The Beetle received an e-mail from a lady in the US who asked about
good spots to learn to dive during a week’s vacation, close to the
US. Below are some suggestions:
The Cayman Islands Cayman has fabulous blue water and
good walls and healthy corals. So you will get excellent visibility, easy
diving, good corals and some good fish life but you won't see anything
“big” here. The diving is mostly walls with the odd wreck thrown
in for diversity. If you learn here, you'll be spoilt for other places
as Cayman really is the No 1 spot to dive in the Caribbean and the water
is warm. The downside is that it is not cheap, and even more expensive
are Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. North American tour operators can usually
get you better deals than trying to book this independently. A good idea
is to buy a copy of Sports Diver or similar magazine to look at ads for
Cayman Island dive operators. Another disadvantage is that the dive boats
tend to be something like cattle trucks, crammed with divers. This is
not a nice way to dive. Small groups of divers are best, as you will find
out!! Other things to do – well, actually, there's not really an awful
lot to do apart from play golf, sit on the magnificent Seven Mile Beach,
snorkel, swim and drink expensive cocktails. But it's all very pretty
and safe for children.
Cozumel – cheaper than Cayman, and the best way to
get to Cozumel is probably by buying a hotel and flight package. Cozumel,
in Mexico, is an island close to Cancun and is primarily known for drift
diving. Don't let this put you off, there are still plenty of good
dives that are not scary. If you go to Cozumel on a package, it is easy
to book diving separately once you have arrived. Here, normally
smaller groups of divers are taken out in dive boats than in the Cayman
Islands, although the majority of divers will be from the US. Other things
to do – well, you can take a day trip across to the mainland to some of
the Mayan ruins such as Chichen Itza, although it is a very long day.
There are also golf courses and I believe you can windsurf. Probably the
second best place to dive in the Caribbean.
The Florida Keys – there are some excellent dives around
the Keys with just as good fish life as in Cayman! Aquanuts and Kelly
on the key in Key Largo both come highly recommended. A downside is that
the dive boats can resemble cattle trucks, so ask about numbers on the
boat. By going to the Keys, you can do some shopping too, in Miami! Surprisingly
decent diving – be careful that you go with a good dive operator; warmish
water but lots of topside attractions with car hire. But be warned, Key
Largo is a good 1 1/2-2 hr slow drive from Miami.
Puerto Rico – the diving here is not that great, but
if you are going to learn, this is still not a bad place to learn as the
other places that you go to will have better diving, so this is not a
bad place to start off. An advantage is that it is relatively cheap. To
get around Puerto Rico you must hire a car (the roads can be pretty bad
in places, be warned.) There are plenty of things of interest to see and
good day trips, including some good night life, good bars and restaurants,
forts, shopping, parks, waterfalls etc.
Bermuda – not cheap, but perfectly manicured, very
green and chocolate box pretty. The diving is probably the easiest of
all of these destinations as you are unlikely to be able to get below
10 metres. As it is easy diving, it is a nice, safe and steady place to
learn to dive. The main attraction here is the wrecks, all in shallow
water and most decomposed and in various stages of almost unrecognisable
to pretty good anchors and cannons etc. Bermuda also scores high on topside
attractions, but you must hire a scooter (tourists are not allowed to
hire cars) and explore the island. The water is not as warm as the Caribbean
and it is expensive, although, if you live on the east coast of the US,
Bermuda is only a short hop away.
Bay Islands Honduras – if you are feeling adventurous,
there is some pretty good diving to be had in the Bay Islands off Honduras.
Any of the dive magazines have ads for the Bay Islands so it is best to
buy a package. There are three main islands: Roatan is a party island
and the most touristy, but not massively so, Utila is the backpacker’s
island and Guanaja is still fairly quiet. I would recommend diving off
Utila or Guanaja. The Posada del Sol has good write ups and usually has
good deals – look them up on the web! Good diving, although not as good
as Cayman, still pretty decent and considerably cheaper. There is not
masses to do topside, but you'll find enough, it's a different
sort of place. English is spoken in the Bay Islands is, and all of the
islands are much less touristy than say Cozumel so you will meet a wider
mix of people in the Bay Islands.
If you live in the UK or Europe and are looking for a cheap dive estimation
to learn to dive in one week, then I recommend the Red Sea. It is cheap
(around £300 or $500 – £450 or $750) for one week's hotel
and flights from London) and has good diving and also extremely good and
safe good dive training. The dive specialists have some extremely good
deals in the Red Sea right now, but obviously this location may not be
the best place to go, depending on the political situation.