Best dive trip location for beginners

[haumana ronin]

Let me recommend the local diving of Hawaii. Not really a dive destination but the diving is pretty good anyways, each island has a different "dive scene," the DMs are dive leaders who will lead you around unless you tell them not to, and there are things to see and do besides diving. And the food:eat: is great.

:zen:

 

[PatW]

For beginner diving, I would recommend shallow water, good visibility, little current, little chop, short boat rides if possible and things to see.

You can get all of that at Key Largo. Many of the dive sites max out at 30' and that is if you stick your depth gauge in the sand. The visibility is not really great often from 40' to 80'. The marine life is good because there actually is effective protection in the marine sanctuary (many marine sanctuaries in the Carribean have no enforcement).

Little Cayman - I have been to Little Cayman Beach Resort twice. You can find many reviews on the boards. The diving is on the bloody bay wall but most of the time the boat moors shallow enough that you can do your 15' safety stop on a coral head. Also, you can stay pretty shallow on any dive. The visibility is generally excellent. There is generally little or no current and usually little or no chop. The marine sanctuary is well protected. You will see large grouper and the turtles ignore divers and are easily approached. It is more expensive.

I have been to the Turks and Caicos. The diving is like Little Cayman but the marine life is not as protected. I have been diving on Salt Cay which is very interesting. It is a small island of 70 people. I think I met virtually everyone in the week I was there. Grand Turk is larger and more established and I understand the diving is better.

Cozumel has largely drift diving, I understand. It is inexpensive. I have heard some mixed reports from inexperienced divers. Bonaire is mainly shore diving and I would think it would be a better choice than Coz. But shore diving is a do it yourself operation so you should be physically able to tote your stuff to the water and get in and out. It is different than just putting on your stuff and stepping off the boat.

 

[rameus]

If you definitely want to go to one of these three locations I would also recommend Bonaire since this is said to be one of the best diving in this area. A place where you will get to dive in easy conditions with a possibility for whale sharks would be Utila, Honduras. which you can reach easyly with a flight from Houston to Roatan which is the island next to Utila. If you want to have a bigger chance to get to see a whale shark I would recommend going on the trip in March or April but not during easter since this island goes crazy during that time.

THomas

 

[Quero]

I'd love to say "Come to Thailand" since the diving is easy enough for inexperienced divers, challenging enough to help you grow as a diver, and interesting enough to keep you hooked! But it's pretty far away, and even though it's cheap in comparison to most places in North America, it does cost something to get here! February is a great time to come, by the way.

 

[Downing]

I think Key Largo would be an ideal choice for new divers. Shallow dives and little current save deeper dives like the Spiegel Grove. You wouldn't need a dive guide, which would be a good confidence builder. I took my son there right after he was certified while in college in Minnesota. We had a blast.

Not as exotic as leaving the USA but the Keys have their own attraction.

All the choices listed are good ones.

 

[herbdb]

Take a good look at Roatan, you can get a very reasonable all inclusive that will allow you to get a lot of diving. I spent a week at Fantasy Island and loved it (23 dives). There is some current controversy about their booking, but you could check out Coco View, right across the channel from them. The shore diving at either is free and outstanding.

I would personally advise against the Keys or Bahamas for Feb. I have been to both during that time of year and the weather is just too iffy for me. You could easily lose half of your diving to weather. Both do have great shallow diving and travel is easy.

Cozumel has great diving (I love to stay at Scuba Club Cozumel), but like someone else mentioned some of the dives can be deeper and some do not like diving in current. Drift diving can be relaxing and the visibility is the best I have seen.

I have heard a lot of good things about Bonaire and we are going with a large group from our Local Dive Shop in about a month. They would fit your needs and the shore diving would allow you to set the pace and level of difficulty. Our package deal includes unlimited Nitrox, room, breakfast, rental truck and five boat dives for a very reasonable rate.

In Feb, I would concentrate on the more southern locations to minimize the weather variables. Be sure to let us know what you decide and follow up with a trip report.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Bonaire or Roatan, if what you're looking for is a LOT of diving and very little else. Both places make it very easy to get in four or five dives a day, if that's what you want to do.

It's true that Bonaire is primarily shore diving ... again, if that's your choice. But virtually all of the resorts book packages that include a number of boat dives, and there are sites out on Klein Bonaire and up north that are fantastic, and not accessible from shore. I've stayed at Buddy Dive, Captain Don's Habitat and the Plaza Resort and they all have advantages and drawbacks. Of the three, I think I prefer the Plaza best overall ... it's close enough to town that you can easily walk, has a great house reef, and the only sand beach in Bonaire (imported sand).

In Roatan, I'd recommend CocoView. It's an all-inclusive resort ... the package includes all your meals (buffet style) and two boat dives per day. Once you're at the resort there's no real reason to leave. There's a lagoon right in their "front yard" that has some interesting diving, including a couple of walls that are terrific for night dives. When you go out on the boat, if you bring a second tank they'll drop you off on one of the walls on the way back and you can cruise the wall back into the lagoon to the resort.

Both Bonaire and Roatan are suitable for the inexperienced diver, and offer all the diving you can handle. They're both a great place to get some experience while enjoying some fantastic scenery and wildlife.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[danvolker]

My friends and I are starting to make plans for a dive trip for next February and thought I would get suggestions since you guys know a TON more than I do about diving.

We are not set on February, but I'm set on getting out of KC in the winter! We'd like to do a 7-10 day trip. I know that several days in a row diving is going to teach me a lot, so I'd like to get a lot of time in the water. Cost is a factor of course, but not the only decision maker. I'm hoping to have AOW at least by then (though I'd like to get Rescue as well). Two of the girls will be OW, and I don't know the cert level of the guy going. We'd also enjoy going with a group of people if anyone knows of large groups planning trips around this time.

We've talked about Cozumel, Bonaire and Grand Cayman. Since I've never been to any of those locations, what do you think is best for a beginner OR is there another location that's better?

THANKS!

How about a Dive Resort where you can be staying at a Hilton with all the services and quality that entails, for only $120 per night..and where the hotel wants to be known as the best Dive Resort in the hemisphere?

How about a Dive Resort you can drive to, if you prefer not to throw money at the airline industry..Or, if you fly, a resort that has a shuttle to take you to the dive boats or anywhere on the Island, for free?

How about a Dive Resort where you can jump off the boat on each dive in 37 to 40 foot deep water, and swim at your own pace, stop to look at turtles or nudibranchs or frogfish or anything you want to stop to look at, KNOWING that whenever you surface, the boat will come right over to you, and help you aboard. Never any concern for navigation, for keeping up, or going anybody elses dive or profile but your own, enjoying dives of up to 1 hour long, 2 per typical boat trip. some being 3 tank and lunch.

How about a Dive Resort where the visibilty averages between 50 feet and 90 feet, some days over 120, where the colors are intense, the volume of fish and marine life enormous, and where there are plenty of really huge fish as well

How about a Dive Resort that has a World Famous Marine Park.. virtually right in it's back yard, a place inside a protected waterway where there are never rough seas to contend with, and where you are actually diving for free off of a beach...In this place, the Blue Heron Bridge marine park, you have a little over 3 hours each day of optimal diving..this window is about 45 minutes later each day, as it is a block of time around high tide.

This is Palm Beach I am talking about. Diving is world class. When diving is over for the day, your options of things to do are exponentially larger than any other dive destination in the hemisphere...Better Restaurants and many more of them, better shopping, better choices for everything non-diving. The Hilton Oceanfront on Singer Island is on a beautiful beach, and the island is more like a Caribean island, no hustle and bustle, so getaways are awesome there. Two miles or so down the island to the north, is a huge Wilderness preserve, MacArthurs Park, where you can hike or kayak in a mangrove environment, often with manatees beneath you.

So tell me how this sounds ?

 

[RJP]

So tell me how this sounds ?

Um, sounds like an ad.

:d

 

[LakeCountyDiver]

Florida. You could hit MANY MANY different types of diving all in the same state. Florida has some very unique diving but definitely one of the broadest ranges of diving as far as diving environments.

No ICE diving thou.