2014: TIME TO THINK ABOUT WHERE TO GO!!!

The diving reviews from GROUPS are not that hot for the price to get there. Individuals do ok and one day we may go there but the lionfish are even more out of control there and they do not have aggressive programs to erradicate them like Dominica has and sadly the ones that Dominica has came from St Lucia. On a scale of 1 to 10...Dominica is a 10 and St Lucia is a 3 and the latter is more money.

However if you really want to go there I am happy to set up a trip for you. I just won't run a trip there until I get tired of Dominica.... you need to see Dominica first and then you'll understand what I am talking about.

Your refund went out and you should have gotten an email. Please send an email to accounting@singledivers.com and she will advise you when it was processed. If she has not processed it then I'll have to see who signed for it...I did not as I was traveling. Keep me posted...and I did not get your other email or I would have replied to it. Sorry... />

And yes Mike's friend/family member would sign up on the site and register just like you do. But by then it will be 1000% easier as I hope to have a new booking system right after the new year.. ssssh...but don't tell anyone!

After watching this Video .I would head over to Utilia.
Very moving video about 2 people that "made" the Island into what it is today.Shows the sinkig of the Hillburton 211 . I would definitely want to check this out..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPJ8-KqPnUo

Edited by Greg@ihpil, 13 January 2013 - 04:28 PM.

Greg I have great relationships in Utila so can book you an amazing vacation. Several events have happened to make it harder to run a group there.

1. "Half the adventure is getting there" is a common saying for Utila. What that meant for OUR group that went a years back is only 3 people of over 20 got there the day they were supposed to get there. And all luggage finally arrived up to 4 days later.

2. A local icon who ran the Roatan to Utilia catamaran ferry was murdered a few months ago. Violence has been on the uptick so not sure how that will all settle out.

Unless we had a ton of people want to do this trip...due to the limitations above I am hesitant to offer it. After all I get blamed when I set up a trip and things do not go well like people and their things arriving when they are supposed to arrive even if I did not book their tickets. So I'd go back as long as people were aware of the problems we encountered the last time.

Also most people say the diving in Roatan is better...the big draw for Utila is the whalesharks IF you can see them. Holbox is a better bet for whalesharks and 2014 is the on year for that trip!

IMPORTANT MEMBER UNDERSTANDING:

We REALLY do want you to make requests for place to go. If you have done some legwork and know its a great destination we love when you share that with us. If we share our thoughts based upon what others have told us or our own experiences DO NOT TAKE THAT TO MEAN THAT WE WON'T GO THERE. It simply means we've offered an alternate experience base to consider.

Bottom line is that EVERY place will have positive and negative reviews and experiences. SingleDivers.com will go ANYWHERE for the most part that people want to go. Just tell us and we'll go even if we've had a bad experience before AS LONG AS THERE ARE ENOUGH PEOPLE WHO WANT TO GO...WE WILL GO!!! We are a member driven group so honor the wishes of our members.

I just returned from a wonderful trip on the palau siren.the comfort,space,and service on the ship was outstanding.blue corner,German channel,ulong channel lived up to the hype.highly recommend.now I need to do truk.

Thank you Kathy...that is great news! We will have our first Siren experience in a few weeks! kamala

K Thank you ,I had forgotten about the murder ...Enough said....next page..

Greg I have great relationships in Utila so can book you an amazing vacation. Several events have happened to make it harder to run a group there.

1. "Half the adventure is getting there" is a common saying for Utila. What that meant for OUR group that went a years back is only 3 people of over 20 got there the day they were supposed to get there. And all luggage finally arrived up to 4 days later.

2. A local icon who ran the Roatan to Utilia catamaran ferry was murdered a few months ago. Violence has been on the uptick so not sure how that will all settle out.

Unless we had a ton of people want to do this trip...due to the limitations above I am hesitant to offer it. After all I get blamed when I set up a trip and things do not go well like people and their things arriving when they are supposed to arrive even if I did not book their tickets. So I'd go back as long as people were aware of the problems we encountered the last time.

Also most people say the diving in Roatan is better...the big draw for Utila is the whalesharks IF you can see them. Holbox is a better bet for whalesharks and 2014 is the on year for that trip!

What would you think about another:
a) Grenada/Grenadines trip?
B) Puerto Rico/Mona Island? Has another LA operator picked up where Nekton left off?
C) Belize - Glover's Reef or Gladden Spit for whalesharks?

Kamala,

Has singledivers.com ever looked into diving in the Red Sea? I keep hearing about it as a great dive location that seems more popular with the UK than US.

I don't have any specific information but seems like it would be an interesting area to also explore.

Ooh, I'll second the Belize and Red Sea suggestions and put here what I just probably put in the wrong/old thread.... Great Barrier Reef liveaboard.

Kamala,

Has singledivers.com ever looked into diving in the Red Sea? I keep hearing about it as a great dive location that seems more popular with the UK than US.

I don't have any specific information but seems like it would be an interesting area to also explore.

SD did the Red Sea in 2010 here's the trip thread and photo gallery that will give you an idea of the previous trip.

For some odd reason when I search "Red Sea" I get nothing returned in the forum search so dug around until I found it in the TRIPS, TRAVEL AND ACTIVITIES! > Upcoming SD GROUP Trips! > Trips you missed! > Last Year's Details...Trips & Activities! > 2010 forum.

RED SEA:
We've done the Red Sea twice...and it was amazing! I could do it again once the politics are more favorable.

GRENADA & GRENADINES:

We've not been there in a number of years. We could consider doing this again if we had enough people interested.

MONA:

No one has picked up the itinerary full time. One vessel will sometimes offer it but while they like most singledivers.com members...they don't particularly care for me. So while I can accept all the risk to fill a boat...I'm not welcome...at least not as of March last year. I'll see them at BTS so can check again to see if they will allow me to run AND join the trip and if they are still doing Mona.

BELIZE FOR WHALESHARKS:

Whalesharks are NEVER gauranteed except for on our Best of Mexico trip. That trip will be high on the consideration list for 2014 as we usually alternate it every two years. We can certainly try to see them in Belize and I need to some legwork on when the best time to go is etc. The window is fairly short for whalehark season and fills fairly fast. Glover's reef is beautiful though so if we have lots of people interested then I'm game.

GREAT BARRIER REEF:

Most remaining boats that are not backpacking camping at sea options hold 24-36 pax. That is a lot of divers and usually more than most people want to be on one boat with. When we went we used a boat that only held 16 pax and it was great. Sadly they sold the boat and all remaining options require a lot of people to be on them. However if we had 24 people interested I would consider it. I can always book you and few peeps to the Great Barrier reef privately... just let us know.

Kamala,

Has singledivers.com ever looked into diving in the Red Sea? I keep hearing about it as a great dive location that seems more popular with the UK than US.

I don't have any specific information but seems like it would be an interesting area to also explore.

SD did the Red Sea in 2010 here's the trip thread and photo gallery that will give you an idea of the previous trip.

For some odd reason when I search "Red Sea" I get nothing returned in the forum search so dug around until I found it in the TRIPS, TRAVEL AND ACTIVITIES! > Upcoming SD GROUP Trips! > Trips you missed! > Last Year's Details...Trips & Activities! > 2010 forum.

Thanks for the link Cajun Diver. That trip looks pretty amazing.

RED SEA:
We've done the Red Sea twice...and it was amazing! I could do it again once the politics are more favorable.

GRENADA & GRENADINES:

We've not been there in a number of years. We could consider doing this again if we had enough people interested.

MONA:

No one has picked up the itinerary full time. One vessel will sometimes offer it but while they like most singledivers.com members...they don't particularly care for me. So while I can accept all the risk to fill a boat...I'm not welcome...at least not as of March last year. I'll see them at BTS so can check again to see if they will allow me to run AND join the trip and if they are still doing Mona.

BELIZE FOR WHALESHARKS:

Whalesharks are NEVER gauranteed except for on our Best of Mexico trip. That trip will be high on the consideration list for 2014 as we usually alternate it every two years. We can certainly try to see them in Belize and I need to some legwork on when the best time to go is etc. The window is fairly short for whalehark season and fills fairly fast. Glover's reef is beautiful though so if we have lots of people interested then I'm game.

GREAT BARRIER REEF:

Most remaining boats that are not backpacking camping at sea options hold 24-36 pax. That is a lot of divers and usually more than most people want to be on one boat with. When we went we used a boat that only held 16 pax and it was great. Sadly they sold the boat and all remaining options require a lot of people to be on them. However if we had 24 people interested I would consider it. I can always book you and few peeps to the Great Barrier reef privately... just let us know.

Kamala,

That Red Sea trip looks nice. Hopefully things in that area will change and we can again travel in that area. What about looking into traveling to places like Oman or other areas that are not in as bad of shape politically?

Interested in Grenada/Grenadines. Still never made it to Belize, so, that one's got to get checked off one of these days...

Whalesharks cool!