Boat Drinks! Boyz in the Band ordered Boat Drinks!!!

[adjuster-jd]

Steve - I wrote a detailed review here on SB about my my roatan trip last year. I found it positive, but I'm pretty low maintenance. The food was plentiful and decent and we never went hungry.
I dont think it's so difficult to get 5 dives a day at FIBR - a little more effort than at CCV for the shore dives, but you just have to hitch a ride in the skiff over to the gazebo. You can get in an early AM dive and a twilight and night dive easily so it can be done. Just not such an easy walk to the shore entry..
(See I'm cheap, so FIBR works better for me just due to cost)...

 

[mohave_steve]

Roatanman,

I don't need much as far as between/after dive entertainment. It's all about diving & relaxing.

Yes, airfare & flight time are key issues. Assuming that I drive 4+ hours to SEA instead of flying from nearby ALW or PSC, I am looking at $1800 & 19+ hours to Bonaire or $1500 & 8.5 hours to Roatan.

The cost of diving can be quite significant as well. In Cabo we dove 2 tanks-3days and spent $650.


Adjustor,
I'll track down your review.

 

[robint]

Roatanman,

I don't need much as far as between/after dive entertainment. It's all about diving & relaxing.

Yes, airfare & flight time are key issues. Assuming that I drive 4+ hours to SEA instead of flying from nearby ALW or PSC, I am looking at $1800 & 19+ hours to Bonaire or $1500 & 8.5 hours to Roatan.

The cost of diving can be quite significant as well. In Cabo we dove 2 tanks-3days and spent $650.


Adjustor,
I'll track down your review.

I think you need to see which resorts have availability. I would do CCV over FI as one is a smaller dive-only resort, the other is a family resort with diving. I have friends who have gone to FI twice because it is cheaper than CCV and both times they came back and complained about the dive boats being crowded and too many beginners. They liked the resort itself okay but say it is big.

Cozumel you can do very cheap if you don't want fancy but it is harder to get more dives in. The best dives in Coz are down south, Palancar horseshoe, bricks, and deep, Columbia deep. All the dive ops go to them. Some of the shallower great dives are closer to the city up north. If you want to go to Cozumel, get the map Can-Do Travel Guides and then pick your hotel. Dive ops vary from okay to great and there are 50+ of them, most with only 1 small 6-pack boat. The biggest dive op is Dive Paradise and they tend to be a cattleboat op with big crowded boats. We have also heard negatives about Del Mar Aquatics for same reason. I would stay away from them. Other than that, any dive op will get you great dives. We always dive with PapaHogs but have nothing against the others. If you stay at Cozumel Scuba Diving at Scuba Club Cozumel Dive Resort and Scuba Cozumel Dive Shop they have their own boats, all inclusive with meals and we hear nothing but raves about them. Our next trip to Coz we will stay there and dive with them. Resort seems alot like CCV.

Bonaire is fantastic and shore diving is amazing. I wouldn't go there unless you intend to dive dive dive as there isnt' much else to do. We plan to go back there again because we enjoyed it so much.

If you have the dates when you want to go, then call Caradonna and see what they can work for you. They might can get you a great deal on airfare. A couple from our Roatan boat told us about the deal they got and it made us jealous! Their airfare from NJ was half what we paid.

robin

 

[mohave_steve]

Thanks Robin,

I have had an eye towards diving Cozumel for some time but in looking closer at the dive oportunities it appears that trying to get more than two dives a day in could be challenging.

We went to Cabo earlier this year and having to drag my gear from the hotel to the dive shop each day as well as trying to find a buddy when my Wife didn't want to dive was a bit of a hassle and I only wound up diving 3 days totaling only 6 dives.

On my next trip I would like to follow the example set by anoter poster here:

"Dive, Eat, Relax, Repeat as needed." I only have one modification: Add suitable amounts of Beer as needed.

 

[robint]

Thanks Robin,

I have had an eye towards diving Cozumel for some time but in looking closer at the dive oportunities it appears that trying to get more than two dives a day in could be challenging.

We went to Cabo earlier this year and having to drag my gear from the hotel to the dive shop each day as well as trying to find a buddy when my Wife didn't want to dive was a bit of a hassle and I only wound up diving 3 days totaling only 6 dives.

On my next trip I would like to follow the example set by anoter poster here:

"Dive, Eat, Relax, Repeat as needed." I only have one modification: Add suitable amounts of Beer as needed.

I think you would find that Coz diving isn't an issue as far as getting a buddy or dragging gear. Since it is all drift diving, the group stays together with the DM, groups always less than 8 divers and they just have you buddy with DM if there isn't someone on the boat to buddy with. Never seen a problem with it, ever. Also, all the dive ops I know of can store your gear for you and bring it on the boat each day or every hotel has a gear storage area. Dive ops pick up and drop off right at your hotel pier so no need to carry it very far. Cozumel is very unique that way. Some dive ops, like Scuba Club, Dive Paradise, and Papahogs have an afternoon dive each day. In fact, one trip we did, a guy traveling alone paid for a 3rd dive each day, no one else did and Papahogs still took him out! Just him and the DM every afternoon for a dive. Some dive ops won't go out with less than 4 people, but some will. Plus places like Scuba Club have free shore diving at resort. A friend goes there often and he says that there are always a few people going out each afternoon for the shore dive and he just goes with them. Or you can pay a DM to do the shore dive with you. The DMs there work for their $ and you offer one $20 to do a shore dive with you and I bet you will have a buddy. They need the money.

robin