Traveling on a budget

[russ805]

no problem at all with that budget. my wife and i would travel for 2 weeks at a time when diving and our budget was 5000 canadian for the two of us up until recently.
due to the higher costs we have upped the budget to about 6000 canadian
that would include room, food, booze, diving, and sometimes a car etc
we have done all inclusives and non all inclusives. hotels, resorts, and / or condos.
many dive shops offer exotic trips and liveaboards. those are great for people with deep pockets. but many just cannot justify the costs.
where abouts in MN are you?
i only ask because our local dive shop travels every fall to cozumel with a group. they can do training if needed as well. they also bring the group to the turtle rescue dig each year.
they have run march trips to roatan and many other locations.
if you game for driving across the border, you may get a great deal up here especially considering the exchange rate you would get on the usd.

I agree! You can plan a week-long trip to Cozumel for around $2,000, depending on your preferences. An all-inclusive resort will cost more, while dining at local restaurants can help you save. This estimate does not include airfare. Most dive operators offer a two-tank boat dive, including park fees, for about $110 per person. Snacks are provided between dives, and it's customary to tip the crew.

 

[kiwidives]

In my opinion, Utila (Honduras) is ideal for a beginner diver. Diving is cheap, conditions are good, plenty to see, even a nice wreck! I really enjoyed diving with Bay Islands College of Diving, they offer great rates for diving courses at all levels of experience. There's less to do top side for a non diver, but the island is peaceful and pleasant. As others have said, you could also consider the sister island Roatan if you think the non-diver will be bored on Utila.

For a better mix of diving / non diving, you could consider La Paz in Mexico. There's a sea lion colony there and a mix of nice dive sites. The city is very pleasant to stay in and it's affordable to get a nice accomplished, car, nice meals, etc.

As others have said there is absolutely no reason to pay 8k for a diving trip!! For that price you could go on a very fancy liveaboard to a premium destination. Book your own trip and price shop. My boyfriend and I dive a lot all over the world and have never paid anywhere near that price (even for 4+ dives per day), imo that's outrageous

 

[rjack321]

At the OP's level I'd go to Bonaire and get in as much (shore) diving experience as possible. The Bahamas on something like Blackbeard's might be a close second alternative. But those are exclusively diving oriented options