best diving in carribean/central america? (sorry for the open ended question)

[boyfromoz]

I looking to spend some time in this part of the world in jan/feb. I last went diving in sipidan and im looing for somewhere to equal it - Na Trang in vietnam definately didnt!
I will be spending a bit of time in Cuba and beyond there i have no preference other than diving the best sites i can find, and i would like to see some hammerheads.
Where should i not miss? Top three places??
Thanks heaps

 

[DeepBlueResort]

Woooow

What a can of worm you have opened here, Hammerheads well i think you will have to try the Pacific side of Central America, there are still some in the Caribbean but sometimes hard to find i have seen them in the Bay Islands but not regularly i have heard they sometimes get quite a few in the Corn Islands.

Pacific side well the coco's islands will be the best

Lets see what others think

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

No luck seeing hammerheads. Top three spots IMHO: Cozumel, Little Cayman, French Cay, Turks & Caicos.

 

[marinebio]

Just returned from 2 weeks diving in Bonaire. Summer is low season, a little windy dropping the visibility to 60-70 ft but it was worth every cent. The island is all and only about diving, very little tourist crap and the best shore diving I've ever imagined. Easy to do 4 dives a day, lots of healthy hard and soft corals, reef fish and eels plus. Nice close wall diving and perfect for working on macro photography. Best diving I've done since the Red Sea. If you want hammerheads definitely do Cocos, Wolf/Darwin Islands of the Galapagos or the Soccoros.

 

[GoProHonduras]

Definitely Galapgos, even off the main settlement Puerto Ayara, start diving at 5.00.am, there's 'Gordon Rocks' and most of the other sites, if you do the 'liveaboard' experiences then you have an almost guarantee, but please don't quote me on that.

We have had a few sightings in thge 'Caribbean', mainly on Utila 'reef' and 'nurse' sharks but since the reef renovation project was started by the 'Cousteau' foundation there have been additional sigthings. Utila, and the other islands, ae doing their best to support environmental conservation.

If you specifically want the 'big stuff' then go Cocos Islands or Galapagos, if you want the best of both worlds then 'info@utiladivecentre.com

Hope to see you on this 8t 'Wonder of the World' soon.....

Warmest regards,
Andy

 

[boyfromoz]

As i am a student i think most of the liveaboards will be out of reach for me. Im mainly interested in hammerhead schools rather that whalesharks as we have those at home. Are there consistently hammerheads off pacific mexico???

 

[Loopy]

I dove at the Riding Rock Inn in San Salvador Bahamas and it seemd like there were solitary hammerheads in the distance on nearly every dive. No schools and no close encounters, however.

 

[worlddiver]

One recommendation is not dive the Northside of Cuba. We were very dissappointed. Did find some fair diving in Key Largo and Isle of Youth. But had a hard time finding marine life. The Cuban's have pretty much fished out the reefs.

For hammerheads in the Caribbean we had encounters on the Northwall of Grand Cayman at sites called Tarpon Alley, Hammerhead Hill and Black Forest. The dive shop (Divetech) said April thru July is the best time, but we just got back from a 7 day trip and had 3 seperate encounters and one was 12' on a shallow reef (30'). Also, saw 2 reef sharks and many nurse sharks.

For a daily guarantee on hammerheads encounters, it would be the Galapgos (Pacific) at Gordon Rock dive site.

Have a great trip......

 

[Doc]

As i am a student i think most of the liveaboards will be out of reach for me. Im mainly interested in hammerhead schools rather that whalesharks as we have those at home. Are there consistently hammerheads off pacific mexico???

As this discussion has swerved all over the highway... and yes it was an 'open ended' question.

You mention above that you can't affor a liveaboard in answer to the Galapagos suggestion.

You'll like the much less expensive, land based option even better. I have done several liveaboards and now am a died in the wool fan of land based. See our trip report at http://www.geocities.com/johnofrancis/galapagos.htm

Just a thought.