Where to dive in October / November

[krissydt]

My husband I am are looking for a place to go on vacation some time in October . November 2009 and I am hoping that you guys can give us some good suggestions. We are thinking somewhere in the Caribbean since we are only going away for 7 days but if anyone has any good suggestions we would certainly be willing to consider

The primary focus of the trip is of course diving and we are looking for somewhere with good weather (ie not hurricane season and not too wet) and where
- there is lots of marine life (rays, sharks, turtles)
- there is excellent viz
- there is good snokling off the shore
- we are not interested in wreck diving or deep diving, just good clear blue water with excellent viz and lots to see so we can take some good pictures

As far as out of the water, we are looking for a nice, small all-inclusive with good food so we don't need to worrying about anything except getting up on time to go diving

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[robint]

My husband I am are looking for a place to go on vacation some time in October . November 2009 and I am hoping that you guys can give us some good suggestions. We are thinking somewhere in the Caribbean since we are only going away for 7 days but if anyone has any good suggestions we would certainly be willing to consider

The primary focus of the trip is of course diving and we are looking for somewhere with good weather (ie not hurricane season and not too wet) and where
- there is lots of marine life (rays, sharks, turtles)
- there is excellent viz
- there is good snokling off the shore
- we are not interested in wreck diving or deep diving, just good clear blue water with excellent viz and lots to see so we can take some good pictures

As far as out of the water, we are looking for a nice, small all-inclusive with good food so we don't need to worrying about anything except getting up on time to go diving

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help.

I was going to say Hawaii....... until you threw in the small all-inclusive bit. :shocked2:

The only places that meet your requirements are in the Caribbean... but Oct/Nov is the rainy season and hurricanes do happen. We were at Cocoview Resort in Roatan last year in Nov, loved it but it did rain alot. The weather is very hit or miss during that time.... sunny some but you can definitely expect some rain during that time.

Same thing goes for South Pacific area - typhoon season, lots of rain. Beqa Lagoon resort Fiji might be a good bet but it is the beginning of rainy season there, too.
Dive Fiji Beqa Lagoon Scuba Package

I think you might have to give up either the weather issue or the Oct/Nov timeframe to get the all other requests - good vis, sharks turtles and rays, small all-inclusive, good snorkeling.
Welcome to CoCo View Resort (might work for you)
Cozumel Scuba Diving at Scuba Club Cozumel Dive Resort and Scuba Cozumel Dive Shop (might work for you)
Dive Yap - Manta Ray Bay Resort Scuba Package (might work for you - not an all-inclusive though)
Dive Belize Turneffe Island Lodge - 7 night Scuba Package (might work for you)

robin

 

[Doc]

Best shot at that time of the year in the Caribbean is to look at the Northern coast of South America, starting at Tobago, then heading Westward through Los Roques, ABC islands, Corn, San Andres.

Huricanes themselves "usually" track to the North West of this zone. You may indeed get some rains, sometimes sporadically heavy. The incidence of these rains can be more intense as your selections go up and "to the left of" the Cape of Honduras- the Bay Islands.

Belize is just 90 miles North of the Bay Islands, but then you really do get into a higher probability of a tropical storm (if not Hurricane landfall) zone.

I like Tobago's North end. Downside? Can be daunting for air connections (avoid overnighting in Trinidad, for one thing).

I don't much care for Isla Maragaritte (Venezuala), it's just too much of a party scene with marginal diving, but I do like the diving from Los Roques (also VZ)- however the diving infrastructure is rather limited, and you have to transit (often overnight) near the Caracas Airport, not exactly a slice of heaven.

The ABC Islands have a great draw- they are reliably services by good dive ops and fairly easy air service. I prefer Bonaire for it's heavy bias towards diving, versus cruise ship service orientation of the two sister islands.

The Corn Islands/San Andres are a transit logistics problem, involving a lot of fiddling about in Central America and dealing with improbable weight restrictions- an issue if you are dragging gear along. Several ops there rent good gear.

The Bay Islands, again- can get pretty rainy. The upside is that they are comparatively cheap and a snap to get in and out of- direct flights from Houston and other gateways.

It's always a crap-shoot at that time of year in the Caribbean. "Stay low"- the closer to the Equator, the better.

 

[henno777]

The October and November season is beautiful in South africa. Long travel but maybe something to consider.

 

[tadeotadeo]

Air Canada offers direct fligtyt to San Andres Island in the winter months I think it starts in November and runs thru March. There are a few small all- inclusive resorts on San Andres but mostly the lagre type but a short hop from there to Old Providence Island is where you will find many small all inclusive resorts and all your other diving primary focuses are meet.
Ciao
Tad

 

[krissydt]

Thanks for all of the suggestions and information, greatly appreciated!!! At this point we are considering Belize or Bonaire but I would love to here more suggestions. Thanks again!

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

I would definitely recommend Bonarie over Belize at that time of year.

 

[robint]

I would definitely recommend Bonarie over Belize at that time of year.

the only problem with Bonaire is that they don't have any small all-inclusives like the OP asked for. Most people go to Bonaire and cook many of their own meals, so if they don't mind doing that, it would be a good choice.

 

[coralcruiser]

the only problem with Bonaire is that they don't have any small all-inclusives like the OP asked for. Most people go to Bonaire and cook many of their own meals, so if they don't mind doing that, it would be a good choice.

Divi Flamingo on Bonaire offers an all inclusive package with 3 boat dives/day... or you can just do the package with breakfast and lunch and dinner eaten either there or in town. I took a group there 2 summers ago and they all had a good time. A lot of people head to bonaire for the shore diving but I have found that doing 3 boat dives with the option to do shore dives is the way to go. We did a lot of diving off Klein Bonaire which I really enjoyed.

Even though it's rainy season farther north, I might be taking advantage of the great package being offered through Turneffe Resort and go there solo.... unless someone wants to join me and share a room. :blinking: Dates: 10/3 - 10/10
If someone wants to share a room, price is $1280 for everything except air to get to BZE.

 

[adambisi]

Kona Aggressor on the big island of Hawaii is only $1995 per person for the month of October. That's pretty much all-inclusive except you do not get to stay on the beach!!