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#375
Location Ideas for family Xmas trip
RodneyKim - 6/22/2011 12:52 AM
Category: Travel
Replies: 4



Being relatively new to the diving world, I am looking for ideas for family dive trips over Christmas/New years. Kids ages are soph. in HS and jr in college, both Adv. open water certified this summer. My wife and I also AOW certifed 2 years ago with some experience since. We are thinking some place warm and safe with some other activites other then diving. Also some variety in the diving, but all apropriate for beginers. Budget wise I would say withing 5 hour or so flight time from the US.


Thanks
#20384
LatitudeAdjustment - 6/23/2011 12:55 PM
From RodneyKim:

We are thinking some place warm and safe with some other activites other then diving. Also some variety in the diving, but all apropriate for beginers. Budget wise I would say withing 5 hour or so flight time from the US.

Thanks



 I’m not sure with connections what would be within 5 hours of SD.

 Cozumel is safe, budget freindly and offers plenty topside, to lower the price even more rent a home. That’s what we do and the use Chucko Diving.

 Roatan is a little harder to get to and of all the resorts there AKR offers the most topside, check RoatanCharters for specials.

 Caymans, safe but pricy. Check Sunset House for specials, inexpensive meals at MyBar onsite or walk into town. Hammerheads has some of the best fish sandwhichs I’ve ever had and a short walk from there toward 7 mile beach brings you to a bar that feeds the Tarpon every night.

 Not as warm but easier to connect to would be the WPB/Jupiter area and you could rent rooms from JupiterMermaid. Most of the diving is drift diving so no navigation involved and for variety there is looking for small critters under the Blue Heron Bridge. I like to plan my boat dives around the slack high tide at the bridge so I can do both boat and beach dives some days.
#375
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RodneyKim - 6/23/2011 2:10 PM
I guess my 5 hour stipulation was keeping it like in the carribean/mexico/hawaii area and not like Indonesia. How is diving at Cozumel since the huricane? Last Feb. my wife and I where in Playa del Carmin for a week and I took the ferry over to Cozumel one day. Anyway, I rented a scotter and snorkled in Chan Ka Nab park (sorry about the spelling) just south of town like 5 miles. There was virtually nothing there to see underwater. The locals told me it has been like that since the last huricane. Just wondering about the diving?
#4002
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WarmWaterTurner - 6/23/2011 2:31 PM


We dove Cozumel in September of 2010. Yes, there was a lot of damage the closer you are to shore. But!!!! Diving at Paradise Gardens, San Francisco Wall and most other deeper sites was wonderful. Hurricane Wilma was a long time ago. The limitation for your guys might be that there are not a lot of other activities besides diving and shopping. Then again, you could always flip the coin and take the ferry back to Playa for day trips to places like Tulum, 5th Avenue and cenotes....plus there is Explora, Xel Ha and Escret!


We just returned from a 12 dive trip to Playa. We dove every reef from Los Arcos up north to the Mama Vina wreck down south. We used Reef Quest - they were wonderful. The greatest sight of the trip was a big blue Marlin swimming above us while we were at about 80’ watching the turtles munch on the seagrass.....
#338
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divemedic035 - 8/03/2011 7:44 PM
curacao 

beach point or east point both offer great family deals at a great pricee.

Maui the scuba shack is a good resource also...