Best dive trip location for beginners

[--tom--]

So what do you want out of the vacation? Night Life? Diving in a bathtub or Diving that will challenge and improve your skills? Big animals or macro-life? Boat or Shore diving. Budget of the starving student or Donald Trump?
I want to go to most of the suggested locations, however, I like whales & February is whale season in Maui. The plane tickets are about the same cost as Bonaire & a couple of hours longer flight.
As to Grand Cayman--I am not so much of a night-life seeker, so I like the East End much better. The diving is more challenging than the 7 mile side; you will improve as a diver.
Cozumel is one of the best values around, but I am not allowed to go there any more. My wife (who doesn't dive) has been there so many times that she is tired of it. (She wants to go back to Grand Cayman)

To manage costs in Maui (well all of Hawaii) and Grand Cayman, I usually rent a condo or a house & hit the grocery stores; a significant savings from restaurant food.

I hope you have a great trip.

 

[James R]

Another location in the ABC Islands that I really like, and did not see mentioned here, is Curacao! There's a lot more to do out of the water than Bonaire, and the diving's very similar. We did a week of shore diving there with The Dive Bus and had a blast. They will pick you up from your hotel, on time, and take you to different dive sites every day and then you can spend the afternoons hanging out & diving their house reef which is fantastic (we did 12 dives on that reef alone). The crew there is top-notch, very fun to dive with, and have nice cold beers for post-dive banter and laughs. It's very easy to get to as well, you could go KC->Miami->Curacao!

 

[SoccerJeni]

Hum...what do I personally want, Tom...in February I will want to be WARM and get the away from the white stuff (I'm already dreading it for next year). I want to get underwater, see the beautiful marine life and get a lot of practice, and I want to lay on the beach with a nice fruity drink. And the nights where I'm not diving the next day, I want to get out on the town and dance it up somewhere with an open layout with a nice breeze coming off the ocean. (Can you tell I'm daydreaming right now?) When I'm diving, I would like to dive 3-5 times a day, and just chill out relaxing the rest of the time. I do want to become a better diver and be challenged.. I will be with a couple people though who don't necessarily share that, so I'd like to stay with them and enjoy my time with my friends.

Thanks everyone for the great ideas! Now I need to put some research into the suggestions.

 

[danvolker]

Hum...what do I personally want, Tom...in February I will want to be WARM and get the away from the white stuff (I'm already dreading it for next year). I want to get underwater, see the beautiful marine life and get a lot of practice, and I want to lay on the beach with a nice fruity drink.

This is Palm BEACH, at either the Hilton on singer Island, or the Marriott Resort at Delray Beach, right a the foot of the entertainment district of Atlantic Avenue.

And the nights where I'm not diving the next day, I want to get out on the town and dance it up somewhere with an open layout with a nice breeze coming off the ocean. (Can you tell I'm daydreaming right now?)

At the Delray marriott at the beach, you can actually walk from the hotel to the clubs and restaurants of the Atlantic Avenue entertainment district, and they are pretty awesome!
Or, at either the Hilton or the Marriott, you can just sip drinks from the tike bar, and enjoy the ocean breeze on the beach.

When I'm diving, I would like to dive 3-5 times a day, and just chill out relaxing the rest of the time.

The Palm Beach dive boats run 2 tank morning dives, and 2 tank afternoon dives. Some like to do 3 tank and lunch dives as well....if this is what you want, let me know and I'll get you the name of the boats that match what you want the best. From what it sounds like, you would want either the Breakers Reef/Flower Gardens/Horseshoe Reef areas if at the Hilton( reefs near them) OR if at the Marriott, you would want the Boynton Beach reefs, the DelRay Beach reefs, and you can get to Horseshoe Reef as well from there. Nothing stops you from doing the morning dives AND the afternoon dives on the boats--most will make a deal for this.
Also, easiest at the Hilton, the Blue Heron Bridge Marine Park is practically in their back yard..about 900 yards down the road from them...It is always protected water, so no surf issues, and you dive it off the beach. Only time constraints are that you do it in the 3.5 hours around peak high tide, which gets about 45 mionutes later each day. The hotel shuttle takes you to the boats or the BHB park, so you don't even need a rental car!!!!! Check out YouTube - Evening dive at BHB...with Frogfish , this being a video I shot of the BHB site on a twilight and night dive there this last sunday night....note the Frogfish about 3/4th of the way through the 5 minute video.

I do want to become a better diver and be challenged.. I will be with a couple people though who don't necessarily share that, so I'd like to stay with them and enjoy my time with my friends.

In Palm Beach, you have incredible non-diving options for friends, or, if they are divers but just not into as much as you, they will still have the best options here. Also, for non-divers, we have the TOOKA for them to try an underwater experience in the BHB marine park, which allows them to breath underwater via long hoses, but does not put tanks on their backs, or bc, so they feel like they are snorkeling without breathing issues. This is the easiest and most enjoyable way for most people afraid of resort course Discover Scuba dives, to experience the underwater world you love so much.

 

[dkktsunami]

Consider Little Cayman Beach Resort.

 

[gypsyjim]

While we usually do Bonaire during the summer, we were able to get a good deal for Feb too a year or so ago. Don't be afraid to shop around, there are deals available because of the economy.

Bonaire is a good choice to new divers. Most sites are pretty easy (some are a bit rougher than others), nitrox (if you are certified) is often a free upgrade, and you are free to dive as much or as little as you choose, if you are shore diving. Good boat diving available too, for those who want the more guided style of diving. New divers can get a heck of a lot of good diving experience under their belts in a week on Bonaire!

 

[waynel]

You say cost is a factor. If you dive anywhere in the Caribbean in February it will cost you, it's high season, snowbirds like you wanting to get warm. Of all the places mentioned, Cozumel will be the most cost effective, easiest diving (it's all drift diving) and plenty of nightlife. Now, if you want great beaches to lay out, you'll have to go more to the sourthern end of the island. We go just about every February, shorts, shirts and sandals on land, nothing heavier than a 3 mil suit underwater, and viz from 75 to 100ft. As for seeing lots of fish....

I can't find any diving within a 5 hour flight of Houston, TX that has more sealife than Key Largo. I mean schools upon schools of grunts, groupers, nurse sharks, angelfish, blue parrots. For example, we are diving Belize next month. We see blue parrotfish there...one or two at a time and they're anywhere from 18 inches to two feet long. In Key Largo, you see schools of 12 -15 and they're 3 footers.

Cozumel for cost, nightlife, great viz and easy diving, fantastic sandy beaches. Key Largo does not havefantastic beaches, nightlife is pretty much the bars attached to the Marinas...but when I want some fantastic shots (photography) underwater, I book Key Largo. Don't get me wrong, I love diving Cozumel, and yes you will see fish. If I could take all the fish I see in the Florida Keys and put them in that gin clear water of Cozumel with all its other ammenities I mentioned, it would be the most perfect dive spot in the western hemisphere.

 

[herbdb]

With all due respect to the people pushing Florida, it just isn't that warm in February. Both individuals are a bit self-serving in that they represent commercial enterprises.

I like Florida, I was born there and I have made three trips from Pa in the past year to dive, but I would not recommend it as a warm destination in February. You are just as likely to be huddling in a blanket on the beach as reaching for the 40 SPF.

If you want to be really warm, go somewhere south of Mexico so the North American cold fronts cannot reach you.

 

[Randy43068]

Maybe a Blackbeard live aboard?

 

[DivemasterDennis]

In order of diver friendly for new divers: Grand Cayman; Bonaire; Cozumel. Anyone who says otherwise is not familiar with all three locations. Most "novice" diver friendly is Key Largo.
DivemasterDennis