Best Latin American/ Caribbean Spot for January?

[Pat Sharman]

Bit of a broad question for this forum, but there doesn't seem to be a "Latin America" forum here...

Some friends and I will be celebrating a friend's birthday in Mexico in January. We'll be at a resort for a week, and some of us are looking to break off after that and go do some diving. What's the best spot around that time of year in Mexico, the Carribean, Central America, or the northern part of South America?

I've already been to Cozumel and the Corn Islands, and am looking to dive somewhere new with a guide, in warm water, and with lots of sea life!

Any tips much appreciated.

 

[Ricardo V.]

There are many great places. Not sure what you mean by Latin American though... are you including the Caribbean per se? Some Caribbean nations are highly influenced by Latin America form the point of view that they hold business trades, may exchange and receive goods; however, they aren't like Mexico, Panama, Colombia nor Costa Rica.

For instance, Bonaire, great destination by the way, has active business trades with Latin American countries. It's off the coast of Venezuela, but it's not what I would call Latin American. It's part of the Netherlands, lots of people speak Spanish, English, Papiamento and Dutch. They have a mixture of cultures that range from native Caribbean, African, Latin, Asian and European... you name it. It's truly eclectic. People are wonderful, the diving is among his the best and visiting the island is totally worthwhile.

Nearby, you have Aruba and Curaçao too, which are part of the same waterbody and offer similar diving opportunities; however, Bonaire is probably the one with an upper hand when it comes to catering to divers.

Roatan, Honduras, has great diving too. This would be more of a Latin American destination; however, due to its location and active interaction with Caribbean countries, you will find a similar level of eclectic cultures. Most people speak Spanish; however, island natives grew up speaking English at home. They are neighbors with Belize, where English is the official language, but people speak Creole and Spanish too. Both Belize and Honduras have great diving opportunities and are worth while visiting, by the way.
Hope this helps. Enjoy your trip.
Ricardo

 

[Pat Sharman]

There are many great places. Not sure what you mean by Latin American though... are you including the Caribbean per se? Some Caribbean nations are highly influenced by Latin America form the point of view that they hold business trades, may exchange and receive goods; however, they aren't like Mexico, Panama, Colombia nor Costa Rica.

For instance, Bonaire, great destination by the way, has active business trades with Latin American countries. It's off the coast of Venezuela, but it's not what I would call Latin American. It's part of the Netherlands, lots of people speak Spanish, English, Papiamento and Dutch. They have a mixture of cultures that range from native Caribbean, African, Latin, Asian and European... you name it. It's truly eclectic. People are wonderful, the diving is among his the best and visiting the island is totally worthwhile.

Nearby, you have Aruba and Curaçao too, which are part of the same waterbody and offer similar diving opportunities; however, Bonaire is probably the one with an upper hand when it comes to catering to divers.

Roatan, Honduras, has great diving too. This would be more of a Latin American destination; however, due to its location and active interaction with Caribbean countries, you will find a similar level of eclectic cultures. Most people speak Spanish; however, island natives grew up speaking English at home. They are neighbors with Belize, where English is the official language, but people speak Creole and Spanish too. Both Belize and Honduras have great diving opportunities and are worth while visiting, by the way.
Hope this helps. Enjoy your trip.
Ricardo

Thanks for the reply. Yes I was meaning the Carribean to be included in that, I will edit the thread to be more accurate.

Of Honduras, Belize, and Bonaire, which would you say has the best dives and sea life without going on a liveaboard?

 

[KathyV]

Where will you be staying in Mexico? It may not be possible to fly directly to some small Caribbean islands like Bonaire from your location. Sometimes you have to fly back to a hub like Miami to get a connecting flight to your desired destination.

 

[Ricardo V.]

I would start with Bonaire. You just need to drive to the site you want to explore and jump in. Some dive sites are easier than others, but overall, you don't depend on a boat or a rigorous schedule. You should consider buying a book like: https://www.amazon.com/Bonaire-Trav...qid=1503526759&sr=8-8&keywords=Bonaire+diving

Bas Tol is a great guide. BAS Diving
You can contact him directly and plan your visit. He specializes in wildside dives, but will also guide you along the west coast. Up to you.

You may want to go back and read posts on this forum, there are great tips and ideas there that you can use when it's to to make decisions.

Roatan, you will depend on a dive operator with boats. Yes, there are shore dives, but not as abundant and easy as Bonaire. There are several resorts that cater to divers there, with guides. Diving is pretty good and lots of wildlife.

Belize, fully dependent on a dive operator. There are resorts in the days that cater to divers too, but you are limited when it comes to autonomy, or lack thereof.

Florida is a great destination too. Diving is really good here and you can just drive up the coast and condition will vary from Caribbean type dives in the Keys, to drift dives in Jupiter and Palm Beach areas. We have abundant wildlife, natural and artificial reefs with knowledgeable operators and lots of interesting things to see, from small critters to sharks and Goliath groupers.
Cheers,
Ricardo

 

[Pat Sharman]

Where will you be staying in Mexico? It may not be possible to fly directly to some small Caribbean islands like Bonaire from your location. Sometimes you have to fly back to a hub like Miami to get a connecting flight to your desired destination.

It's not nailed down yet, but I think we'll either be staying on the Yucatan, or in Puerto Vallarta.

 

[Pat Sharman]

I would start with Bonaire. You just need to drive to the site you want to explore and jump in. Some dive sites are easier than others, but overall, you don't depend on a boat or a rigorous schedule. You should consider buying a book like: https://www.amazon.com/Bonaire-Trav...qid=1503526759&sr=8-8&keywords=Bonaire+diving

Bas Tol is a great guide. BAS Diving
You can contact him directly and plan your visit. He specializes in wildside dives, but will also guide you along the west coast. Up to you.

You may want to go back and read posts on this forum, there are great tips and ideas there that you can use when it's to to make decisions.

Roatan, you will depend on a dive operator with boats. Yes, there are shore dives, but not as abundant and easy as Bonaire. There are several resorts that cater to divers there, with guides. Diving is pretty good and lots of wildlife.

Belize, fully dependent on a dive operator. There are resorts in the days that cater to divers too, but you are limited when it comes to autonomy, or lack thereof.

Florida is a great destination too. Diving is really good here and you can just drive up the coast and condition will vary from Caribbean type dives in the Keys, to drift dives in Jupiter and Palm Beach areas. We have abundant wildlife, natural and artificial reefs with knowledgeable operators and lots of interesting things to see, from small critters to sharks and Goliath groupers.
Cheers,
Ricardo

That's good info, thanks!

My friends and I don't mind boat diving at all. we won't have a vehicle over there, so we'd actually prefer it. Bearing that in mind, which of those 3 destinations do you think would have the best sea life that time of year?

 

[KathyV]

...Of Honduras, Belize, and Bonaire, which would you say has the best dives and sea life without going on a liveaboard?

I would start with Bonaire. You just need to drive to the site you want to explore and jump in. Some dive sites are easier than others, but overall, you don't depend on a boat or a rigorous schedule. You should consider buying a book like: https://www.amazon.com/Bonaire-Trav...qid=1503526759&sr=8-8&keywords=Bonaire+diving
Bas Tol is a great guide. BAS Diving
You can contact him directly and plan your visit. He specializes in wildside dives, but will also guide you along the west coast. Up to you.
You may want to go back and read posts on this forum, there are great tips and ideas there that you can use when it's to to make decisions....

Where will you be staying in Mexico? It may not be possible to fly directly to some small Caribbean islands like Bonaire from your location. Sometimes you have to fly back to a hub like Miami to get a connecting flight to your desired destination.

It's not nailed down yet, but I think we'll either be staying on the Yucatan, or in Puerto Vallarta.

It's not that easy to get to Bonaire even when you are coming from a major metropolitan airport. Again, I think trying to get to Bonaire from Mexico will be difficult, expensive, and a very long trip.

I just went to a few of the online booking sites like Orbitz and I searched for flights from Cancun to Bonaire in mid to late January. All of the options required 2 and 3 stops, forcing you to fly north to Atlanta, or Houston, or Miami, etc. before heading back south to Bonaire. The flights were very costly ($800 to $1500) and the travel times were ridiculous - like 23 hours. It is possible to get to Bonaire from Cancun on commercial airlines, but it doesn't look like a fun trip!

How much time will you have for the dive trip after the wedding? If it is less than a week, you should definitely look for someplace close and easy.

The best thing to do is to find out where the wedding will be in Mexico and then look for dive destinations that you can get to easily and cheaply before trying to decide where to go.

Bonaire is great, but I think it should wait for another trip.

 

[Damselfish]

yes, it seems the question you need to be asking is not what is the best place to go that time of year. It's first, what dive destinations can I reasonably (time and cost-wise) get to from where I am staying? - which you unfortunately don't know yet. Maybe also, how hard is it to return to Vancouver from those same dive destinations? Then you are in more of a position to pick a dive spot.

Many places are going to require a flight back through the US, but if you can get one flight to a southern US hub like Miami. Atlanta, or Houston, then another directly to someplace, it might not be too bad. I would look into Roatan, which I think you can get to pretty easily without going back through the US. If "Yucatan" winds up being someplace like Cancun, you could consider taking land/water transportation from there to San Pedro Belize (Ambergris Caye.) Or to the Rivieria Maya area (like Playa del Carmen - mainland across from Cozumel, if you really don't want to do Coz again.) From Puerto Vallarta maybe Cabo San Lucas would be easy, but not that warm that time of year.