Endless summer in Diving

[profmason]

I have been enjoying doing 2-3 weeks at a time 4x per year solo dive travel for the last few years. My modus has been to fly to a place, stay in a hostel (better to meet folks), do 10 dives a week (boat or shore) while trying to get to know the area a bit, ie hiking, mountain climbing, surfing, museums etc. While I like and have experience with long term solo travel (Through hiking PCT), now that I am getting to early retirement (50s), I am planning some longer term dive travel. My Spanish is barely good enough to talk with taxi drivers about their families, and my Thai can keep me fed in rural areas. Growing up in LA surf culture, endless summer was a big inspiration. I am looking for input on how to plan an endless summer of diving.

Goals:

1. Comfortable water (>78 F)
2. Avoid high season / crowds
3. Comfortable air temperature (Highs < 85)
4. Avoid monsoons / hurricanes / things that prevent diving.
5. Avoid lots of 24 hour flights (Was commuting to shanghai from LA before covid)

Here is what I have come up with so far based on places I have been and research so far. I plan to start this June and spend roughly a month in each place.

June: Ecuador mainland/ Galapagos
July: Columbia
August: Costa Rica / Bonaire
September: Indonesia
October: Thailand
November: Philippines
December: Florida / Los Angeles (Family Holidays)
January: Dominican Republic
February: Mexico (Cozumel / Cenotes)
March: Belize / Honduras
April: Spain
May: Egypt

I know there are lots of great places I have missed (will have to plan year two after year one!) I have been deliberately vague in most cases about where I would be diving in that country as I am trying to work out temps / crowds / hurricanes first.

I would love input from anyone to tell me why that month is a terrible choice or why another country next door is a better place to spend a month diving.

Cheers,
mason

 

[Rob9876]

Wow, sounds awesome! I can't add too much knowledge on those places, but here are 2 comments plus a question:

August: might be worth adding Curacao to that list as a next-door neighbor to Bonaire that usually has better/cheaper flights, and more topside activities than Bonaire, and like Bonaire is usually a safe bet during hurrican season.

February: yes, Cozumel would be a good choice then, though there's always some possibility of getting blown out (if you are lucky with planning you might hit the cenotes on choppy sea days).

April: my question, does Spain in April meet your warmth requirement (you said >78F)? I really don't know -- thought the water there would only be that warm later in the summer, but I could be wrong.

In any event, sounds great!

 

[Knockneed Man]

Well first off I’m jealous! But also Hawaii would of course work in any month

 

[profmason]

Thanks for the replies.

"August: might be worth adding Curacao to that list as a next-door neighbor to Bonaire that usually has better/cheaper flights, and more topside activities than Bonaire, and like Bonaire is usually a safe bet during hurrican season."

I think that is a good year two plan and will definitely add it to the list.. I like to stay in one place for a while.
"February: yes, Cozumel would be a good choice then, though there's always some possibility of getting blown out (if you are lucky with planning you might hit the cenotes on choppy sea days)."

I love cozumel / Yucatan in February. It gets hot and sticky later in the year. I have typically lost one day in 10 during the winter in cozumel. The new port authority seems better about keeping it open.

"April: my question, does Spain in April meet your warmth requirement (you said >78F)? I really don't know -- thought the water there would only be that warm later in the summer, but I could be wrong."

Thanks for catching this. I have only been to Spain in July / August and per a quick look it will definitely be cold in April for my plans. I think I will switch to mozambique for April since the water is warm enough and the rainy season is over.

"But also Hawaii would of course work in any month"

True. I have visited twice, but after that I haven't wanted to spend a month living in Hawaii.