Diving locations for extended weekend

[badger70]

I live in Colorado and I am looking for recommendations for places to dive on an extended weekend (four days including travel- travel friday, dive saturday and sunday, return late Monday evening). I am a new diver and so want something suited for a beginner. I also much prefer warm water (not the lakes that are freezing even in summer).

Places I am considering:

The Florida Keys- I had always thought about Key West, but some of the reading on the boards indicates that Key West isn't the best. That Key Looe and even the up keys are better. What do people think?

Mainland florida (Miami/Ft. Lauderdale- Any opinions?

Cozumel/Cancun- Is the time frame above sufficient to pull these off?

Any other ideas.

Thanks

 

[Diveral]

Cozumel is doable and will probably cost less than the Keys. I believe you will need a passsport now. The Keys is also a great place to dive. Fly into Miami and Dive Key Largo to Marathon Key.

http://www.scubacozumel.com/index1.html
http://www.bayadventures.com/cozumel/main.htm

 

[BurBunny]

No passport needed to Cozumel for US Citizens until Jan 1, 2007. From Colorado, easy to get there on Frontier (non-stop), though they don't fly on Fridays or Monday right now. However other airlines, such as American through Dallas, Continental through Houston and Delta through Atlanta are fairly easy. Some of the local dive shops even run weekend trips for certifications. Check on www.divecolorado.com for a partial list of trips.

 

[JMdiver]

First off a passport is needed for any travel out of the states at all now. Key Largo is pretty good, John Pennekemp Coral Reef State Park which is an underwater preserve is there & the diving is great.

Happy Diving
John

 

[duckster3d]

Hatteras NC. is good spot, great diving, warm clear water, lots of sharks, and other great sea life.

 

[sitka diver]

What about diving in Ak jump in your drysuit and enjoy yourself...

 

[StSomewhere]

I'd recommend flying into FLL vs MIA since its usually less expensive. Rent a car and drive down to Key Largo, you'll have lots of options for dive ops from there all the way down to KW. If you plan thing right you should be able get four dives a day in, easy, plus the odd night dive, as long as your exposure protection holds out and you don't get too chilled. Looe Key has awesome marine life. I'm also a big fan of French Reef and Molasses Reef near Key Largo.

 

[RadRob]

First off a passport is needed for any travel out of the states at all now. Key Largo is pretty good, John Pennekemp Coral Reef State Park which is an underwater preserve is there & the diving is great.

Happy Diving
John

Wrong...

When will the Travel Initiative be implemented?

In the proposed implementation plan, which is subject to a period of initial public comment, the Initiative will be rolled out in phases, providing as much advance notice as possible to the affected public to enable them to meet the terms of the new guidelines. The proposed timeline will be as follows:

December 31, 2006 – Requirement applied to all air and sea travel to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.
December 31, 2007 – Requirement extended to all land border crossings as well as air and sea travel.
I thought there was an additional phase to be implemented on December 31, 2005. Is this a change?

In April 2005, the Departments of State (DOS) and Homeland Security (DHS) announced a proposed plan to be implemented in three phases beginning on December 31, 2005 for the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. After further review and considering the delay in publishing the public notice in the Federal Register, DOS and DHS recognized that implementing the December 31, 2005, phase would be problematic for travelers during the upcoming winter tourism season. This change will simplify the implementation and provide a longer lead-time for travelers to come into compliance with the requirements.

 

[BurBunny]

I'd recommend flying into FLL vs MIA since its usually less expensive.

From Denver, most often it's less expensive to fly into Ft. Lauderdale than to Miami because of our Frontier Airlines. More of the "discount" airlines fly to Ft. Lauderdale, and from here, we even get non-stops. The non-stops from here to MIA are on United and AA only and tend to be tres expensive.

 

[save-money-diving]

You can find some options here:

Save-Money-Diving.com