What's the best place to dive & increase logged dives in the Caribbean? (during December or in general)

[Steelyeyes]

Base in NA, recently got my ow & aow, looking for somewhere not too expensive to increase my logged dives (37 more to go to Galapagos

Planning my next trip for December. Would like to freedive and scuba.

Done some research and I'm not too sure what to choose:
Cozumel & tulum cenotes - cold and bad weather during winter? Average price, 2 tanks 130$+. Highlight: bull shark dive in December
Roatan - good env and price (100$ 2 tanks), rainy season
Utila - cheaper than Roatan (85$ 2 tanks) and has a good vibe but the diving env is not as good as Roatan
Bonaire - great to go during December, shoredives, best for advanced divers to dive without guide (130$, 2 tanks)
Caracao - similar to Bonaire with less people, cheaper (115$, 2 tanks)
Bahamas - bimini? great to dive with hammerhead sharks (maybe combining miami Jupiter for shark dive since they are very close)
Turks and caicos (pain in the ass to go there, expensive, 2 tanks 200$+)
Belize - apparently not the best time to visit (has more stuff in other months)
Dominica - sperm whales (liveaboard only)
Dominican Republic - humpback whales (only during january &april, not the best timing, leaving it for the future)

Any experience or recommendations?
Very appreciated.

I'd vote for Bonaire. I got in about 400 dives there when I lived there. There was no pressure to cram them in then. I did see people at the resorts with a rental truck jammed to the gills with tanks a lot of times. You could easily get 4-5 dives in a day if you planned well and were careful.

 

[Bay Island Diver]

You do you. I have had better diving in Utila than Roatan and I mean it. Particularly now. I dove Roatan in April and the reef system just seemed worn out. It was sad. Admittedly, I did more diving in Utila years ago and very little in Roatan back then so maybe it was better then but nowadays - not so good. At least not when and where I dove in April.

We did do a coupl of nice dives with Coconut Tree before we got on the Aggressor, though. Great shop!

I guess it's about what you want from the dives. The greater abundance of marine life, especially turtles, is why I rate Roatan over Utila. The comment about the cruise ship had me scratching my head, as I do not believe that has had any significant impact on dive conditions. I feel that Utilas proximity to the mainland run off from there during heavy rains is far more detrimental than the cruise ships in Roatan. I am glad you had a good time diving with Coconut Tree!

 

[salmonidae]

Something to consider ... Blackbeard's Cruises Bahamas Liveaboard Diving Official WS

If you take a couple of classes like Deep and Night, you'll get time with an instructor for some supervision. You might ask to see if they would let you "shadow" some of the other classes (checkouts & AOW) until you get more comfortable as they will certainly do checkouts first.

With a couple classes, the trip would come in about US $1900-21000 (Diving, Food, "Lodging", Transfer, Tips, Rentals - Excluding Airfare) Gives you roughly 18 dives. You might also factor in coming in the day before and staying at the marina "hotel" as an insurance against travel delays. Once the boat sails, getting to it would range from $$$$ to impossible.

Lots of folks of all ages, can be HS student to retiree, actually interacting with one another. Good, generally calm, diving (minimal current). It is diving on your own (as a buddy team), so a chance to build your self reliance in relatively benign conditions - but respect it.

Wow thanks for your informative answer. It’s definitely my first option for my first liveaboard now!

 

[salmonidae]

I'd vote for Bonaire. I got in about 400 dives there when I lived there. There was no pressure to cram them in then. I did see people at the resorts with a rental truck jammed to the gills with tanks a lot of times. You could easily get 4-5 dives in a day if you planned well and were careful.

Damnn 400 that’s a lot. How many dives you have in total?

For now I’ll pass Bonaire, it looks good, but Im not ready yet to dive without a guide (even with a buddy) and it’s a hassle to rent a car and manage everything on your own.

Especially anything can happen underwater. I’ll consider it when I have 20-30 log at least.

 

[salmonidae]

As mentioned above, a $1,095 Blackbeard's liveaboard from Nassau, Bahamas would be a great choice. Realize that is your lodging, food, and up to 19 dives for that price. My son (13 at the time) and I went on Blackbeard's with only 9 prior dives each, and it really helped us progress our diving. You really can't beat the total cost-per-dive for anywhere in the Caribbean (flights are usually pretty reasonably priced compared to Bonaire, Curacao, etc.) and the diving is pretty darn good. Actually, the food is pretty darn good too, especially considering the galley (kitchen) is tiny.

Cozumel could be a good option -- you could do 2 tank boat dives for around $100 or a little less with a 5 day package from some dive ops. Combine that with staying at a hotel (Hotel Cozumel, Blue Angel, Barracuda, etc.) with on-site shore dives for the afternoon or evening, and that could work nicely. Shore dives there are not tide dependent.

I'll throw one more out that is not normally top of my list, but still pretty good and perhaps good for your goals -- St. Croix. If you stay in Frederiksted, you could dive the Pier several times a day, and it is not tide dependent -- and super easy dive as long as you just follow the pier columns out and back. There are also boat dives available from Frederiksted. Frederiksted is a very sleepy town, but the Pier dive is exceptional and I could probably be happy going a week and only divinng the Pier multiple times a day and at night (great night dives there). One caveat is to check the cruise schedules, since you can't dive the Pier when there's a cruise ship docked there (most still leave early enough you can get a night dive in). Another caveat is overall St. Croix is a bit more expensive than Cozumel, and not many topside activities there if you just stay in Frederiksted (and need to rent a car if you don't).

Tysm for the detailed answer! I will check that out!!

 

[salmonidae]

Agree with @Rob9876 about St. Croix (was going to suggest it myself but he beat me to it.) Another nice thing about St.Croix is that if the Pier isn't available, one can drive to Cane Bay for a shore dive (or boat dive) of a wall or can head across the island (25-30 min) to dive the Salt River area or sites nearer Christiansted. With the Frederiksted Pier, wrecks, reef, walls, and canyons, there are lots of diving options!

I would say there are enough top side activities to keep one on the go for a week. December may still have the Christmas Boat Parade! Things to do might include a Cruzan Rum Factory tour, the St. George botanical garden, the Whim Estate and Sugar Mill, ATV tours, the Lost Dog Pub (with white sauce pizza), taking in the Christiansted boardwalk, catamaran and snorkel at Buck Island, Point Udall (the easternmost geographic point of the US), Sandy Point beach (where Andy met Red in the movie Shawshank Redemption), a hike to the lighthouse on Ham's Bluff, and a casino. There's other stuff to do but those things came to mind.

That’s really cool. Adding this all to my little notebook hahaha. Thanks for sharing

 

[salmonidae]

If you go to Cozumel (and the diving is great), I would just do Cozumel. ) Cenotes are more expensive and you will enjoy them more when you are a more experienced diver. Also, FYI, not all divers like them. Some people want ocean life and coral. Cenotes don't have that. It is just stalagmites and stalagtites, and sometimes fossils, and haloclines. Not to mention, if you do it for a day, it's a very long day. It's easier to stay over in Playa to do them. All the companies I found (except one) make you get to them, too-they don't do pickups.

We went to the cenotes as we stayed in PDC, and now I think I’m actually more fond of cenotes instead of ocean… it’s just unreal. Feels like another planet. My favourites are Pit and dreamgate

 

[covediver]

Base in NA, recently got my ow & aow, looking for somewhere not too expensive to increase my logged dives (37 more to go to Galapagos

Planning my next trip for December. Would like to freedive and scuba.

Done some research and I'm not too sure what to choose:
Cozumel & tulum cenotes - cold and bad weather during winter? Average price, 2 tanks 130$+. Highlight: bull shark dive in December
Roatan - good env and price (100$ 2 tanks), rainy season
Utila - cheaper than Roatan (85$ 2 tanks) and has a good vibe but the diving env is not as good as Roatan
Bonaire - great to go during December, shoredives, best for advanced divers to dive without guide (130$, 2 tanks)
Caracao - similar to Bonaire with less people, cheaper (115$, 2 tanks)
Bahamas - bimini? great to dive with hammerhead sharks (maybe combining miami Jupiter for shark dive since they are very close)
Turks and caicos (pain in the ass to go there, expensive, 2 tanks 200$+)
Belize - apparently not the best time to visit (has more stuff in other months)
Dominica - sperm whales (liveaboard only)
Dominican Republic - humpback whales (only during january &april, not the best timing, leaving it for the future)

Any experience or recommendations?
Very appreciated.

I have been to Roatan twice in the last three years in January. It is considered the "rainy season" and while it did rain (mostly at night) it never interfered with diving but could reduce visibility at certain sites. I stayed at CocoView. It makes logistic very easy and is relatively affordable. You can do two boat dives in the morning, two in the afternoon and all the shore dives you want.

I was in Bonaire years ago in November. Good conditions. Rent a car and shore dive the sites to maximize your dives. The sites are the same sites the boats go to. I swam out to the buoy from shore that the boats tie off to.

 

[caotoole]

Bonaire is great and you get to dive at your pace. Hotels along the beach in Cozumel have some great shore diving, shallow so you have a lot of bottom time ($20 per tank without haggling or bulk discounts). Starting out shore diving is valuable because you can go at your pace, get comfortable, try new things etc.... Good luck, keep diving.

 

[Steelyeyes]

Damnn 400 that’s a lot. How many dives you have in total?

For now I’ll pass Bonaire, it looks good, but Im not ready yet to dive without a guide (even with a buddy) and it’s a hassle to rent a car and manage everything on your own.

Especially anything can happen underwater. I’ll consider it when I have 20-30 log at least.

About 850. Stopped logging them years ago. Just look at my computer total. On my third computer so far. Going to dive Hawaii (again) then Maldives, Philippines, Bahamas, and maybe Virgin Islands before April of 24.