Favorite Carribean/Central America/Mexico Dive site

[Lulubelle]

Hi all, I've looked through a bunch of threads and trip reports trying to figure out where to go next. I'm trying to plan a winter dive trip to a warm place. I'm considering a liveaboard in Turks and Caicos but am not sure I am ready to go from diving while vacationing to a week long diving as vacation. I don't get as much vacation as I need so I want to pick really well.

I'm interested in hearing from folks who have been all over to the top dive spots.

I've only been to Cancun (not great), Cozumel (terrific) and here in NC. Was thinking about the Caymans (I can get a free hotel there) but hear it is a bit beat up.

So have at it and thanks.

[georoc01]

IF you can get a free hotel in the Caymans, I say go for it! The one negative of the Caymans is the huge deficit that the US dollar is to the Cayman dollar. You already have that beat.

Of course, you aren't saying where in the Caymans either, there are multiple islands, just like the Bay Islands off of Hondurus or the multiple locations off of Belize.

Bonaire & Cozumel are my favorites in the Caribbean so far..But with free housing Caymans would be tough to beat.

[scubarobin]

Originally Posted by Lulubelle

Hi all, I've looked through a bunch of threads and trip reports trying to figure out where to go next. I'm trying to plan a winter dive trip to a warm place. I'm considering a liveaboard in Turks and Caicos but am not sure I am ready to go from diving while vacationing to a week long diving as vacation. I don't get as much vacation as I need so I want to pick really well.

I'm interested in hearing from folks who have been all over to the top dive spots.

I've only been to Cancun (not great), Cozumel (terrific) and here in NC. Was thinking about the Caymans (I can get a free hotel there) but hear it is a bit beat up.

So have at it and thanks.

Liveaboards are the best bang for your buck........ getting in 4-5 dives per day, sitting on a boat between dives and eating or sleeping for a week! No lugging gear either. If you can afford a liveaboard, do it! Nekton or Explorer Ventures boats are great value and fun.
Nekton Diving Cruises - Comfort, Stability, Worldclass Diving
Explorer Ventures: Adventures in Live-Aboard Diving

Bonaire is awesome diving, but don't go without knowing that the point of going there is shore diving. Best to have a buddy who wants to dive dive dive, too. Not much else to do there but the diving is top notched.

robin

[Zenagirl]

I have to agree with Robin that liveaboards are the bomb for diving and relaxation. We spent two weeks on the Nekton Pilot last summer (2007) and never got bored and didn't feel itchy to get off the boat at the end of the trip.

However, I will also say that we fell in love with Bonaire on our first trip there this summer. The diving freedom is amazing and in many ways we preferred it to a liveaboard trip, but you'd really want a compatible partner to go with (as Robin said).

If you're a single traveler/diver, a liveaboard is the best choice IMO for someone who wants maximum diving with maximum relaxation and minimum hassles.

[Lulubelle]

Georoc, in the Caymans, the free hotel would be wherever the Marriott properties are (which includes the Ritz-Carton!). My guess is that they are on Grand Cayman, but I imagine the dive boats go everywhere. I had heard that the reefs there were a bit beat up and that vis wasn't great since storm X...

Zenagirl, do you think it is too big of a leap to go from 3 days of diving to a week long liveaboard? My hesistancy is that that 3 days I did recently in NC was EXHAUSTING. We were up at 5 each day to catch a boat at 6, boat was really loud so no sleep there, to bed at midnight, and again the next day. I was wiped out.

What are your favorite sites for liveaboards? Any thoughts about T and Caicos? A friend is going on one there in January, I think on one of the explorer boats.

[georoc01]

Originally Posted by Lulubelle

Georoc, in the Caymans, the free hotel would be wherever the Marriott properties are (which includes the Ritz-Carton!). My guess is that they are on Grand Cayman, but I imagine the dive boats go everywhere. I had heard that the reefs there were a bit beat up and that vis wasn't great since storm X...

Zenagirl, do you think it is too big of a leap to go from 3 days of diving to a week long liveaboard? My hesistancy is that that 3 days I did recently in NC was EXHAUSTING. We were up at 5 each day to catch a boat at 6, boat was really loud so no sleep there, to bed at midnight, and again the next day. I was wiped out.

What are your favorite sites for liveaboards? Any thoughts about T and Caicos? A friend is going on one there in January, I think on one of the explorer boats.

Ok..I have done a week long liveaboard in Australia, and dove North Carolina out of Morehead city earlier this year. What I think what hits you hard about Carolina diving are the long boat rides and the deep square profiles, neither of which you are going to have on most liveaboards. Being able to roll out of bed, onto the dive deck and then into the water is much preferrable to a two hour boat ride out to the dive sites in North Carolina.

And personally, I think only two people did every dive on the boat. After doing a night dive early in the week, I skipped them later in the week and instead enjoyed the evening off.

We did an explorer boat, and I think they are a nice value in the mid range category, not as cheap as a blackbeards, but not as luxurious as say much of the agressor fleet.