most reasonable$ carribean destination

[Newhampster]

OK, my recommendations are not technically in the Carribean but they're close enough:

1. The liveaboard ship Sea Fever that operates out of Miami and goes to the Bahamas (generally to the Bimini environs). This is a real ship, with cabins, galley, etc. This isn't a Blackbeard's experiences. They run specials around $1100 for a week at sea, up to 5 dives a day, all meals, beer, wine, etc. Typically, you can do 20-25 dives, including some free diving with wild Dolphin pods. Both good and cheap. What a combo!

[Blackbeard's is even cheaper, but it looks to me like it's a far more dreadful experience. Not recommended but some people like it. something like $800 per person. Too spartan. No power. No room. Not much service. ...]

2. Grand Turk Island.

Again, both cheap and spectacular, in terms of diving.

 

[cliffd64]

Dominica is another island to consider as well. Great diving there, as well as somewhat reasonable costs for lodging. You won't find a ton of night life on the island however. The trick with Dominica is getting there. More than likely you will need to fly into San Juan and transfer to a small plane to get to Dominica.

 

[scorpionfish]

DocVikingo once bubbled...
The poster specified "reasonably priced," and I believe it could be argued that Hawaii is not.

For starters, a typical 2 tank AM dive on Hawaii is currently running $100-$110, and rooms start at about $100 and rapidly go up. Airfare is pretty steep from most places unless you live in SF or LA. All of these costs are much less in the greater Carribean.

However, you might be onto something with Bonaire.

Happy holidays.

DocVikingo

Hi, Doc!

Well, I guess I need to be clearer in my expositions: my main point was that the Carib is not a good GENERAL SUMMER scuba destination due to its hurricane season. I.e., I was operating under the assumption that Summer was the key word. Thus, I was trying to offer a reasonable ALTERNATIVE to the Carib.

Bonaire might be okay, BUT if there is hurricane or tropical storm activity, the typical "jumping off" places, Miami and San Juan, are subject to those events and, they, themselves, could prevent a trip from happening.

Now, as to "reasonable", I think when the airfare, departure taxes and other sundries are tied in, Hawaii becomes more competitive. We dove the Big Island in September and a two-tank dive was $100 with a 20% discount for every third day. Further, we did a lot of shore dives and drives the cost way down. That is one of the reasons that I suggest the Big Island to folks: there are some wonderful shore dives there! At any rate, "reasonable" is in the eye of the beholder! You seem very "reasonable" to me, for example!

Have a great Holiday Season!

Scorpionfish, one of the last reasonable travelers

 

[CJ's]

I'm afraid I have to disagree with Scorpionfish about summer diving in the Caribbean.

In my opinion this is absolutely the best time of year to dive here. The prices are cheaper, the visibility is great and the marine life is fantastic.
It's springtime for the fishes (if you get my drift) and so Eagle Rays, sharks and many other creatures lose their natural shyness for a few months of the year.

I'm not saying that it is cheap here in the Cayman Islands, but the summer is a lot cheaper.

OK, so there is a slim chance of getting your holiday cut short but hurricanes excepted the summer months are the calmest of the year which also makes for very relaxed diving.

By the way, your chances of actually being disturbed by a Tropical System are probably about the same as your chances of winning your State Lottery (assuming you have a ticket) and residents of the East coast USA are almost certainly more at risk if they stay at home!!

If you are really worried about hurricanes avoid the peak season months of September and October and most importantly, get some insurance!!

I for one am looking forward to the summer months when I can put the wetsuits back in the cupboard and continue my quest for that perfect Eagle Ray photo!!

Happy diving,

CJ.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

If I pop off for a summer getaway next year, I'll be going back to one of my favorite "undiscovered" spots, Bequia.

Bequia is located in the Windward Islands nation of St Vincent and the Grenadines. Local air charter companies can make the connection from Barbados, or you can fly into St Vincent (SVD) and take the hour long ferry ride. Air Jamaica and US Air both serve St Vincent (and probably other carriers too).

Bequia has long been a favorite stop-over for sailors, offering a quiet retreat far off the beaten path. Diving is nice and not subject to the regular trampling by cruise ships disgorging huge numbers of people.

Unabashed plug follows:

And best of all, a week long diving package with accomodations can be had cheap! One operator advertises:

All dive packages include:

10 BOAT DIVES (Two boat trips daily)
7 NIGHTS ACCOMMODATION
ALL GEAR
TAXES
CERTIFICATION OF NON-DIVERS.
Special discounts for group of 10 or more

With weekly package rates that can be amazing. The most expensive low season (summer) package was quoted at $760pp based on double occupancy. That includes the diving! More modest accomodations could have you there for less than $450pp for the week.

And, no, I have no financial interest in anything in Bequia. Just one of my favorite Caribbean bargains.

 

[DivePartner1]

I just spent week at Anthony's Key Resort in Roatan for $1100 including airfare, room, board and 3 boat dives a day for a 7 night stay. Also, this was for a non-airconditioned bungaloo, something you might not be comfortable with from May through October. My neighbor booked this and I still amazed at the rate.

The trick: pick an unpopular week, say the second week in December or hurricane season (caution: my counsins-in-law were standed there for Mitch but got a free week at their convenience).

 

[scorpionfish]

CJ's once bubbled...
OK, so there is a slim chance of getting your holiday cut short...

By the way, your chances of actually being disturbed by a Tropical System are probably about the same as your chances of winning your State Lottery (assuming you have a ticket).

If you are really worried about hurricanes avoid the peak season months of September and October...
CJ.

Hi, CJ!

Here are the stats for August in the Carib and if you would like some for the other months, I would be pleased to provide them!

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/huricane/science/whpaug.htm

Note that 20%-25% is common for many of the islands that folks would consider going to. Now, if the chances of winning your state's lottery are that high, I would like to buy some tickets right now! However, I believe those probabilties are measured in chances in a million rather that 1 in 4 (25%) or 1 in 5 (20%).

You suggested insurance, but all that does is put money in your pocket if you HAVE to cancel your trip. It does not replace the time. Furthermore, if you are already on site, the insurance does not compensate you for having to sit in a hotel room for a week instead of diving. And, finally, hurricane forcasts are only "accurate" when made about 2-3 days in advance; even then the storms can veer quite suddenly.

Again, my point was that the Hawaiin Islands have wonderful diving and in Summer there is 0% chance of a tropical storm there. Please note, however, that nearly half the diving we do is in the Carib and that means 2-3 trips a year. However, we avoid it from mid-July to late-November. During that period we go to the pacific Pacific!

Scorpionfish--remembering that "In God we trust, but all others are required to supply data."

 

[blawler1]

While its not Cozumel cheap, Bonaire has some good bargains.

If you can get reasonable airfare on AA or Jamaica Air, the rest of the trip can be quite reasonable.

Weekly rentals on apartment/truck combinations can be found for $600 or less. A weeks worth of unlimited tanks can be acquired for about $100 (nitrox for about $100 more).

Food and drink are generally more expensive than Cozumel, but you can pack in provisions and sample local fare (we got some awesome fresh wahoo our trip) from the local markets.

Bonaire offers the easiest and best shore diving in the Caribbean and a very laid back feel (with the world's only barefoot casino)

 

[CJ's]

Scorpiofish, I think you missed my point, which is that for certain areas of the Caribbean the summer months (June, July and August) are some of the best months to dive and that nobody should be put off by the slim chance of being disturbed by a named storm.
Now I'm not a mathematician but somebody did say once that there are lies, damned lies and statistics! What I mean to say is that stats such as your 25% chance of being affected by a named storm during the month of August need to be heavily qualified.

1) The 25% chance only applies if you are staying for the entire month! Few of us get that much vacation.
2) Your 25% stat only applies to certain leeward islands, the central Atlantic and the Eastern seaboard of the USA. (don't stay at home!!)
3) I note that you didn't include your stats for the month of July which are considerably lower even before we consider length of stay and location.

I'm not generally a gambler but if I had a mathematician calculate the odds of being affected by a named storm in July whilst visiting either the Caymans, Honduras, Belize, Bonaire or Cozumel for a period of one week I don't imagine that it would be enough to stop me going.

Do they have any diving in Vegas? Maybe I'll make that my next trip!

CJ.

 

[scorpionfish]

CJ's once bubbled...
Scorpiofish, I think you missed my point, which is that for certain areas of the Caribbean the summer months (June, July and August)...

Now I'm not a mathematician but somebody did say once that there are lies, damned lies and statistics! What I mean to say is that stats such as your 25% chance of being affected by a named storm during the month of August need to be heavily qualified.

1) The 25% chance only applies if you are staying for the entire month!
2) Your 25% stat only applies to certain leeward islands, the central Atlantic and the Eastern seaboard of the USA. (don't stay at home!!)
3) I note that you didn't include your stats for the month of July which are considerably lower even before we consider length of stay and location.


CJ.

Hi, CJ!

I hate to be a nitpicker, but if you will check my first post, you will see that I did except June to mid-July (because the stats indicate much lower probability).

About your points:

(1) The stats apply to the whole month of August, but one cannot predict which day or week will be most probable for a storm because the data are not sorted that way. So, if you go in August (or mid-late July), there is a 20-25% chance of a hurricane/tropical storm in the banded areas of the map shown in the URL I posted.

(2) Actually if you will look at that map, you will see it applies to the whole Carib and is banded with colors that indicate probabilities. Further, the east coast of the US has a far lower probability of a tropical storm during that period. Here is a site with that data:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Thus, it would be better to stay home on the east coast of the US if you wanted to avoid a tropical storm during the Summer. But, I guess the scuba diving in Perth Amboy is not quite like that in the Carib!

(3) As I mentioned before, I excepted half of July. However, the probabilities are still not "0" for that period. They are low, though.

It was Benjamin Disraeli (a rather able 19th Century British politician and not a mathematician) who said, "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics." I think he said that as he was watching CNN for the seventh time one day whilst sitting in his hotel in the British Virgin Islands waiting for a hurricane to pass through so he could get on with his scuba diving!

But seriously, we had to delay a trip to Coz once due to a Summer hurricane and, at that point, I became interested in knowing when hurricanes/tropical storms hit the Carib. We also have heard plenty of stories from others who had similar or worse experiences. So, after some study, we concluded that Hawaii was a better place to go at that time of the year. Note, however, that we typically go to Coz in May or June every year and have never experienced such a storm then. By the way, we usually do go away for 3-weeks and, so, monthly stats are meaningful to us.

Scorpionfish--a statistician without a license