Where am I going?

[victorzamora]

Hey all. My fiancee and I are going to be seniors in college and are looking for another trip destination. I'd like to keep total trip cost under $1500 per person. We did a week long Roatan trip in January and are looking for another spot. I'll be a PADI DM/Tec40 and NSSCDS Cavern/Intro, she's OW and Nitrox (possibly will get AOW by then). We have all of our own gear. We prefer chill and don't care about drinking to the point of disliking the drunken messes most college kids swarm to. We prefer international. We're college kids so we don't care too much about the nicest hotels.

Just thinking about it, this does not necessarily have to be a diving vacation.

 

[divad]

Victor from Lispinard St. ?

 

[Doc]

The total trip cost of $1500... without airfare?

If airfare is part of it, it might help if you told us where you were flying from, but that is such a variable, only you can provide those costs and answers. You have thus posed a tough question to answer with any validity.

You say you went to Roatan, and I'll take a flyer and guess that you dove West End (looking at your list of c-cards, that's where they are earned). It's a whole big island with very diverse offerings. Reef House Resort might be viable and a real difference from what you might have seen.

You may also be describing areas that most visitors from North America do by liveaboard. If you want to see the kind of thing being offered that you describe- consider land based at Sharm (Red Sea) and Galapagos (Santa Cruz).

There are many backpacker type alternatives at some of the most interesting SoPac locations, consider Batangas (Puerto Galera, Philippines), a lot of tech diving there.

 

[victorzamora]

Victor from Lispinard St. ?

Nope. From Virginia.

RoatanMan: With airfare...but that's a huge variable, so I guess about $1k plus airfare. I'm absolutely in love with the environment and feel in West End (well, until the cruise ships started landing). My AOW is from West End Divers and I have also done a TON of diving through Sueno del Mar. As far as diving tech, I wouldn't mind getting a tech dive or two in....but the majority of the trip should be spent with my fiancee.

 

[DeputyDan]

The two least expensive locales are Cozumel and Cancun.

Might look at Scuba Club Cozumel specials.

 

[misdmnr]

We LOVE Cozumel....great diving, great people, safe to explore on your own even a single female! We stayed at Hotel Cozumel, cheaptickets for airfare, and please use Dive with Martin. They will pick you up at the pier, max is 6-7 divers a boat and if you ask for no charge they will upgrade you from 80's to 100's! They are a truly professional dive outfit and depending on your skill level will take you to the places a lot of other outfitters won't. They even let us spear lionfish! Super times! Our total bill air, hotel all inclusive, diving (6 days 2 dives and 1 night dive) $1300 a person and we flew from Chicago. And if you go there you just have to have a margarita at Wet Wendy's it is a cool hangout spot for a lot of divers and a great place to find people that own places to stay on the cheap if not staying on an ocean front place is a must. You can rent a place in town for approx $250 a week! If you have further questions PM me.

 

[jameseg]

My wife and I loved our time at Brac Reef Beach Resort on Cayman Brac. It's normally not cheap to stay there, but they have their annual 2-for-1 special going right now (same one we used last year) that puts the total cost for accomodation, boat diving, and food for two people at just under $2,000. Not sure what airfares are like, but it's worth checking out if your schedule matches up with the 2-for-1 weeks.

James

 

[kathydee]

I've done quite a bit of backpacker diving in SE Asia. It's quite beautiful & inexpensive once there, however, I think the airfare will be too much for your budget.

There was one place in Nicaragua which intrigued me and might fit your budget. I never made it there so can't recommend it, but you should be able find a few reviews from others on the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree forum Casa Iguana, Little Corn Island - Nicaragua - Home - Casa Iguana Eco Lodge.

I'd love to hear all about it, if you make it there ;-).

Another alternative might be to split time between the very tourist area of Cozumel and the cenotes down near Tulum . Tulum beach has some affordable romantic beach bungalows, the Cenotes are spectacular, and OW water diving in Coz is very nice.

Wonder of Bonaire would fit that budget? It's always sound enticing.

Have fun!

 

[jameseg]

Wonder of Bonaire would fit that budget? It's always sound enticing.

Have fun!

It does, with some research and flexible travel times. I just booked my first trip to Bonaire last week. From Minneapolis, I found airfares as low as the mid $500s (although most were $700+). And there appear to be plenty of great, relatively inexpensive places to stay.

James

 

[ColoDale]

Our investigations into Caribbean destinations when looking for something different almost always shows that Mexico (Cozumel) and the Dominican Republic then Roatan are the cheapest. Bear in mind that it depends on season, promotions, etc. Belize, which we thought would be comparable to Cozumel, was more expensive. We generally travel from September through the beginning of June and avoid the holidays including Easter and avoid spring break peaks.

In the past we have seen Cayman Brac and Little Cayman deals and we should have taken them. The Bahamas does also offer promotions on airfare.

When confronted with your situation of not exactly knowing where we want to go, we just make a list and hit the internet and see what pops up. We have found some great deals (some last minute tho). If nothing comes up for our travel dates then we go to Cozumel (which we like anyway - it's close, cheap(er), and the diving is good). Every once and awhile we see something good on Yahoo travel or airlines sites.