Travel destination for beginner

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I had no problems with weighting or buoyancy before that first Cozumel trip, and I had done some drift drives in the past - including the crazy Washing Machine dive in the Bahamas - but the strong current in Coz was difficult for me and it took a little time for me to master it.

It must have been a really bad day. In ten visits and 150 dives there I can recall only two dives when I noticed a current. One when we zoomed over Paradise Reef and another when I had to hold tight while the rest of the group was harassing a little sand shark under a ledge. Otherwise I don't even notice the current.
There are so many new divers that go to Cozumel and have no more problems than new divers seem to have anywhere.
 
As mentioned Curacao is popular with Germans b/c of the direct flights. It's also low-currebt diving - very similar to Bonaire. Easier to shore dive as almost all the 50+ dives sites are beaches, most with onsite dive operations so you don't have to haul tanks. Bigger island than Bonaire with a lot more non-dive activities. Divibg is good all year as hurricanes are not an issue.

You should also be able to get to Miami easily then Grand Cayman is about 45 mins. away on a regional carrier like Cayman Airways, Lots of boat dive operators and about a dozen? shore dives, The popular ones have stairs/ladders for easy access. Cayman gets hit by hurricanes sso go elsewhere July-November.

We did some nice diving in the BVI's - mostly shallow, they have a couple easy wrecks. The famous one is the RMS Rhone one of our group did the swimthru on her 15th dive, To get there fly into St Thomas (STT) then take the fast ferries to Tortola or Virgin Gorda. They took a massive hit a few years ago from a hurricane and some areas only resumed operations last year, We used DiveBVI to boat dive, safe, efficiet and they have the crew to do dives from the same boat by skill level. There are NO shore dives.

Kind of more expensive there's a lot of villas and yachts, Not as expensive as Caynam though - it or Turks/Caicos are the most expensive dives we've done,
 
I would also recommend the Egyptian Red Sea. We've dived out of Dahab in July 2012 and Coraya bay, Marsa Alam in April last year. There are some nice easy shore dives near both areas and along the coast. Boat trips also possible from both places.
In Coraya Bay we stayed at SuneoClub and dived with German-owned Scuba World, who were ok. If we go back to Coraya Bay we’d probably stay in the bay itself and dive with Coraya Divers (also German I believe). With Coraya divers you can dive straight from their jetty in front of the hotels, as well as do trips away from the bay.

July in Dahab was VERY hot (>40C) but it was ok as we were mostly in the water! :cool:

Another possibility for easy diving with relatively easy access from Germany is Thailand, although it's not the best time of year for the Andaman side, but still diveable in places.
Although not as good as the Andaman Sea, Koh Tao in the gulf is nice, with easy diving. In August last year we stayed in Tanote Bay and dived with Calypso Divers who were great! (also German). Shore dives in Tanote Bay as well as diving from their own boat. Being on the east coast we avoided all the crowds you get on the west side of the island. The snorkelling in Tanote Bay is also pretty good.
 
Breakers resort soma bay hurghadha. [...] Tobia Arbaa is still one of the best pillar reef dive sites I have ever been on. Very dense and varied fish. [...]

I can support that!
The Breakers and ORCA Soma Bay are ideal for "new" divers - ask for detail via Conversation if you like, or look at reviews in e.g. Tripadvisor.

BTW: I went to Tobia Arbaa and Panorama Reef in 1998 and then again in 2017; according to my logbook records the spots are still as good as they were
 
I had no problems in my 55 dives, which is good of course. I read a lot in SB and try to get as much information what to do in spezific situations.
I consider myself inexperienced, because I had no unexpected hazards. In my opinion an experienced diver had to fix some problems on dives,so he gains the experience.

Thank you very much for the input.
My fafourite is cozumel atm, but I also consider a libeaboard(or hotel) at Egypt.
I am a bit worried, that cozumel will be expensive, because we have to pay the boat dives and guides. That's what I like on shore dives. 10 bucks for a bottle and I can dive.

If I was based in Germany, I would look no further than a Red Sea liveaboard at the moment, in terms of interesting, affordable and fairly easy diving. I would think that with your level of experience, you should be able to handle most Red Sea itineraries. You may find more current than you are used to, but that's the only way you'll learn to dive with current.

BTW, I applaud you for considering yourself inexperienced because you've had no unexpected hazards. Humility and a healthy respect for Mother Ocean and the dive gods are always a good thing, no matter how many dives you've done, and it's all too easy in diving to fall into overconfidence.
 
It must have been a really bad day. In ten visits and 150 dives there I can recall only two dives when I noticed a current. One when we zoomed over Paradise Reef and another when I had to hold tight while the rest of the group was harassing a little sand shark under a ledge. Otherwise I don't even notice the current.
There are so many new divers that go to Cozumel and have no more problems than new divers seem to have anywhere.

Apparently I'm not the only person that has encountered problems with drifting faster than the rest of group during Cozumel dives:
Drift Diving - How to slow down and stay with your buddy/group

My point is that not everyone is the same and some divers might find drift-diving in Cozumel to be challenging.
 
Thank you all!
I will book the breakers in Egypt :)
And I am prob going to do Philippines / Thailand next year.

There's some good information in this thread and even I have chosen my destination, I would still appreciate more input. This won't be my last holiday :D
And it's always good for beginners to read Tipps for holiday destinations.


@KathyV we had some really strong current 1 day in Bonaire. (hilma hooker)
There was no chance to fight it and we had to walk back to our car after burning out air in no time. I can imagine that strong currents can be very confusing, especially when it's something new. That's why I was a bit scared about cozumel.
 
I recommend the Philippines for your next trip after Egypt.

Went there mid to end of October 2019 and dived with Haka on Panglao. (sign up for the Balicasag trip a few days or depending on the season even weeks in advance) Divesite Diver´s Heaven got the name for a reason!

Bongo Bongo Divers in Dauin and also stayed at their place (Loved the atmosphere there and can´t wait to return because I´m traveling on my own for scuba so I liked the the social guesthouse feel with likeminded people)
Dauin was my favourite place in general because it´s a quiet little town with very friendly locals, no hassel, no crazy party backpackers and no *** tourists. Plus it´s a very cheap 30min drive to Dumaguete with a Jeepney if you wanna go to a city for more restaurants a mall and so on. And the diving is of course amazing !!!!
(Shore Dives or very short boat rides or a day trip to apo island)

Finally dived with Savedra in Moalboal and also highly recommend them (DM Mark!) but I didn´t liked the town that much but the wall dives at Pescador are amazing.
(The famous sardine run is a shore dive)

I didn´t had enough time to visit Malapascua and Southern Leyte but talked to Devocean and Peter´s Dive Resort on the Boat Show in Düsseldorf plus got them recommended while in the Philippines.


You could fly into the island of Leyte (plus 3h transfer to Sogod Bay), Panglao and Dumaguete from Manila so could make it any easy round trip and not Cebu City back and fourth plus long transfers to the places you want to go to.


Another option are the famous wrecks in Subic Bay and Coron. Hopeing to do a wreck course someday with Arizona and then venture out well prepaired to Coron.

Anilao and nearby Puerto Galera are also often recommended there on SB so check them out if you wanna dive closer to Manila maybe in combination with Subic Bay and then a flight from Clark Airport to Coron.
 
Also thank you to all who posted on this thread because it inspired me to plan my next trip to Dahab and combine it with a return non diving trip to Israel.
 
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