Solo trip to Central America - where would be good for August'13?

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capper

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Location
vancouver island
# of dives
50 - 99
I'm traveling on my own as a single gal from Canada and I'm wanting to go to some place tropical , like Central America to go diving in the first two weeks of August. I'm sick of waiting around for my girl friends to get time away from their hubbies to go with me, and so I'm heading south on my own and I'm really excited about the prospect of a trip. I want to go somewhere where I can meet up with a bunch of divers for either a live aboard for a few days, or a tour of boat /shore dives where i might meet up with other single travelers diving too.

I'm thinking of maybe Roatan, or Bonaire, maybe Panama...not interested in Mexico (was there the last two years) nor Costa Rica (year before that). Any suggestions? I really don't even know where to begin to look for a good spot to go.
 
Neither of the first two have liveaboard options currently although MV Pearl may be working in Utila at some time in the near future. It's the former Utila Aggressor but the exact status seems to be unclear since they changed to Dive Encounters Alliance. Honduras Bay Islands Live-Aboard Diving | DivEncounters Alliance Live-Aboard Diving

Bonaire is about the best shore diving. Most of the waterfront resorts are dive resorts. Most people you meet are divers. Except for the cruise traffic downtown there isn't a lot of draw there for non-divers. At many of the dive resorts, Buddy Dive, Habitat, Divi Flamingo, Carib Inn, Eden Beach, - just about everyone you meet will be a diver. Most people buy a shore dive package - they run under $200/wk. That includes a 4 dr. pickup truck. So there's almost always room for one more. And there's also boat diving and shore diving off your resort - or the 4-5 others adjacent to it. Downside for you is most have higher single occupancy rate - maybe not Carib Inn, I think he charges by the room. But it's a smaller place so less likely to find other singles there.

I was asked twice if I needed a buddy while waiting for mine - once at Habitat and once at Bonaire Dive & Adventure's dock. You can also post both here and on bonairetalk.com looking for buddies who will be there when you will. You can also buy all manner of boat dive packages - most include unlimited shore diving also. For us 4-6 boat dives covers the highlights of sites you can't reach from shore. www.infobonaire.com has info on everything. bonairepros.com specializes in booking Bonaire also.

Maybe look at Curacao also. It's more spread out and less dive-focused. But there's Lion's Dive Resort, nice place. The Sunscape AI next door has a dive shop on-site but seemed more kid focused. A couple others in the West (much quieter) end of the island. I don't think you'd find the concentration of single divers you seem to want out there. One other option for shore diving is the Dive Bus - they pick you up for escorted shore dives all over Curacao.

On Roatan try one of the AI dive resorts. Cocoview, Anthony's Key or Reef House. Probably everyone there will be a diver. You'll meet the people on your boat since they'll be the same all week. And eat all your meals with them and everyone else. There's not much else near CCV or RH.

All the nightlife on Roatan is focused in the West End - about a 5min. cab ride away from Anthony's Key - 45mins. from Cocoview. There's many bars, shops, restaurants in about a 1 mile stretch. Cocoview sometimes runs excursions over there also. Except for the dive(s) off Cocoview, there's really no good shore diving on Roatan. AKR advertises one but I've seen it, it's not great. Elsewhere shore dives are few and far between.

Another option might be one of the singledivers.com trips. You might also contact someone at caradonna.com - they book a lot of dive travel. And if you can go earlier, there's the Scubaboard Invade Bonaire trip in July. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/invade-bonaire-2013/

IDK anything about Panama.
 
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Of your options, I have only been to Bonaire and I can say that I would feel as safe there as a single traveller as I would most any place in the US. Common sense precautions of course. I can't imagine that you would have any trouble finding buddies and the diving in general is relatively easy. I would recommend staying at one of the larger resorts.

I would also suggest that you consider a solo diver/self reliant diver course. Not necessarily to dive alone but to be better prepared for the insta-buddy situations you know you will be in given your plan. The course will teach you how to dive more independently in equipment and mindset.

Good luck in your quest. If I had the vacation time, I'd volunteer to go too :D

Lisa
 
Thank you steve and lisa for the replies - thank you steve for taking all the time to give me such detailed info. You must know Bonaire very well ! I really appreciate it, and i'm going to research all of this before i choose what to do. It would be really great to go to Bonaire. I'm also up for an adventure to other spots too and encourage anyone else to share.

So glad i found this board!

Sue
 
Thanks for the invite Cardzard! I am only able to travel in the first three weeks of August due to my children. As per my custody arrangement they go visit with their dad for summer holidays during this time only and its my only time to travel. They are young kids and can't be on their own.....though its tempting some days....LOL...The Bonaire trip sounds AMAZING...I'd go in a heart beat if i could!
 
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