Just Returned from Another Coz Trip, Looking for New Dive Destinations

[Guitarcrazy]

My wife and I just returned from another fun trip to Cozumel. We have been going 2 to 3 times a year for the past 3 years. We always love Cozumel, but are looking for other places that would give a similar level of dive quality and value. We have been diving in Puerto Vallarta in Roatan, which we liked, but are thinking of venturing somewhere new. We will probably only be able to do 8 to 9 days total as my wife doesn't like leaving the pets for too long. We looked at Egypt and other more exotic destinations but when you factor in 4 days to travel there and back at a minimum, it means we will spend almost as much time in transit as we spend diving. Is there another spot that will offer the same mix of great diving and reasonable cost that Mexico and Roatan offer? Thanks in advance.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Little Cayman Island (not Grand Cayman) is my busman's holiday. Very quiet and nice reef but only 2 miles long so in one week you can see it all. You will miss the current!

Dave Dillehay

 

[flyboy08]

I’m looking into little corn island for our next adventure....check it out.

 

[nippurmagnum]

Big Island in Hawaii. Kona has fantastic shore diving, night dives with manta rays, tiger and hammerhead sharks, turtle cleaning stations, etc. It’s a 6 hour flight from California. You could fly to San Diego or LA for a couple days of kelp/sea lion diving, then fly to Kona for 5-6 days. If money is a consideration, stick to shore diving (except the manta dive), rent an Airbnb, and get your car rental, food and gas from Costco.

 

[ibj40]

Puerto Rico, Costa Rica (the Pacific side), Riviera Maya (and do both ocean and cenotes)?

 

[reefseeker2]

Save your money for Indonesia.. you will never go back to the Caribbean - Raja Ampat - Komodo no place as good on this planet. I go at least 1 or 2 times a year for the last 20 years, never get tired of it. If you need more tips let me know.
here pictures from last week..
White Manta 2019 - reefseeker

 

[ReefHound]

Being a Cozumel forum you'll get a lot of Cozumel bias. But it's also one of the busiest destination forums because it has a large number of repeat visitors. By end of today, you may well have received a dozen replies from those who have been there 5x or more. In most other forumes you'd be lucky to get 2.

So your criteria is quality and value, which can be defined a million different ways. One big component is airfare and schedule. People complain about $500 airfare into CZM but most places are higher and you can easily get to Coz thru CUN which has lower airfares. I just booked into CUN for $160RT. I can't do that for any other dive destination in the world. And once you get to Coz, prices for hotels, restaurants, and dive charters are about as low as any place in the Caribbean. Ease of getting to (from Houston, non-stop 2-hour flights) and total vacation cost makes Coz very attractive.

Inside the Caribbean, you might look at Costa Rica. You can fly direct and cheap to Liberia, dive quality is good (but colder water and lower viz), and hotel/food costs are low. Ambergris or Caulker in Belize are also a good value with good diving. But if you're goal is max diving, you can get lower cost per dive in places like Roatan, Curacao, or Bonaire because you can do 4-5 dives per day.

Outside the Caribbean, I'd say Red Sea and Philippines are even cheaper once you get there. As you pointed out, the transit times are longer so you really need to allocate 12-14 days minimum for them. From Houston, Red Sea flights run about $1200-1500 and 30 hours travel time while Philippines run $800-1000 and 24 hours travel time.

 

[GameChanger]

I would take a serious look at Grand Cayman. Specifically the East Side that is more laid back and go with Ocean Frontiers. They have brand new top of the line boats and they offer complimentary valet service if you like. They have a ton of feedback here in the Grand Cayman Community . They have their own nice hotel right on-site too.

It's more expensive than Coz, but it's more hi-end too. Everyone speaks English and dollars are welcome but they get you on the exchange rate that is the same everywhere on the island.

GC diving is some of the best in the world IMO. Lots of big critters on every dive. More so than Coz IMO. The water temps and clarity are as good if not better than Coz too. I rotate my dive trips between GC & Coz.

 

[ReefHound]

My second fave trip was staying at Compass Pointe and diving with Ocean Frontiers in Grand Cayman. You can also do some shore dives to increase dive count and keep costs under control. From Houston, it's a $3000 ballpark trip.

My top fave was staying in Puerto Galera and Anilao in the Philippines. From Houston, it's a $2000 ballpark trip.

The wildcard here is how the OP defines similar level of value. Also the importance in easy logistics.

 

[mikeycanuk]

Little Cayman is $$$ and there isn’t much on the island. Did the Brac twice, nice but boring otherwise.

don’t forget to factor the puddle jumper flight cost in too.