13 replies to this topic

[uwfan]

It’s clear to me I’ve been bitten by the diving bug. It’s also clear that I DON’T want to have another 12 year surface interval.

But I only have so much time and money to go on scuba diving trips (and there's that little problem of being landlocked) – and my work schedule, that necessary item to have the money – only allows me to dive at the times of the year that are peak season. A tricky combination to navigate, making the dollars stretch the most when the trip options are those with the highest prices.

Right now I’m attempting to dive twice a year (school calendar year of course, as my salary changes with the new school year). One trip to Grenada in December and one trip (hopefully) to Bonaire in June. I’m juggling several things with the Grenada trip – how to handle the extra cost of a tricky flight path (extra days meaning extra hotel and meal costs) and even more tricky is getting back on time after the “winter break” is over.

I’d love to dive Cozy or another time on the Spree – but my schedule won’t allow it. Cozy at Halloween hits…well…on Halloween (can we say all hands on deck for the sugar high!) And the Spree dates…well end of May is end of school mayhem, and the August dates are the beginning of the school year - key times in my profession.

I know I’m not alone in this tricky quest for more compressed air (plain or enriched!) When your vacation schedule falls in limited time periods – for whatever reason, how do manage your limited vacation time (especially when extending even one day beyond the regular time will get you in hot water)?

[pmarie]

Hey uwfan, I dive year round in Florida. Maybe start some research and see if there are discounts to get to Fla and take advantage of the east coast here. Not necessarily the Keys because it is typically more expensive to travel there. In the Pompano area there are plenty of SDr's that you can meet up with and dive. The FLL airport is close and I might be wrong, please anyone jump in and add to this, but you could catch a shuttle and there are some places to stay where you can walk to dive ops and restaurants that appear to be reasonable.

[shadragon]

Talk to ScubaSki. He was just in FLL for a long weekend of diving. We met up when I came out of FLL and he had made several local dives in that area.

[Racer184]

My 2 psi worth from Florida ...............

Check out the airlines for specials. Some airlines will email you with special fares to the locations you select.
I was just looking to fly somewhere and saw a lot of specials for $89 round trip to a few cities (not where I wanted to go).

UPS or FedEx your dive gear to one of our local shops ahead of time (call them and ask first) so you don't have
to fly with it. And if you ship your gear to Florida that way, you could fly stand-by and save even more, while feeling secure that your dive gear will be here when you arrive.

Some hotels in this area are not too expensive if you look ahead of time. The rates don't skyrocket until mid-December. Plus, there are plenty of singledivers.com members around here that might help you out with extra couch space.

Other little $$ helping ideas are to arrange your own little group. Some boats have 4 for 3 specials.... you find 3 others that pre-book and one of the 4 is free.

Arrange an in-person job interview or two during the trip. Keep proof of the interview - a letter through the US mail from the prospective employer stating that all interviews must be in-person is great. Then the trip is tax deductible (not the diving, but the airfare and hotel cost). This won't help your out-of-pocket cashflow, but it will help on April 15th. The worst that can happen is that you save on your taxes, the best that can happen is you get a better job.

There is at least one boat in our area that goes out on Christmas day. Us single-singledivers love that. I had nothing else to do on Christmas so I went diving... and was surprise to find a nearly-full 26 diver boat.

Especially for diving in southeast Florida, you can choose your airport by the ticket price. There is lots of great diving near the West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami airports. So unless you have a specific dive site in mind, just keep watching the airfare specials, buy a round trip ticket when you find one you can afford, then choose your dive sites.

No matter what part of southeast Florida you choose, I am sure plenty of divers here on singledivers.com would be able to give you lots of advice for the best dive shops, boats, sites, captains etc depending on which airport you end up choosing.

Great dive sites are typically 15 to 25 minutes from the dock. So you could do two tanks in the morning, have lunch back at the marina and do 2 tanks in the afternoon, and two tanks night diving and still get a good 8 hours sleep.

Tell us 'locals' what you like... . small boats with 3 to 6 divers or the big ones that can handle 20-something. Spearfishing? Lobstering? Photography? Videography? Stingrays? Eels? wrecks? Reefs? We have it all here. Ocean temperature is still in the mid 80's right now, so for me the wetsuit stays in the closet.

Edited by Racer184, 05 October 2008 - 10:13 AM.

[scubagoddess]

Heidi, I can completely understand your frustration! Though my difficulty in diving more frequently has stemmed from different reasons than yours. You could just do what I am doing and MOVE to a great dive location like Southern Florida!!! As soon as my house sells and I find a job I'm so there I can hardly wait!! But if you can't move....you can come visit me once I get there and we will go diving together.

[georoc01]

I know the feeling. Keeping wet while living in Rockies is certainly challenging. And in my job, its quarter closes, budget times, and other things that restrict what weeks I can do trips.

I know we have a group on another board of local divers that try to get wet about once a month or every other month. The dives aren't that great, (like the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, NM), but they are planning a trip there over Thanksgiving weekend for example. That's driving distance, hotels are cheap and it just comes down to $5 air fills.

As far as Cozy goes, I try and take advantage of charters run by the local dive shops. They have one in November for $975 including air and another in January for $1200. Similar to the Halloween Single Divers trip. They also can arrange similar packages with certain reps. As will SingleDivers, work with their consolidators on trips during non group trips as well.

[Scubatooth]

Heidi

I know the feeling all to well. in 07 I was very lucky in my diving (due to finishing my paramedic, and not working full time yet) I managed to get in a 115 dives in that year as I was a DAN intern and had unlimited access to all the bottom time i could handle (could have gotten alot more if i wanted), and also had my arm lightly twisted to go on the Philippines trip. Well at the end of last year i started working fulltime as a paramedic doing critical care transports and being low man on the totem pole havent been able to take that much time off. So as a result this year I have gotten a total of 15 dives (10 of which where on the SD Flower Gardens Trip on the Spree). Unfortunately for this dive season i think that my ability to any more dives is limited as the season is winding down, and ,my work schedule isnt looking to change soon. So what am i doing

On the good side its looking like 2009 is going to be a better year as my ability to get a better shift (finally getting a 24 hour shift and working shifts in a 911 system(back up)), also because I didnt take very much time off this year and have been working alot of hours. Heck if i cant dive, i can atleast work extra hours to pay for all of the toys on the wish list and put money away for future trips. So this coming year My boss has already approved 1 week training course at DAN HQ, and 2 1 SD week trips for Bonaire and Dry Tortuga's, then a couple of other misc times off for either trade shows or workshops im going to be teaching next year. In addition once im on the new schedule i wont have to work every weekend again unless i want to .

[uwfan]

Thanks for all the Florida connections everyone! As I continue to look at my budget and time, I'll have to work on those Florida options. Not an option to MOVE to Florida ( not only would I have to recertify as a teacher/librarian in Florida - each state is different- and get a job, but I also have some family obligations that would need adjustments...won't happen right now). BUT...I'm all in for offers of space [Scubagoddess - I may just take you up on your offer!] And the couch space might be the ticket when it hits mid December skyrocket prices (which is exactly when one of my major opportunities for vacation falls).

I did manage to carry on all my luggage on my Dry Tortugas trip - tricky, but doable and it might make flying stand-by doable without FedEx and UPS. I'd need to rethink it a little though, could have used a couple of items that I didn't have.

The 4 for 3 might be an option - thanks for that info.

Can't say that I'd use the job interview option. One of the tricky things about the field of education is that unlike many fields, if you go for an interview somewhere else, they WILL call your current boss (i.e. principal) and while I might explain it to my principal...it might not sit well AT ALL. Might work for others though, so thanks for the tidbit.


Anyone else out there juggling their limited time? How are you doing it?

[uwfan]

I know the feeling. Keeping wet while living in Rockies is certainly challenging. And in my job, its quarter closes, budget times, and other things that restrict what weeks I can do trips.

I know we have a group on another board of local divers that try to get wet about once a month or every other month. The dives aren't that great, (like the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, NM), but they are planning a trip there over Thanksgiving weekend for example. That's driving distance, hotels are cheap and it just comes down to $5 air fills.

As far as Cozy goes, I try and take advantage of charters run by the local dive shops. They have one in November for $975 including air and another in January for $1200. Similar to the Halloween Single Divers trip. They also can arrange similar packages with certain reps. As will SingleDivers, work with their consolidators on trips during non group trips as well.

Thanks for the post George. I'm starting to think I may try to take advantage of the local diver group you mentioned. It would at least get me wet, if the water isn't too cold (my cert dives back when were COLD and I've yet to take up dry suit...although I just might have to give it a try).

I wish I could take advantage of November and January trips...unless they fall exactly on holidays I can't take advantage of them. Extending time past the given dates is HIGHLY frowned upon in my job. It's a challenge, but I'm determined to figure out just how much diving I can do in a year - in spite of the limitations.

Who else out there is diving high season...any thoughts on how to do it?

[scubaski]

don't you get some summer time weeks-months off?

[uwfan]

don't you get some summer time weeks-months off?

Not sure what you're asking...but--

Yes...and no. Contractually....I get about 3 weeks in June and 3-4 weeks in July, depending on how the district schedules the calendar...In Reality, to get that I have to screen my phone calls (my boss will call me in the summer vacation weeks) and profess to be in a foreign country (which I'm not) and refuse to assist with particular assignments that can carry over into the summer months--sometimes a dangerous mode of operation.

Did I manage two weeklong trips this past summer, yes. Did I screen my phone calls and pretend to be out of town for a couple weeks, yes. And this was my first year with this particular school--meaning it only gets more involved the longer I am at one school.

So to dive...I could take a trip or two during the summer months and not worry about when I get back, if I'm traveling high season and pay a premium. However, I find that often the best options for return flights or great SD trip opportunities land right when I'm required to be at work. That's a challenge for me, to sort out the "single" diver issue--do I visit Florida on a cheap flight and find cheap accomodations, do I budget for a big ticket trip and pay the premium, or are there other options out there I'm not seeing.

[ev780]

Also being from Colorado I feel the pain of being landlocked. I am lucky in that I have been with my current employer for 16 years thus have tons of vacation and I am paid well for my services. However I have found that my best deals have been in the Summer! Us snowbirds love to escape the winter so I find higher prices then.

I have done Cozumel in Auguist for under $1500 door to door. Cayman was a bargain in 2004 when I went as the off season started at the end of April. Some places where it's bloddy hot make deals in the summer.

YMMV {sfsf}

Fred

[scubaski]

I was on 2 SD.com trips this past June and again July. Belize & Cozumel . Belize was a last minute add on but CZM was posted for a long time. I thought both trips gave me a lot of bang for the buck, and diving in the summer in central america was nice. Being in Colorado I understand a mid winter warm weather destination may be nice. I'm sure some posting about trips will start soon after DEMA. Start a thread on where you'd like to dive on your winter or off work summer months, WW will take notice . I'd like to see something for'09 spring- summer to Baja Mexico as somebody has just posted. If you really need to get away during your winter breaks, just decide on your dive location and by your airfare early. I know if I wanted to travel to Aruba from Boston during the winter and I found a airfare of $400 that would be a instant buy on that internet site. I usually keep a chart of possible dive locations for spefic weeks that I've put in for vacation and usually check various airline search engines on Sunday and Wed late nites. I've run across a couple of airfare deals that way. Good luck. Stan

[georoc01]

Also being from Colorado I feel the pain of being landlocked. I am lucky in that I have been with my current employer for 16 years thus have tons of vacation and I am paid well for my services. However I have found that my best deals have been in the Summer! Us snowbirds love to escape the winter so I find higher prices then.

I have done Cozumel in Auguist for under $1500 door to door. Cayman was a bargain in 2004 when I went as the off season started at the end of April. Some places where it's bloddy hot make deals in the summer.

YMMV {sfsf}

Fred

I have been looking at January Cozy trips and can get a direct flight on Frontier Airlines Wed-Sunday trip for $450. There are deals for $500 that includes diving, hotel and meals. So there are options for under $1000 total.