BootsnAll Travel Community

Hello, my name is Chris and I am just after some basic advice from frequent travellers on which are the best places to visit in order to spend some time snorkelling and perhaps scuba diving. Obviously I know of the Great Barrier Reef but I am concerned with potential costs of travelling to and from the Great Barrier Reef from the coast on day trips and the like.

If anyone can give me some suggestions in how to overcome these problems, or know of other snorkelling hotspots on a reasonable budget then they would be gratefully received!

Generally speaking, in Asia: the east coast of Malaysia and the west coast of Thailand are good for snorkeling and diving. Then there's the Caribbean . . . . Not sure what region of the world you're looking at.

Thanks, I am pretty easy on possible destinations to snorkel - if the water is clear and the fish are in abundance I will attempt to go. Any other suggestions would be great!

i know belize is an amzing hot spot for scuba, and it is fairly cheap as the exchange rate for the dollar, pound, and euro will be pretty good down there as well. any place you scuba dive is going to have huge costs associated with it, unless you have a beach entry and your own equipment. and of course, you don't want the cheapest places to rent or charter from because your equipment could be crappy, air could be unfiltered, or your charter could leave without you while you're still underwater. scuba diving is not the best activity to look for the lowest bidder...

OK, in my opinion Belize is NOT a cheap scuba destination. Even going just offshore (1 mile) will cost you $50 a dive. But to get to the really great diving (Blue Hole, Glover's, Turneffe) your going to have to fork out around $125-200. It is spectacular though, and if you are going it is DEFINITELY worth it. Especially in the summer months where you are practically assured a whale shark sighting.

For cheap dives, I'd say probably somewhere in South America would be better. Maybe Honduras or Nicaragua would be good too. One of the countries with a better exchange rate.

Honduras is a good cheap option in the Caribbean. What about the Red Sea. Don't have personal experience there but have looked at options from England and looked reasonable.

I have learned that great diving is in the eye of the beholder. Not everybody looks for the same experience when diving so if I knew what your expectations were I could maybe be more specific.

Haven't been there yet, but I hear Zanzibar (off the coast of Tanzania) is fantastic and pretty damn cheap. And airfare to there from London is a heck of a lot cheaper than from the US...grumble...

Try Dahab on the Red Sea. Lots of cheapish backpacker accomodations, and the water was so clear that I saw a Lion Fish hanging out while I was eating my breakfast next to the water!

I didn't dive there because I hadn't done my PADI course yet (did that later in Thailand), but folks there said the diving was very good.

Also, Ko Tau, Thailand, where I learned to dive, is cheap, relaxed, and has pretty good visibility and a lot of interesting marine life.

Mozambique is pretty good. And cheap.

I am going from Bolivia to Colombia just for scuba diving and snorkeling. I've heard there's cherap and good spot in Cartagena.

t. Topi

I did some snorkelling in Tahiti. Great visibility and wonderful marine life. There were lots of SCUBA shops too.

Unfortunately, nothing is cheap in Tahiti.

Learned how to dive last summer in Utila, Honduras. I did my open water and advanced, and a few fun dives for about 500 USD. The visibility was great and you get the chance to see some cool stuff (sea turtles, beautiful reefs, lobsters, barracudas, eagle rays, octopus, porcupine fish, etc.) but the sea life is diminishing as more people visit and do stupid things like break of chunks of reef as souvenirs *sigh*. Also went in Costa Rica, the vis. was not as good, but you are almost assured of diving with white-tip reef sharks, giant rays (mantas at some times), turtles and huge HUGE grunts and parrotfish (we did two dives and saw 6 sharks WOO HOO).

Heading this summer to the Galapagos (tied for best place in the world to dive with the coast of British Columbia- haven't dived here yet, getting up my courage for the cold water diving). Also am heading to Molokini in Maui, where I hear the snorkelling and diving is coo.