I'm taking off 3wks, visiting South America at the end of the year (Dec 20-Jan 11th), visiting family on Colombia.
Talked spouse into breaking trip up (between Bogota & Cali) with 8days dedicated diving in Carib.
Settled on Roatan, thanks to oustanding advice/discussions here on SB (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...providencia-end-year-1st-week-jan-2014-a.html).
Re: Side trip after flying into Cali
Will be visiting family north of Cali (Tulua area), for about 10days. Being greedy to fit more diving in, I was looking at Gorgona Island - possibly leaving from Buenaventura. Family could stay a few days in Buenaventura enjoying coast & I could do some dives off Gorgona Island.
Re: Gorgona Island ( somewhere between Jan 2nd & Jan 10th)
Temp - I know it'll be cooler that time of year, but I'm used to chilly waters. Saw it can be as low as 15C (59F) so instead of packing 5mm, might rent a 7mm?
Off-season (?) - See this as off-season but hoping there's still dive boats (live-aboard?)? Again, don't mind colder temp - still warmer than home here in BC (48F).
I also saw mention of a dive center in Buenaventura, Gorgona Padi Diving Center?, but after quick searches haven't found dive shops yet.
Logistics questions - anyone know :
Is Gorgona is dived in early Jan?
Is possible to do a short(er) excursion? I found live-aboard diving for **$890 (4 days, 2 days diving?)
I saw there's a 2hr high-speed boat ride to the island, leaving from Guapi. If I can dive from island this might be cheaper/more convenient (save 1day motoring each way on live-aboard?) & still get 2days of diving.
**Roatan is $888 for 8days, so probably getting ~30 dives in there for same price as ~8 dives off Gorgona for $890?
Schedule I found (2014), guessing might be repeat in 2015:
http://pacific-diving.com/liveaboards/gorgona-island-liveaboard/
I'm probably being greedy here trying to get in some extra diving while in South America (Colombia), but Gorgona does look interesting.
If my only options is a repeat of the 2014 live-aboard schedule ( Jan 4-7 ), that probably won't work.
Sister-in-law, from Bogota, mentioned interest in visiting the island next year, so could always plan diving it then.
Anyhow... as always - input/ideas is much appreciated.
Doug
Talked spouse into breaking trip up (between Bogota & Cali) with 8days dedicated diving in Carib.
Settled on Roatan, thanks to oustanding advice/discussions here on SB (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...providencia-end-year-1st-week-jan-2014-a.html).
Re: Side trip after flying into Cali
Will be visiting family north of Cali (Tulua area), for about 10days. Being greedy to fit more diving in, I was looking at Gorgona Island - possibly leaving from Buenaventura. Family could stay a few days in Buenaventura enjoying coast & I could do some dives off Gorgona Island.
Re: Gorgona Island ( somewhere between Jan 2nd & Jan 10th)
Temp - I know it'll be cooler that time of year, but I'm used to chilly waters. Saw it can be as low as 15C (59F) so instead of packing 5mm, might rent a 7mm?
Off-season (?) - See this as off-season but hoping there's still dive boats (live-aboard?)? Again, don't mind colder temp - still warmer than home here in BC (48F).
I also saw mention of a dive center in Buenaventura, Gorgona Padi Diving Center?, but after quick searches haven't found dive shops yet.
Logistics questions - anyone know :
Is Gorgona is dived in early Jan?
Is possible to do a short(er) excursion? I found live-aboard diving for **$890 (4 days, 2 days diving?)
I saw there's a 2hr high-speed boat ride to the island, leaving from Guapi. If I can dive from island this might be cheaper/more convenient (save 1day motoring each way on live-aboard?) & still get 2days of diving.
**Roatan is $888 for 8days, so probably getting ~30 dives in there for same price as ~8 dives off Gorgona for $890?
Schedule I found (2014), guessing might be repeat in 2015:
http://pacific-diving.com/liveaboards/gorgona-island-liveaboard/
I'm probably being greedy here trying to get in some extra diving while in South America (Colombia), but Gorgona does look interesting.
If my only options is a repeat of the 2014 live-aboard schedule ( Jan 4-7 ), that probably won't work.
Sister-in-law, from Bogota, mentioned interest in visiting the island next year, so could always plan diving it then.
Anyhow... as always - input/ideas is much appreciated.
Doug