<p>Where are good places for college kids to go for spring break to go SCUBA diving, not wild and crazy partying ;)?</p>
<p>If you have a suggestion can you also give some reasons why you like one over the other? They are going from San Francisco, so airfares will need to be compared and then compare that to the other factors.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Tonga </p>
<p>Or forget diving and go to the South Island of New Zealand. Spring break is absolutely a great time weather wise. There are youth hostels in Queenstown, NZ (cheap) and all kind of adventure activities. Hang gliding, para sailing, boogie boarding, bungie jumping— go see Doubtful Sound.</p>
<p>I seem to recall that Air New Zealand has SF to Auckland NZ flights now.</p>
<p>Belize is number 2 spot in the world on many lists, second only to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Should be easy from the Bay Area and probably cheap on Taca.</p>
<p>My family has gone there to dive several times and it truly was close to Australia. It’s pretty cheap there overall, they can get cheap lodgings and food so diving will be the only expensive part.</p>
<p>I second Belize. We’ve been to Placencia several times-- great diving. No wild and crazy spring break party scene. Roatan, Honduras is another good place.</p>
<p>Hawaii. Maui and the Big Island have wonderful spots at about 30 feet – both shore and boat dives – and there’s some great somewhat deeper diving off Lanai (the Cathedrals in particular) and Molokini Crater (they should go early to beat the droves of snorkelers).</p>
<p>Visibility is very good (in some cases, astounding) and the water is so nice that wetsuits are pretty much optional. You wear them mostly to keep from getting coral cuts and sunburn. :D</p>
<p>If they hit Maui, I would recommend checking with SCUBA Schools of Maui in Lahaina for chartering. My information is quite old, so they might have changed – but they were a good NAUI shop with a lot of experience, mindful of safety and very familiar with the good dive spots around the area.</p>
<p>If you rent a condo unit and prepare your own food, you can get by for less money than going the hotel/resort route. It’s still not going to be uber-cheap, but the airfare should be significantly lower than airfare to some of the other places mentioned on this thread – something to keep in mind when comparing room/board rates. And it’s nice not to need a passport and hassle with international travel or 12-hour flights.</p>
<p>I’ll agree that New Zealand would be incredible - I loved it there and would go back in a minute. </p>
<p>For scuba diving, I like Grand Cayman. You can dive from shore which is nice. It is not a big party island. I haven’t been there since all the hurricane damage in the last few years though. Lots of other things to do too.</p>
<p>Pirate’s Point on Little Cayman is a great place from which to scuba dive, although something of a hike from California (divers were there from Alaska and California last time we visited, however):</p>
<p>[Little</a> Cayman Scuba Diving Resort with Gourmet Dining](<a href=“http://www.piratespointresort.com/]Little”>http://www.piratespointresort.com/)</p>
<p>Is there good scuba diving in the Ixtapa/Zihuatenejo area on the west coast of Mexico? I really liked that area when I went there years ago but I don’t know about the diving. It would be convenient.</p>
<p>^^No- the visibility is poor. You can dive near Cabo, though, in the Sea of Cortez. The water will be around 72 in March, iirc. They’ll need wet suits. We were there over spring break 5 or 6 years ago and dove with sea lions and saw lots of whales. Some people see mantas and sharks in the Sea of Cortez.</p>
<p>If they go to the Big Island (Hawaii) they need to do the night dive with the giant manta rays. It’s incredible. Mantas aside, I personally have seen more sea life in the Caribbean than in Hawaii. I think the visibility is better, too. </p>
<p>There are dive boats that leave from San Diego and take divers out to Guadalupe Island to dive with great whites. That would be pretty cool.</p>
<p>Hawaii is low on my list too. Not a destination for serious divers. Diving is average at best. Caribbean has some great spots but is a huge pain from CA and it’s expensive. The Red Sea is just amazing, but not a quick, cheap spring break trip.</p>
<p>What about Cozumel? Haven’t been for awhile but diving was pretty good and you could live pretty cheaply. I imagine connections from SF are frequent.</p>
<p>Alumni club at D’s school (CU Boulder) organized a surfing trip to Sayulita Mexico (near Puerto Vallarta). $350 for a week (flight, food is extra). One more reason I want to go back to college…</p>
<p>Some of my relatives have been to Belze recently and done language schools for a few days with dive programs. It seems to be a great place to learn diving along with a great place to actualy interact with the people there.</p>
<p>If there is any clearer water than that of Grand Cayman, I haven’t found it. (And I’ve looked at a lot of places.)</p>
<p>I think Belize is easier to get to from the west coast. Several years back we did a bareboat sailing trip out of Belize. We flew LAX to Houston on Continental and Houston to Belize. It was a painless flight.</p>
<p>A coworker just came back from her scuba diving vacation in Belize. She had a blast! We drooled over her pictures. Whaaaaa, I wanna go there!</p>
<p>I have heard good things about Roatan.</p>
<p>Or, for a different twist go to Tortola, BVI and dive the wreck of the Rhone. They could stay on the Island or do a bare boat charter.</p>
<p>Cozumel! However, have to check hotel’s policy, some of them will not allow students. They are very big on keeping it peacefull there. Been there dozens of times, last trip - Dec. 2008. Never SCUBA’d though, just snorkel.</p>
<p>I looked into flying to Roatan this spring. The airfare from the west coast was very expensive. I sometimes watch House Hunters International and they have been to Roatan on several episodes. It looks great.
We have bareboat chartered out of Tortola many times. Spring is one of the most expensive times to charter a boat. I have not dived only snorkeled. The visability in Belize is far greater. Also from the west coast you usually have to stop several times. When we have gone most flights are LAX or SFO to a Florida airport, Florida to San Juan and then the last flight to Tortola. Makes for a very long day!
I don’t know how the diving is but they might check out Fiji or Tahiti. Quantas and Air New Zealand fly from the west coast. I think it is a 7 hour flight to Tahiti and they have direct flights. In Fiji they could find inexpensive lodging. Flying this direction is actually easier in my opinion then heading east. Less stops along the way. Plus these flights usually leave late in the evening and you arrive at your destination in the early am.</p>
<p>Myself, my husband, and my son all learned to dive on the Kona-Kohala coast of the Big Island. There are multiple nonstops from SFO or Oakland to the Big Island and fares right now are pretty reasonable.</p>
<p>I have since dived in Bonaire, Fiji, Palau, the Great Barrier Reef, and my son (who became a certified Dive Master at 18) spent a month in Perth and has dived numerous other places.</p>
<p>For less-experienced divers, I would recommend the Big Island wholeheartedly. Why?</p>
<p>*Better laws regarding safety. Fiji and Palau–no laws regarding SCUBA instructors, pretty much.
*Light-to-no currents. Divers die fairly often when they get caught in ocean currents. This is common in Cozumel, Fiji, and Palau. (I dove in Palau with the Palau Aggressor. Great crew. Good thing–one dive (off Peleliu) we picked up one diver 2.5 miles off the southern tip of the island. They gave us EPIRBs–“just in case”.)
*Lots of instructors experienced in dealing with inexperienced divers.
*Healthy reefs with lots of interesting wildlife. I’ve seen sharks (whitetip, hammerheads, tiger), turtles, dolphins, octopi, frog fish, and much much more). The whales will be around until April or so, and who knows? (I saw a whale once. Very cool.)
*Lots to do when you’re NOT diving–the volcano, surfing, good restaurants, snorkeling (I recommend Mel and Judy Malinowski’s guide to snorkeling the Big Island wholeheartedly).</p>
<p>After over 250 dives on the Kona Coast, I am still not bored when I dive there. </p>
<p>It is possible to get by without a car, but there is a company in Kona that will rent to 18-and-up with an extra deposit: [url=<a href=“http://www.konacarrental.com/]Kona”>http://www.konacarrental.com/]Kona</a> car rental<a href=“My%20son%20has%20dealt%20with%20them.”>/url</a></p>
<p>dmd, I can second that the dry land part of the trip to the Big Island is fantastic (never done any diving there). The volcano park is one of the most amazing places I’ve been to. Seeing lava oozing out of the ground just a few feet away is incredible! There are some public park beaches that are not so easily accessible, but the brave ones who manage to get there can enjoy their own “private” beach.</p>