Best tech diving in the Caribbean

[LFMarm]

I am planning a trip for next year and would like to know what are the recommended locations for technical/CCR diving in the region. I would value quality of dive ops, dive sites, activities for non-diving companions. Thanks in advance for sharing your experience.

 

[Doc]

Fill in some blanks-

What do you refer to when you say, “quality…of dive sites“ ? What are you hoping to do with your tech/CCR gear? Deep? Critters? Wrecks?

Are you bringing all your own stuff or will you need…what…to support it? Going to need a list. Logistics come into play in no small way.

Expand your search beyond the Caribbean with the addition of one simple word: Bahamas. The results you will find by looking there will expand dramatically. Why? Read on….

Our warm-water backyard pool is geared towards Aluminum 80’s. Tech is simply not the drawing card. Most is done off the US/Can shores, the deeper Atlantic wrecks come to mind. Specific resorts in the Caribbean are known to host organized trips from Dive Shops specifically geared toward this, but it really is a lot of effort to get the same result achieved a lot easier from diving out of Texas.

Post a picture of “non diving companion”, that might help.

 

[drrich2]

I'm no tech diver; just passing along mentions you might want to check into to get input from people who are, since your thread hasn't got a lot of responses yet and it's been a few days. Have you looked at any places yet, and decided yah or nay?

Buddy Dive Resort in Bonaire supports tech. diving; Captain Don's does, too.
My Research Notes for Bonaire - My Research Note For Bonaire

@stuartv did a tech dive trip to Bonaire. Bonaire, Mar 14 - 21. Questions Drop down to Post #40 and read that and onward.

At least as of some years ago, St. Croix Ultimate Blue Water Adventure did, also, IIRC.

IIRC, someone posted about tech. diving in Cozumel way back?

 

[azstinger11]

Define tech diving and we can go from there. If you are CCR diving the options get limited in a hurry. This is my current list of places in the region that say they support CCR in some fashion. This is not meant as an endorsement of any of these places, just places for you to research further.

• Bonaire, already covered above
• Grand Cayman, DiveTech, indepth watersports, and stingray watersports
• Cayman Brac* - Reef Divers
• Saba - Sea Saba
• Bahamas - Bahamas Underground, AES Dives
• Playa Del Carmen/Tulum - throw a stick and you'll hit 14 tech shops
• Cozumel - Aldora, Deep Exposure
• Belize - Elite Adventures
• Curaçao - Goby Divers, Tec Diving Curaco
• Roatan* - Coconut Tree, West End Divers, Roatan Tec Center
• Utila* - Odyssey, Tank'd, Captain Morgan's

I'm sure i'm missing some. * = edits provided by other fine board members.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

I believe Coconut Tree Divers in Roatan supports tech, including CCR.

 

[azstinger11]

I believe Coconut Tree Divers in Roatan supports tech, including CCR.

Good catch! Yeah not sure why Roatan didn't show up on my list. Fixing it now

 

[boulderjohn]

You can always try the tech operation in St. Croix (can't recall the name) that sponsored and aggressively promoted the man they called "Doctor Deep" on his fatal attempt to set a world depth record. They guy went from new OW diver to new tech diver to attempting world record in a couple of years. The shop said he was a quick learner, having quickly surpassed his trimix instructor's personal deepest dive of 215 feet. Under their tutelage, they said he had learned more about technical diving in that year or two than any other diver on Earth. Wth a track record like that, they have to be good.

 

[drrich2]

You can always try the tech operation in St. Croix (can't recall the name) that sponsored and aggressively promoted the man they called "Doctor Deep" on his fatal attempt to set a world depth record. They guy went from new OW diver to new tech diver to attempting world record in a couple of years. The shop said he was a quick learner, having quickly surpassed his trimix instructor's personal deepest dive of 215 feet.

You wrote up a summary in post #35 of this thread on another accident elsewhere. There's a 2015 thread, Doc Deep dies during dive, and there's even a Wikipedia Page on him (Guy Garman).

 

[tursiops]

You can always try the tech operation in St. Croix (can't recall the name) that sponsored and aggressively promoted the man they called "Doctor Deep" on his fatal attempt to set a world depth record. They guy went from new OW diver to new tech diver to attempting world record in a couple of years. The shop said he was a quick learner, having quickly surpassed his trimix instructor's personal deepest dive of 215 feet. Under their tutelage, they said he had learned more about technical diving in that year or two than any other diver on Earth. Wth a track record like that, they have to be good.

Where is that sarcasm font when we need it?

 

[TTPaws]

You can always try the tech operation in St. Croix (can't recall the name) that sponsored ...

Answering this straight, but unfortunately there is no longer any serious Tech Diving (CCR at least) on island. The few CCR divers I know all have their own sorb shipped down from the mainland. Several of us have our own compressors/boosters to do O2 & He. There are wall things (caves, swimthroughs, etc) to see in the deeper depths, but the water drops off to 800-1200 FSW so any wrecks there are out of reach. Our 5-6 wrecks were sunk on purpose and not really a tech dive with the deepest at ~170.

Don't get me wrong, I think St Croix is one of the best dive sites in the world and I love diving my APD CCR, but it isn't a tech diving Mecca.