New to diving - looking for somewhere to go in June

[cdemay]

Hello,
I have been certified for over a year with my son (turning 12 in March). We live in the east bay, CA.

I am looking for dive recommendations in June. We have an award travel in a few locations in June of next year.
Please let me know your recommendations for the following sites:

Mexico

Mexico, Acapulco
Mexico, Cancun
Mexico, Central
Mexico, Loreto
Mexico, Mazatlan
Mexico, Nuevo Vallarta & Riviera Nayarit
Mexico, Puerto Vallarta
Mexico, Riviera Maya
Mexico, San Carlos Bay
Mexico, South Baja

Caribbean & Atlantic Islands

Antigua
Bahamas, Nassau
Dominican Republic, Eastern Coast
Dominican Republic, Puerto Plata
Dominican Republic, Southern Coast
Jamaica
Venezuela, Margarita Island

Thank you

 

[Johnoly]

Looking at only those sites listed and you are newer divers, I recommend the following.

Fly into Cancun
Take the ADO bus from the CUN airport to Playa del carma (~$9 and very nice bus)
Pay the guys on the bikes $5 to take all your luggage directly to the ferry while you follow.
Jump on the ferry to Cozumel
Dive Cozumel the whole week and then retrace your steps back to the Cancun airport
Open the Cozumel section on ScubaBoard for hundreds of places & packages to stay.

 

[tkaelin]

I have not been to any of the locations listed but I do have experience with newly certified divers, especially younger dives. My recommendation would be to find a comfortable easy place to dive. Drift diving and wall diving would not be on my list if I was newly certified diver with a twelve year old newly certified, I would be looking for a place with easy shore diving and easy shallow single tank short boat dives. With that said there are a number of destinations that come to mind but none on your list - Bonaire would be on the top, but anyplace that where you could stay that has easy onsite shore diving (house reef) would be a good choice.

 

[outofofficebrb]

I second @Johnoly 's recommendation of Cancun/Cozumel but also think that @tkaelin 's suggestion is also valid.

I think only you can make the decision on what is comfortable for you and your son. Being certified for a little over a year may not mean as much if you have not dived since your original certification dives. Do you feel that your son's maturity level and experience makes you comfortable enough to let him dive a wall or drift? If not, then I suggest something else on your list or see if you can fly into Bonaire as suggested.

FWIW, I took a newly certified OW diver to Cozumel to go drift diving with me and he did his AOW while there. He did great, but he was also a grown adult. I went to Cozumel when I only had 20 some dives under my belt. I had a great time and did fine.

 

[mcohen1021]

Mexico

Mexico, Acapulco [NO]
Mexico, Cancun [NO]
Mexico, Central [NO]
Mexico, Loreto [NO]
Mexico, Mazatlan [NO]
Mexico, Nuevo Vallarta & Riviera Nayarit [NO]
Mexico, Puerto Vallarta [NO]
Mexico, Riviera Maya [NO]
Mexico, San Carlos Bay [NO]
Mexico, South Baja [NO]

Caribbean & Atlantic Islands

Antigua [Maybe]
Bahamas, Nassau [Maybe]
Dominican Republic, Eastern Coast [Punta Cana was not bad for a 1st scuba trip for my 14 yr old]
Dominican Republic, Puerto Plata [NO]
Dominican Republic, Southern Coast [NO]
Jamaica [NEGRIL ONLY]
Venezuela, Margarita Island [NO]

Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Ambergris Caye are great destinations.

 

[DeputyDan]

My kids first dive trip was to key largo.
Great dives that are less than 40 feet deep.
Fly into Miami or Ft. Lauderdale and drive down.

None of the locations on your list are noted dive destinations... though I would love to visit Loreto, Mexico.

 

[KathyV]

There is good diving around Nassau - and it is usually pretty easy to get to and from Nassau - but you may see some sharks. Mostly reef sharks and nurse sharks, but I don't know how your young son would react to seeing sharks?

 

[jonhall]

Not sure what your travel award includes (travel alone or also a place to stay) but some of the locations can be ruled out (or are better than others) if you want a diving location.

I will disagree with some of the info in earlier posts. These are some of my suggestions from best to worst (from my experience):

1. COZUMEL - If there is only one Riviera Maya in Mexico (the west side), Cozumel is included in that. Great diving and should be calm water in June. Many people on SB will suggest flying into Cancun and then making connections (bus and ferry) to get to Coz, but I like the convenience of flying directly to Coz. If your award will take you directly there, you eliminate what I see as hassles and can get to enjoying your trip sooner.

2. RIVIERA MAYA - refer to number 1! Riviera Maya is a big stretch along the west coast of Mexico and has several resort towns all along the way, including Playa del Carmen which is a 40 min. ferry ride away to Coz.. People generally fly into Cancun and get transportation to where they are staying. Puerto Morelos is a nice town with good diving as it has a protected marine park. You can also find many dive ops in any of these towns that will plan a day of diving in Cozumel and take care of the arrangements.

3. CANCUN - never dove here, but this is why I would consider it (and have it on my dive bucket list): whale shark season starts in June.

4. ANTIGUA - another great island, great beaches. Not the same as diving in Cozumel, but waters are generally calm and the diving pretty easy. Would check to see if hurricanes affected the island.

5. NUEVO VALLARTA, PUERTO VALLARTA - pretty places to visit, but dives sites are the same either place you stay. The dive sites are in Banderas Bay (I think I remember that right) and there aren't that many. Long boat rides to get to the sites.

6. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, PUERTO PLATA - Not known as the diving hotspot in DR, we dove in the small town of Sosua just east of Puerto Plata. Again, calm water in the protected cove made for easy diving. Dive op we used was at our resort and they provided transportation. The southern coast and the town of Bayahibe is considered by most here on SB the better diving in DR.

7. SOUTH BAJA - If the travel award is for as far south as Cabo, then there may be good diving there (won't know first hand until mid January.) Cabo San Lucas is in a bay area and should have some protection as far as the water goes. Known for sea lions and diversity of sea life. Also may take Cancun whale shark experience off my list as we have a day of snorkeling with whale sharks in La Paz scheduled here.

8. MAZATLAN - from my dive buddy, "Don't go for diving."

You should be able to find a good spot on the list to get some diving in. Let us know which you decided on.

 

[diversteve]

I agree with most of the Mexico "No's" as they're not known for good diving. I disagree with Riviera Maya or Loewto as they are. The best of Loreto though is probably best saved till you have more experience.

On Nassau you have two options now, Bahama Divers or Stuart Coves. Both offer dives within your skill set, Cove's does the shark feeds and has a lot of wrecks nearby - including several movie sets for different James Bond movies.Cove's will likely dedicate a boat to newer divers but the downside is they're a good 45min. shuttle ride south from Paradise Island or Cable Beach where you'lll likely find a resort - Bahama Divers is 10mins. from Cable Beach or across the bridge from PI so much closer. Both offer shuttles also.

I;ve not been there but Antigua should be nice diving also. One thing to watch there is their sister island was trashed last summer during the hurricane so a lot of residents have relocated - IDK how that stresses the local infrastructure now.

I like the fly to Cancun then onto Cozumel option also except that it will be mostly deeper drift diving often with a lot of other divers in the water - boats following overhead. So can be a little intimidating for newer divers.

Jamaica is known to have been overfished for decades so fishlife is sparse there although it's rebounded some in the past few years. Wouldn't be my first pick.

 

[Hoag]

Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Ambergris Caye are great destinations.

While I agree that they are great destinations, none of those are on the OP's list of where the award travel is valid for.

Of the places listed, I second the recommendation for Nassau, Bahamas. Easy diving and lots to see. The reefs may not be as vibrant as some other places but there are great dive sites such as the James Bond Wrecks and the Ray of Hope. Nassau offers a little of everything: walls, shallow reefs and wrecks. It would be an ideal first dive vacation location.