Where to go next?

[jslide]

Hi, all. I'd love some advice. My wife and I are comfortable AOW divers; in the area, we've been to (and loved) Belize (Caye Caulker), Bonaire, Roatan, and Isla Mujeres. We prefer reefs with a visible bed (even if it's many feet below) to wall dives -- similarly, we've got a pretty big premium on visibility generally. Though we really enjoyed Bonaire, we also prefer boat dives to shore entry. Topside, we don't need many amenities; only real wish is for a place to stay overlooking the water.

Any recommendations for the magical combination of all of the above?

---------- Post added September 3rd, 2015 at 10:51 AM ----------

Sorry for replying to my own post ... but a clarification: we prefer boat dives, but we're not looking for a liveaboard trip right now.

 

[Steve_C]

There is something interesting about new dive sites. However, there are sites I have dove 20 times that I still find new and interesting things at and see some old friends. Just noting. Have fun.

 

[KathyV]

Hi, all. I'd love some advice. My wife and I are comfortable AOW divers; in the area, we've been to (and loved) Belize (Caye Caulker), Bonaire, Roatan, and Isla Mujeres. We prefer reefs with a visible bed (even if it's many feet below) to wall dives -- similarly, we've got a pretty big premium on visibility generally. Though we really enjoyed Bonaire, we also prefer boat dives to shore entry. Topside, we don't need many amenities; only real wish is for a place to stay overlooking the water. Any recommendations for the magical combination of all of the above? Sorry for replying to my own post ... but a clarification: we prefer boat dives, but we're not looking for a liveaboard trip right now.

You might consider the Cayman sister islands of Little Cayman or Cayman Brac; they are wall dives but the walls start pretty shallow so that might work for you. We like the all-inclusive Little Cayman Beach Resort and Brac Reef Beach Resort with Reef Divers as the on-site dive op. See the links below.

Cayman Island Dive Resorts | Little Cayman Beach Resort

Cayman Island Dive Packages |Brac Reef Beach Resort | Cayman Brac

Saba might work for you, we dived off of Sea Mounts in Saba, no deep walls - but I would recommend a liveaboard in that area and that is not your current interest.

St. Croix is another option. Cane Bay wall is a deep wall system, but there are lots of shallower reefs and the Fredricksted Pier is the best shore dive anywhere.

Kona Hawaii on the Big Island is another option, we mostly dived reef dives and a sea mount. The night dive with mantas was spectacular!

 

[AdivingBel]

+1 for Little Cayman. Many of the dives are cruise down the wall for half the dive then pop over the wall and critter hunt on the reef, around large coral heads, or sand flats back to the boat. You're free to follow the guide or go on your own. Generally lots of vis. Well run, easy boat diving. Beautiful topography.

 

[packrat12]

I always recommend Saba in the Lesser Antilles, near St. Maarten. Beautiful island, great people and excellent dives. There are lots of pinnacle and sea mount type dives at the AOW level. They are all within a few minutes (10-15 max) of the port. The island is relaxing and gorgeous. It has a lot of eco type hikes and diving only though. There are no beaches and little shopping. It is also off the main path of dive islands so it will be more unique. You will feel welcome from the moment you enter until you leave. Overall it is a great experience. Check out Sea Saba (Lynn) if interested.

 

[diver 85]

Dominica ---if you want the best diving in the Caribbean---or---Little Cayman for the 2nd best---or--Cayman Brac for the 3rd best(but only a hair separates #2 & #3-----they only 5+ miles apart...)

 

[drrich2]

We prefer reefs with a visible bed (even if it's many feet below) to wall dives -- similarly, we've got a pretty big premium on visibility generally. Though we really enjoyed Bonaire, we also prefer boat dives to shore entry. Topside, we don't need many amenities; only real wish is for a place to stay overlooking the water.

I want to get something a little confusing cleared up. Okay, having a 'visible bed' makes me think of Key Largo, a couple of dives off I believe it was the west coast of St. Croix (Butler Bay Wrecks & Sprat Hole). You really enjoyed Bonaire; so did I. 8 Trips worth for me. But much of the west coast diving there is a roughly 45 degree sloping wall, with a bottom vaguely visible down deep, maybe 200 feet?

If that's your idea of a visible bed, then you've got more options. It would basically mean you don't like 'blue water diving.' But if you want a relatively flat bottom visible beneath you, that's going to rule out some places.

Key Largo was great for getting in 4 dives/day, plenty of shallow reef diving with a sand bottom, lots of fish, good times. But when I went, the viz. was not the best; I'd say maybe 50', plenty good enough but not up there with Bonaire or especially Cozumel.

Richard.

 

[jslide]

Thanks to everyone so far for some spectacular suggestions.

Richard, you've got it about right. I actually don't mind "bottomless" walls (Ni'ihau was _amazing_), but my wife prefers a substantial amount of the dive to not have the "feeling" of pure open water. I don't know if I can describe it better than that. We don't need every dive to have a 60' floor ... but I think she's less comfortable with a wall that drops thousands of feet. And just because I know that some Caribbean spots are particularly known for their spectacular and sheer walls (I've heard that Turks & Caicos fits that description), I was looking for alternatives.

 

[KathyV]

Dominica ---if you want the best diving in the Caribbean---or---Little Cayman for the 2nd best---or--Cayman Brac for the 3rd best(but only a hair separates #2 & #3-----they only 5+ miles apart...)

I was also thinking of Dominica, but I don't know their current situation after tropical storm Ericka so I hesitated to suggest the island as a vacation destination.

---------- Post added September 3rd, 2015 at 04:21 PM ----------

Thanks to everyone so far for some spectacular suggestions. Richard, you've got it about right. I actually don't mind "bottomless" walls (Ni'ihau was _amazing_), but my wife prefers a substantial amount of the dive to not have the "feeling" of pure open water. I don't know if I can describe it better than that. We don't need every dive to have a 60' floor ... but I think she's less comfortable with a wall that drops thousands of feet. And just because I know that some Caribbean spots are particularly known for their spectacular and sheer walls (I've heard that Turks & Caicos fits that description), I was looking for alternatives.

The T&C walls are spectacular but they start kind of deep and drop to infinity. I think I can understand your wife's concerns. I absolutely don't mind deep wall dives - except at night. I don't want to be over a deep wall in the dark.

The walls in Bonaire are short and you can see the sea bed below you and she finds that comfortable and that is perfectly okay.

I am still leaning toward the Cayman sister islands - this is wall diving and it can be outstanding - but it starts shallow and you don't even have to go over the wall to see some great stuff.

 

[diversteve]

I agree with Kathy, some of the moorings in the Turks/Caicos are 60' deep with the wall 6000' nearby. The best of the non-liveaboard boat dives are awkward also since they're at two remote un-inhabited islands - West Caicos and French Cay. From Provo those trips take the better part of all day for 2-3 dives including lunch, a 45min. boat ride and a 1/2 hr. van ride. 2 dives you're back at 2:30, 3 closer to 4:30. The best way to do that is a liveaboard since they stay out there most of the week.

Most of the Grand Cayman wall moorings are at 60' or so since that's what people pay for - going down the wall to 100' with several thousand feet below.

Curacao is very similar diving to Bonaire - same reef just 50 miles away. There's quite a few boat operators there but it's kind of more of the same if you've done Bonaire recently. Like Bonaire there's also resorts with on-site operators but not as much of the bundling truck/room/dives that you see on Bonaire.

One you could look into is the BVI's. It's all boat diving there, the famous Rhone Wreck is sitting on the bottom at 70'. Some dives we didn't get much deeper than 50' - their wreck alley is at 100' Visibility is generally good enough that you'll see the boat from the bottom. And it's a real hard bottom in many areas above 100'. You have to work there to find much deeper. And there's about 30-40 dive sites to choose from. http://www.scubamom.com/bvi-diving/Bvimap7.gif

My personal suggestion is stay on Virgin Gorda and dive with Dive BVI but Tortola is nice also. bviscuba.org lists everything - check out divebvi.com's site list - they list depths. Generally 3 sometimes 4 dives per day are possible. Mostly upscale resorts on superb beaches. There's not a lot of people living on the island and no crush of tourists since the cruise port is on Tortola. Although day excursions do come over to snorkel the world famous Baths. Yet there's money there in the villa rentals so a good selection of better restaurants than you would expect. It's also very windy and generally very quiet - the roosters wake you up. IDK if it's still the case but when I rented a big villa there in 2006, the manager didn't have exterior door keys - they'd never needed them.

Fly into St. Thomas and take the fast ferries over - it takes an hour. Virgin Islands Ferry Schedules - Virgin Islands Now