Planning Trip - Where to go in June?

[travelmadness]

I'm planning a trip to somewhere (anywhere!) in the caribbean in late June. I've heard the storms can be bad in places, and the visibility not so good too.

Where is good in the summer? I'm planning to go with a buddy of mine, and we'd like to find a location that has good diving, and a lively nightlife/restaurants with other things to do than dive. (boats, fish, who knows?) We'll probably spend a couple days diving, and a couple of days being "tourists".

I have never been to the carribean - well, i've been to Key West and Cancun, which are very close... (I dove in Key West, but not Cancun)

Actually, I would consider going anywhere in the world for a trip, but the caribbean seems to be pretty $ reasonable in the summer. Maybe that is for good reason??

 

[Damselfish]

Anyplace in the Carribean is good in the summer if you don't run into a hurricane and I wouldn't expect worse vis. Hurricane season officially begins June 1, but usually things don't really get rolling until at least mid-late-July (though who knows anymore.) But your odds of running into a hurricane in any particular location at any particular time are not that high. And if you're really worried, the islands furthest south like Bonaire and Curacao are pretty much out of the hurricane belt.

Summer is warmer and more humid but a perfectly fine time to visit, and if you're underwater it doesn't matter anyway. If you went in winter, which is "high" season partly because that's when people up north want to escape the cold, you're as likely to run into winter storms that muck up diving conditions.

Perhaps give an idea of your budget and what "good" diving means to you and people can make better suggestions that way.

 

[travelmadness]

I normally dive in the chilly waters of southern california, so honestly, anywhere where I can ditch my 7mm wetsuit would be "good" diving.
I would like to see some "big stuff" - sharks, large rays, anything like that.

I am not an advanced diver, I only dive about 10 times a year, and have been diving for about 6 years. Our budget for the trip is really flexible, although I would like to stay under $1500 in total. (flight+hotel+etc) I have seen several flights from Los Angeles to caribbean destinations for about $500 round trip, so I think $1500 should cover us ok.

 

[travelmadness]

I know some caribbean islands are very expensive, any idea which islands are a "value"?

By value, I mean reasonable lodging, diving, meals...

 

[TheWizard]

I'd say Cozumel can be one of your best deals, especially if you stay downtown rather than at the AI places.

Save on airfare by flying to Cancun, then take bus to Playa and ferry over to Coz. Dive with Aldora for best results.

Only downside to Coz is the cruise ship traffic...

 

[Wijbrandus]

Cancun -> Coz is a good trip. Coz had great diving when I was there pre-hurricane. I also hear it's come back from the damage now.

I'm heading back to Aruba for the third time June 2nd. Aruba has the best topside life of the places I've been, and Aruba has several great wrecks to explore. Not so hot in the reef department, but Curacao and Bonaire do those pretty damn well.

If all you want to do is dive and you don't care about topside life, I'd offer up Roatan as a great place to dive. I was there last August. Topside sucked, but the diving was amazing. I pulled 22 dives in a week, almost every one over an hour.

 

[Mr. Sunday]

Roatan and Utila seem like a good place to go. Close, Cheap and good diving.

While not the Carib, Playa Del Coco Costa Rica, Pacific Side could be good too. Bat Islands are coming into season. I have not been there yet myself but will be going at the end of June. It is what they call there rainy season but have been told it does not affect this region as much. The diving is much different than the Caribbean but is said to be really good. Lots of big fish with ok vis.

If you are doing a mixed trip of diving and topside activities this might work for you.

 

[Geko]

To be honest I haven`t had the chance to dive in many places in the carribien ... but I have dove in cancun and surounder areas and to be honest, I LOVE IT ... it all depend how much you want to spend, you can go to many diferent dives types ..., my recomendation is to contact Alex at DivEmotions ... I dive with him everytime I go there after having tryed several diving shops ... the only think I can do is to give you his details ...

www.divemotions.com

He just send it to me yesterday, it is not fully finish, still in progues ... Good luck, and do let me know if you go ...

Geko

 

[Torontonian]

I dove at Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Over fishing and lack of environmental care make it an uninteresting place. In Cuba, Vederado is cheap ($50 for 2-tank dive), but visibility not that great and coral growth and fish soso. Bay of Pigs wall diving was great, much better visibility and colorful reefs.

I'm going on a cruise to Cayman, Cozumel, Belize, and Costa Maya, and have been researching and booking diving tours there. Cayman is well known for its wall diving, but it's expensive. Cozumel has cheaper pricing, and when a place has 130+ dive ops you know they are big on diving.

Belize was a hidden treasure, but no more, and is getting expensive (for diving resort), and won't have much night time life. Costa Maya is an upcoming hidden treasure like Belize was, and is very inexpensive. It's a bit remote, with little night life. But a lot of undisturbed pristine reefs.


Oh, you can compare those to diving in Lake Ontario even during the summer. Get down 30-40' the water will be very cold, will need to wear 6ml inside and 7ml wetsuit, 30 lbs of weight, dark, murky, no coral growth and little sea life to see. They only take advanced divers.

 

[divingjd]

Cozumel should be a good option. Diving is great, very reasonably priced, and there is enough to do topside that nobody should get bored. I don't know the flight schedules and prices from the west coast, but try to get a flight into Cozumel instead of going into Cancun, then taking land transport to Playa, then taking the ferry. That takes some time and every time you have to change from one to the other, it is another chance for things to get messed up. From Detroit or Chicago, it is no more expensive (or not much more expensive) to fly directly in to Cozumel. If you are really looking for a good deal, you can find some great packages through Apple Vacations. I booked Coz from Detroit in 2005 for a little over $1000 for air, airport transfer, hotel, with all inclusive (food and beverages). Without the AI, it was only $30 less, so we figured that covered breakfast for the week, a few drinks were a bonus, and still went to town to visit our favorite restaurants, like Casa Denis and El Foco.

Another option is the Riviera Maya, from Playa del Carmen down to Akumal and Tulum. You can find some great cheap hotels in PDC and along the coast. The diving is not as good as Coz, but there is more to do when you aren't diving, particularly in PDC.

Your best bet against hurricanes is to go to Bonaire or Curacao (they are outside the typical hurricane belt), but there is no such thing as cheap airfare in that direction, so you are likely to blow your budget.

The good news is you can probably find lots of good choices, so the hard part is picking one.