First trip to the Caribbean ?

[Malene]

I am planning to spend one week at the end of November or beginning of December in the Carribean. Never been there before. I dived several times in the Red Sea, went to Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia. Now I'd like to try something different.
I would prefer a liveaboard, mainly because I like to dive a lot and because I am travelling solo and the price of accommodation for single is really expensive.
I like all kind of dives, except wrecks...
So any suggestion would be welcome.
Thanks

 

[Manuel Sam]

Not intending to be disparaging towards Caribbean dive destinations, since I dove there for many years and still dive there on occasions, but I think that after one trip there, you may decide that you've seen all that you wanted to see, especially when you compare them to the dive destinations that you have done in the past.

The Caribbean, for the most part, has very clear and beautiful waters along with lush coral reefs in some places, but because it is a younger body of water than the Pacific, it will never match the the colors, the diversity, and the abundance that you have seen in the Red Sea and the Indo-Pacific.

As far as liveaboards in the Caribbean and general vicinity, I would say the Caribbean Explorer that visits Saba, St. Kitts, Nevis and maybe Statia will probably give you a very good sampling of Caribbean diving, with a good mix of pinnacle, wall, and coral garden diving. Turks and Caicos Aggressor and Cayman Aggressor are also good, and if you want to venture into Central America, there are the Utila Aggressor and the Belize Aggressor. There are liveaboards that dive the Bahamas, altho I'm not too crazy about them because they pack waaay too many people in them.

This area does offer a number of unique underwater experiences that are quite appealing to divers from all over:

(1) snorkeling with humpback whales in the Silver Banks between the Dominican Republic and Turks and Caicos between January and March. You can do this on the Turks and Caicos Aggressor, one of the Nekton boats and the Peter Hughes Wind Dancer.

(2) snorkeling with wild spotted dolphins in the Bahamas. There are a number of boats departing out of Florida that do this, along with one boat out of Bimini. One of the sister boats to the Caribbean Explorer offers a trip that combines some diving with some dolphin snorkeling.

(3) the shark feed dives in the Bahamas, where it is possible to see tigers, great hammerheads, lemons, bulls, and on some trips, oceanic white tips. There are three liveaboards that I know of that depart from Florida to do these types of dives.

 

[don Francisco]

If you can find a live-aboard that plies farther south, and visits Dominica, or the Grenadines and other islands in that area, you'll be rewarded with high quality Caribbean diving. These islands have larger shelves or undersea pinacles and the current patterns make for excellent diving conditions, with (usually) better visibility than you'll find to the north.

Another excellent option is off Honduras or Belize, where the constant northerly flow brings fresh, clear water and nutrients to the reefs.

Also consider Bonaire, kind of an on land live-aboard experience.

That's not to say the diving isn't great in the Caymans, the BVI, Saba/ Stacia, the Turks, or Puerto Rico. Check out all the possibilities, each has it's own unique characteristics, and have a great trip to the one that most suits your taste.