Where to dive? Belize, Roatan, USVI/BVI?

[jennfl]

Hello. My boyfriend and I are newly certified divers. We took our first dive trip in June to Cozumel! It was amazing! We are now trying to decide on a destination for next May.

1. Ambergris Caye, Belize
2. US/British Virgin Islands
3. Roatan

Or any others that anyone would suggest.

Most important to us would be 1. Water clarity (got spoiled in Cozumel), 2. More dives for beginners (easier dives), 3. Healthy reefs/good amount of fish 4. A few things to do on land (doesn't have to be a ton, just a few things other than diving).

Thank you so much for your help.

Jennifer
Sarasota FL

 

[danvolker]

Jennifer,
Consider Boynton Beach, Fl....

More fish and colors than the 3 locations you mention....
Viz is typically 50 Ft to 70 Ft , over 100 on really good days when the Gulf Stream comes in, and bad days are rarely worse than 30 foot vis (and on these days, there is usually massive schooling behavior of everything over the reefs ...

And...after diving boynton, there are cool places to eat right off the boat ( Two Georges... Or Banana Boat) and you are about 5 miles from neighboring DelRay Beach and it's entertainment district.

There are nice hotels on the water, and you can save on expenses if you would prefer a hotel a few miles inland of the beach.

You can drive across from Sarasota in a couple of hours, overall getting both better diving in Boynton, and a MUCH bigger BANG for your buck!

Regards,
DanV

 

[ronbeau]

Hello. My boyfriend and I are newly certified divers. We took our first dive trip in June to Cozumel! It was amazing! We are now trying to decide on a destination for next May.

1. Ambergris Caye, Belize
2. US/British Virgin Islands
3. Roatan

Or any others that anyone would suggest.

Most important to us would be 1. Water clarity (got spoiled in Cozumel), 2. More dives for beginners (easier dives), 3. Healthy reefs/good amount of fish 4. A few things to do on land (doesn't have to be a ton, just a few things other than diving).

Thank you so much for your help.

Jennifer
Sarasota FL

A couple other places that come to mind with easier diving are

Curacao
Bonaire

The diving is some of the best diving in the Caribbean. The airfare will be more expensive than it would be to get to the BVI.

There will be more to do on shore in Curacao than there is to do in Bonaire.
You can do shore diving on both Bonaire and Curacao but there is more shore available in Bonaire (need rental truck).

If you wish to do shore diving in Curacao and don't want to rent a vehicle I would highly recommend Mark & Suzy at the Dive Bus.

They will pick you up at your hotel take you diving and return you to your hotel.
They are located across the street from Breezes Curacao.

The Dive Bus - WELCOME

 

[Garrobo]

Unless you like lots of sand fleas and dangerous beaches at night I'd steer clear of Roatan, though it appeals to a lot of people. The prices are definitely good and the diving is OK. I found Utila more to my liking. One day Guanaja will be a good destination.

 

[rk288]

I really enjoy St Croix USVI!!! I did my first AOW there in 2 days of diving then took my 15 year old son there the next year for his. He also finished in 2 days (5 dives).

The Dive Shop I used was wonderful and they have some very good instructors, also some not so good so get an introduction before you go diving.

PM me for details...

 

[orm]

I've not been to the BVIs, but out of the other two I 'd say Roatan, without a doubt.

 

[orm]

Unless you like lots of sand fleas and dangerous beaches at night I'd steer clear of Roatan.

When were you there?

 

[diversteve]

BVI's were good diving. I don't think we ever exceeded about 70' - some bottomed out at 40+. DiveBVI lists depths on their website. Most sites the depth was less than the viz - could almost always see the boat from depth. www.divebvi.com

Since a lot of visitors fly into St. Thomas and take the fast ferries over, it's easily possible to spend a few days diving the USVI's also. We rented a condo near the East End (Coki Beach area) and did a checkout dive there (not the best but shallow) followed by a couple boat dives off Grass Cay before moving on to the BVI's for a week. We stayed on Virgin Gorda - the quieter of the two main islands.

A list of most other things to do on Virgin Gorda: http://www.b-v-i.com/ Sailing is the main activity there. Rock Cafe was a good restaurant and there's a Friday night beach BBQ at Leverick Bay that a lot of tourists and locals attend. And the Baths.

Tortola is the other main island, it's bigger, more populated and has cruise ships. Dive options in that area: http://www.bviscuba.org/portal/default.aspx

I'd second Curacao also. If you wanted to do some shore diving, the reef starts around 40' and parallels the shore in a lot of areas. And there's the Dive Bus as posted above. In a week of diving we only did one dive to 80', most were 60+. The Tugboat - one of their more famous dives - it 20' deep. One advantage Curacao has over Bonaire is that most entries are off a sandy beach as composed to over sharp ironshore. ShoreDiving.com has entry pictures at both locations.

Curacao has more to do topside also, good restaurants, some clubs, shopping district downtown, about a dozen resort/casinos, the Seaquarium complex/area. Since there's also a deepwater port and oil refinery near town, there's also some areas that aren't so nice.

The water was clearer on Bonaire - Bonaire may even be better than Cozumel since there's no natural run-off and the whole island has been a marine park for decades.

 

[Garrobo]

ORM: About two months ago. I have a home and family in Choloma just north of San Pedro Sula. I try to spend as much time as I can there, usually a couple months a year. Oh, I forgot. Dengue fever is rampant down there too.

 

[Doc]

1. Ambergris Caye, Belize
2. US/British Virgin Islands
3. Roatan

Most important to us would be 1. Water clarity (got spoiled in Cozumel), 2. More dives for beginners (easier dives), 3. Healthy reefs/good amount of fish 4. A few things to do on land (doesn't have to be a ton, just a few things other than diving).

In your list, USVI is the only one that fits your criteria, at least better than the rest.

Or any others that anyone would suggest.

That makes the query a bit broad, doesn't it?

If you are talking about the Caribbean, and you are still using the above criteria, try Grand Cayman.