I love Bonaire and have been there many times. However, I am looking for a new place to some serious dive/snorkel with some novice friends. If we can't go to BONAIRE where else would you recommend? ( I know I will be disappointed any where else). Looking for a place where the marine life is protected and not overwhelmed by tourists and tour boats.
I know you guys on this forum will have some good ideas that I can trust.

COCO View Resort, Roatan

Bay Islands...mmmm that would be great...


(Message edited by kristi_tn on April 24, 2009)

Wakatobi comes to mind. www.wakatobi.com
remote - protected - place for serious diving and snokleing. I would recommend to anyone -

I second CoCo view. It is spoiled diving...great boats, dive staff, and easy shore diving too (Prince Albert and 2 walls are right there). If you have novice divers, this would do nicely.

I dove Fiji last year. I love Bonaire, but Fiji was far more exotic and biodiverse.Fiji and its beautiful soft coral should be on your bucket list.Pretty good deals for Fiji now because of the ww recession and a little political instability(the political situation would not make me hesitate a bit).Go,the natives are very friendly.

Getting to Fiji is kind of PRICEY, no?

Speaking of Roatan you might also check out Fantasy Island Resort. Right next to CoCo View
Have stayed there a couple times, facilities and dive operation are top notch. They also will take a trip over to Little Cayman if weather permits. The diving and snorkeling is far superior on Little Cayman but more expensive to stay there. In my experience Fantasy Island is a little less expensive than CoCo View. They usually run some good deals in the summer season.
Can be a bit rainy into June.

You're confusing Roatan with Cayman Brac, I'm afraid...

Roatan is great. Coco View is likely as good as Fantasy Island or better. Both on the south side of the island and east of the airport.

However, do not confuse Roatan with Bonaire. It is definitely a third world country. Watch out for water borne disease. Eat only food that is properly washed or does not need washing and is properly cooked. Know where you go in detail. Malaria is much more likely there than Bonaire. Crime is a given on Roatan. Be careful.

Please be aware that I have done many years of medical missions on Roatan and the other Bay Islands and know them well from an insider's perspective. I love diving Roatan and Guanaja. It is different than Bonaire but quite good. I have many friends from the US living on the island and such. I need to get back there sometime soon. At least for me there is no housing costs - stay with friends and usually get free boat diving as well.

Trust me when I say it is a great dive opportunity, one not to be missed. But do be careful with crime and food/water issues.

we usually stay at Anthonys Key resort.. very nice.. they run trip when the weather is nice to Caocachinos {sp} not to be missed.. I agree with Dan the crime is prevalent, can you say gun shots at night?? and the diving is different,rather grayish compared to Bon..BUT it is different and we do like it.. should have bought property there long ago when we had some moola..... I suggest that you do not eat the fish from there as I have seen first hand where the raw sewage goes...not even through a pipe...in the privae homes{slums} on the beach...

Dsn did you do your medical volunteering at AKR?? they have a wonderful set up there office wize and the treatment is great.. had to go for an ear infection,,,
OH and did anyone tell you about the no seeum.... ghastly... scars on this body from them..they became ALIVE when I got home..,,eeeeeeeek

Wow..awesome that you have many friends there on Roatan Dan.... sounds like, for you, it may be a good place to re-locate??? Although,for me, it seems like the negatives out weigh the positives..even for a visit??!!!
Crime, malaria, food and water issues ... I think I'll stick with BON" !!

Tom,
Talk about a senior moment and total brain lock -
I had both. That would be a long day trip. Thanks for the correction, embarrassing as it is!

Tom,
Judy gave no price limitations in her post, if she would have posted that she was looking for something in the same price range as Bonaire, then I would have not mentioned Fiji- although Fiji isn't that pricey for what you get. In fact, my trip to Fiji began as I was planning a trip to the Belize atolls and realized I could go to Fiji for the same price as a stay on turneffe atoll. Fiji is a great value iIMHO. (and they have kava)

Judy
How about Xcalak, Mx ? Xcalak sits on the Belize, Mexican boarder just north of Amber Cays, Belize. The diving is spectacular and it's not too deep for the beginners.
We rode the boat out for about 80 minutes and didn't dive any deeper than 65 ft.
I'd stay in and around Tulum so you have night time activities.
It's about a 4 hour drive from Playa Del Carmen. The roads are great, you just have to watch that occasional speed bump that comes out of-- where they come out of--lol
My son and really had a great time, plus we did dos Ojos, while headed south from Playa.

Having been to Roatan and Utila, numerous times as well as once to Cayos Cochinos, I am a bit surprised by the ominous references to crime in the posts above. While I was a bit nervous on my first trip into Coxen Hole, and I would still not venture there after dark, on later trips I never had any sense of crime being a serious problem. We have covered most of Roatan by car, scooter and on foot with no problem. In fact, I have heard more accounts of serious crime on Bonaire than Roatan. On the other hand, I haven't been there in five years so maybe things have changed.

We also never had any issues with the water at the resorts or restaurants and when we rented a house for a month, bottled water was readily available and rather inexpensive.

Malaria is a concern but most visitors do not seem to take any preventative measures. We did for our first trip but did not on subsequent visits. The locals treat it rather casually since malaria medicine is readily available over the counter.

I second everything Brett says about Fiji. We were lucky enough to spend 7 weeks there whilst travelling and loved it - the people, the place itself and the sealife.

Taveuni was amazing for snorkelling and was the place I did my first dive; this was a blessing and a curse because nowhere has ever matched up to it since, including, I'm afraid to say, Bonaire. The viz was so good that the water was like glass. Unfortunately, it's so expensive to get there from the UK that we haven't been able to justify a return trip.

Judy..IMHO if I were confined to the Caribbean I'd pick Little Cayman for some great diving.
Roatan..would never go back there. Disease & crime is what I think of. It is a third world country with third world problems.

Can't really add much to Bonaire alternatives but want to just restate Roatan is a Malaria risk. Not sure of the other places but as a blood donor I was surprised when I got back from Roatan I was UNABLE to give blood for one year because of the risk by orders of CDC. I was symptom free but didn't matter. Personally would love to go to Fiji. I am heading to Curacao next year as have AA frequent flyer miles to burn. Might be a good place for Novice divers but as of yet have not been there.
Enjoy where ever you go!

Thanks to everyone who responded. I've got some really good ideas now.

What about the Great Barrier Reef? Surprised no one mentioned that.

Not trying to travel on the cheap, but trying to keep a lid on things as much as possible. I am in Seattle, so heading west of here is a possibility.

Judy..If you're going all the way to the great barrier reef, personally I'd go another 100 miles or so into the Coral Sea. Never been there but heard it was spectacular.

Judy - I did the Barrier Reef back in 92 - it was OK but like Vince said, you really need to get away from the areas the "day trip" boats can go to where the reef has been pretty trashed. Live-aboards are the way to go there and head north toward the Coral Sea.

If I were going back to Australia to do some diving (sigh... someday) I'd head to Western Australia and go to the Ningaloo reef during whale shark season.

I also wouldn't say that the GBR is all that and, to make the most of it, you'd need to do a liveaboard. Plus, the jumping off area to get out to the Whitsundays and the reef at Airlie Beach is very much overwhelmed by tourists.

Haven't been lucky enough to dive Ningaloo, but I've heard it's a lot nicer over on the West side.

I agree...I dove GBR 3 yrs ago and I was disappointed :~{

Coco View in Roatan is an excellent resort with amazing diving. You can do two boat dives, 1 morning and 1 afternoon, and they drop you off at the outer part of the reef so you can do a shore dive back on the house reef (which has a ship and plane wreck). You also cannot beat the price.

It is not Bonaire but it is a great alternative.

go to Island Dreams.com and look at the tours they have to Mabul and Wakatobi...Sipadan is shut down but can still do boatdive from Mabul..pristine diving and exotic creatures...wish we could return again( we did already 3 times)

Freddie:

AKR is still the premier place on the island. I have heard good things about Coco View and Fantasy Island although no personal experience.

When we did the medical/dental missions on Roatan we were rather itinerant. We used various buildings and such that the various communities made available. We worked at Brick Bay, Sandy Bay, near West End, Punta Gorda, St Helena, etc. One of our team members, now known on the island as Nurse Peggy, retired to Roatan in 2001. She worked for years to build a clinic. She now has a 2 story clinic across the road from AKR known as Clinica Esperanza (web site is the same name).

Early on we worked closely with the hyperbaric doc based at AKR and running that clinic. Quite a character. He was originally a veterinarian from Montana who went to the Episcopal seminary and was assigned to Honduras. He also was a diver and private pilot. Additionally he was trained in hyperbaric medicine (for humans) and while in charge of the church on Roatan also was the chief hyperbaric dive medicine doc on the island.

Long enough story. PM me if you want more info.

Sparty:

Roatan is a great place to visit and dive. I too have been all over the island. It is much more tropical and rain forest like, sort of.

My intention was to be sure folks did not consider it like Bonaire. I consider Cozumel almost in the same vein as Roatan. I continue to be on a daily listserv about Roatan with largely islanders doing the posting. Things are not as idyllic as on Bonaire. I have personally witnessed some of the crime (not the forum for specifics) as well as the issues of water and malaria problems.

It really depends on what kind of traveler one is. A savvy traveler will be fine on Roatan. Even in Coxen Hole. It is definitely a location that avid divers should experience. Reefs are healthy last I knew. Sharks (mostly nurse) were common. Lobsters and crab were everywhere. Lots of fish of all stages of development. Turtles. Some rays. Lots of dolphin activity compared to Bonaire. The reefs are more like what you see around Karpata, sort of. The tongue and groove sort with lots of swim throughs. Some shore diving areas but it is largely a boat dive island.

I am not throwing a wet blanked on travel to Roatan. Just want people to go there with heads up.! I would definitely return to Roatan before Cozumel - any day.

I dove many places mentioned above. And many are great. Of course Bonaire is still number 1!!! Wakatobi is spectacular. Great Barrier Reef is OK. Ningaloo reef is very nice. Fiji is very very nice. Mozambique is spectacular if you like big stuff (whale sharks, manta rays etc) but level of development is low (which I actually liked a lot but you need to be flexible and creative)

Judy, I posted that there were some pretty good deals to fiji right now-wrong . There are incredible deals now. I ran across a week of accom,meals,and diving at wananavu resort including airfare from lax for a jaw dropping price of 1680$ from trip and tour. I did this package last oct. with a different travel agent for about 600$ more and that was a good deal at the time. We loved the resort and it is world class diving.(I have no financial interest in wananavu or trip and tour)If I hadn't locked into Bali already this sept., I'd go back to wananavu.

One of my Favorite places is Palau. The flight home about killed me but the diving was awesome. That is if you like Manta Rays and Sharks? Been to AKR in Roatan thought resort was great and diving below average. Did'nt really care for off resort places but it is a very pretty island. Healthy reef but we didnt see a lot of life compared to other places. Little Cayman is all about Bloody Bay Wall and should be on everyones list in my opinion. Puerto Morelos Mx, south of Cancun, has lots of life and a great wreck dive.
Will be in Bonaire next Saturday a must do at least once a year.

Bret,
What website did you find that deal to Fiji?

trip-n-tour.com I recommend the inexpensive upgrade to oceanview(breathtaking).I wouldn't recommend the beachfront upgrade. The beachfront rooms are nice, but the beach is not really what most people think of as a beach-however nananu-i-ra is an island a very short boatride away with great beaches.

Well Judy to to throw some options on the table, consider French Polynesia, underwater is as good as some of the other pacific destinations, it's out of the water that is beyond belief. It's not cheap but worth every dime. We went in 1999, and we were newbie divers.

In the Caribbean, Belize is quite nice and phenomenal diving. There you can stay on a caye and it's like a land based live-aboard. The Caymen's are very nice but I find them expensive.

Cecil - I agree on the Caymans. Grand Cayman is rather expensive. No particular desire to go back unless it was for a photo course with Cathy Church. I do need to try Little Cayman and Cayman Brac some time.

I loved Fiii, on the Nai'a for a week in '08, the diving was amazing, wonderful color and lots of schools of fish.
Also had a great trip to CoCo View in Roatan and enjoyed that as well. After my last trip to Oahu where I dove with a shop out of Kailua I decided that the diving there can be great if you hook up with the right shop- Aaron's was the best! Roatan was great value, inexpensive, Hawaii pretty expensive.
So many places, so little time.

Judi, the Barrier Reef is great, depending on the boat and/or location you choose. However, if you can afford the Barrier Reef, you can afford Fiji. It's an easy direct flight from the West Coast. As was previously mentioned the soft coral is outstanding and you'll find both large and small critters there. Fear not about political unrest. Those are on very small scale and hardly noticeable to tourists and the people are wonderful. If you want something a little more exotic and remote, try PNG--Walindi and New Britain to the north and Milne Bay to the south. The Solomon Islands are nearby, also. However, these locations involve liveaboards such as Stardancer and Telita in PNG and Bilikiki in the Solomons. If you want something wild and wooly, try the Eastern Fields aboard the Golden Dawn if it's running out there when you are around Port Moresby. Palau is absolutely outstanding and, if you like history and beautiful wreck diving, Truk Lagoon is in the neighborhood. However, these two locations involve long and arduous flights with quite a few connections. For my money, Indonesia is still the star--the Komodo area for big and little stuff and Lembeh Strait (Suluwesi) for some of the best macro photography in the world. Fairly easy flights via Japan, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore will connect to flights that take you to jumping off spots like Manado and Bali. However, the further away you go, and the more local connecting flights you have, the more you generally spend. If you want stay in the Caribbean, my vote definitely goes to Little Cayman--great walls and plenty of animal life. Enjoy.

Thank you everyone that responded. Wow..so many places so little time (and money). So glad to have some experienced divers who appreciate the same things I do to get suggestions from. Definitely some places to add to my Bucket List. Will probably head to either Coco View or Fiji but there are so many other great suggestions. Thank you again!
I am surprised no one mentioned the Maldives, I heard it was wonderful too.

My dive center folks just got back from the Maldives with rave reports. Great vis. Great pelagics, etc. etc. etc. Definitely on my bucket list too.

We've been to both Ningaloo and the Maldives. Both are fabulous. Maldives are mostly drift diving with excellent visibility and sea life. Accommodations range from basic to luxurious. Ningaloo was much less travelled than eastern Australia, with great diving, and beaches that were practically private.

What a great thread! Are any of these areas good for shore diving? That's one of the many attractions Bonaire holds for us....we loooove diving on our own schedule.

Forgot to mention we've been to Coco View...loved it until we came to Bonaire & now I don't see going back as Bon has so much more variety accessible by shore.

Thanks Splash for bringing this thread up again. I am heading to Fiji, based upon the recommendations here. I live on the West Coast and Fiji is a non-stop flight from LAX so actually for me, easier than the trip to Bonaire ( or anywhere in the Caribbean). I love Bonaire though and can't wait to get back.

Awesome! If you have time, share your experience! Fiji is on my dream list...as is Indonesia... But as an east coaster, the Carribean is so much more convenient. Hope you have a fantastic trip!!

spelling check...Caribbean...

We had great and exiting dives at Carriacou Grenadines) this year!
We did an awesome currentdive, (just for experienced divers) with JP from Lumbadive.
www.lumbadive.com

(Message edited by lilian on August 2, 2009)

Another Anthony's Key lover: Mary's Place and the shark dive especially but...

We got really sick. Don't drink the water or reconstituted fruit juices.

We were there when a diver died on a dolphin dive and one of the owners committed suicide.

Quite a downer.