Hi,
Please tell me where I should go for the best diving. We have never dived before,so I am looking for good instructors as well as good clear water with lots of things to see.
Thanks for any input!

My personal suggestions would be Bonaire or St. Eustatius. Saba is another well known diving destination, but dives are deeper, so it's not recommended for first timers.

Both Bonaire and St. Eustatius have very good PADI certified dive shops and both shallow and deep dives.

Low Key Water Sports, Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI helped me to become certified and gave me much needed confidence.

I would suggest either doing all classroom and practice work with a qualified PADI dive operator at home,(all which is transferable) and saving your open water dives for certification while on vacation, or to do only a resort dive (to see if you like it).

Doing the initial phase at home really gives you the time and preparation for a truly enjoyable ocean diving experience.

I also had great experiences with Paradise Water Sports, the on site dive operators at Caneel Bay St. John. They are very patient with beginning divers.

Have fun! There are incredibly beautiful sights to be see in the depths of the ocean.

You may want to look into the Florida Keys for shallow dives great for beginners. I did a survey of shallow reefs to dive throughout the keys and cay in the Bahamas. If you'd like, I could post it here, even though it's quite lengthy. Many reputable dive ops in the Fla. Keys. Let me know. Robert

Valentine's on Harbour Island is a well known dive resort. They have a resort course you can also get certified if you are there long enough. There are several nice places to stay on island and some good restaurants.

Valentine's does 2 dives a day, and snorkle trips as well and they have some really good instructors.

There are some GREAT dive sites in the area, like a Civil War train, sunk in a bad storm just after the Civil War (the train was bought by a weathly plantation owner on Cuba, and went badly off course in a storm) Makes a great dive spot 100 years later. There are also several wrecks and underwater garden spots.

I think the website is on the www.briland.com site which is for Harbour Island and N. Eleuthera.

Have a great time.

Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
Hate to sound dumb, but where exactly is Harbour Island?

Hi,

Harbour Island is just of the N. coast of Eleuthera. It was named one of the most beautiful islands in the world and recently was named one of the most beautiful beaches by the Travel Channel.

You might try the www.briland.com website for more info and pictures.

Have a great trip.

We think Grand Cayman is a wonderful place to get certified(many great dive instructors) and the diving is hard to match. Most of the dive sites are either very short boat trips(5-15min)or directly from the shore---something that as you get more experienced, you'll come to appreciate(on many other islands the good dive destinations can be an hour or more boat trip). Then, when you are not doing world class diving, the Cayman Islands are one of the best vacation spots(7Mile Beach, Stingray City,etc) and it is very safe. All in all, for the novice diver, the Caymans are hard to beat. Good Luck !!

I would alos reccomend Cozumel. The diving there is world class with short boat rides and great instructor. If you are serious about getting into diving, take the PADI course at a local dive shop by you, and them take your certification dives where you eventually go. You will get much better instruction than on a resort certification and you will have a much better diving experience, Cozumel is also a great value if you are looking to keep your expenses down.

Paul

I also agree with PaulCR on Cozumel.
I have been to nearly all of the places suggested and would also recommend Cozumel for what you are requesting.

I DISAGREE---Cozumel is a fantastic diving destination AFTER you are somewhat experienced. Cozumel has strong currents, that I think for the very beginner can be trickey. And the boat rides are longer than at the Caymans. And not to mention, the language factor as far as instruction goes.

What language barrier, I thought Spanish is our second language? Anyway, Cozumel may be tricky at parts but I started diving there and have taken my kids and didn't find any problems. I never felt the "language " barrier was a problem but that's up to the poster to decide. Cozumel and Cayman are also on opposite ends of the price spectrum as well. Either way, I think the poster should still take the PADI couse locally wherever they decide to go.
Paul

Language barrier in Coz?
Most of the dive instructors speak better English (and many of the dive instructors are German, French and English) than some tourists.
Yes, there are some more challenging dive sites to be found, but that's true anywhere.
There is an abundance of shallow reef diving to be had, and easy shore diving perfect for checkouts or novice dives at several locations - more than enough to keep a new diver very happy and busy.