Need help deciding where to take parents for vacation in Dec.

[fuzzybabybunny]

We were planning on going to China and Taiwan since they haven't been back to China in 25 years, but my mom's visa got denied and now we need somewhere else to go.

Any places that are warm that won't break the bank on such short notice? We want to leave around Dec 25, come back maybe Jan 10?

Bonus points if there can be scuba diving involved for me. Parent's don't scuba or do anything on the water for that matter, but I'm thinking they would enjoy strolls along the beach.

I was thinking Puerto Rico?

 

[aquaregia]

Western Australia's not bad this time of year.

 

[altaskier]

Belize is a shorter trip from California, and has really great diving. You can do morning dive trips, though make sure you do at least one all-day trip out to Turneffe Elbow. You'd have to look at what places still have rooms/villas available.

 

[Doc]

Usually most places are selling at "High Season" between Christmas and New Years, but if you find one with openings, they might make you the major deal of a lifetime.

Short notice buying with airlines, on the other hand, you're pretty well SOL.

 

[divad]

They want to go to Mexico or Hawaii. They'd like to work on their tans.

 

[barefootek]

We went to the Dominican Republic from Dec 24-31 4 years ago. We were in the Juan Dolio/Boca Chica area near Santo Domingo. We used Neptuno Dive Center and the staff there was great. The diving there isn't bad and the Catalina Island and the Cueva Tiana Cave dives are great. The cave dive is well structured and so you do not need to be cave certified.

You will not find nicer people anywhere. One bar owner, who closed early on Sunday, gave us the keys to the place so we could watch a football game. He just had us leave money for what we drank and had us lock up when we left.

Half of our group did not dive but still enjoyed themselves. Your parents should be able to find things to keep them busy while you are diving. We all went on a tour of Santo Domingo that was very interesting.

 

[andrewy]

Cozumel is the answer., fiesta americana, on site diving.

 

[robint]

Cozumel is the cheapest and probably the best place to find something that short of notice.

 

[ColoDale]

Here is a recent thread about where to go in January and how warm it might be:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/lesser-antilles/361283-january-diving-trip.html

Generally, I think the cheaper options are Mexico (Cozumel, Playa Del Carmen), Belize (Ambergris Caye and others) and Honduras (Roatan, Utila, Guanaja). Your December/January dates are high season so prices will be higher but you may find last minute deals that are cheap. Some of these places have excellent beaches but not alot of topside attractions and vice versa. It depends on what your parents want to do. Many of the last minute trip deals are packages so research their websites but also check air only quotes. The prices you find may determine where you go. There are other Caribbean locations that could be cheaper as well such as the Domican Republic. I don't know how big your bank is - there are plenty of higher priced places.

I would go through the Regional Travel and Dive Club subsections on this site for possible places and see what people have to say. Everyone has their touted favorite places so I concentrate on why they like it not just a vote for it. There are also dive atlas' that can offer overviews of places to give you some ideas.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Well, due to some logistical issues my parents went ahead and decided where to go. This is a problem because they have no idea where to go and aren't travelers in any sense of the word.

They booked a 3 day cruise through costco for $1,600 for three people to Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay. Unfortunately they didn't know that this cay is one of the ones owned privately by the cruise line and is nothing more than a tiny island packed with people on the beach with nothing to see on land or in the water.

For the remaining time we will be in the Florida keys, so I'm open to some nice shore dives in this area (both shallow and deep), ones where I can easily find a buddy since they won't like the idea of me going alone.