Late August/Early September Getaway from Norcal

[beth_castroll]

All-

I am looking for a 7-11 day get away from SFO for 5 plus days of 2 tank dives.
I fear Cancun/Cozumel/Carribean due to Hurricanes. Hawaii is down right expensive.
I'm looking to spend roughly 1100 per person including diving, airfare and stay.
I also do not want to have to wear a full on wetsuit in mid summers so SoCal is not in the picture. Any left coast options offering discount incentives for the down trodden economy diver?

thanks,

Beth

 

[--tom--]

How many people? Do they all dive? How rustic are you willing to live? How many days of the 7-11 are you willing be traveling?

 

[RJP]

I'm looking to spend roughly 1100 per person including diving, airfare and stay.

That's pretty funny - please let me know what you turn up!

 

[Scared Silly]

Your best bet is Cabo ... but still probably will not make the $1100 unless you drive and camp.

 

[RJP]

Your best bet is Cabo ... but still probably will not make the $1100 unless you drive and camp.

...and avoid eating and drinking!

 

[robint]

All-

I am looking for a 7-11 day get away from SFO for 5 plus days of 2 tank dives.
I fear Cancun/Cozumel/Carribean due to Hurricanes. Hawaii is down right expensive.
I'm looking to spend roughly 1100 per person including diving, airfare and stay.
I also do not want to have to wear a full on wetsuit in mid summers so SoCal is not in the picture. Any left coast options offering discount incentives for the down trodden economy diver?

thanks,

Beth

 

[diversteve]

If you are willing to chance a hurricane...

Coz is a pretty good deal right now. You can do 10 days at Villablanca Garden Beach - single occupancy including airfare on AA from SFO for $999 total not including airport transfer. Includes a daily American breakfast.

Two diveops on/next to the property but you'll have to pay extra for your dives.

Look it up on Orbitz. I used August 6-16th as mid-week arrivals are typically cheaper.

The price includes a $200 Orbitz discount code, PM me if you're interested, I'm not going to post it here as it's probably limited and I'm probably using it in September - we're going Labor Day week.

 

[diversteve]

You might look at Curacao also - not sure about flights from SFO - but it's out of the hurricane belt and easier to get to than Bonaire mid-week. We did about 8 or 9 days there and it didn't cost me more than about $1700 for everything, but I wasn't on a budget.

I know one nice small apt. complex out in Lagun that rents for $65/nt - minimal cooking facilities but otherwise a nice place. You'd need a car to stay there as it's a little remote - about 1/2 hr. back to Willemsted - but it's well secured and quiet at night - only 8-10 units total. They have a high fence on the street side and a 60' drop to the water on the other side. I can't recall the name but if you're interested, I'll e-mail a friend who lives there.

There's a lot of shorediving in that area so you can save a lot on diving, ours was typically $10-20/day.

We also spent about 4-5 days at Piscadera Bay Resort, it was older and not as nice - a 2BR condo cost me about $450 total. It's in a resort area uphill from several big resorts, a divers/beach bar called Hooks Hut, or a 20min drive to lots of good diving in either direction. You can dive there also off Hooks Hut or the Marriott but it's a swim out to the reef. Mostly we stayed there and drove to nearby sites slightly farther west.

 

[bikefox]

Hawaii might be your best option. Plenty of shore diving which will save you alot of money. Airfare from SFO is not that expensive and you can find a room for around $100 a night. Split a car/room and shoredive and you could come close to your budget.

Another option is to drive to San Carlos Mexico. I'm not sure how long of a drive it is from San Francisco though.

 

[beth_castroll]

For you ney sayers:
RT SFO-CUN 295 per person= 590
PDC hotels 55.00 a night= 385
Diving 65 for 2 tank dive including equipment for 5 days for 2 people = 650.
That's 1085.00 for 2 people not including meals.

RT SFO-Cabo 313.00 per person non-stop = 616.00
NEW Cabo San Lucas Mexico 7 nights 350
Home 5 days of 2 tank dives for 2 people =325
Thanks 1291.00 for 2 people not including meals.

There are lots of vacation deals.