Cozumel, Belize, or Bonaire for Novice Diver?

[DakotaKid]

I am a Novice diver with my only dive experience being around Ocho Rios and Puerto Vallarta.

I have a chance to take a trip in Late January with my wife who is NOT a diver. She does snorkle, but no diving.

We want to find a destination with good food, good beach/pool to lounge around, and a location with eazy access to snorkeling and diving. I plan on doing only 2-3 dives during the week so I want to make sure I choose the right place to dive.

We would like to do an all inclusive if possible, but it is NOT the key factor.....the snorkling/diving is.

I have heard that Cozumel, San Pedro, and Bonaire are all great locations for diving.

Any recommendations which would be best to see lots of colorful coral & sea life in shallow dives/snorkle trips?

 

[Skyjunky]

Cozumel. There's not as much to do for non-divers in Bonaire or Belize.

 

[driftwood]

Cozumel. There's not as much to do for non-divers in Bonaire or Belize.

While I have not been to Belize yet, I have to agree that Cozumel is a better choice than Bonaire. The diving is great on Bonaire but the rest of the island doesn't cater that much to non-divers.

Since you are only going to do a couple of dives, you might consider staying in Playa del Carmen instead of Cozumel. For your diving day just take the ferry over to Cozumel. Playa has a much bigger tourist district and the beaches are better. For the best AI's, check out the Playacar area. Can't address how good the snorkeling will be on either Cozumel or the mainland since I have not been back there since Wilma hit in '05.

If you do go to either Cozumel or Playa, checkout Can-Do Maps and travel guides. I don't have any stake in the business, just used them for the past 6 years. They are the best and most up to date travel guides for the area.

 

[DakotaKid]

While I have not been to Belize yet, I have to agree that Cozumel is a better choice than Bonaire. The diving is great on Bonaire but the rest of the island doesn't cater that much to non-divers.

Since you are only going to do a couple of dives, you might consider staying in Playa del Carmen instead of Cozumel. For your diving day just take the ferry over to Cozumel. Playa has a much bigger tourist district and the beaches are better. For the best AI's, check out the Playacar area. Can't address how good the snorkeling will be on either Cozumel or the mainland since I have not been back there since Wilma hit in '05.

If you do go to either Cozumel or Playa, checkout Can-Do Maps and travel guides. I don't have any stake in the business, just used them for the past 6 years. They are the best and most up to date travel guides for the area.

Thanks for the info.....I will look into playa as well

 

[mohave_steve]

I traveled to Belize (Ambergris Caye) with two non-divers (wife & sister) and we all had a great time. There was plenty for the two to do while I was out diving.

They did come along on the Blue Hole trip & snorkle. As a direct result my wife was inspired to get her OW (finished 3 weeks ago) and my sister is right behind her

I cannot say enough about AC to do justice. The place is simply FANTASTIC.
I have been to Cancun, PDC, PV and several other destinations in MX and none of them even come close to AC.

Wherever you go have fun, dive safe & send pictures!

 

[dvrliz1]

Bonaire IS a stunning place to both snorkel and dive! Everyone says that there is nothing else to do on Bonaire, but that is not true. If you want to shop 'til you drop, then Bonaire is not the place for you. If you want big crowds, an "Americanized" island, then it is not for you.

If you want to relax, enjoy, do things like mangrove kayakying, snorkeling, enjoy GREAT meals, parasail, sunset cruises, some shopping, latin music, landsail, windsurf, kitesail, horsebackriding in the sea, and so many more relaxing things then Bonaire IS the place for you. BTW, we do have a casino (small but very nice) AND WE DO HAVE A NIGHTLIFE...BELIEVE IT OR NOT....It just all starts AFTER the divers go to bed....lol....(ps. I' m a diver too!).

Liz

 

[DakotaKid]

thanks for the feedback. My wifes idea of a good time is a little shopping and a lot of time around the pool/beach reading a book. At night we like to have a few drinks and see what the locals do for fun..nothing crazy. I have my heart set on san pedro, but my wife is leery of the beaches. She does not need white powder, but would like an area to hand out in a hammock and enjoy the rays.

Choices, choices, choices.

Can you do San Pedro for $3800 or less (excluding food and beverages?)? Our airfare fro Minneapolis is around $1200-1400 for both of us leaving us $2400-$2600 for a resort.

If so what are the hotels that fall in that range?

 

[oceancat]

I have been to all three places and enjoyed the diving in all three areas. If you are of the more adventurous sort, then I would highly recommend belize--there are so many different things to do outdoors--but the beaches aren't great. They exist, but they aren't amazing. Lots of beach bars--some absolutely great! Playa del Carmen does have nice beaches and there is good drift diving. There are more stores and the most town like of the 3. I haven't been to Playacar, but I think that is more for all-inclusives. Not sure how much the hurricanes that greatly affected the southern part of of the mexico coast this summer affected up by playa. I went to bonaire last year and I loved the diving, but if you are not a diver, I think you might get bored. My husband got burned out on the dive, dive, dive mentality there. The beaches here are even less than Belize. However, you can find other things to do--we did a lot of flamingo watching and that was really cool.

 

[driftwood]

I I haven't been to Playacar, but I think that is more for all-inclusives. Not sure how much the hurricanes that greatly affected the southern part of of the mexico coast this summer affected up by playa.

Playacar is adjoining Playa del Carmen to the south of the main part of town. Some of the northern resorts are in easy walking distance of 5th Ave., the main shopping and restaurant area, but the southern ones justify taking a cab. Virtually all the hotel rooms there are in large AI's and most of the rental condo's are in Playacar

The hurricane track you have to watch was Wilma. It destroyed Cozumel, Puerto Morelos was hit VERY hard (the car ferry ended up about 30 yards from the water, very impressive to see a ship that big beached like that) and Cancun was hit hard. It actually helped Playa by building up the beaches. Can't say what Wilma did to the diving, our '06 trip was spent to the south in Akumal area and diving the cenotes.

On a side note, our local media reported yesterday that Viva Aerobus, http://www.vivaaerobus.com/?lng=2e8356f8-1dae-4cb3-9387-8b89101a0cb5, just got Federal approval to fly from Austin to Cancun next year. It was reported that they will offer daily service for around $200rt which is one hell of a good price.

 

[Scuba Sweetie]

Go to Coz. Your wife can relax on the beach, and the dive op will pick you up right from your hotel beach. Can't get any more convenient than that.