Complicated Travel Situation- Looking for Advice

[kilodelta97]

Good Afternoon Everyone!

I am new(ish) to SB but not to diving, I am NAUI/PADI OW, AOW, and Rescue. I go to a state maritime academy and we have received an unofficial itinerary (basically confirmed rumors) for this summer's training cruise. We will be going to Southern Portugal (possibly the Azores!), Southern Spain (Gibralter/Cartegena), and Southern Italy. I know these are vague but if anyone has experience diving in any of these places or recommendations for places to dive with, I would love to hear from you!

There are a few issues:
-We cannot book anything in advance. We will not have a timeframe as to when we are pulling into ports, and we won't know when we can leave the ship until we are walking down the gangway. We will have liberty from 8am-10pm, so wherever we dive cannot be an all-day event, maybe just one dive a day, two at most.
-We want to keep prices down (cost of the dive and rentals)
-We have EXTREMELY limited space, we can only bring mask/fins/snorkel, maybe reg sets, so we have to rent what we don't bring.

Basically, I am looking for help with what I mentioned above. 1) Any advice as to where to dive that is cheap in any of those locations and that fits those criteria, and 2) what should we bring of our own keeping in mind limited space (both my buddy and I have all of our own gear, down to computers).

Thank you all, I'm sure I'll get some great advice from the SB community!!

 

[DeputyDan]

A member here, Oldbear has dove in Italy - you may want to check with him.
Also, post to the Europe forum for inquiries.
My understanding is that the best Spain diving is in the Balearic Islands.
Caveat - have not personally dove there.

 

[Doc]

I think I'd recommend sightseeing and sidewalk cafes. There is diving there because people live proximate to the Ocean...like in Chicago, we have things called "ski hills" here- only because it's cold enough for the rain to freeze on a grassy slope. I also recall that we have a really big lake here...in which I have fleeting images of having been in many years ago thrashing around in a 5/8" wetsuit.

You mention the Certs you have. More relevant would be the places you have been diving. If you've enjoyed the SoPac, this isn't going to be a life highlight. If you've spent your BT locally, like Maine, this might be a close approximation.

You mention specific dive equipment and available space. As but one example...why pack a computer with that projected schedule? Use tables at the rental dive op...if that's even a necessity.

Mix in the fact that you're going to walking into a dive shop, drop your c cards and be ready to rent gear and go diving. They will treat you exactly like any other unknown person, like a real liability. On day #2, which you don't have, they might take you for an external swim around a German sub, that being one far flung attraction. I don't know- is it Manta season?

Taking in the challenge of time ticking, cost and hassle of rental, I'm not seeing enough value in the rate of return. Then for me, I'm jaded, I know, there's just not that much there for me to see u/w.

I went to Hawaii and New Zealand....all I did was snow ski. Been to Egypt a few times now, all I did was dive the Red Sea, no pyramids. I hit all 4 ski areas in Northern Great Britain.To me, that made sense at the time, maybe it still would.

If I had your shore leave projected schedule, I'd go walking and meet people. Seems to be a high concentration of red headed girls, make of that what you might Your likely never going to have that kind of taxi service ever again in your life.

As DD issued a disclaimer, I've had the opportunity to dive this zone, I did two areas, spoke with local dive pros, and went out on the town with them instead. Maybe it was the beer which I was paying for, but somehow I think it was a professional courtesy.

 

[mcohen1021]

Cheap and diving in the same sentence? Diving in the local springs here in Texas isn;t even cheap. Good luck.

 

[Diver0001]

Good Afternoon Everyone!

I am new(ish) to SB but not to diving, I am NAUI/PADI OW, AOW, and Rescue. I go to a state maritime academy and we have received an unofficial itinerary (basically confirmed rumors) for this summer's training cruise. We will be going to Southern Portugal (possibly the Azores!), Southern Spain (Gibralter/Cartegena), and Southern Italy. I know these are vague but if anyone has experience diving in any of these places or recommendations for places to dive with, I would love to hear from you!

There are a few issues:
-We cannot book anything in advance. We will not have a timeframe as to when we are pulling into ports, and we won't know when we can leave the ship until we are walking down the gangway. We will have liberty from 8am-10pm, so wherever we dive cannot be an all-day event, maybe just one dive a day, two at most.
-We want to keep prices down (cost of the dive and rentals)
-We have EXTREMELY limited space, we can only bring mask/fins/snorkel, maybe reg sets, so we have to rent what we don't bring.

Basically, I am looking for help with what I mentioned above. 1) Any advice as to where to dive that is cheap in any of those locations and that fits those criteria, and 2) what should we bring of our own keeping in mind limited space (both my buddy and I have all of our own gear, down to computers).

Thank you all, I'm sure I'll get some great advice from the SB community!!

Bring your computer and a compass even if it means you need to leave something else at home. I've been travelling on various occasions in Greece, Turkey, Italy and Croatia (also in Spain but I didn't dive there) and I have NEVER seen an operator who had enough computers for everyone. If you can dive tables then at least bring those and a dive watch. If you don't have that then you will frequently be faced with the choice of either not diving or following the guide around with no idea whatsoever of your dive profile. Interestingly this practice still hasn't died out in that part of the world so they would actually let you do it if you suggested it.

The last time I dived in Italy the DM gave his computer to my daughter because I insisted and he followed the profile of one of the other divers. I dived on tables using a cheap dive watch that I happened to be wearing. I have a watch because I give lessons and need it for the pool. They didn't have the tables handy but they knew the maximum depth (18m) and I just happened to know the NDL for that depth from rote. These are the kinds of issues you should expect if you don't bring your own instruments with you.

Aside from that I would recommend bringing your own mask, snorkel and fins with the fins being the lowest priority. Having that gear with you will allow for snorkeling even if you are not diving.

R..

 

[Bubblesong]

I know a freshman at your school, won’t name him but he came out second best fighting a pumpkin.
Anyway, love this idea, so it is worth researching a list of dive shops at possible ports, emailing them for requirements, and having the phone numbers ready to call at 8am when in port. In ports with Cruise ships, or big Marinas, they may have their system set up to meet you at the dock with equipment and tanks. If they can accommodate, great, if not then, it’s on to next option.
Next issue is you would need reliable phone service in these different countries. I hope your academy helps you to plan for this. My kids school did not help him in China.

 

[flyboy08]

And those waters are cold, so some sort of exposure suit is required....even though your from Maine!

 

[KathyV]

I think I'd recommend sightseeing and sidewalk cafes. There is diving there because people live proximate to the Ocean...like in Chicago, we have things called "ski hills" here- only because it's cold enough for the rain to freeze on a grassy slope. I also recall that we have a really big lake here...in which I have fleeting images of having been in many years ago thrashing around in a 5/8" wetsuit.

You mention the Certs you have. More relevant would be the places you have been diving. If you've enjoyed the SoPac, this isn't going to be a life highlight. If you've spent your BT locally, like Maine, this might be a close approximation.

You mention specific dive equipment and available space. As but one example...why pack a computer with that projected schedule? Use tables at the rental dive op...if that's even a necessity.

Mix in the fact that you're going to walking into a dive shop, drop your c cards and be ready to rent gear and go diving. They will treat you exactly like any other unknown person, like a real liability. On day #2, which you don't have, they might take you for an external swim around a German sub, that being one far flung attraction. I don't know- is it Manta season?

Taking in the challenge of time ticking, cost and hassle of rental, I'm not seeing enough value in the rate of return. Then for me, I'm jaded, I know, there's just not that much there for me to see u/w.

I went to Hawaii and New Zealand....all I did was snow ski. Been to Egypt a few times now, all I did was dive the Red Sea, no pyramids. I hit all 4 ski areas in Northern Great Britain.To me, that made sense at the time, maybe it still would.

If I had your shore leave projected schedule, I'd go walking and meet people. Seems to be a high concentration of red headed girls, make of that what you might Your likely never going to have that kind of taxi service ever again in your life.

As DD issued a disclaimer, I've had the opportunity to dive this zone, I did two areas, spoke with local dive pros, and went out on the town with them instead. Maybe it was the beer which I was paying for, but somehow I think it was a professional courtesy.

I agree with @Doc that you have such limited time you should probably stay dry and see as much as you can above water.

 

[xmass-Eve]

On the Azores, I dived with Best Spot. They are on Sao Miguel and do 1 tank trips. They also have equipment, although I don't know about computers. I always have that, my mask and my fins with me. Best Spot is in the harbor of Ponta Delgada, the capital. Sao Miguel is just not the best diving in the Azores. For blue sharks, you have to go somewhere else, Pico and/or Faial. Those are not simple dives though. And it will be more difficult to organise, I guess.

 

[kilodelta97]

Cheap and diving in the same sentence? Diving in the local springs here in Texas isn;t even cheap. Good luck.

I guess I should have said "relatively," it's no secret to me that diving is expensive, especially as a poor college student


Thanks for all the replies! We don't have anything set in stone yet but we are pretty sure we want to dive. If anything gets in the way of that, we won't be too bummed because the careers we will be in will allow us plenty of time to travel and dive around the world.

I've talked to some upperclassmen divers that have done exactly what we are looking to do in years past, and they said the (mild) frustration of planning the dive is well worth the dive itself. Most of us have only dove in New England before, so a change of underwater scenery is an exciting thought