Any scuba divers here?

[Big Bend]

I recently went scuba diving in Grand Cayman and Cozumel.. both outstanding! I've also been diving in Belize and off the Florida Keys.

I'm starting to plan a trip for next year, wondering if anyone has any suggestions. I want to take the family, so stuff for the kids to do would be good. Nothing too expensive or exotic, preferably easy to get too.

I'm also gona be in California soon.. Was thinking about renting some gear and going on a kelp forest dive somewhere, I think that would be fun. I've also been snorkeling in Alaska that was awesome!

Take care.. BB

[PokerFink]

Grand Cayman is excellent diving. Aruba is basically the same thing; they're essentially the same vacation. Good beaches, good diving, nothing else to do. Although Aruba has a little gambling.

[eviljeff]

I've done 10 or so dives. best by far was the Great Barrier Reef. everything else was not really comparable scenery-wise (Los Cabos Mexico, Playa del Coco Costa Rica, La Parguera Puerto Rico).

[That Foreign Guy]

Thailand has great diving, although doesn't really fit the rest of your criteria.

I keep hearing good things about Costa Rica but have never been myself.

[Bicycles_Biatch]

When are you coming to CA.. I have a house full of poker playing divers (but rarely on the same day).

You can hitch a quick ride out to Catalina for some great kelp diving. Not much to look at except garabaldi... but it's still a fun dive.

Anywhere in the Phillipines is going to be super cheap... but don't know much about what the kids can do.

I love Cozumel... if you go back... I have a great guy with a private service who can hook you up.

[KAknight]

Diving in the jungle cenotes in Playa Del Carmen is amazing. That water has filtered through the limestone caverns and comes out as clear as possible. No fish though.

My second ever ocean dive I went fairly deep to see a shipwreck. On the way back up we made a safety stop. As we are waiting there a whale shark swam up to see what were doing. The thing was the size of a school bus. Our dive master swam over, grabbed its dorsal fin and rode along for a second. It was pretty cool, but at the time I didn't know they only ate plankton so I was a little nervous.

[PokerFink]

[ QUOTE ]
best by far was the Great Barrier Reef.

[/ QUOTE ]

Great Barrier Reef is generally considered the best diving in the world. But the OP wanted not too expensive and not too exotic, so Australia doesn't really qualify.

[PokerFink]

One more thing about Aruba: If your kids are young, you can probably find some activities for them through your resort, travel agency, whatever. If your kids are teens, I hope they SCUBA too, because there is nothing else for them to do in Aruba. Same goes for most of the small Carribbean islands; there aren't enough things for teens to do.

[Peter Harris]

Great Barrier was great. I did GC but not Cozumel. The water at Cozumel looked spectacular though, so i am jealous.

Will be doing St Kitts & Nevis in November, Sri Lanka in December and hopefully the Maldives some time in 2008. I have heard the Red Sea isn't up to much in comparison due to a lot of coral bleaching etc.

I would recommend doing the PADI courses if you haven't started yet. They are great and really add to the appreciation of breathing underwater.

I wouldn't recommend diving in the UK in December. Brr and 2' visibility. Not goot.

[Big Bend]

Howdy everybody, thanks for the replies...

Ya, Aruba or Costa Rica might be the way to go. Is the diving there really nice? I like the idea of playing poker in the evenings at Aruba.. have heard alot of nice things about CR not sure if poker available tho.

One of these days I want to go to Australia and dive the great barrier reef. Re Cozumel, thats the best diving I've ever been to so far... the boat drops you off and you drift next to this incredible wall of coral full of caves and tons of fish, just beautiful. The drift is quite strong and the boat follows on top to pick you up at the end. Ya I want to go back there too someday.

Take care.. BB