Vacation Question

puffer21

Active member
So I have finally decided to go and get my scuba diving license. I am going to get my class room and pool sessions around where I live and get my open water dives somewhere else. I was wondering if anyone could give me recommendations on great dive sites. Somewhere with a good amount of fish (clowns, gobys, purpupine puffers), sea turtles, and not a lot of sharks as my mom will be coming. Also I looking for a place that has a lot of other stuff to do. This will be a trip with my family and there not that into scuba diving. So im hoping to find a place with other forms of activates.
Thanks for any help
~Sam
 
Clownfish.... hmmm... this excludes the Atlantic/Caribbean and Hawaii. I can come up with ideas for Fiji - but this may be too far of a trip for you.
 
I guess its ok if i dont see clowns. I just have always wanted to see anemones and clowns together in the wild. I was thinking about going to the Caymans but I wasnt sure if it had good diving, and what i would see there.
 
Caymans: Not a lot of coral - mostly wall dives. You can see turtles during the dives and there's a touristy place where you can swim with sting rays. Nice sand beaches. Not too pretty topside.

If you're thinking of Caribbean and you want the best diving the region offers - your best options are truly Belize & Yucatan. If you're looking for easy, no current dives that are accessible from shore, look at Bonaire.

The anemones with clownfish are only found in the Indo-Pacific region. They are truly great to see in the wild and the mature adults are much larger than you find in an aquarium. When you get close to them, especially to the Clarkii, they will actually bite your knuckle. Aside from this scratch, their personality is so neat to watch! I can see why you would want to see them.

Sometimes there are deals to the Indo-Pacific that are, if you're flying from the west coast, as good or not better than Hawaii. However, if you're flying from the east coast or middle of the country, it will always be cheaper to go to the Caribbean. If you have air miles, transport to Fiji and Australia could be "free". Continental now flies to Fiji once a week (out of Honolulu) and United (which will merge with Continental soon) flies to Australia every day. Tahiti is CRAZY expensive ($10 for a coca-cola) and the reefs are mostly brown cauliflower pocillopora. A lot of sharks too. Vanuatu and the Solomons (another option) have salt water crocodiles and malaria, so unless you're adventurous - I'd choose somewhere else. Indonesia is the center-of-the-universe as far as coral is concerned.
 
Okinawa is a great place for scuba diving/snorkeling. There's plenty of reefs to go see, some nice beaches, the Okinawa Aquarium has the 2 largest single tank in the world. 3 whale sharks! There's also some cool underground caves to explore, a couple of zoos, though not like the San Diego zoo. I haven't seen any sea turtles here, but I do have friends who have. here's a few photos I've taken...
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Also im really looking for clear water, easy diving, and not to deep. This will be my first time diving and i really want my whole family to come as well.
 
Also im really looking for clear water, easy diving, and not to deep. This will be my first time diving and i really want my whole family to come as well.

I'm assuming your family is certified as well?

If you are planning to take your family on a dive trip and they are not certified, I would personally recommend against it. I took my wife on our honeymoon, and she took a resort course prior to diving. In no way, was she prepared to go in the water after that class.

I would only recommend taking them if they are experienced and/or certified. It was my first dive post-certification, and her first ever dive after an hour long video. Not ideal.

That being said, have fun and be careful!!! You'll love SCUBA.
 
None of us are certified. We are all going to do our class room and pool sessions were i live and then get our open water dives where ever we go.
 
None of us are certified. We are all going to do our class room and pool sessions were i live and then get our open water dives where ever we go.

Got ya! That's a good plan.

Like I said, those "resort courses" are scary. At least the one we had was.

Have fun!
 
Just keep in mind that wherever you do go, not all places will honor your classroom instruction. They may want to teach you the whole thing and charge accordingly.
 
Simply call ahead and see if they will honor referrals. However, all the things you say you want tend to be in the Indo-Pacific. But there are some lesser known places that will normally accept referrals such as St. Vincent. For sure the Cayman Islands will, but the diving is not exactly what you want, but then again, your qualifications will match the environment.
 
ya i think we will proabably go to the caymans. Seems like it easy diving there. does anyone have recomandations on dive shops or things to do?
 
If you are considering The Caymans i would HIGHLY recommend Sunset Divers without a doubt it is the best dive resort on the island and they have a really nice reef with lots of coral that is availably from shore do a giant stride and you are in 12 ft of water and a short swim from the mermaid they also have one of the best restaurants(Sea Harvest) for the price I have been to Cayman 84 times and 81 of those times has been with these guys I give Sunset Divers a 10
 
During my 4 open water dives for my certificate I was to busy
doing the exercises with my instructor. That's because during PADI
training the focus is on learning the necessary skills to dive. So I guess anywhere's good to do those 4 open water dives, and go to the nice dive sites, when you have your certificate and the time to actually enjoy your surroundings.:rolleye1:

Have fun ..

p.s. Green and cold water really makes you appreciate those tropical waters
later :fun2:
 
After diving for a week in Grand Cayman back in May-June, I can say that it will be a great place for you all as beginners. Lots to see and some amazing wall dives!

I would highly recommend Dusty and the rest of the crew at Dive 'N Stuff. They dive the North and West sides on a daily basis and take small groups so you won't have to deal with being just a number on one of those cattle boats. Do a quick search on Google for their name and Cayman and you'll pull the site up.

Also be sure to check out the many shore dive locations.
 
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