May 10 - 17, 2008

Deep Blue Utila, Honduras
Located on the second largest barrier reef in the world, Utila is an ideal dive location. The sea life is equal to any other location that I have been to in the Carribbean. The primary draw for many people is the whale sharks that cruise the area from about January to April. By May the have mostly moved north but there is still lots to see. Turtles, rays, sea horses, pipe fish, mackerels, and more are plentiful. Soft and hard coral abound. I saw some of the largest grouping of black coral anywhere. Visibility was excellent. Steve, Jasmine, and Shirley, owners of Deep Blue, are very gracious hosts. The facilities are excellent, the food good and plentiful, and the dive boat very well equipped. Matt, the dive master, is very knowledgeable and a great guide, always one the lookout for things both big and small. The small town on the island is of limited interest but with all there was to see in the water it didn't matter
Deep Blue Utila lodge

March 3 - 10, 2007

Wind Dancer Dive Boat, Tobago
Very abundant and colorful coral and sponge. All dives were from a tender and were drift dives due to strong currents. Type of sea life included hawksbill turtles, huge angel fish, sea horse, squid, nurse sharks, many morey eels, sting rays, and the second largest piece of brain coral in the Caribbean. Visibility was somewhat limited (about 15-20 feet) due to currents and surge. The Wind Dancer had very nice accommodations made even better by only having 9 passengers of the 18 capacity so everyone had there own room and each room had its own sink, shower and toilet. The crew was very nice and helpful. Food was generally good and plentiful.
Wind Dancer and tender

October, 2006

Coral Reef II Research Vessel, Bimini
This was a fish collection expedition sponsored by the New England Aquarium. Nine paying volunteers, 3 staff people from the aquarium, and 3 crew were on the boat for a week collecting specimens for the aquarium. The were 3 to 4 dives per day. Divers went down in teams of 2 to 4 depending on the targeted specimen. On this trip, about 350 specimens were collected and air freighted back to the aquarium. The diving was generally shallow (about 20-30 feet) with strong currents on some of the dives. The boat is owned by the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and rented out to various aquariums for this purpose. It is an 80 foot vessel with about 1/3 of the space devoted to fish tanks. Accommodations are adequate with 2 people sharing a cabin and up to 6 sharing the bathroom facilities. Food was very good.
Coral Reef II

November, 2005

Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Fantastic and very easy diving. All dive sites were about a 5 to 10 minute boat ride from the dock. Very plentiful sea life. Morning, afternoon and the occasional night dive were available. A sign-up board is posted outside the dive office and I strongly recommend that you reserve dives at least 2 days in advanced, particularly night dives as the available spaces fill up quickly. I only brought my regulator and dive computer and rented everything else there. I should have brought my mask as it took 2 days to find one that didn't leak. The accommodations are nice cabins. The food was very good. There are many activities while not diving including bird watching, observing the turtles laying their eggs or seeing them hatch (depending of the time of year - October is laying season), observing tide pools, nature walks, and relaxing on the beach. The island has a research station staffed by very knowledgeable people.
Heron Island

January, 2005

Castle Comfort Dive Lodge, Dominica
A great island for diving and hiking. The diving was excellent with great visibility and no currents. Lots of sea life including turtles, moreys, barracudas, flying fish, spiny lobsters, etc. One of the unique dive sites is Champaign which is an area where hot air bubbles up from the ocean floor. The lodge is nothing fancy and the food is ok. The dive operation is part of the hotel and is very good. Tanks are available to go off the dock at the hotel but the best diving is from the boats. When you are not diving, there are some excellent hikes including one to a beautiful water falls and another to "Boiling Lake". Do not go during Carnival, the end of January when I was there. Live music goes on all night and it is impossible to sleep.

January, 2004

Aquila de Osa, Isle de Cano, Costa Rica
The island is located a 20 minute boat ride from the shore of the Osa Peninsula. This was primarily a land vacation. Only other diving opportunities that I know about on the Pacific side of the country are on a live-aboard dive boat that is about an 18 hour trip from land. That said, Costa Rica is a beautiful country and this was a wonderful trip.

December, 2003

Southern Cross, Little Cayman
Fantastic but challenging diving during this time of year. Tends to be windy and most of the dive sites are on the northern side of the island and the hotels are on the southern side requiring a 30 minute boat trip. Once, we could not do a second morning dive because conditions were to rough. There is the possibility that the dive boats may not be able to make it through the cut the surrounds and protects the southern coast of the island. Many wall dives and some swim throughs. The coral, sponge and fish are very healthy. This is what Grand Cayman was like 20 years ago. The lodge was very nice with an excellent dive operation.

March, 2002

Plaza Resort, Bonaire
Very beautiful calm diving. Many of the dive sites are on a small island a couple minute boat ride from the main island called Klein Bonaire. Typical entry from the boat is at 25 feet with a gentle slope from there. The dive operation at the resort had tanks on the beach to be used whenever you wanted to either use on the beach or to put in your car and drive to another site. All along the perimeter road were markers for established dive sites. There is a 235 foot freight that was intentionally sunk, the Hilma Hooker, where large tarpons can be found. There is a large variety of sea life and the reef was in excellent condition thanks to strict conservation.

December, 2000

Amberqris Cay, Belize

December, 1999

St. John, USVI

February, 1999

Turks and Caicos