Trip Planning

[lucidblue]

Does everyone have a place they go on an annual dive vacation?

I'd like to take 2 dive vacations a year (for now). I think I want a place I go to every year and then a second trip to explore a new place. I'm thinking Cozumel might be a nice yearly trip, since it seems to be fairly economical and the diving is amazing. Any other reasonably priced destinations?

Do you plan vacations at certain times of the year? Maybe one in winter and one in the summer?

[ScubaFrog]

I travel to Aruba each year in March. I really enjoy the climate and the diving is always been great. A few years ago, we even came across 6 sharks. When in Aruba, I have always dove with DiveAruba. Clive, the dive master, is great and only takes out a max of 8 divers at a time. Because of the small group, Clive will explore the inside of the wrecks compared to the larger dive companies that will not. He also will pick you up at your hotel and drop you off after the dive. Great personalized service.

Check out his web site www.divearuba.com

Bob

[georoc01]

Any other reasonably priced destinations?

Define Reasonably priced..and some of that may be what the airfare is like from where you live. And some places are more economical with more people vs if you are just paying for yourself. That is what makes answering that question tough. Plus everywhere seems to have high and low seasons.

That said, Cozumel is the most economical option right now from Denver, CO. After that you start getting to Roatan, Bonaire and the Bahamas. And it continues to go up from there. I expect Costa Rica will be in that mix soon, because our local airline, Frontier is adding direct service in November.

Cruises are always a good value, but if you are looking for an exclusive dive trip, its probably not the best option. But if you have a family like mine where I am the only diver right now, it ends up being an option where I can go get some dives in while others do what they like to do.

[Guyburger]

We've gone to Utila the last couple of years, in March. Getting there can be an adventure. You either fly into the mainland of Honduras and travel from San Pedro Sula to La Ceiba on the coast by air or bus and then travel to Utila by air or ferry OR you fly directly into Roatan and then travel to Utila via two ferrys or air. If you go into Roatan on a Saturday there is a direct flight scheduled to Utila in the afternoon.

The diving there is very nice and if you go in the Spring there is an excellent chance you will get to see whalesharks. My avatar picture was taken last March in Utila. We saw four over the course of two weeks last March. The diving is about $20 per tank if you do a reasonable number of dives and only about $25 if you just do a couple of dives. Cheapest I've seen in the Caribbean. Lodging is available for as little as $3 per night up to a couple of hundred dollars per night at the new ultra plush Utopia Dive Village. And everything in between at various hotels and house rentals around the island. The night life is pretty wild too if you're into that. My twenty-something kids had a blast going diving in the AM and partying in the evening. Mom and I dove in the morning and went to bed in the evening. Of course the day the kids blew off diving because they had partied too much the night before was the day mom and I saw two whale sharks.

Anyway, check out Utila at http://www.aboututila.com/

Guyburger

PM me if you want details of our experiences

[Wolfie2012]

I go to Ft Lauderdale at least once a year and dive. Of course, I used to live there and my family is there so that makes the choice easy. Some people though underestimate the quality of diving in South Florida, even outside of the Keys.

[ianr33]

I have been to Grand Cayman pretty much every year for the last 6 or 7 years.

Our general plan is to wait for Cayman Airways to have a sale (around $300) out of Houston, rent a condo for a group of 6 or so and go shore diving. Cayman has a lot of excellent shore diving if you like adventures.Going back over Thanksgiving for a week :-)

I dream about owning a place there one day.

[lucidblue]

I'd like to do the condo thing, but right now we don't have enough friends that dive. A few are thinking about getting into it, so maybe it will be feasible in the future.

I really enjoy hearing about how everyone plans out their diving for the year and the thought process behind it.

[georoc01]

Originally Posted by lucidblue

I'd like to do the condo thing, but right now we don't have enough friends that dive. A few are thinking about getting into it, so maybe it will be feasible in the future.

I really enjoy hearing about how everyone plans out their diving for the year and the thought process behind it.

I apologize in advance for a wordy post

1) Did my first dive on a cruise ship. Dated a gal afterwards who had no interest in diving, when we broke up my family was doing another cruise, so I thought I woudl get certified. Booked the cruise, did all the prep work at my local LDS. Arrived on the boat. All dives cancelled due to weather.

2) Scheduled a dive trip with my local LDS to get certified at the Homestead Crater in Utah. Right next to Park City, figured to ski & dive. Rains all weekend, get certified, but no skiing. Take new gf with me, she decides to get certified.

3) Because of the disaster of the first cruise, use the cruise credit to book another cruise in spring. Dive in Roatan and Cozumel.

4) Did trip to Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, NM for new girlfriend to get certified. Got my AOW certification

5) Planned trip to Cabo over Labor Day weekend

6) Got a dirt cheap price at LDS for a short trip to Cozumel July 1-4 ($450 per person all inclusive including air)

7) girlfriend breaks up with me. rebooked Coz trip with another friend.

8) Cabo trip cancelled due to lack of interest. Local LDS has single male slot for Roatan. Ask for time off from work. By the time I get permission, slot filled

9) Book trip with SingleDivers.com for Cozumel August 16..

10) Take Thanksgiving week off and plan trip to visit parents in Florida. Friends recommend dive op in Boynton Beach. Still working on scheduling dives.

So that's about how its goes for me

[Zenagirl]

We own a timeshare on Maui so we go just about every year at Christmas. It's great to get out of town for the holidays and the sunshine and great diving are welcome in December.

In the summer we take another trip somewhere else, this years was a 2-week back-to-back trip on the Nekton Pilot in the Bahamas, and hopefully it will be Bonaire next year!