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 ?