Cozumel versus Roatan or Bonaire

[marcus8]

Visted Roatan once in '03 for an 8 nighter at an all inclusive, the now defunct Bay Island Beach Resort. The diving was so devoid of sea life compared to Coz, I couldn't help but wonder why I didn't choose Coz every time we descended. The resort was nice and there were some interesting dives.....West End Wall and the big wreck up north (Odyssey I believe), and I have to agree that the price was very good. But the airfare on Taca plus a brutal flight more than made up for any savings we incurred. Plus the bugs ate us alive in Roatan despite constant spraying, something that is typically a relatively small issue for us in Coz. I've been to Coz over a dozen times since then and have no plans to ever return to Roatan. Now Bonaire? Need to see that place soon I think.....

 

[shardison]

Visited Roatan in 2008 as my first dive destination. I was doing my check out dives there for the first 3 days or so.... Being that it was my first trip "anywhere" I totally loved Roatan... However, I had nothing to compare it too!
I stayed in West Bay and Foster's Resort (low-low budget) and was happy with our accomodations (I didn't need much) We dove with the house Op (Anemona Divers). The only coral that I saw that wasn't bleched out, broken off, or found all kinds of trash scattered about, was the West End Wall.

After visiting Coz in 2011 It became CRYSTAL clear to me what a healthy(ier) reef sytem looked like. Not to mention the enormous size of of fish life etc...
IMO Coz has the biggest bang for your buck, and doesn't seem to have nearly the bug problems of Roatan. I actually just priced going to Roatan VS Cozumel and found that I still wind up better off going to Coz rather than Roatan.

 

[tracydr]

I've usually paid about $650 for airfare to Bonaire. Each time I've looked for airfare to Cozumel,its been about the same. The trick is, there's only one flight to Bonaire a week and you have to fly through Houston. Otherwise you're going to spend a fortune and overnight in Florida or Puerto Rico, plus change flights on another island, Aruba or Curacao, I think.The first time we went, we didn't know this and I made this mistake. We stay in a house/condo so that we have a small kitchen which saves money because we prefer to eat in, since we don't go there to eat. So, we don't spend a bunch of money on food. We often eat lunch at Buddy Dive but eat breakfast and dinner at our place. Or, we pack a lunch to take with us diving and eat dinner out, before our night dive. We buy wine/beer at the grocery store so never spend much on alcohol,either.
Our average house cost has been $125 and includes truck, unlimited nitrox for two people. Everday, we would just load the truck and go dive.
however, we never chose to go boat diving or to take a guided shore dive. We are self sufficient, even on the more difficult dives in the on the farther ends of the island, so we have plenty of variety. We even enjoy night dives to more remote spots and dives up in the park by ourself, which apparently most people pay a guide or boat to do.
It doesn't get much cheaper than that!
Last time, my parents even stayed with us our second week so it ended up really cheap, although they don't dive. Still, they snorkeled, fished and had a wonderful time. No additional cost.
We typically average 4 dives a day but we have done as many as 5, as few as 3.
Haven't been to Roatan,yet. We love shore diving so we continue to return to Bonaire. However, I want to do cave training so we'll be doing some other trips soon.
We also enjoy Catalina and I'm trying to talk hubby into Puget Sound or British Columbia, since I loved learning to dive up in the Olympia area.
I do love diving Hawaii because of the shore diving as well but the last time there we noticed the reef life didn't seem very healthy or abundant.
Coz is great but we just don't enjoy being on somebody else's schedule to make the boat on time each day.
When I lived in Southern OK, it was a no-brainier. Flights from Dallas are very cheap to Coz and the packages were incredible. From Phoenix, not so much.

 

[bbarada]

I've been to all 3: Cozumel, Roatan and Bonaire. The shore diving is great on Bonaire, but the shore diving is great at CoCo View too. We stay at Scuba Club and the shore diving is good too; but it doesn't compare to Bonaire and CoCo View. I agree that fish life and the coral diversity is better in Cozumel than the other two. CoCo View is mainly macro stuff. We're going back to CoCo View next March. We're going to Scuba Club in late August for 2 weeks. We're probably going to Scuba Club next July so we can take a day and swim with the whale sharks in Isla Mujeres.

 

[tejasdiver]

I been to all three, and Cozumel is by far the least expensive trip for me. Seems like there is always a pretty good deal available traveling from Texas. I think all 3 locations offers a different kind of vacation. I enjoy all three, but do go to Cozumel more frequently because its just easy.

 

[Skittl1321]

I've usually paid about $650 for airfare to Bonaire.

That definitely makes it a better deal. I've always wanted to go to Bonaire, but the flights have stopped me everytime. The cheapest I can find is $750 and that requires an overnight in Atlanta. It doesn't appear possible to leave my airport early enough to make a flight to Bonaire without getting to the connecting airport a day early. Other options cost as much as $1,000+ and involve 3 different plane changes, and while no overnight in an airport, an overnight flight.

 

[ronscuba]

Air costs vary greatly depending on the where you live and where you are flying to. If total trip costs are a big factor for you, it's not hard to do a comparison. The answer on which is cheapest and where the cost differences are, should be pretty clear.

Is a similar post to this in the Roatan and Bonaire sections ? Each destination has their loyal fans who prefer one over another. I've been to all three and for me, Bonaire ranks 3rd.

If qty of dives was high on my list, the best comparison would be Scuba Club Cozumel vs. Cocoview Roatan vs. Bonaire.

 

[Lorenzoid]

That definitely makes it a better deal. I've always wanted to go to Bonaire, but the flights have stopped me everytime. The cheapest I can find is $750 and that requires an overnight in Atlanta. It doesn't appear possible to leave my airport early enough to make a flight to Bonaire without getting to the connecting airport a day early. Other options cost as much as $1,000+ and involve 3 different plane changes, and while no overnight in an airport, an overnight flight.

Don't feel so bad. I live in Atlanta, but I will fly to Miami or Charlotte to get to Bonaire because Delta charges us something like $1000 for the nonstop to Bonaire. But Delta charges significantly less for flights originating elsewhere and connecting here in Atlanta--Delta's hub--to that very same flight that would be a nonstop for us. Living in a major hub is great for air travel if you're wealthy.

 

[ronscuba]

Don't feel so bad. I live in Atlanta, but I will fly to Miami or Charlotte to get to Bonaire because Delta charges us something like $1000 for the nonstop to Bonaire. But Delta charges significantly less for flights originating elsewhere and connecting here in Atlanta--Delta's hub--to that very same flight that would be a nonstop for us. Living in a major hub is great for air travel if you're wealthy.

My sister lives in Charlotte and see's that for direct flights too. I fly out of NY and most times I fly cheaper.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Yep, Delta has wonderful nonstops out of Atlanta to Cozumel, Roatan AND Bonaire--a bonanza for well-heeled Atlanta divers. But to me they are horrifically expensive--almost the cost of a flight to Europe. Unless we're able to pay with Skymiles, we take an indirect route, often not on Delta, like ATL-MIA-CUR-BON. Connecting in CUR can be fun ... unless your luggage accidentally takes a two-day side-trip to Venezuela without you. But I digress.