk to stop myself falling out.

If the tour operator had warned you it might be rough, would you have changed your plans? Did you feel you got good value for your money? The Great Barrier Reef is such a legendary dive destination - it must have been disappointing to have a bad experience there of all places!

 

[Nehallenia]

Best dive trip- nearly three months of backpacking and diving through SE Asia, Australia-N.Z. and the South Pacific (Cook Islands, Fiji and Tahiti) four years ago. Only thing that would have made it better would have been a partner of the female persuasion. It would be hard to call any of my trips the worst.

Dr. Bill

That sounds fantastic, Bill. Did you go just on your own recognizance so to speak, or was it a tour package?

 

[Nehallenia]

Sangalaki off east kalimantan Indonesia. There are only around 10 huts or so on the whole island but for most of the week there was only me, my GF and a japanese couple. For a couple of days there were only the two of us. Manta dives every single morning and macro every afternoon. as an added bonus we had turtles digging nests within feet of our hut at night. And one evening whilst watching movies we found a nest had hatched and the baby turtles were running amok so we helped scoop them up and deliver them to the beach

That sounds WONDERFUL!

 

[vjongene]

What is the best dive vacation you have ever had? What made it great?

In my case the best vacation was also the worst (talk about extremes...)

Last summer by son and I went to the Marshall Islands, to dive the wrecks of the Atomic Fleet in Bikini lagoon, and the almost unexplored waters of Rongelap Atoll. Our entire gear bag disappeared somewhere between LA and Honolulu, never to be seen again. Fortunately we had our regs and computers in carry-on, but we had to rent everything else (stroke quality of course) at the last minute from a shop in Honolulu. This is after I spent several months assembling the right gear for the deep wreck dives in Bikini...

But the diving in the Marshalls was truly exceptional. The wrecks are historical monuments, and absolutely awesome to dive. The reefs of Rongelap are teeming with sharks and other large critters, we saw dozens of marine species that we had never seen before, and the six of us were the only divers within several hundred miles.

Dive vacation of a lifetime, and frustration of a lifetime.

 

[slipslop]

If the tour operator had warned you it might be rough, would you have changed your plans? Did you feel you got good value for your money? The Great Barrier Reef is such a legendary dive destination - it must have been disappointing to have a bad experience there of all places!

I dont mean to sound blase about it but this was my fourth trip to the great barrier reef. I think the trip was good value for money and i will be going back again next year (in october). The first i knew about the cyclone was when we were landing in Cairns the pilot commented that the bumpiness of the flight was due the the impending cyclone. I had been visiting friends in Auckland, Melbourne and Sydney prior to going
to Cairns.

 

[KidK9]

One of my best trips was diving the Cenotes in Tulum and Akumal with Diablo Divers (Dennis Weeks). Those cenotes/caves really get me going. Worse was diving with Neptuno Divers in Punta Cana, DR. The reef was dead and it sucked. The dive op was ok tho.