Where should we go (Coz/LC/Bonaire)?

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TravelDave

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Location
Atlanta
Some friends from Atlanta and I are looking into a trip this fall (October maybe) and are currently considering Bonaire, Little Cayman, and Cozumel. We haven't been to any of these places before. We're probably only going to shoot for 4 days of diving. Our biggest priority is getting good diving in (interesting stuff to see, variety, etc). We're also interested in how they compare from a cost standpoint. Plus, we'll take and any other input that people have.

Should we add any other locations to the list?

Thanks,
Dave
 
Coz will almost always be the cheapest as long as you find affordable airfare. Try flying to Cancun and crossing on the ferry to get cheaper fares.

Bonaire is mostl likely to be out of the path of most of the hurricanes that are a very real concern during that time of year. It is also likely to be the most expensive to fly to. Bonaire will offer you more flexibility in the diving days and length of stay, as well as offer the ability to shore dive at will. Downside to the shore diving is having to take anything of even nominal value with you lest it be stolen from your vehicle.

Little Cayman is the most laid back and relaxed of the three. It can be pricey to get there, and depending on where you stay, lodging can be pricey as well. Little Cayman Beach Resort is offering a 7 night package including airfare from Miami or Ft Lauderdale for $1495 from Sept. 4-Oct. 16. That includes all meals, 2 tanks a day (they usually run a 3rd single tank afternoon dive as well), and a night dive. It may be slightly more difficult to get a 4 day package because of air connections and such oriented towards 7 night stays, but if you are dead set on a shorter trip, you should be able to arrange something.

Little Cayman IMO has the best diving of the three with Bonaire probably in second narrowly ahead of Coz. All three are excellent places to dive, and others will give you wildly varying opinions of the relative placement of the three. Coz has the most nightlife, with Bonaire a fair ways behind, and Little Cayman having pretty much nothing to do besides dive.

It comes down to very different diving styles at each place. Coz is all drift diving (i.e. follow the leader with a DM and group) and has lots of pelagics (eagle rays, turtles, etc), but has suffered alot under the pressure of up to 7 cruise ships per day in port. There are walls that go down several hundred feet before levelling off.

Bonaire is very oriented towards shore diving, and has very healthy reef systems and great macro life, but very little in the way of larger creatures or pelagics. The water around Bonaire is not very deep, and the typical reef profile is more of a gentle slope, without many sheer walls like you would see in Coz or Little Cayman. Little Cayman is the king of Caribbean wall diving. It has walls that start in 30 feet of water and drop several thousand feet nearly vertically. It has a nice mix of pelagics and macro creatures, and the reefs are generally very healthy. The diving is almost exclusively from boats, and with generally very minimal current, most diving is from a moored boat, allowing divers to head out any direction they please instead of having to follow a DM to ensure being picked up by the boat at the end of the dive.

Any choice out of the three will almost certainly result in a great trip for you, but the most satisfying option will depend on what you want out of the dives and the destination.
 
AggieDiver:
Little Cayman is the king of Caribbean wall diving. It has walls that start in 30 feet of water and drop several thousand feet nearly vertically. It has a nice mix of pelagics and macro creatures, and the reefs are generally very healthy. The diving is almost exclusively from boats, and with generally very minimal current, most diving is from a moored boat, allowing divers to head out any direction they please instead of having to follow a DM to ensure being picked up by the boat at the end of the dive.
.

I agree with you, since I just returned from diving off the Brac and LC. but you must NOT rule out West Caicos off Provo for great wall diving.
You will see more pelagics in Caicos, LC. has more colorful sponge life. I saw turtles on nearly every dive at Brac and LC, and 70% of them I saw Eagle Rays. We saw two sharks, one on a shallow dive off the Brac (nurse), the other off Bloody bay wall (6-8 ft. grey reef). Divng at Caicos your chances of seeing sharks is close to70% on dives with Caicos Adventures as well as eagle rays, dolphins. :dazzler1:

Dive Safe,
Caymaniac
 
With Air Jamacia flying out of Atlanta to Bonaire and depending on how many dives a day you want to do, Bonaire migh actually be your best $/dive. If you don't mind not being on the water I know a small hotel in Bonaire that offers 7 nights and 6 days unlimited tanks for shore diving for $250pp. It's not the Ritz but it's clean and the dive shop is great to work with. I just came back from Bonaire about 3 weeks ago.
 
I'm with Herman on this one. But, for a different reason.
October can be hurricane season. Bonaire is your safest bet of the three you mentioned, around this time of year.
Aruba and St. Lucia would also be safer..but there are no guarantees.
Have fun!
 
AggieDiver:
Coz will almost always be the cheapest as long as you find affordable airfare. Try flying to Cancun and crossing on the ferry to get cheaper fares.

Bonaire is mostl likely to be out of the path of most of the hurricanes that are a very real concern during that time of year. It is also likely to be the most expensive to fly to. Bonaire will offer you more flexibility in the diving days and length of stay, as well as offer the ability to shore dive at will. Downside to the shore diving is having to take anything of even nominal value with you lest it be stolen from your vehicle.

Little Cayman is the most laid back and relaxed of the three. It can be pricey to get there, and depending on where you stay, lodging can be pricey as well. Little Cayman Beach Resort is offering a 7 night package including airfare from Miami or Ft Lauderdale for $1495 from Sept. 4-Oct. 16. That includes all meals, 2 tanks a day (they usually run a 3rd single tank afternoon dive as well), and a night dive. It may be slightly more difficult to get a 4 day package because of air connections and such oriented towards 7 night stays, but if you are dead set on a shorter trip, you should be able to arrange something.

Little Cayman IMO has the best diving of the three with Bonaire probably in second narrowly ahead of Coz. All three are excellent places to dive, and others will give you wildly varying opinions of the relative placement of the three. Coz has the most nightlife, with Bonaire a fair ways behind, and Little Cayman having pretty much nothing to do besides dive.

It comes down to very different diving styles at each place. Coz is all drift diving (i.e. follow the leader with a DM and group) and has lots of pelagics (eagle rays, turtles, etc), but has suffered alot under the pressure of up to 7 cruise ships per day in port. There are walls that go down several hundred feet before levelling off.

Bonaire is very oriented towards shore diving, and has very healthy reef systems and great macro life, but very little in the way of larger creatures or pelagics. The water around Bonaire is not very deep, and the typical reef profile is more of a gentle slope, without many sheer walls like you would see in Coz or Little Cayman. Little Cayman is the king of Caribbean wall diving. It has walls that start in 30 feet of water and drop several thousand feet nearly vertically. It has a nice mix of pelagics and macro creatures, and the reefs are generally very healthy. The diving is almost exclusively from boats, and with generally very minimal current, most diving is from a moored boat, allowing divers to head out any direction they please instead of having to follow a DM to ensure being picked up by the boat at the end of the dive.

Any choice out of the three will almost certainly result in a great trip for you, but the most satisfying option will depend on what you want out of the dives and the destination.



Angie, i to had the same questions, and went with bonaire in July. I never been there yet, so were looking foward to it. I just bought a Olympus 5060 digital camera with UW housing for the trip, good luck with what you decide, from what i heard there all nice places.
 
I have to agree with Herman also. I think Bonaire is by far the better bang for the buck. If you shop around you can get great prices on lodging and I have yet to find a better deal on the actual dive packages. As one of the other posts mentioned, your not going to get the dramatic walls in Bonaire but if your going to be doing photography, your best opportunities are probably going to be in the first 60ft anyway. We are going to Coz in August and after extensive shopping around, I still have yet to beat the prices in Bonaire when comparing prices. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say anything against Coz, I'm just saying that I find Bonaire to be the best value in the Carib
 
Parrotman,

I assume that your main cost problem to Coz is airfare? If so, try the flights to Cancun and the ferry to Coz. I have read of several people who have done that lately who were very happy with their savings. With that said, I think Coz is quickly going to the dogs due to the pod people. You are probably better off sticking with Bonaire anyways.
 
Actually AggieDiver, I find the most expensive part about Coz to be the diving. Although lodging is a factor as well. Last year we went to Bonaire, rented a private house on the water with a great dive site right off the porch and had a dive shop 50 yards from the front door. The cost for lodging and diving combined was $379 pp for a week and we were getting in an average of 4 dives a day. In Coz it would seem that the average dive op charges $60 + for a two tank dive, which would come to approx $600 bucks for the same amount of diving and that is just for the diving.
Airfare from where I live is an issue no matter where I dive :-( but it's just one of those things we deal with.
 
parrotman:
The cost for lodging and diving combined was $379 pp for a week and we were getting in an average of 4 dives a day.


If you don't mind my asking what is the name of the place and how many people does it sleep? As to prices in Coz you might want to check out some of the air/hotel/dive packages that Bay Adventures offers. They are really competitive.
 

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