We now base all of our trips on the diving quality as the top priority then we try to look at travel hassles as well. Some of the first places we went to did not follow this rule.
You can check out my signature for links to some reports.
We have been to Belize (liveaboard on the atolls), Bonaire, the East of Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cozumel, Utila, and the Bahammas (liveaboard - this was bad diving before we used the rule). We have trips planned to Roatan this summer and Dominica in March.
We have not been to Utila but have been to Grand Cayman (east, north, west), Litttle Cayman, the Brac< Bonaire and Cozumel,the Bahamas (several islands), Aruba, USVI, and T&C.(provo)
Here is my take on this whatever it is worth and by the way I wish more divers would talk about destinations comparisons.
I agree we should talk about comparison but sometimes it is like a peach and an apple hard to compare. Im also a photographer and think that after you've been diving a number of places you start to notice the small and big differences between the islands.
Both my wife and I were shock how good the diving was on Utila (Bay Islands). In our opinion, the only place we have been that could give Utila a run for the money with regard to the diving quality is Little Cayman. In fact, the only places my photographer wife will now consider are Little Cayman, the Bay Islands, and Bonaire as far as the places we have been already. My feeling is that somehow the Bay Islands have gotten a bad rap with regard to the diving quality. I think you just need to be careful where you go. For example, you dont need be diving on the West End of Roatan when you can diving on the south of Roatan at Cocoview or the northeast of Roatan at Paya Bay.
I really dont think the diving on Bonaire is that great but it is pretty good, and it is such a fun place to go. We have been three times, and we still want to go back. It is very easy for us to get to Bonaire where we live so Bonaire does not really violate the rule. Like I say, the diving is decent but it does not compare to Utila or Little Cayman.
I would say for us the diving quality in Bonaire is comparable to Cozumel, but the diving is so different, it is hard to say this. But we like Boniare overall better than Cozumel.
I would agree that I like Bonaire better but would also state that some of the shallow dives that I have done in Coz. was about as good as it gets for fish life in the Carib.
I talked to several people who have dived everywhere in the Caribbean, and many of these people will tell you that the best diving is on Saba and Dominica. The same people highly recommended Utila and Little Cayman as well. This is why we are going to Dominica in March, and we are going to go to Saba the following March. I really cant tell you anything first hand about the T&C (especially since you have been and I have not). The problem for me when considering T&C is our close proximity to Little Cayman, so it hard for me plan a trip to T&C when I can get to Little Cayman for about the same cost and travel hassle.
