Recommend me a trip as a new diver
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TheGintleman
Registered
If you’re interested in Florida diving, I can’t recommend Key West more highly. Visibility and marine life feels more like the Caribbean than Florida, and the water is nice and warm. I didn’t really enjoy Miami diving, although the drifts were kind of fun. The current there is just too intense to get much enjoyment out of it.
If you can swing it, Hawaii diving (I did a couple of wrecks just outside Honolulu) was hands down the best I’ve ever done, and I’ve dove all over the Caribbean to include the ABC’s and Roatan.
If you can swing it, Hawaii diving (I did a couple of wrecks just outside Honolulu) was hands down the best I’ve ever done, and I’ve dove all over the Caribbean to include the ABC’s and Roatan.
I would echo the suggestion of Bonaire, easy diving with lots of life. Many quality dive operators there.
Sunset house on Grand Cayman would be another recommendation. Nice house reef, great staff and solid boats.
Sunset house on Grand Cayman would be another recommendation. Nice house reef, great staff and solid boats.
Rob9876
Contributor
Blackbeard's liveaboard's in the Bahamas encourages new divers to sail with them, will pair you with a buddy, and has a nice discount for getting your AOW with them while on the cruise (which gives you 5 more dives with an instructor). Blackbeard's also has one of the cheapest $ per dive costs for blue saltwater boat diving. My son (13 at the time) and I went on a Blackbeard's cruise when we only had 9 dives total, got our AOW, and the cruise really helped us start feeling like true divers.
I second the recommendations for CoCoView in Roatan for a new diver! It’s a week of doing four dives a day, but with a lot of handholding (if you want it) and structure. Great dives - almost all wall dives, with a wreck or two thrown on. Generally you’ll go deeper (60’-80’) along the wall on the way out, then return to the mooring on top of the wall at 30’-40’.
You’ll be on the same boat all week, with the same divers and the same DM, so you’ll get a chance to know them. Everyone eats together too, so it’s a great way to make friends and find buddies for night dives and shore dives if you want to do some.
There’s a set schedule; two morning boat dives and two afternoon boat dives. The first dive is guided (with a DM), the second is a drop-off dive on your own with you and your buddy. This is EXCELLENT for new divers because you get to really know a stretch of the reef and the wreck - your home territory, where you can navigate by feel as you get to know it. It also gives you a chance to practice leading your own dives and diving independently in a safe familiar environment (instead of always just following a DM).
The DMs are great - let them know you are new and they’ll watch out for you, and make sure you’re buddied up appropriately. They’ve frequently asked me to keep an eye on new divers on the drop-off dives, for instance, or ask if I’d be willing to let some newer divers follow me in along Newman’s Wall and the cut over to the wreck.
If the diving gets to be a lot (and it can be, for new divers!) you can take off a morning or afternoon, or skip one of the drop-off dives, and enjoy the hammocks or a drink at the bar.
I wouldn’t recommend a liveaboard for a first trip for a brand new diver; they are awesome but it’s a LOT and if you need a break, boats are small. Save it for after you’ve done a land dive trip, and know for sure it’s your jam and that you are ready for it!
If you’re leaning Florida, I would SKIP Jupiter, West Palm, and Key West (for now). It’s deeper, rougher, and esp around Jupiter mostly drift diving - it’s not hard, but not a great place for beginners if you have a choice. And, many operators actually require AOW to take you out.
Instead, fly into Orlando, spend a couple days in the freshwater springs (Devil’s Den, Blue Grotto, Ginnie, Manatee Springs, Rainbow River, etc), and then drive down to South Florida. Get a guide and stop by Blue Heron Bridge on your way to the upper keys - Key Largo and Islamorada. There’s good shallow reef diving in both places; I like Conch Republic and Key Dives - avoid Rainbow Reef.
You won’t be able to (or at least shouldn’t) do the big wrecks in the keys at this point, but you can make a great one or two week road trip out of Florida that’s great for new divers. But - personally, as a Florida resident, I think you get more bang for your buck somewhere like CoCoView (the keys are $$$).
You’ll be on the same boat all week, with the same divers and the same DM, so you’ll get a chance to know them. Everyone eats together too, so it’s a great way to make friends and find buddies for night dives and shore dives if you want to do some.
There’s a set schedule; two morning boat dives and two afternoon boat dives. The first dive is guided (with a DM), the second is a drop-off dive on your own with you and your buddy. This is EXCELLENT for new divers because you get to really know a stretch of the reef and the wreck - your home territory, where you can navigate by feel as you get to know it. It also gives you a chance to practice leading your own dives and diving independently in a safe familiar environment (instead of always just following a DM).
The DMs are great - let them know you are new and they’ll watch out for you, and make sure you’re buddied up appropriately. They’ve frequently asked me to keep an eye on new divers on the drop-off dives, for instance, or ask if I’d be willing to let some newer divers follow me in along Newman’s Wall and the cut over to the wreck.
If the diving gets to be a lot (and it can be, for new divers!) you can take off a morning or afternoon, or skip one of the drop-off dives, and enjoy the hammocks or a drink at the bar.
I wouldn’t recommend a liveaboard for a first trip for a brand new diver; they are awesome but it’s a LOT and if you need a break, boats are small. Save it for after you’ve done a land dive trip, and know for sure it’s your jam and that you are ready for it!
If you’re leaning Florida, I would SKIP Jupiter, West Palm, and Key West (for now). It’s deeper, rougher, and esp around Jupiter mostly drift diving - it’s not hard, but not a great place for beginners if you have a choice. And, many operators actually require AOW to take you out.
Instead, fly into Orlando, spend a couple days in the freshwater springs (Devil’s Den, Blue Grotto, Ginnie, Manatee Springs, Rainbow River, etc), and then drive down to South Florida. Get a guide and stop by Blue Heron Bridge on your way to the upper keys - Key Largo and Islamorada. There’s good shallow reef diving in both places; I like Conch Republic and Key Dives - avoid Rainbow Reef.
You won’t be able to (or at least shouldn’t) do the big wrecks in the keys at this point, but you can make a great one or two week road trip out of Florida that’s great for new divers. But - personally, as a Florida resident, I think you get more bang for your buck somewhere like CoCoView (the keys are $$$).
DreadnoughtNH
Contributor
I second this. Cocoview is not necessarily my 'favorite' place to dive, but boy oh boy it sure ticked all the boxes I had as a new new diver eager to improve and maximize my diving. Relatively inexpensive to get to from the US, easy schedule, and very professional dive operation. If the OP goes in with the positive attitude they appear to have as a new diver, it's hard to beat.If you want to rack up a bunch of dives in an easy laid-back environment, Cocoview in Roatan is like diver's summer camp. I've heard it called a land based LOB; multiple boat dives per day plus an all you can eat shore dive. A lot of "tidy bowl" divers make the pilgrimage at least once.
I'll third this.
My only experience diving so far has been at CocoView, two trips, two weeks each. It's a DIVE RESORT. If you don't dive, there's no reason to go there. If you do dive, it's a great way to get in a lot of experience in a short time. As others have said, two boat trips per day, two dives per trip - one moored, the other a drop and swim in. In addition to the boat dives, you can swim out from shore at any time, day or night and go visit the "Prince Albert", the wreck in their "Front Yard".
People are nice, food is more than adequate, and the captains and dive masters are excellent. The entire place is organized to facilitate diving.
Patty does a Buoyancy class that's worth attending, (she's the owner of the PADI shop); I attended it both times I was there. The shop's small, but has just about anything you'd need in it.
If you skip a dive, you can get a boat to the mainland, and go to the West End for food/drinks/entertainment. Kristi's overlook is an excellent place for lunch.
Sorry, rambling as I remember...
Barrel SpongeBob
Contributor
West Bay/End have very easy dive sites with plenty of resort choices, off-resort wandering and dining including à la carte fresh catch of the day and mom & pop island style dining.
You can always check-in on many beginner liveaboards for worry-free all-inclusive and sit out strong drift or deep dives DM/cruise directors ban and sometimes nasty visibility if your buddy is not the DM or has more dives than them. Diving a weeklong itinerary entirely can be consuming and potentially unsafe.
Pick a potential beginner one for a short bit (<5 days option) with sun decks and enroll in a specialty during your down-time if boredom takes a grip. You will thank me if you are not accustomed to rough weather or choppy surface.
You can always check-in on many beginner liveaboards for worry-free all-inclusive and sit out strong drift or deep dives DM/cruise directors ban and sometimes nasty visibility if your buddy is not the DM or has more dives than them. Diving a weeklong itinerary entirely can be consuming and potentially unsafe.
Pick a potential beginner one for a short bit (<5 days option) with sun decks and enroll in a specialty during your down-time if boredom takes a grip. You will thank me if you are not accustomed to rough weather or choppy surface.
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