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liveaboard in mid july 1000$ bahamas or mexico
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I am going to suggest something completely different but it might be an option for you. One of the cheapest places to get a lot of good diving in the western hemisphere is the Dutch island of Bonaire. It's not liveaboard diving it is primarily shore diving, and Bonaire isn't necessarily a cheap or easy place to get to or live but there are less expensive venues.
Right now the all-inclusive Plaza Resort Bonaire is offering a one-week $888 per diver special, that includes your accommodations, food, alcohol, and unlimited shore diving including Nitrox, transfers, taxes, and service charges. If you can find reasonably-priced airfare to Bonaire this might work for you.
Bonaire is very good diving and a unique place to visit - the entire island is all about diving freedom. It's a lot of fun! To experience the best of Bonaire it is advisable to rent a car or truck and that will add on some expense, but you can grab some unlimited tanks at the resort dive shop and head off down the road to find many, many shore dive locations. It is also an interesting place to explore IMO.
There is also an annual fee of $25 to dive in the marine park and a $9 departure tax to leave the country but other than that and the truck rental/fuel, most of your expenses are covered by the Plaza Resort package. But be aware that there are persistent problems with petty thievery on Bonaire and you cannot leave anything of value in your truck while you are out diving.
I have been to Bonaire several times but I have never stayed at the Plaza Resort and I have read mixed reviews about it. Below is information about the current special, I know it is not what you've asked for but I am suggesting it as a possible alternative that might work for your budget, good luck!
Plaza Resort Bonaire
20% OFF includes 7 night junior suite laguna view accommodations, 6 days of unlimited shore diving, all meals, snacks and beverages including house brand alcohol, free WiFi, scheduled entertainment, use of non-motorized watersports, airport transfers, hotel tax, and service charges. Travel through 12/18/15. Add on 6 days of 1-tank boat dives for $140 per person. From $888 per person double diver
https://www.plazaresortbonaire.eu/en
---------- Post added April 12th, 2015 at 07:00 AM ----------
Oh! Then I have been on lots of safari dive trips, thanks!
---------- Post added April 12th, 2015 at 07:32 AM ----------
Another possible land-based option for you is the Brac Reef Beach Resort on the British island of Cayman Brac.
No one would call the Caymans a cheap destination but I have taken 3 dive trips to the BRBR and I think it is a terrific bargain.
Below is their current $1590 special and it covers absolutely everything except your airfare and tips for the dive operation. You can add on a couple of night dives for an extra charge if desired.
You won't need to rent a car and the hotel provides free bicycles so that you can explore. It's an all-inclusive, small, diver-dedicated resort and the food is excellent IMO. The island is small, safe, beautiful, clean and the people are friendly. You can drink the water and eat the food without concern and the diving is very good.
At lot depends on the costs of airfare, but the Caymans are usually cheaper and easier to get to then Bonaire in my experience. I just checked the Cayman Air website and found roundtrip flights from Tampa Florida to Cayman Brac for $230 per person and that's not bad. Other airlines fly to Grand Cayman so you might get a better deal, but you will need to fly Cayman Air to get from Grand Cayman to Brac. But most major airlines will book you through to Brac because they have arrangements with CA.
Cayman Islands All Inclusive | Cayman Islands Vacations
CLEARLY CAYMAN PACKAGE
Valid for travel January 3 – December 16 2015
7 Nights Accommodations
Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Three Drinks Nightly
17 Boat Dives
Airport Ground Transfers
Free Welcome Rum Punch
Hotel Taxes & Service Fees
US $1590 per person double occupancy
---------- Post added April 12th, 2015 at 08:15 AM ----------
One last comment and then I will stop offering suggestions! You've asked a couple of times about last-minute liveaboard dive specials. I have never been to the Galapagos so I'm not familiar with the discounts you have experienced there, but I have been diving for more than 30 years and I have only gotten 2 last minute liveaboard specials in all that time (Bahamas and Hawaii) and we were lucky to find them at a time that we could use them.
In both cases, the boats had been charted by a dive club at a good price and then a couple of divers dropped out at the last minute. The other divers were desperately looking for someone to take the empty spots so they could still go on their trip as planned. But those were very rare and uncertain situations and difficult to find. I'm not saying that it's impossible to get a last minute liveaboard deal, but it is unusual and you shouldn't count on it. Sometimes dive operations and liveaboards cut their prices for low season. You will be traveling in early Summer and that is not the high season in Florida, Bahamas, and Caribbean, but it is not the low season either (August through October - hurricane season - is the low season).
I am sure that there are other opinions but I think that your best choices close to your budget are the Blackbeard's liveaboard out of Nassau (camping at sea in dormitory accomodations) or find an all-inclusive dive resort with land-based diving. Of the suggestions above, I think the BRBR on Cayman Brac is your best option, just my opinion.
There are other cheaper all-inclusive dive resorts in other locations but often they are difficult and expensive to get there and the diving/resort/food may not be as nice in my experience. Some of the really big all-inclusive luxury resorts also offer price specials that include scuba, but they are not diver-dedicated resorts and you may find yourself on a cattle boat with a lot of inexperienced divers. Good luck! Kathy
Right now the all-inclusive Plaza Resort Bonaire is offering a one-week $888 per diver special, that includes your accommodations, food, alcohol, and unlimited shore diving including Nitrox, transfers, taxes, and service charges. If you can find reasonably-priced airfare to Bonaire this might work for you.
Bonaire is very good diving and a unique place to visit - the entire island is all about diving freedom. It's a lot of fun! To experience the best of Bonaire it is advisable to rent a car or truck and that will add on some expense, but you can grab some unlimited tanks at the resort dive shop and head off down the road to find many, many shore dive locations. It is also an interesting place to explore IMO.
There is also an annual fee of $25 to dive in the marine park and a $9 departure tax to leave the country but other than that and the truck rental/fuel, most of your expenses are covered by the Plaza Resort package. But be aware that there are persistent problems with petty thievery on Bonaire and you cannot leave anything of value in your truck while you are out diving.
I have been to Bonaire several times but I have never stayed at the Plaza Resort and I have read mixed reviews about it. Below is information about the current special, I know it is not what you've asked for but I am suggesting it as a possible alternative that might work for your budget, good luck!
Plaza Resort Bonaire
20% OFF includes 7 night junior suite laguna view accommodations, 6 days of unlimited shore diving, all meals, snacks and beverages including house brand alcohol, free WiFi, scheduled entertainment, use of non-motorized watersports, airport transfers, hotel tax, and service charges. Travel through 12/18/15. Add on 6 days of 1-tank boat dives for $140 per person. From $888 per person double diver
https://www.plazaresortbonaire.eu/en
---------- Post added April 12th, 2015 at 07:00 AM ----------
Oh! Then I have been on lots of safari dive trips, thanks!
---------- Post added April 12th, 2015 at 07:32 AM ----------
Another possible land-based option for you is the Brac Reef Beach Resort on the British island of Cayman Brac.
No one would call the Caymans a cheap destination but I have taken 3 dive trips to the BRBR and I think it is a terrific bargain.
Below is their current $1590 special and it covers absolutely everything except your airfare and tips for the dive operation. You can add on a couple of night dives for an extra charge if desired.
You won't need to rent a car and the hotel provides free bicycles so that you can explore. It's an all-inclusive, small, diver-dedicated resort and the food is excellent IMO. The island is small, safe, beautiful, clean and the people are friendly. You can drink the water and eat the food without concern and the diving is very good.
At lot depends on the costs of airfare, but the Caymans are usually cheaper and easier to get to then Bonaire in my experience. I just checked the Cayman Air website and found roundtrip flights from Tampa Florida to Cayman Brac for $230 per person and that's not bad. Other airlines fly to Grand Cayman so you might get a better deal, but you will need to fly Cayman Air to get from Grand Cayman to Brac. But most major airlines will book you through to Brac because they have arrangements with CA.
Cayman Islands All Inclusive | Cayman Islands Vacations
CLEARLY CAYMAN PACKAGE
Valid for travel January 3 – December 16 2015
7 Nights Accommodations
Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Three Drinks Nightly
17 Boat Dives
Airport Ground Transfers
Free Welcome Rum Punch
Hotel Taxes & Service Fees
US $1590 per person double occupancy
---------- Post added April 12th, 2015 at 08:15 AM ----------
One last comment and then I will stop offering suggestions! You've asked a couple of times about last-minute liveaboard dive specials. I have never been to the Galapagos so I'm not familiar with the discounts you have experienced there, but I have been diving for more than 30 years and I have only gotten 2 last minute liveaboard specials in all that time (Bahamas and Hawaii) and we were lucky to find them at a time that we could use them.
In both cases, the boats had been charted by a dive club at a good price and then a couple of divers dropped out at the last minute. The other divers were desperately looking for someone to take the empty spots so they could still go on their trip as planned. But those were very rare and uncertain situations and difficult to find. I'm not saying that it's impossible to get a last minute liveaboard deal, but it is unusual and you shouldn't count on it. Sometimes dive operations and liveaboards cut their prices for low season. You will be traveling in early Summer and that is not the high season in Florida, Bahamas, and Caribbean, but it is not the low season either (August through October - hurricane season - is the low season).
I am sure that there are other opinions but I think that your best choices close to your budget are the Blackbeard's liveaboard out of Nassau (camping at sea in dormitory accomodations) or find an all-inclusive dive resort with land-based diving. Of the suggestions above, I think the BRBR on Cayman Brac is your best option, just my opinion.
There are other cheaper all-inclusive dive resorts in other locations but often they are difficult and expensive to get there and the diving/resort/food may not be as nice in my experience. Some of the really big all-inclusive luxury resorts also offer price specials that include scuba, but they are not diver-dedicated resorts and you may find yourself on a cattle boat with a lot of inexperienced divers. Good luck! Kathy
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Yes... but they are still about 3x your budget.
Which Maldives liveaboard is only $1100 for 7 days?
liverabord.. 7 days..
---------- Post added April 13th, 2015 at 08:15 AM ----------
amphibia this week only
---------- Post added April 13th, 2015 at 02:48 PM ----------
Plaza Resort Bonaire
20% OFF includes 7 night junior suite laguna view accommodations, 6 days of unlimited shore diving, all meals, snacks and beverages including house brand alcohol, free WiFi, scheduled entertainment, use of non-motorized watersports, airport transfers, hotel tax, and service charges. Travel through 12/18/15. Add on 6 days of 1-tank boat dives for $140 per person. From $888 per person double diver
https://www.plazaresortbonaire.eu/en
i couldnt get this web attached to chack
where is it and what airfair they are including in?
---------- Post added April 13th, 2015 at 08:15 AM ----------
amphibia this week only
---------- Post added April 13th, 2015 at 02:48 PM ----------
Plaza Resort Bonaire
20% OFF includes 7 night junior suite laguna view accommodations, 6 days of unlimited shore diving, all meals, snacks and beverages including house brand alcohol, free WiFi, scheduled entertainment, use of non-motorized watersports, airport transfers, hotel tax, and service charges. Travel through 12/18/15. Add on 6 days of 1-tank boat dives for $140 per person. From $888 per person double diver
https://www.plazaresortbonaire.eu/en
i couldnt get this web attached to chack
where is it and what airfair they are including in?
Try this link and if that doesn't work then google Plaza Beach Resort Bonaire
http://www.plazabeachresortbonaire.com
Here's a link about the $888 special
Bonaire Scuba Diving - Plaza Beach Resort Bonaire - $888 pp/dbl All-Inclusive Package
I was at a big dive show in March and they were advertising the $888 special so hopefully it is still available.
You might try contacting a dive travel vendor like Caradonna (see link below) and ask them for information about all-inclusive dive resorts with airfare. Then come back here to Scuba Board to get information about the places that they suggest before you make your decision.
ttp://www.caradonna.com/
Airfare to Bonaire can be expensive and inconvenient, a lot depends on where you are traveling from.
I attended a big scuba show in Chicago in March and there were several all-inclusive resorts in Cozumel Mexico that were offering 7 day, all-inclusive packages including accommodations, meals, diving, AND airfare from Chicago - prices were in the range of $1500 to $1800 per diver but again, I don't know what is available now.
I think that a Dive Travel Vendor is a good place for you to go for help with locations and airfare.
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Liveaboard Diving Vacations - Juliet Sailing and Diving
She leaves from Miami and sails overnite to the Bahamas for a week. Or the Keys. For her other two destinations they move the boat to St. Thomas for the Virgin Islands or Mayaguez, Puerto Rico to board the boat for the Mona Island trips. Of the 4 destinations, Mona is the best - it's pristine diving since there's not a lot of other boats or people in the area. They're going out there in 2015 - IDK when.
There really aren't any Northern California liveaboards. There's no boat based in the area that's big enough. Much of the San Francisco diving is done in a couple hours south in Monterey - SF bay itself is too rough most of the time. Plus the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary is there - it's known for the Kelp Forests - outstanding diving but really cold all year - layered wetsuit or drysuit is a good idea. The reason it's a couple hours south is not due to the distance but the traffic in Silicon Valley which you have to go completely through. It can take an hour or 3 hours.
Some of the Santa Barbara/Ventura boats (north of Los Angeles) do multi-day trips out to the Channel Islands but they're mostly going to be 3-4 day or shorter trips where you get a bunk and they feed you. Not a liveaboard with all the amenities. Anacapa is maybe the best of that - there's a huge sea lion colony and they like to play.
In south L.A. - San Pedro/Long Beach, many of the boats go over to Catalina Island on a daily basis. Oil Rig diving is also very popular. You can also take the Catalina Express ferry over - they're very used to seeing dive gear. From Avalon you can shore dive the marine park there.
Everything near San Diego is a day trip or a long weekend. Besides local diving and a wreck alley there's a Kelp forest off Point Loma also - 1/2 day trip. The Coronados Islands are near Mexico but they can be done in one day/overnight from San Diego harbor. And aren't that great, the Mexican gov't. allowed overfishing a decade ago and it hasn't come back yet.
The only liveaboard duration San Diego trips are the Great White encounters in the fall. They run down to Guadalupe Island off Mexico where that's done. Even some of the Mexico based liveaboards do that in the fall. And those are not dive trips but cage diving with boat supplied air. Usually no diving is allowed.
This is a pretty thorough list of California options: California Dive Boats : The Official Page
If it matters, even in the summer California diving is going to require at least a 5-7MM wetsuit - in winter people often use drysuits - the water temperature can drop into the 50's.
She leaves from Miami and sails overnite to the Bahamas for a week. Or the Keys. For her other two destinations they move the boat to St. Thomas for the Virgin Islands or Mayaguez, Puerto Rico to board the boat for the Mona Island trips. Of the 4 destinations, Mona is the best - it's pristine diving since there's not a lot of other boats or people in the area. They're going out there in 2015 - IDK when.
There really aren't any Northern California liveaboards. There's no boat based in the area that's big enough. Much of the San Francisco diving is done in a couple hours south in Monterey - SF bay itself is too rough most of the time. Plus the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary is there - it's known for the Kelp Forests - outstanding diving but really cold all year - layered wetsuit or drysuit is a good idea. The reason it's a couple hours south is not due to the distance but the traffic in Silicon Valley which you have to go completely through. It can take an hour or 3 hours.
Some of the Santa Barbara/Ventura boats (north of Los Angeles) do multi-day trips out to the Channel Islands but they're mostly going to be 3-4 day or shorter trips where you get a bunk and they feed you. Not a liveaboard with all the amenities. Anacapa is maybe the best of that - there's a huge sea lion colony and they like to play.
In south L.A. - San Pedro/Long Beach, many of the boats go over to Catalina Island on a daily basis. Oil Rig diving is also very popular. You can also take the Catalina Express ferry over - they're very used to seeing dive gear. From Avalon you can shore dive the marine park there.
Everything near San Diego is a day trip or a long weekend. Besides local diving and a wreck alley there's a Kelp forest off Point Loma also - 1/2 day trip. The Coronados Islands are near Mexico but they can be done in one day/overnight from San Diego harbor. And aren't that great, the Mexican gov't. allowed overfishing a decade ago and it hasn't come back yet.
The only liveaboard duration San Diego trips are the Great White encounters in the fall. They run down to Guadalupe Island off Mexico where that's done. Even some of the Mexico based liveaboards do that in the fall. And those are not dive trips but cage diving with boat supplied air. Usually no diving is allowed.
This is a pretty thorough list of California options: California Dive Boats : The Official Page
If it matters, even in the summer California diving is going to require at least a 5-7MM wetsuit - in winter people often use drysuits - the water temperature can drop into the 50's.
Last edited:
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