Poll: your favorite dive sites

[carebear]

My wonderful husband has decided to enter the world of diving. I have limited expereience (Cozumel, local IL dives) and he has NO exp diving. Where should we begin? We want to go on a diving vacation in early Spring next year.

Thanks in advance!

-Carrie

 

[Tigerman]

I would actually suggest diving locally untill you have a done few dives.
Mainly because youll be able to dive a familiar site and get your bouyancy and trim improved a bit before you go on to diving in unfamiliar enviroments. For example the coral walls in cozumel is very impressive to look at, but without half decent bouyancy, youll easilly find yourself to be far deeper than you should and correcting it could also end up making an ascent thats less than recommended.
Ive had the scary pleasure of diving santa rosa and tormentos with someone with a bouyancy control that wasnt even close to control, and its not a very cool experience to have to consider grabbing another tourist and pulling him out of an uncontrolled descent when the bottomn is 100s of feet below you and youre already at 80-90 feet yourself..

Cancun is far better in that regard as its much shallower there.
I wouldnt recommend doing cenotes either without a bit of experience first..

 

[H2Andy]

hmmm.. well... my favorites in the Caribbean so far are Bonaire, Roatan, and Grand Cayman, in that order

i hear Mexico is good too (the Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean coast) but i dont' have any first hand experience. from what i hear, it's relatively cost effective and nice to dive

Key Largo is not in the same league, but it's nice anyway and cheaper to get to. it's also quite nice for beginner/middle level divers

 

[Nismo]

I loved Bonaire. Such an easy dive location. You have fish and coral in only 5 feet of water if that. THe best part is, the drop off is around 20-25 feet. So swim out to the edge of the wall drop off, go to predetermined depth, slowl work your way back up. When you get to the top of the wall, swim in land until you are at 15 feet. Enjoy your safety stop. We averaged close to an hour on every dive, including multiple to over 100 feet. The coral is large, colorful, and beautiful. There's almost no current. Not much in the way of large animals, but saw some very large moray eels. Bonaire is known for squid. Off the western coast of Bonaire is Klein Bonaire which is a sea turtle preserve. Expect to see them. A lot of people, myself included got to see sea horse as well. 99% is shore diving and most resorts offer unlimited air tanks and a vehicle. My wife and I really enjoyed Cozumel, and as far as island life, thought it was better. However, Bonaire diving was so beautiful, relaxing, and easy.

FYI Be sure you do not hit a wild donkey in Bonaire! :no

 

[highlandfarmwv]

Bonaire has to be the easiest place for beginners, and yhet there is plenty to see. No current, no dangerous critters; hotels all have house reefs mere steps from accommodations.

 

[Charlie59]

Warm and clear are good starts. I agree the diving in Bonaire is easy and plentiful and not too expensive. You can't go wrong with Roatan, Belize, Caymans, or Cozumel.

Of course, I'm not sure how accessible those places are, except Bonaire, to Norway.

Good luck and good diving.

 

[ketchumid]

Maui is a great place to learn, as well as Cozumel- I've also heard Bonaire is great. But I agree, do some pool dives and book work at home first so you can enjoy the locale without the homework- have fun!!

 

[del_mo]

Bonaire is unbelievable if you want to dive, dive, dive. 5 or 6 dives per day possible. Mostly "tricky" shore entries. Unescorted dives unless you choose a boat dive, but easy to navigate to and from.

You know about Cozumel.

I do like Key Largo alot. Great variety of reefs and wrecks. Again, mostly unescorted dives. Unfortunately, early spring in Key Largo could mean a visit from one of your northern cold fronts, and that could spell n..o..d..i..v..i..n..g.

 

[Dannybot]

I think Grand Cayman has to be the easiest diving that I've done so far, shallow bottom, lots to see, clear, warm water, close to shore, no current.

 

[LiamtheDiver]

Roatan and Key Largo are my votes. Have fun!