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

[DandyDon]

Your videos will not play for me. A clip shows then black screen with music. All 3 are like that.

They all work. The problem is on your end.

 

[chillyinCanada]

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.

San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, Belize can be had quite reasonably or more depending upon budget. Whacks of restaurants, almost everyone of them is very good. There are beach bars of all sorts and sizes and forms of entertainment. You can rent a golf cart and ride all over town and all the way south on the island, and quite far north for exploring.

The diving is not like Cozumel but does have some great tongue and groove formations. There are sites with soft waving corals and more often than not, nurse sharks hanging out with the divers. Truly a beautiful creature. Turtles. Etc. Sadly there aren't as many fish as there used to be. Double whammy of lionfish infestation and poaching fisherman from Honduras and Guatemala but it's a great place for an all around vacation.

 

[chillyinCanada]

They all work. The problem is on your end.

I've never experienced such before ever. Perhaps because I'm in Canada?

 

[KathyV]

I've never experienced such before ever. Perhaps because I'm in Canada?

They work for me, sometimes it helps to try a different browser.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Wow, twas on my end. I restarted and bingo

 

[mcohen1021]

Did you dive Ras Mohamed?

(I don't like wrecks either but you and I seem to be in the minority)

We did the Thistlegorn, Numidia and Aida.

Yeah, wrecks just don't do it for me... I didnt even swim into the Thistlegorn. It was however pretty dang cold down there and I was only in a 1.5 mil long sleeve top. I was the only one on the trip without a full suit, but that was the only time i was cold, and I just stayed above it.

 

[tmassey]

Yeah, wrecks just don't do it for me... I didnt even swim into the Thistlegorn.

if you don’t like the Thistlegorm, you don’t like wrecks, period. About the only thing it’s missing for some people is it isn’t made of wood. Its big but not too big. It’s a natural wreck. Its upright. It’s got plenty of penetration but easy to get in and out, all kinds of cool machinery, 1940’s trucks, motorcycles, etc. Even a locomotive out in the sand!

Which is fine: wrecks are not for everyone, But the Thistlegorm is pretty darn far up the bad/good wreck dive scale...

For wreck divers, the Thistlegorm is with the trip. But for a reef diver only used to the Caribbean, the reefs were a revelation. Very different — make sure you pay attention to navigation. The tricks and skills you’ve learned for that in the Caribbean no longer apply....

 

[mcohen1021]

if you don’t like the Thistlegorm, you don’t like wrecks, period.

make sure you pay attention to navigation. The tricks and skills you’ve learned for that in the Caribbean no longer apply....

It's not that I dislike them, it's just that it makes no difference whether I see it or not. I did Thistle, the kittywake, oro verde, the cozumel airplane way back when. It's fine, it give me something to look at...

btw - navigation at the brothers is way easy... swim to the wall, take a right/left, go till you hit 2000 psi, turn around and go back... when you get back to the boat, hang out and wait for the silkys or oceanic white tips

 

[ReefHound]

Very different — make sure you pay attention to navigation. The tricks and skills you’ve learned for that in the Caribbean no longer apply....

Just curious... what's different? The trick I learned in the Caribbean is the pointy end of my compass needle points north. So far, I've found my navigation skills to work well in all parts of the world.

 

[doogisar]

San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, Belize can be had quite reasonably or more depending upon budget. Whacks of restaurants, almost everyone of them is very good. There are beach bars of all sorts and sizes and forms of entertainment. You can rent a golf cart and ride all over town and all the way south on the island, and quite far north for exploring.

The diving is not like Cozumel but does have some great tongue and groove formations. There are sites with soft waving corals and more often than not, nurse sharks hanging out with the divers. Truly a beautiful creature. Turtles. Etc. Sadly there aren't as many fish as there used to be. Double whammy of lionfish infestation and poaching fisherman from Honduras and Guatemala but it's a great place for an all around vacation.

I totally agree, we were back in Ambergris again in summer 2016 after being there 5 times from 2011. The tongue and groove formations or fingers are my favorite, there used to be a lot of very large black groupers and smaller tropical fish but has since disappeared. San Pedro is still a nice place to visit and ok diving but we have been looking else where like Turneffe.