Newbie Diver; What tropical location to dive?

[kevinf]

(Edit: I've revised what I wrote to make my sloppy writing a little neater)

Last year me & my wife were on our honeymoon & received our OW certificate diving in Jamaica & finishing it up at Dutch Springs. We're planning on heading back to Dutch Springs on August 4th to refresh our skills. We're looking to take a trip next spring or summer 2014 to somewhere tropical to dive. We currently live in NJ & I had Cozumel in my sights.

Last fall I had pretty much planned out Cozumel for this current summer (2013). We were going to stay at Blue Angel & dive with them. The plan was fly from NJ to Cancun & take a taxi/bus down then the ferry over. I'm not a fan of flying, so any less flying is fine by me! Unfortunately, me & her had some job changes & were not able to confirm the plans!

Criteria:
Under $3500 (includes plane ride, hotel, & diving)
Tropical
Private DM (not fully necessary, but we would feel much more comfortable)
Fly United (we have about $600 in points)
Be able to rent gear (we have our own masks,snorkel, fins) We are looking to get our own wetsuit, BCD & dive computer by the time we leave. Hopefully be able to get the rest of the gear also.
This is all I can think of for now

Thanks in advanced for all the help!

 

[Onewolf]

Our budget is around $3500k for everything.

Does "everything" include airline flights? (You reference United points) What about (rental) scuba equipment?

Scuba Club Cozumel is a nice dive resort and there are many others with 'dive' packages.

Bonaire is also nice for entry level divers.

 

[Davidccs]

I've home to saint croix, I recommend it. They have really pretty scenery under and above water.
Btw just being stupid, but your budget is 3.5 millions? Lol

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[kevinf]

I've home to saint croix, I recommend it. They have really pretty scenery under and above water.
Btw just being stupid, but your budget is 3.5 millions? Lol

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

WHOOPS. $3.5k

 

[Skittl1321]

For just under your budget, we've got flights, a low end AI, and our diving paid for for two in Cozumel for 2. We live in the middle of nowhere so your flights might be cheaper, and you could go for a nicer hotel. Our diving is with a small more personal op, you could save money using a larger one or a hotel affiliate too.

We were surprised how affordable it was.

 

[dfx]

As a newbie, you'd find diving amazing pretty much anywhere. If there's a dive shop around, it's gonna be worth it

 

[kevinf]

Does "everything" include airline flights? (You reference United points) What about (rental) scuba equipment?

Scuba Club Cozumel is a nice dive resort and there are many others with 'dive' packages.

Bonaire is also nice for entry level divers.

Yes, everything including airline. We have about $600 worth of airline points for United. We currently have our own snorkel,fins,mask. Plan to get a wetsuit, dive computer, & most likely BCD before we travel.

---------- Post added July 19th, 2013 at 02:15 PM ----------

For just under your budget, we've got flights, a low end AI, and our diving paid for for two in Cozumel for 2. We live in the middle of nowhere so your flights might be cheaper, and you could go for a nicer hotel. Our diving is with a small more personal op, you could save money using a larger one or a hotel affiliate too.

We were surprised how affordable it was.

United to Cancun is in the $600range round trip for one person.

Appreciate all the info btw!

 

[Skittl1321]

United to Cancun is in the $600range round trip for one person.

Check the Cozumel forums if you plan this. There are a lot of pro/cons to doing the 'bag drag' from Cancun to Cozumel. For us, we decided it wasn't worth the savings to fly there instead of direct.

 

[kevinf]

Check the Cozumel forums if you plan this. There are a lot of pro/cons to doing the 'bag drag' from Cancun to Cozumel. For us, we decided it wasn't worth the savings to fly there instead of direct.

Unfortunately, there are no direct flights to Cozumel. All involve one stop in TX. I hate flying as it is
I'll take a look at the forum!

 

[mathauck0814]

The best part about being a new diver is that everything is better than what you've seen before You have plenty of time to get jaded. In the meanwhile, Cozumel, Curacao and Bonaire are all good, low cost diving that will excite you plenty. Better to hold off until later when you want the more/better stuff that's out there

---------- Post added July 19th, 2013 at 12:00 PM ----------

Unfortunately, there are no direct flights to Cozumel. All involve one stop in TX. I hate flying as it is
I'll take a look at the forum!

You're not going to find a lot of direct flights to many places with good diving. Look at flying into Miami and driving to Key Largo as a possibility.