Cheap and quick from Ohio

[scubadada]

...Another option worth considering is SE Florida. I believe Spirit flies to Fort Lauderdale then you'd need to rent a car (pretty unavoidable in SE Florida) -- I'd drive up to the Palm Beach/Riviera Beach area (there is an airport, PBI, there but don't believe Spirit goes there). Then if you plan accordingly with the Blue Heron Bridge (BHB) tide chart you can do morning 2-tank boat dives and then follow up with afternoon/evening/night dives at BHB depending on the time of high tide. Frankly, of the places I've dove so far (see my About on my profile) honestly I'd place SE Florida as 2nd to Cozumel but above the other Caribbean places that I've been. You can find BHB tide charts online at either the Force-E scuba or Pura Vida divers websites, among others...

Another way to get in more dives would be to take advantage of the afternoon 2 tank dives that several operators offer, especially on the weekends. One operator I use also frequently offers a 3 tanker.

 

[bvbellomo]

You should do Cleveland to JFK about 150 rt and Jet Blue to Bonaire current one way special at $89 or $98 ( not a typo) . You could round trip to Bonaire for under $500

Cancun, you could do the bag drag and be on Cozumel 4-5 hrs after you land for another $100 bucks or so.(Public bus to Playa del Carmen Ferry to Coz)

St.Thomas was nice but have not dove their in 30yrs so cannot comment on current situation.

There are a lot of nice options like this that put me 12 hours door-to-door, which realistically means 2 days without diving, and doesn't make sense for a 3 or even 4 day trip.

 

[bvbellomo]

I drive 3 hours to Monterey, you have the Great Lakes right next to you.

This is a topic for another thread, but I've wanted to try Erie wreck diving for years. This is not like driving 3 hours to Monterey, you need a boat and at least 1 other diver if not a group. The cost and logistics can approach a trip somewhere tropical.

 

[bvbellomo]

While everyone is different, with different airline schedules as well, I find it hard to beat Cozumel for international travel even if I have to do the "bag drag" from the Cancun airport. Just have to be sure to fly into Cancun with plenty of time to catch the ferry over (usually not that hard), and then schedule your flight back late enough to allow for the bag drag -- I usually try to have my flight leaving CUN at 12:30 or later. If you are looking to maximize the number of dives, many dive ops offer afternoon 2-tanks, twilight 2-tanks, and night dives (night dives are great there!). Theres also a dive op who does blackwater dives there fairly often. Another (and cheaper) alternative is to do morning 2-tank boat dives, then do afternoon and/or night shore dives from somewhere like Hotel Barracuda, Tikila, Hotel Cozumel by Wyndham, Blue Angel, etc.

Another option worth considering is SE Florida. I believe Spirit flies to Fort Lauderdale then you'd need to rent a car (pretty unavoidable in SE Florida) -- I'd drive up to the Palm Beach/Riviera Beach area (there is an airport, PBI, there but don't believe Spirit goes there). Then if you plan accordingly with the Blue Heron Bridge (BHB) tide chart you can do morning 2-tank boat dives and then follow up with afternoon/evening/night dives at BHB depending on the time of high tide. Frankly, of the places I've dove so far (see my About on my profile) honestly I'd place SE Florida as 2nd to Cozumel but above the other Caribbean places that I've been. You can find BHB tide charts online at either the Force-E scuba or Pura Vida divers websites, among others.

Forgive me if you already know this, but I just want to mention that once you start adding anything more than a personal item (backpack, etc.) I find that Spirit starts to quickly become less affordable than other airlines -- especially if traveling with your own scuba gear, but they even charge a good bit for a carry on bag. Related to that, I believe Spirit limits checked bags to 40 lbs. rather than the 50 lbs. most other airlines allow, which for me makes it impossible to bring my own gear - even after drying a day my slightly damp gear seems to be around 49 lbs., YMMV.

I can't comment on some of your other areas, but I'll say I haven't heard anything good about diving in Aruba, Jamaica seems a mixed bag of reviews (may want to search ScubaBoard), and for Puerto Rico I've heard you'll need to drive hours West or East from San Juan to find good diving.

I've tried to plan out SE Florida and always backed down once I saw the cost. As you said, this probably needs a rental car. Hotels and dive operators in the USA are some of the most expensive in the world.

 

[arew+4]

There are a lot of nice options like this that put me 12 hours door-to-door, which realistically means 2 days without diving, and doesn't make sense for a 3 or even 4 day trip.

I must have spaced on the long weekend thing, it's really hard to make anything work on that schedule, even if you cut the pre fly dry time down to 18hrs or "flame suit on" 12hrs. You are looking at 1.5 to 2 days of diving 4-8 dives. Seems like a lot of stress for a little diving.

 

[Rob9876]

I've tried to plan out SE Florida and always backed down once I saw the cost. As you said, this probably needs a rental car. Hotels and dive operators in the USA are some of the most expensive in the world.

No doubt SE Florida is expensive. Even driving (it's about a 12 hour drive for me to SE Florida) by my rough math for anything more than 4-5 days it's cheaper for me to fly to Cozumel than to drive to SE Florida, with the expense of hotels, diving, food, etc. And yes, rental car in SE Florida is really a must in general, and to get an economical hotel we've stayed about 20+ minutes from the marina/BHB.

As for long weekend trips to Cozumel, yes, you'd probably need to take a 4 day weekend -- and maybe a half day extra to fly down also. Not that bad overall, but yeah, it takes work to get to warm water and good viz reef diving for those of us north of Georgia. At least in Coz you don't need to rent a car, can get very cheap lodging, can get good cheap food away from the tourist spots, and the diving is cheaper and better too.

 

[USdiver1]

I live in Cleveland and like to take big scuba trips.

Is there anything worth doing a 3 or 4 day trip?

Tobermory, on Lake Huron in Ontario. Worth 3 - 4 days for sure. Much accessible from shore.

 

[Paul Desmarais]

I live in Cleveland and like to take big scuba trips. If I am not spending over $1000 on flights and taking 2 weeks off work, I am in a quarry.

Spirit offers cheap direct flights to:
Kingston Jamaica
Cancun
Aruba
St. Thomas Virgin Islands
San Juan Puerto Rico
Punta Cana Dominican Republic

Is there anything worth doing a 3 or 4 day trip?

While I love Cozumel, it isn't suitable for a cheap quick trip. I either need a layover and then a flight to Cozumel (expensive and too much time), or a direct flight to Cancun + bus to Playa + Ferry (cheap and even more time). I'd be lucky to get 4 dives in a 3 day weekend.

Personally, for quick trips, Florida is nice. Jupiter and environs had good diving, a variety of sea life, and some variety. I've done Florida a handful of times and on the Atlantic side, had great experiences (Less so in the gulf, but I hesitate to judge based on one bad experience).

Flights are generally quick and reasonable in price, especially if you do Thursday to Monday or Tuesday flights - no customs to deal with. I have flown in on an early flight on Thursday, been in the water twice for an afternoon and night dive, done three days of two/four tank diving, and back home by Monday evening. With a VRBO , I typically spend $1,500; which is not cheap, but it's not the $3,800 per person trip to Cozumel or Bonaire is going to cost.

Blue Heron Bridge shore dive either with a buddy or guided (I did both, once with a friend and once with a guide from Pura Vida; and boat dives with Kyalami Charters. Both really enjoyable. I saw three types of sharks (bull, black tip reef, nurse) and two different turtle species (Hawksbill, Green) on one dive, along with Giant groupers.

 

[bvbellomo]

Cost always gets me when I look at Florida. I am not familiar with VRBO, but think $1500 is probably optimistic for a Thursday - Monday trip you describe with 15 dives. A flight to PBI is $240 round trip.

Cozumel is $350 round trip direct, Spirit used to fly to Cancun under $100, not sure if I am just not seeing that or if it went away. A 2 tank dive in Cozumel is $80 vs $120 in Jupiter, hotels are about 1/3 the price, and food is much better and less than 1/3 the price. You almost have to rent a car in Florida but can get around Cozumel cheaply. I am not sure how you are getting a $3,800 per person trip to Cozumel unless you are staying for a month. The only extra cost is $110 on my flight, everything else is much cheaper.

Blackbeard's is $1145 + $442 airfare for a full week.

I've never been to Bonaire or priced it.

Thanks for the reply, I truly appreciate it, and don't want to sound negative, but Florida is expensive.

 

[Rob9876]

I think one would have to purposely try to spend $3,800 per person to either Cozumel or Bonaire for a week or less.

Cozumel:
Several times in past years I've had flights between $320 and $460 to Cozumel.
Dive package usually around $90 per 2-tank dive (includes tanks, unlike many FL dive ops) + tips.
Plenty of decent lodging usually less than $100/night (Casa Mexicana & Hotel Cozumel close to $100/night including breakfast; Hotel Mary Carmen, Barracuda, Suites Colonial, and more often less than $75/night).
Plenty of good meals for around $10 away from the tourist areas (Chilangos, Las Palmas, Los Seras, etc.).

Bonaire: I'm right now planning our 1st trip for 2 divers to Bonaire: $600 flight,
$700 room with kitchenette for 7 nights with 2 beds, A/C, good reviews, on-site dive op, and can walk to dive a good house reef;
$361 truck from Avis w/ full insurance;
about $200/person unlimited tanks & weights (no boat dives planned, so no tip $).
Anticipate somewhat higher food cost than Cozumel, but FL is not necessarily cheap for food.

Sure, none of the lodging above is the Ritz, but all are safe, clean, good location, and good A/C. But I've paid around $170/night for worse hotels in FL (both in Palm Beach Lakes and Pensacola) and still had longer drives to dive. Plus more $$ for dives, tanks, food, etc.