Planning a dive trip..any thoughts?

[reefer31]

So after watching Couples Retreat with my wife, my wife has finally decided she wants to get certified!! I was just wondering where to go for some awesome diving? I will be graduating in December so we were wanting to go for atleast a week sometime in January or around there. Here are some places that I would like to visit. If you have been there please comment on the diving and your general visit if you would.
Some dream areas if I can get a good deal:
Bora Bora?
Morrea?
Fiji?
Tahiti?
PNG
Tonga?

Where are some other nice areas that we could go with a more economical travel plan? Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks, Ian

 

[Rennsport]

South of Cancun near Playa del Carmen as well as Cozumel -- great diving!!

 

[snorvich]

So after watching Couples Retreat with my wife, my wife has finally decided she wants to get certified!! I was just wondering where to go for some awesome diving? I will be graduating in December so we were wanting to go for atleast a week sometime in January or around there. Here are some places that I would like to visit. If you have been there please comment on the diving and your general visit if you would.
Some dream areas if I can get a good deal:
Bora Bora?
Morrea?
Fiji?
Tahiti?
PNG
Tonga?

Where are some other nice areas that we could go with a more economical travel plan? Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks, Ian

Fiji can be gorgeous but the absolute best diving has currents that are probably inconsistent with a newer diver. PNG is awesome, but best diving is from a liveaboard. The other south Pacific sites tend to be a bit more difficult. Some great shark diving there, however. In general, the Pacific tends to be more expensive if for no other reason the cost of getting there. Once you are there, however, costs can be minimized. Have you considered the Philippines?

 

[WarmWaterWuss]

For economical and great diving I would say go to Cozumel. I loved diving Playa Del Carmen, Akumal and Puerto Aventuras (Mexico) but Cozumel is better. Even the shore diving in Cozumel is good. The only issue for Coz is that it is best from a boat and mostly boat diving in a current which can be challenging for a new diver.

As far as getting certified, try to do it at home so you can enjoy your holiday and not be trying to study and stressing over the classes. If you do decide to go the referral route, find someone who speaks English well so you can understand what they are trying to teach you.

Have a great trip.

Oh, plus there are some excellent Mayan ruins, ecoparks, snorkeling parks, fantastic food and cenote diving in the Yucatan.

 

[justinc0708]

i went snokeling in cozumel very nice

 

[reefer31]

ok, sorry for letting this thread die. Anyways, I was thinking that French Polynesia would be a bit too expensive. :/ Maybe when im rich and famous. I was talking to my boss and he said to go to Fiji since its just as nice and alot cheaper.

Anyone have any experience with Bali?

 

[reefer31]

@ snorvich I have not even looked at the Philippines. Where are some good spots for diving there?

Also any places in the Bahamas/Islands in the Caribbean?

 

[Pdubss]

The Bay Islands in Honduras. They are fantastic imo

 

[hul kogan]

I dove Grand Cayman in May-June of this year and it was absolutely awesome! Some of the best wall dives you'll find in the world. Plus the rest of the island is amazing, as well.

The sister islands, Little and Brac, also have great (some even say better) diving.

I've also heard great things about Bonaire and Curacao, but can't vouch for them personally.

As far as price, since I am in the Eastern part of the US it's much more affordable to head down to the Caribbean. Being on the Western side of the country, you may find getting to the Caribbean or Indo-Pacific regions to be about the same cost...?

 

[zimmyfan]

www.akumal.com

 

[BJReef]

Some of the best diving in my experience has been in Bonaire, in the Caribbean. We stayed at a resort called Buddy Dive (where our local dive shop does their yearly trips to Bonaire). Bonaire is know for their UNLIMITED 24hr shore diving. When we were there, the stay included the use of a pickup truck (must know how to drive a stick) that was set up to hold 4+ tanks. You literally have they simply keep hundreds of tanks filled with air or nitrox and you drop off the empties and pick up fresh ones as much as you want. We managed 22 dives in 6 days. Visibility is almost a constant 150+ feet and the waters are pretty calm year round. I went there immediately after my Open Water cert and had an amazing time. Turtles, Rays, Eels and more are all over the place. Great soft and hard coral formations too along with 100s of fish you will probably recognize. Each dive site is clearly marked with a painted bright yellow stone and a number that corresponds to a map with the name of the site.

If you aren't already, I suggest getting Nitrox certified (easy 5ish hr class, no dive required anymore), mainly because we upgraded to unlimited Nitrox for the week for $110. Almost all of the shore diving is easily accessible and beautiful. Boat dives are an option for extra $$.

There are some awesome restaurants down there too. One in particular, Paris, is an incredible French restaurant. Several years later and I still drool over the thoughts of their Rack of Lamb and French Onion Soup. If you decide on this route, I'd gladly share some of our favorite dive sites for you to explore if you are interested.

 

[scubarob]

[violation]...

 

[snorvich]

@ snorvich I have not even looked at the Philippines. Where are some good spots for diving there?

Well, for inexpensive but interesting, try Batangas. Also some nifty liveaboards there as well.

 

[lbaldrey]

Bali is brilliant. Been there thrice. IMO the most unbelievable diving on offer...parallel to the Barrier Reef....Ive dived the Red Sea, Florida, Bali, Maldives & Australia and Australia and Bali are the best for coral freaks.

Nothing touches the viz and blue waters of the Red Sea and Bali is the cheapest diving ever. They even carry your dive tanks to the waters edge. Talk about being spoiled.

Next is Batangas / Palawan...

 

[scotter]

I'll speak to your question about Fiji. It is not as cheap as Mexico/Honduras/Belize or the pretty islands south of Florida. However, it is much, much cheaper than Tahiti.

There are deals to Fiji that come up every so often, but they tend to be with dive resorts. In this instance, I specifically reference Beqa Lagoon Resort and Wananavu. Beqa, right now, is running at $2,599 a person for 7 days, including airfare from LAX, food, and diving. If you do an a la carte pricing, your options expand.

If you want to explore this topic, look at my past posts and you'll get a more detailed response.

Have fun choosing!

Cheers,
Scott

 

[dudley moray]

Fiji can be gorgeous but the absolute best diving has currents that are probably inconsistent with a newer diver. PNG is awesome, but best diving is from a liveaboard. The other south Pacific sites tend to be a bit more difficult. Some great shark diving there, however. In general, the Pacific tends to be more expensive if for no other reason the cost of getting there. Once you are there, however, costs can be minimized. Have you considered the Philippines?

some of these places are considered third world and as such their equipment and safety standards can be questionable if this is your chosen destination chose your dive charter carefully