Diving hot spots in Central America?
Replies: 7 - Last Post: Jan 31, 2013 1:11 PM Last Post By: lencho4846
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Diving hot spots in Central America?
Hi TT'ers. I need some inspiration... looking at a 10-12 day trip somewhere in Central America in February or March. It's not an area I know very well having lived in Asia for several years... but Asia is too far for a short trip like this. I'd like sun, sand and diving. I've already been to Roatan and Utila and loved them. I'm not an uber-backpacker but I'm on a budget. I looked into Cozumel but it seems like all all-inclusives resorts (hated, tried it once and never again) and I'm on my own.Can anyone recommend a good town or two that I should be looking at? I'm not even sure what to check for flights etc. I was thinking maybe Belize or ... Cosa Rica? I don't want a super-party place but it would be nice to meet people too (I guess sort of like Utila or Roatan?)
thanks!
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No great diving in Costa Rica unless you LiveBoard to Coco Islands 400KM off the coast 10 days and $$$$.Bay Islands Honduras, sits on the second longest reef in the world, Roatan and or Utila is endless diving, and cheap too. The other top dive site is Belize.
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Yes Belize is a top dive destinations. Ambergis Caye and Caye Caulker seem to be top destinations, bu there are many other islands down the coastline which have varying degree's of accomodation. Also look into diving the Blue Hole. There are plenty of places in Cozumel that are not all-inclusive. Plus if you go to Mexico you can dive some of the cenotes on the mainland6
The best diving I've found is on Glover's Atoll, Belize and Guanaja, Honduras. The downside is the lack of towns if you want a variety of places to eat and hang with other travelers. We love Caulker and their are good options there; we found it to be much more expensive than Utila or Roatán, though. The Yucatán Peninsula offers some really unique cenote diving opportunities in addition to reef stuff.My photos with blog and travelogue links on the main page of each collection are below in case you're interested - all my recommendations are embedded there. Happy trails!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections
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Maybe you might want to try the caribe coast of Colombia. Parts of the mainland are acually north of San Jose, Costa Rica. Taganga, a tiny fishing village just 5 minutes from Santa Marta, is dive headquarters for the country. It's cheaper than Belize and Costa Rica....on a par with Utila.Flights are similar in price and duration to most parts of C.A as well.
