Where to go????

[drrich2]

What's a "zip line"?

You get in a harness that connects to a sloping overhead metal wire strung out between tall, vertical objects (e.g.: towers, trees, etc...) and you 'zip' across from the higher to the lower. A popular excursion at cruise ship ports, and can be found as an attraction at some other land sites. Here's an upstate New York page with a photo showing a couple of zip liners.

What's "A.I."???

Another poster mentioned 'all inclusive,' and that's right. What 'all' means varies. To a non-drinker like me, it means at least the meals, and often some snacks, are covered in the package price. Sometimes A.I. packages include some alcoholic beverages, and sometimes they don't. If that's something you want, be mindful the selection could be quite limited.

 

[BoltSnap]

You get in a harness that connects to a sloping overhead metal wire strung out between tall, vertical objects (e.g.: towers, trees, etc...) and you 'zip' across from the higher to the lower. A popular excursion at cruise ship ports, and can be found as an attraction at some other land sites. Here's an upstate New York page with a photo showing a couple of zip liners.

Oh man, this is too much excitement for me. My heart fell to my feet just looking at the pictures. Diving is all I want to do on vacations.

Another poster mentioned 'all inclusive,' and that's right. What 'all' means varies. To a non-drinker like me, it means at least the meals, and often some snacks, are covered in the package price. Sometimes A.I. packages include some alcoholic beverages, and sometimes they don't. If that's something you want, be mindful the selection could be quite limited.

Got it, thank you!! I like A.I. (sans alcohol since I am a strict non-drinker myself also) when I am on dive trips because I don't want to waste time worrying about food and driving all over the place looking for a place to eat wasting time away from diving. It is OK to occasionally buy burgers or simple meals after diving while driving to the next dive site but not on regular basis. Most of these dive destinations are on "island time" with VERY slow service in restaurants wasting a lot of time not diving and sitting on a chair in a restaurant. It isn't fun especially when you aren't a drinker like me.

 

[DivingDogDoc]

I was going to suggest Florida but that is now a high risk area. Many people are now discovering the USVI, St. Croix in particular. There are lots of references about St. Croix on SB.

Right now you can't get flights to any of the USVI. I guess they are on the restricted travel too.

 

[jonhall]

I like A.I.

Might add that all inclusive can also include non motorized water sports equipment (snorkeling gear, use of kayak, etc...) or sports equipment (tennis racquets, ping pong paddles, etc...) and/or use of facilities, such as an hour on a tennis court.

Right now you can't get flights to any of the USVI.

Looked a couple of places just now and found flights - nothing I would personally get because of length of flights or price.

 

[btscott]

I will be in French Polynesia in a little over a week. Keep in mind they have a significant problem with COVID right now. The issue is with locals as they only have about a 30% vaccination rate. They were just raised on the CDC list to level 4.

To get there you will need to jump through some hoops. Be vaccinated. Submit vaccination card to health authorities. Then give them (ETIS) your itinerary and pay $50. 72 hrs prior to leaving you need a negative RT-PCR test and on arrival you will be tested again.

Seems with all those hoops, tourists are not the problem with COVID in FP. But, something to be aware of, especially with breakthrough cases and maybe testing positive prior to going home as you need a test to get into the US. You would then need to quarantine in FP.

We are taking the risk and going to treat FP the same as if we were home and mask up everywhere and do outdoor activities, like diving.

 

[BoltSnap]

can also include non motorized water sports equipment (snorkeling gear, use of kayak, etc...) or sports equipment (tennis racquets, ping pong paddles, etc...) and/or use of facilities, such as an hour on a tennis court.

I don't/won't go to places that have this type of activities, I have no interest

 

[jonhall]

I don't/won't go to places that have this type of activities, I have no interest

Too funny!!

 

[mwall04]

Right now you can't get flights to any of the USVI. I guess they are on the restricted travel too.

Surprised you couldn't find flights. At least into St. Croix (STX) where I live, there have been no reductions in flights. American Airlines, Delta, JetBlue, and Spirit have all their regularly scheduled flights.

The only restrictions on travel into the USVI is that a negative COVID test within 5 days of travel is required. This has been in place since last year. The only change to this is a positive antibody test that was previously accepted for travel here is no long acceptable.

Although COVID infections have dramatically increased recently across the USVI, tourism on St. Croix is booming right now.

 

[arew+4]

Looks like you have decent direct flights to Bonaire out of Charlotte. I'm currently planning for our 6th or 7th trip to Bonaire, second for our diving kids. We are looking at June 2022, the covid will be under control by then or we will all be dead . For many, my self included, the allure of Bonaire is the shore diving. It's inexpensive, and on your schedule. There is also plenty of boat diving most with guides in the water, if you stay at Buddy's or Divi you can easily do three or four boat dives per day and a night dive or two.

On Roatan, at an AI like Anthony's Key, you can do a similar number of dives. I like Roatan, been there a few times most recently 2018 the diving was really good. Some times they offer buy one get one specials that make it a strong value.

I would save the hyper exotic locations for your bucket list, or just till we have learned to deal with pandemics in a well reasoned global manner

 

[Symbiosis Diving Travel]

Right now you can't get flights to any of the USVI. I guess they are on the restricted travel too.

Greetings from St. Croix DivingDogDoc,

I'm not sure of your timeframe or where you are looking at for flights, but we do have major airlines servicing St. Croix. Your location states Fayettevill, NC.? You could fly from there via American or Delta (connecting via their hub airport) or save yourself the connection and drive to Charlotte and take a non-stop flight on American.

As MWall04 stated above, our requirements are pretty simple and since we are a U.S. territory the return is even simpler (unless your state/county/job requires testing).

Granted, we are not as exotic as Bora Bora or the Maldives but St. Croix (pronounced Kroy) has one of the longest continuous fringing reefs in the Caribbean. Topside St. Croix’s history and topography make it as diverse as it is underwater. St. Croix is surrounded by secluded beaches and tropical fauna so you’ll have many choices of excursions to fill your time when you’re not diving on St. Croix’s famous dive sites. Underwater, St. Croix has over 50 dive sites scattered around the island, you’ll have a choice between wall dives (with shallow reef tops), colorful northshore reef dives, shallow sloping reefs out west and wreck dives (both deep and shallow wrecks). Oh, and one of the BEST pier dives in the Caribbean. Sealife is abundant on St. Croix with more than 500 species of fish, 40 types of coral, and hundreds of invertebrates that inhabit our waters.

We've got some specials running (depending on your time frame), let me know if we can help.

Wherever you end up have a fantastic dive holiday!