Different Dive Vacations with a Non-diver Companion

Vacations are the best time for diving. It allows you to set aside real life intrusions by the boss and the daily grind of work at home. You can head to your favorite dive destination and dive every day, maybe book a liveaboard and spend a week in a very remote location. However, at times, there may be others who you need to take into consideration when you plan your dive trip and that person might not share your passion for diving. In cases like this you will get a watered down version on your dream. Even then you have to balance your desires and those of the people with you.

Dive Vacation Tips

1. Consider a cruise. Before I started diving, cruises were my favorite vacation. They are fairly all inclusive packages on board. The cruise ships today are floating resorts most offering more than a single resort can. You have a number of places to eat each day all included in the price of the fare. Most cruise ships have specialty restaurants that might have an extra charge for an extra special dinner. There is entertainment each evening as well as a arrange of activities. Cruises have a mix of port calls and days at sea. Depending on the itinerary you choose the ship will make three or four ports of call. If you choose carefully, they can be places where you get your dives in. You will not get as many dives as a liveaboard, but you can still get your dives in. It is always good to arrive for your cruise at the departure port the day ahead of time. Most people fly into the area the day of the cruise so any flight delays could make you miss your cruise. If you are leaving from a port like Miami, flying in the day before greatly reduces that risk and gives the diver a chance for a couple of morning dives before departure. Using Miami as an example again, The local operators have morning departures that return around noon and an afternoon departure around 1PM. The cruise ships generally open check in around 1 but does not allow passengers to board until 2 in the afternoon. Passengers should be on board by 4 if departing at 5. One of my best “dive” vacations was two dives off Fort Lauderdale then departing for Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and a stop at a private island in the Bahamas before returning to Fort Lauderdale. In the week, I got in 9 dives (only 1 on the private island) and everyone had a great time.

2. Treat them to a Yacht experience. I know that chartering a yacht can run into the tens of thousands of dollars for a week. There are some options that you can plan that are much less. The Whitsundays portion of the Great Barrier Reef is know as some of the best sailing in the world. People can charter yachts either with or without crews, They can also just book a cabin. A couple of days on a luxury sailboat can be an exciting adventure visiting white sail beaches and snorkeling on pristine reefs. Often you can arrange to have scuba tanks delivered to the boat for your use during the trip. You can even arrange refills to be deliver to you at the yacht. If you are alone, then a dive boat can stop by and you can join them for a day of diving. In the Cairns portion of the Great Barrier Reef, there are a number of liveaboards. Some of these liveaboards are for a short duration, such as two nights. They travel out to the outer reefs which are not only great scuba diving sites, they are also outstanding snorkeling destinations. Many offer non-divers a free discover dive. These liveaboards are very comfortable with outstanding services. You could take a two night liveaboard, followed by a few days exploring the land based attractions and maybe adding another day or two of diving in the mix.

Hopefully these suggestions will open your mind on how you can balance a vacation with a non-diver.