Easy to get to ocean dives from middle of nowhere Colorado?

[FaithC]

A friend of mine finished her coursework and wants to travel to do her checkout dives. She lives near Montrose, CO and is looking for suggestions of dive locations that aren't going to be too much travel time or expense. We are pricing and timing out FL Keys but thought I'd ask for other ideas.

Thanks!
Faith

 

[boulderjohn]

Many people think that Colorado's official state motto is "We're just a plane flight away from great scuba!" That is a myth, but it does reflect reality. Colorado is every year ranked among the tops in the United States in the number of divers per capita, so those divers must be going somewhere.

Probably the most popular dive travel site for us is Cozumel. We can usually get pretty cheap flights, and the lodging and diving there is very reasonable. I once heard someone suggest that we should try to make Cozumel a state park.

The rest of the Yucatan peninsula is also very easy to get to and very reasonable in price. My most recent trips have been to Akumal, were there is reasonable diving in the nearby ocean (especially for beginners) and easy access to the vast cave system for the more advanced divers.

If you shop around, you can get very good deals on flights to Florida. My wife and I go there for a couple months every winter, and this year my son and his family joined us there for a week using astonishingly cheap flights--I am talking about $100 each round trip.

 

[mmmbelows]

We are pricing and timing out FL Keys but thought I'd ask for other ideas.

Thanks!
Faith

I was going to ask you to define what exactly 'too much' meant to your friend. But since you said you're considering the keys in Florida then I'm assuming it means a flight is part of the possibility.

If that's the case then there are direct flights to Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo, Miami, Ft Lauderdale... those are all quick and easy to reach with warm water diving available, California is also a quick direct flight, but the water is pretty cold for a newbie. After those it's the next tier which involves a connection flight usually out of Houston or Miami which opens up the entire Caribbean : Roatan, Belize, Grand Cayman, Bonaire..... and all the rest of the dozens and dozens of places known with good diving.

 

[iamrushman]

wouldn't Hawaii be closer?

 

[boulderjohn]

wouldn't Hawaii be closer?

Not at all. Believe it or not, Hawai'i is much farther from Colorado than is the east coast.

 

[2airishuman]

I was really happy with some recent dives in western South Dakota.

 

[boulderjohn]

I was really happy with some recent dives in western South Dakota.

many people underestimate travel distances in the West. From Montrose to Sioux City, SD is more than a 12 hour drive. Now, for me it is only about half that--what kind of diving are you talking about there?

 

[boulderjohn]

Here is an interesting attraction close to Montrose. The family that owns it is really into diving, and they are actually in the process of building a lake for diving.
HOME

 

[diversteve]

Southwest recently started flying to Belize City - I thought one of the (planned) origins was Denver. Ambergris Key is a short ferry/plane ride from BZE. Welcome to Belize! Ambergris Caye Island Vacations

 

[2airishuman]

many people underestimate travel distances in the West. From Montrose to Sioux City, SD is more than a 12 hour drive. Now, for me it is only about half that--what kind of diving are you talking about there?

I figured about six hours from Boulder, yes. Still closer than, say, Cozumel.

Here's my writeup on the dives there: Lake Pactola in the Black Hills of South Dakota