Your trip input is needed!!!

[Finally Swimming]

This should be a very interesting thread.

As we plan our first non-midwest dive vacation for next February (celebrating my finally finishing my college degree and hopefully upcoming employment!), we'd like your ideas on where this should be. We would like it to be an all-inclusive, shore-diving, around-the-Caribbean sort of vacation.......but there are so many options!! :D

So for all of you who have been someplace like this, feel free to share your experiences. We'll let you know what we decide.

Denise

[Trever]

I loved Belize, very laid back, great water, not to spendy.

[juls64]

A few questions:

How many people?

Are they all divers?

Are you on a tight budget?

Does it have to be land-based or can it be a liveaboard?

Julie

[Finally Swimming]

It'll be just the two of us (yeah!!) and we will both be diving. I think we prefer land-based and not too spendy.

[Atlaua]

It'll be just the two of us (yeah!!) and we will both be diving. I think we prefer land-based and not too spendy.

IMHO for quality and price, Cozumel just can't be beat. Only thing is that you can't really get AI and on site shore diving in Cozumel.

The thing is, though, I wouldn't do AI on Cozumel. The food in town is just plain too good and too cheap to even consider eating mass produced AI food.

What I like to do is stay at Caribe Blu (http://www.caribeblu.net/), which is a little over a mile out of town (a cab will cost you $4 one way. I usually walk one way and take a cab the other). Here is what I like about it:

1. Big Clean Rooms. It's a dive hotel so the decor is a little utilitarian but it's quaint and like I said, clean. Each room overlooks the ocean with balconies that are great for gear drying, as long as you aren't on the first floor.
2. Comfortable beds (a rarity in Coz, most bed's there are a futon matress on a concrete slab).
3. Super friendly staff.
4. Great dive shop on site with fast boats (think 15 minutes to sites instead of 30-40).
5. Great shore diving on site (and it's free as long as you use the on site dive shop.) Another good option is to hike a couple of blocks up to Papa Hog's and drift dive back to the hotel.
6. Nice little breakfast/lunch place above the dive shop, or a couple of others a couple of blocks away.
7. Fridge in every room and close to Chedraui (MX for WalMart).
8. Quiet and relaxing with mostly divers about.
9. Cheap $80/nite (up from $65 last time I was there :(, but still cheap) (that's for 1 or 2 people not per person)

Down side is that you will have to get to town for dinner, if you consider that a downside.

Another option might be Bonaire. From what I've heard it's basicly what you're describing, but I've never been. Costs more to get there though.

James

[DeepDiverBob]

I dont have a whole lot of caribbean diving, but my stay at Scuba Club Cozumel was a good one. The meals were all good, shore diving 24/7 and whole place was just for divers. You actually have to have a diver staying in each room in order to get a room there. In the middle of the week, they have a big outdoor party with pinotta (sp?) and fresh food right off the grill. Granted, the shore dives arent very deep, but I saw everything I wanted to see with the exception of a shark on my shore dives. I saw octopus, squid, all kinds of eels, puffer fish, lobsters...it was a great time. The good part about the shore dives being shallow is that you can easily get a 60-90 minute dive out of it.

[ozarkjim]

We have stayed at a couple of places in town on Coz but have really come to like the AIs down on San Francisco beach. Have been at the Allegro 7 times and really like Dive Palancar, their on-site dive shop. There is shore diving but not very good. The boat diving is great though as you have a two minute boat ride to Cedral Pass and they don't charge extra to go to Punta Sur although they do to Maricabo. With those two exceptions, they take the boat back to the pier for your SI so you can go to your room for anything you forgot or to use the restroom. Last time we were there the front desk people ticked my wife off and we are going to Iberostar this Oct. but will have DP come and pick us up. You get a lot more diving latitude when the DMs and Captains know you. Taxis are $20 one way to town. We usually rent a jeep for a day for $50 and drive around the island and spend the rest of our surface time playing and drinking at the resort.

We also have been to Fantasy Island on Roatan, Honduras. It's a pretty place but the diving IMO is not as good as Coz. They do have a great shore dive from a gazebo on the east end by Coco View. You can easily swim to a nice shipwreck (Prince Albert I think) and a twin engine airplane. You will notice a pretty good culture shock there as Roatan makes Cozumel look like Miami.

Coz and Roatan both roundtrip from Tulsa with 10 tanks of diving have always ran $1300 +/-$100 depending on season. I believe our Oct. trip cost $1347 each.

[Atlaua]

...we are going to Iberostar this Oct. but will have DP come and pick us up...

I would double check that with DP and have a backup plan in place. Iberostar charges other dive shops to pick up at their pier and most won't pick up there anymore. The list of who seem to change about once a month when IB changes their rules.

[nauifins73]

I have to 2nd Trever's suggestion about Belize. Especially Ambergris Caye. Diving may not be the best in the Caribbean but it with the Island life - it's my favorite.

[ozarkjim]

I would double check that with DP and have a backup plan in place. Iberostar charges other dive shops to pick up at their pier and most won't pick up there anymore. The list of who seem to change about once a month when IB changes their rules.

Sharon has talked on the phone with Luis and he said no problem, just call again a couple of days before we arrive so they can arrange someone to pick us up at Iberostar in a van so we can sign our releases. Worst case we could try out Dressel, which we probably will for a few dives anyway.

[Atlaua]

Sharon has talked on the phone with Luis and he said no problem, just call again a couple of days before we arrive so they can arrange someone to pick us up at Iberostar in a van so we can sign our releases. Worst case we could try out Dressel, which we probably will for a few dives anyway.

That's good. Even if by October they decide they are not picking up there anymore, I'm sure they would honor their commitment they already made. Just wanted to make sure you knew there was a potential problem.

Sorry for the hijack, Denise.

[Finally Swimming]

IMHO for quality and price, Cozumel just can't be beat.

James

I keep coming back to Cozumel in my research as well. I have thought about trying to stay mainland and cut some costs with some florida diving, but I haven't been able to find anything close to the Coz experience. I'll keep looking...Thanks for the suggestions. And if you have any other suggestions, the trip if far from planned...:)

[MgicTwnger]

I have to agree with the posts above: the bang for the buck in Coz can't be beat. Last trip I stayed at the Villablanca, great hotel/dive rates.

Also, skip the AI. Half the fun is eating dinner in town.

[jcm996]

Scuba Club Cozumel. Most of the week i didn't even leave the property. It had everything needed. We would get geared up flag down a cab have it take us down around the lighthouse. Swim out and drift back to the dock.

I am not a fan of mexican food so it was only ok. But they do have other stuff on the menu at extra cost if needed.

The other nice thing about staying there is you just grab your gear and walk down to your boat. All the tanks are loaded for you.

Downside it is a 30-50 minute boat ride to the main dive sites. 6 boats go out a day each to a different area. Don't go to town untill after 4-5 pm due to the cruise ships.

Upside it is a 10 min walk to downtown, 5 min walk to the local "WallMart" and there is a mini fridge in every room. And free bottled water.

[Atlaua]

My thoughts on Scuba Club:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=756676&postcount=5

[Finally Swimming]

Thanks for the thoughts...I'll keep that in mind.

We are still in the pre-planning stages for a big-trip...but we are going to hit Florida (Tampa area) the last weekend of July with some friends. It's not Coz but it will be WARM:133: !!! Fly down on Fri, Dive sat and sun and fly back on Mon. Talk is of hitting Ginnie Springs. Any other 'must see' sites we can consider?

[Atlaua]

Talk is of hitting Ginnie Springs.

Ginnie Springs is a great dive. Ginnie Cavern is grated off at the cave entrance and is basicly considered to be safe for people without cave or cavern training. It's a large room with nothing to stir up. Still it is an overhead so stay close to your buddy. The flow coming out of the grate is pretty high, it's fun to swim up to it and grab on. You can also navigate the basin out to the river but the basin is really shallow. Crystal clear water until you get to the river.

Devil's Springs (also at Ginnie Springs) has 3 cave entrances. These are not grated off so use common sense and don't go into the overheads. There should be grim reaper signs so stop there. Little devil is not very big but you can drop strait down into it. Devil's eye is basicly a hole in the ground as well but it's bigger the cave entrance here is large and tempting so heed the warnings. Devil's ear is my favorite. Pretty big current coming out of the system here but what I really love is dropping down in and looking strait up. Right above the entrance is where the clear spring water mixes with the tannic river water. It's definatly a site to see.

If you're looking for gear (especially anything technical) the shop at Ginnie has some of the best prices I've found. Only thing I don't like about Ginnie is that they are not exactly speedy about filling tanks.

James