Total Cost Mid-range Budget Florida & Caribbean Trips

[KathyV]

The Brac Reef Beach Resort is my favorite "bargain" land-based dive destination in the Caribbean although everyone assumes that the Caymans are expensive.

I used one of the current packages offered by BRBR for this calculation (per person, double occupancy). The package includes food (3 meals per day), 17 boat dives, valet diving services, 3 alcoholic drinks per day, airport transfers, and hotel taxes/tips. I also used the airfare cost per person for my upcoming trip to Little Cayman from Chicago. I didn't include trip insurance because that is optional.

I came up with a figure of $149 per dive, but again that includes 3 alcoholic drinks per night and valet dive services - so it seems comparable (IMO) to some of the other destinations that have been discussed here.

Added intrinsic benefits that I like about the Caymans include: excellent diving and dive ops, first world economy with good communication systems, no concerns about eating the food or drinking the water, and friendly locals with a low crime rate. Also, they have a strong mosquito abatement program with low incidence of dengue fever and chikungunya and no problems with malaria. And the food at the BRBR is buffet but very good!

Brac Reef Beach Resort
CLEARLY CAYMAN PACKAGE
Valid for travel January 3 – December 16 2015

7 Nights Accommodations
Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Three Drinks Nightly
17 Boat Dives
Airport Ground Transfers
Free Welcome Rum Punch
Hotel Taxes & Service Fees
$1590 (USD per person double occupancy)

Airfare: $640
Luggage fees (roundtrip $130)
Dive shop tips $170
Free WiFi

Total = $2530/17 dives = $149 per dive (includes valet dive services and 3 drinks per night)

 

[drrich2]

I came up with a figure of $149 per dive, but again that includes 3 alcoholic drinks per night and valet dive services - so it seems comparable (IMO) to some of the other destinations that have been discussed here.

Good pickup. I don't drink so I'm not up on the value added factor of included alcohol; the Sun Dancer 2 page indicates it includes 'local beer and wine' in the package. On the other hand, they also included soft drinks in plastic bottles, and I probably hit their Diet Coke stocks hard (they didn't run out though).

With that sort of issue in mind, I'll add that if anyone tries to lay out a package deal for diving Cozumel, there are all-inclusive food packages available, but many people prefer to eat out instead, preferring the food & general experience that way, judging from various other threads. Some dive destinations are heavily geared toward 80 cf tanks (e.g.: Bonaire); some have a limited supply of 100 cf tanks (they found me 2 at Rainbow Reef Dive Center in Key Largo; I had a 100 cf tank on the Sun Dancer 2 & used it all week), and very few have ready availability of really big tanks - but Cozumel is one (Living Underwater, Aldora & I think one other op. have 120 cf tanks). It's been pointed out that a fewer number of longer dives on big tanks can give you comparable bottom time.

On the subject of aiming for a high dive count in a limited time (e.g.: a week), some destinations seem to mostly involve a 2-tank morning trip & you're done that day, some a 2-tank morning trip & optional afternoon 1-tank trip, some 2 2-tank trips/day (e.g.: my Key Largo trip; but be careful - where I dove in Jupiter they tended toward 2 2-tank trips/day, but I don't think we'd be back in time to do both in one day, & it was deep diving anyway), and some offer the option for 4/day + a night dive, maybe more (mainly live-aboards, shore diving Bonaire, and if you stay at CocoView in Roatan you can do 2 1-tank dives, get dropped off from each on the way in for a 'boat to shore' dive on the large house reef area, then shore dive if 4/day isn't enough for you). Some places only offer night dives every few days, and that's if enough people sign up.

My point is, if you're looking to run up a big dive count in a limited time, that'll cut your options way down.

Richard.

P.S.: Roatan dive frequency options, particularly shore diving, depend heavily on where you stay. I spoke from what I've been told about CocoView.

 

[KathyV]

Another factor to consider is the travel season. It can be more expensive to travel to the Caribbean in the winter than in the fall, for example. There are advantages and disadvantages to both seasons. In the fall the water is warmer and the hotels, beaches, and dive boats are cheaper and less crowded, but there is a greater probability of bad weather and hurricanes. In the winter you can escape from the frozen north but the water is cool and the venues are expensive and crowded.

I think that Bonaire and Curacao have big advantages because they are below the hurricane belt and the water is warm all year round. If I was picking a location during winter I would definitely look to the southern waters. Of course there are no guarantees, bad weather can hit at any time.

You just have to weigh the pros and cons for every location, make an informed decision and then take your chances, but it is helpful to have information such as provided by this thread for assistance in deciding.

It would be hard to find a place with a cheaper cost per good dive ratio than shore diving Bonaire IMO. We love Bonaire and have been there several times. We love the culture and the spirit of diving freedom, but now that we are older it is getting more difficult to schlep our equipment all around the island. And there has always been a persistent problem with petty theft on Bonaire. So you just have to weight the positives and the negatives and make a decision.

And as others have said, there are intrinsic values that are hard to price but may be important to an individual when selecting a dive destination. Valet diving wasn't important to us when we were younger but it is important now.

 

[gkrane]

I have never really tried to figure out the cost per dive for one of our trips, but I am in the process of searching for other destinations other than CoCo View, Bonaire, and a liveaboard that can net you 25+ dives in a week. I definitely like getting the most for my money and even more important getting the most diving out of my vacation time. I'm not into topside attractions, nightlife, or other things. A dive vaction to me is diving and more diving. I am lucky because my wife is onboard with the thought process. Cost is a factor for me since I dive with my wife and son so everything is X3. I have recently decided that until my youngest grows up a trip to Indonesia may be out of the question due to cost. We do have a trip on a liveaboard planned to the Red Sea next summer though. For now, I am completely satisfied with Caribbean diving especially when it is with my wife and kids. Nothing makes a dive trip like seeing the wonder in a child's eye underwater. I have a saying that goes something like this, "Getting your child certified to dive is giving them the gift of life for a lifetime." I truly believe it is a life changing experience.

 

[Shasta_man]

I like liveaboards because I think there are a lot of benefits which I won't list, but you get a lot of diving in a short time. If you compare just those, it seems like boat prices are similar all over the world, so it's just the cost to get there that is different. There are places that aren't that far for me to get to, but the airfare is high in comparison such as going to Palau or Fiji. Palau is not so bad to get to but airfare is like $2000 now so boat + airfare ends up costing as much as some longer than a week trips other places. Fiji is another relatively easy place to get to, but at $1100 or more to fly there, it also adds up. When I compare that to $750 flight to Indonesia, even though it is much farther, it's hard to go to the closer places for higher cost. And then there is the $3000 cost to get to PNG. While you can get a decent cost from US to Australia, that cost doubles when just taking the Australia to Port Moresby flight, so I have never quite made it. Besides the beyond grueling 14 hour flight, after I thought I was crazy on a 12 hour flight.

 

[gkrane]

I like liveaboards because I think there are a lot of benefits which I won't list, but you get a lot of diving in a short time. If you compare just those, it seems like boat prices are similar all over the world, so it's just the cost to get there that is different. There are places that aren't that far for me to get to, but the airfare is high in comparison such as going to Palau or Fiji. Palau is not so bad to get to but airfare is like $2000 now so boat + airfare ends up costing as much as some longer than a week trips other places. Fiji is another relatively easy place to get to, but at $1100 or more to fly there, it also adds up. When I compare that to $750 flight to Indonesia, even though it is much farther, it's hard to go to the closer places for higher cost. And then there is the $3000 cost to get to PNG. While you can get a decent cost from US to Australia, that cost doubles when just taking the Australia to Port Moresby flight, so I have never quite made it. Besides the beyond grueling 14 hour flight, after I thought I was crazy on a 12 hour flight.

Shasta, where are you able to fly to in Indonesia with great diving that has airfare for $750? That seems like a great deal on airfare to me.