Vote: Quick trip in June with wifey

[H2ODoc]

My wife's idea!!!!

Kids are gone for a week - she asked about a quick trip to the Flower Gardens in the gulf on a liveaboard. What's your vote?

 

[georoc01]

Don't expect much privacy on the boat. I'd rather go somewhere where we would have our own room if its time away from the kids.


Unless of course, you have your own private charter..Then go for it!

 

[robint]

I voted Cozumel, but I really don't know you or wife so its hard to guess what you would like. Cozumel is the easiest place to get away and dive for a short trip, IMHO. I think there are still direct flights from Denver, too. The Keys are a good choice too depending....

so what are you looking to accomplish on this short trip? How many dives do you both have and how many dives do you want to do per day? Other activities? How many days? Where have you been diving?

robin

 

[mselenaous]

I say come to Scubaboard's Invade-the-Keys event. Always a blast to meet other Scubaboarders.


Invade the Keys - ScubaBoard

 

[TSandM]

Does your wife only dive warm water? If not, I'd head for a Channel Island liveaboard for a long weekend. The diving out there is as good as Coz, for my money -- just not as warm.

 

[dmoore19]

I know some people that have been to the Flower Gardens. It sounds like a good trip to me. I voted for Flower Gardens because If the Wife brought it up and that is where she wanted to go............. Besides from what I have heard about the Flower Gardens it sounds like a good trip anyway. Whatever you do, it will be fun!

 

[H2ODoc]

Don't expect much privacy on the boat. I'd rather go somewhere where we would have our own room if its time away from the kids.


Unless of course, you have your own private charter..Then go for it!

Good point on the privacy - private charter sounds great, but I'm afraid to ask the cost. Probably not in the cards.

 

[H2ODoc]

I voted Cozumel, but I really don't know you or wife so its hard to guess what you would like. Cozumel is the easiest place to get away and dive for a short trip, IMHO. I think there are still direct flights from Denver, too. The Keys are a good choice too depending....

so what are you looking to accomplish on this short trip? How many dives do you both have and how many dives do you want to do per day? Other activities? How many days? Where have you been diving?

robin

We just wanted to do something different and get another trip in this year. She liked the idea of a liveaboard, but maybe a "real" liveaboard like in Belize is more towards what we were thinking (sharing a private room, etc.), but that's a bigger ($$$ and time) trip than a quick getaway.

I was thinking the same as you - Coz is a quick flight from DEN, relatively cheap, good food, etc. That's what I'm leaning towards.

 

[H2ODoc]

Does your wife only dive warm water? If not, I'd head for a Channel Island liveaboard for a long weekend. The diving out there is as good as Coz, for my money -- just not as warm.

So far - YES on the warm water diving. Not saying we wouldn't do it, but we are typically trying to escape Winter for our annual dive trip. Plus, there are Great Whites near the Channel Islands, right? One of us is afraid of those creatures

I did think of another getaway option, and that's to bareboat charter a sailboat out of Newport Beach and head over to Catalina for a few days. We used to live in SoCal and did that a few times - we could even do a dive or two at Catalina when we are there, but the sailing alone would be a nice quick and easy vacation. For ME, the goal is to either get IN or ON the water one way or another!

 

[robint]

So far - YES on the warm water diving. Not saying we wouldn't do it, but we are typically trying to escape Winter for our annual dive trip. Plus, there are Great Whites near the Channel Islands, right? One of us is afraid of those creatures

I did think of another getaway option, and that's to bareboat charter a sailboat out of Newport Beach and head over to Catalina for a few days. We used to live in SoCal and did that a few times - we could even do a dive or two at Catalina when we are there, but the sailing alone would be a nice quick and easy vacation. For ME, the goal is to either get IN or ON the water one way or another!

okay.... let's be realistic here. The great whites are only eating sea lions or surfers who look like them, and that is a very rare occurance. The only divers I know of that have seen great whites while diving are Dr. Bill (who lives on Catalina and dives almost every day and also goes very deep intentionally to video deep creatures) and a few other people who have seen them off in the distance on rare, very rare occasions.
You can watch my California videos and get an impression on what you WILL see when diving there. To me it is some of the best diving on the planet, but it is cold water.

As far as a liveaboard, you can do them more cheaply that the Aggressor. There are liveaboards that might work well for you - still have private rooms with private baths and won't break the bank. We have done 2 trips on the Nekton, Nekton Cruises > Home , boat leaves out of Ft. Lauderdale for Bahamas trips. See my trip reports and videos - sharks, tons of fish, and no other boats or divers in site for a week. Other liveaboards, look at Aquacat liveaboard (also Bahamas but a different area) and www.blackbeard-cruises.com (no private room or bathroom, more like camping at sea). ALL these trips are a week long though, Saturday to Saturday.

One thing not on your poll that might work is Boynton Beach Fla or Boca/Ft. Lauderdale area diving. They have lots of shallow wrecks which are nice and the reef dives are done as drifts, sorta like Cozumel only no DM as each buddy team takes their own dive flag. Diving is a bit more demanding that most of the Keys diving. We did this trip a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Check out my photos. Dive ops to look at:
South Florida Diving Hqtrs (they have a great listing of all the wrecks/reefs in area)
Diversity Charters,Boca Raton
https://securec7.ezhostingserver.com/diveboyntonbeach-com/indexs.cfmKevin in Boynton

one of the shallow wrecks in Boca:

BTW -- if you haven't looked at my website, I have a LINKS page with links to tons of dive ops in lots of different locations around the world. Most of them are from our own trips, some are from friends recommendations. I try to keep them up to date.
My Links you will Like

robin