Favorite dive spots-reasonable distance

[kristen8416]

Any recommendations for really good diving spot with nice resort that isn’t a two day trip from the US? We’ve been to the Keys, Jupiter, Grand Cayman, Eleuthera, and Bonaire. Going to Belize in May/June. We spend most of our time in Bonaire. I just want to find a place that is different than the Caribbean but can get there in a day or less. I doubt it will be different if it’s close but awesome then. We tend to be creatures of habit and frequent the same places. We usually do trips 3-4 trips per year so I need to get out of my comfort zone and get some ideas. We like to stay somewhere nice, not budget diving really. Bonaire is our budget diving. I love Bonaire but need to mix it up every so often. At some point I’m going to have to venture further out but just not up to the extended travel right now. TIA

 

[drrich2]

You said different but you didn't say how. You're in North Carolina, which is one of the places that comes to mind when I think of single-day flights but different than Caribbean diving. These are the main options I think of:

1.) North Carolina's offshore wrecks - you're already there and probably did that? If not, don't miss your local diving!

2.) Jupiter, Florida - goliath grouper aggregation in Fall or the lemon sharks in winter. If you're not opposed to shark feed diving, other times with other shark species like tiger sharks or hammerheads become options.

3.) California - granted I did a live-aboard and you guys sound like land resort folks, so I'm not sure where you'd stay, and cold water requires bundling up in neoprene (or dry suits), but how badly do you want to see seals, sea lions and kelp?

4.) If you were willing to part with the 'resort' angle, then a trip to dive Cabo Pulmo, or a live-aboard to the Socorros, would give you some serious variety. How do mantas, dolphins and maybe whale sharks grab you?

 

[GreggS]

As drrich said, NC has some great wreck diving. Wilmington, Morehead City, and Beaufort all have good dive ops. You can easily get to any of those cities in one day from Asheville. My wife and I dove a wreck called the Hyde in July with Aquatic Safaris in Wilmington. Spectacular!

 

[KathyV]

Cozumel is Caribbean diving but it is a different country with some different animals.

Have you dived in Hawaii? Very different from Florida and the Caribbean. Healthy hard corals, lots of beautiful and unusual fish, octopus that are out and about in the daytime, and big creatures - depending on the time of year you travel.

You mentioned Grand Cayman but have you enjoyed any of the great diving in the Cayman Sister Islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman? The Bloody Bay Wall off of Little Cayman is among the best diving in the Caribbean IMO.

There is excellent Caribbean diving in Roatan but the mosquitos can be terrible IMO.

Cabo and Baja are in Mexico but the diving is very different in the Sea of Cortez with sealions and other unusual creatures, but it is best from a liveaboard.

That is also true of the diving in the Turks and Caicos, lots of sharks and other large creatures but the best diving is rather distant from Provo - so a LOB is a good option.

Since you are starting from the US East Coast, you might be able to get to Sharm el Sheik in Egypt in one day to dive the northern Red Sea. We had to overnight when traveling from the Midwest. Again that is great LOB diving, but there are beautiful resorts in the Sinai and lots of day boats for diving.

 

[kristen8416]

You said different but you didn't say how. You're in North Carolina, which is one of the places that comes to mind when I think of single-day flights but different than Caribbean diving.

I guess different in that when we went to Grand Cayman after the first dive our first thought was “wow, that looked a lot like Molasses Reef”. LOL. I guess I’m some aspect the Caribbean is the Caribbean.

These are the main options I think of:

1.) North Carolina's offshore wrecks - you're already there and probably did that? If not, don't miss your local diving!

Funny, we haven’t done the NC coast but keep talking about it. When is the best time? I’m concerned about getting seasick on the way. I’ve heard some horror stories.

2.) Jupiter, Florida - goliath grouper aggregation in Fall or the lemon sharks in winter. If you're not opposed to shark feed diving, other times with other shark species like tiger sharks or hammerheads become options.

Edited for Jupiter, we’ve done it a few times and I forgot. We’ve done the Goliath and Lemon Sharks. Saw a few Bulls on the Lemon Shark migration which was cool.

3.) California - granted I did a live-aboard and you guys sound like land resort folks, so I'm not sure where you'd stay, and cold water requires bundling up in neoprene (or dry suits), but how badly do you want to see seals, sea lions and kelp?

Never thought about California. We’re open to liveaboards. Just concerned about which one. We were thinking of saving that for a really awesome trip, like the Maldives.

4.) If you were willing to part with the 'resort' angle, then a trip to dive Cabo Pulmo, or a live-aboard to the Socorros, would give you some serious variety. How do mantas, dolphins and maybe whale sharks grab you?

(See my responses to each of yours) We were looking at Cocos Island before I changed to Belize. I had also considered Socorros, but then read the thread about the Aggressor issues. I tend to go down the rabitt hole and OCD a bit, LOL. These two are definitely on our bucket list and would LOVE to see the life in these locations. Thanks for your response!

 

[kristen8416]

As drrich said, NC has some great wreck diving. Wilmington, Morehead City, and Beaufort all have good dive ops. You can easily get to any of those cities in one day from Asheville. My wife and I dove a wreck called the Hyde in July with Aquatic Safaris in Wilmington. Spectacular!

We definitely need to do the recks in NC. We could make a weekend of that. When is best? We could easily fit this in this summer.

 

[kristen8416]

Cozumel is Caribbean diving but it is a different country with some different animals.

Have you dived in Hawaii? Very different from Florida and the Caribbean. Healthy hard corals, lots of beautiful and unusual fish, octopus that are out and about in the daytime, and big creatures - depending on the time of year you travel.

You mentioned Grand Cayman but have you enjoyed any of the great diving in the Cayman Sister Islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman? The Bloody Bay Wall off of Little Cayman is among the best diving in the Caribbean IMO.

There is excellent Caribbean diving in Roatan but the mosquitos can be terrible IMO.

Cabo and Baja are in Mexico but the diving is very different in the Sea of Cortez with sealions and other unusual creatures, but it is best from a liveaboard.

That is also true of the diving in the Turks and Caicos, lots of sharks and other large creatures but the best diving is rather distant from Provo - so a LOB is a good option.

Since you are starting from the US East Coast, you might be able to get to Sharm el Sheik in Egypt in one day to dive the northern Red Sea. We had to overnight when traveling from the Midwest. Again that is great LOB diving, but there are beautiful resorts in the Sinai and lots of day boats for diving.

Great suggestions! Hawaii is on our list for “some day”. I completely forgot about the other Cayman Islands. I’ll have to add those back to my lists. I’ll have to look up Egypt. Never even thought of that or realized you could get there in a day possibly. I’m open to liveaboard but apprehensive.

 

[kristen8416]

Any thoughts on Bermuda?

 

[KathyV]

Any thoughts on Bermuda?

I've never been to Bermuda but I am sure that others have. I don't know much about the diving just that there are some wrecks.

 

[KathyV]

You've spent a lot of time in Bonaire but have you tried Curacao? It is very similar diving but nicer beaches and easier shore diving in some cases. It is also a Dutch island but it is larger and more developed than Bonaire - but there are also some more rural and out of the way areas.