Send me somewhere warm

Ok, I want to go somewhere warm and I’ve been poring over the travel brochures. I’m not a great traveller and I’ll be travelling alone, so I’m thinking I want an all-inclusive resort situation. I’m particularly thinking of the Mayan Riviera/Cozumel area, although the islands are also acceptable (St. Martin’s, I’m thinking of you.) So I need advice from people who have been and done. What’s a good choice for a middle-aged (46, and how the heck did that happen?) year old single guy who wants to get recertified in diving and do some exploring? Are the Club Med type resorts a good idea or are they tacky? Is Cancun still a good destination or is it old and busted?

If you’re looking to do some great diving, and can afford leaving The Americas, you should try the Read Sea - either Eilat (Israel) or Shar’m-el-Sheikh (Sinai, Egypt).
Eilat probably has the advantage of being more Westernized. OTOH, you may have an objection to visiting Israel and Eygpt is probably quite a bit less expensive…

Dani

Some carribean recommendations. I’m a diver, so I’ve visited these places with diving as the primary concern. Not sure what you mean by “exploring”, but I can tell you what I know.

Cozumel. Great place with ample resources to get re-certified. I would not recommend it for a first dive trip, but since you’ve been certified in the past you should be fine. World class diving with current (drift diving) and big walls. For exploring you can take an excursion over to the Yucatan and visit places like Chitzen Itza or Tulum. Or if you’re feeling pretty good about your diving, you could also dive a “cenote” (fresh water cavern - and no, you don’t need any special certification to dive one). Diving a cenote is an amazing experience.
There are also some neat ruins at San Gervasio on the island itself (pretty humid once you get away from the coast, though).
The downside is that Coz has become this major cruise ship destination (still not sure why, since they pop over to Cancun as well). So the feel of the town, in particular, has shifted from “sleepy diving town” to “big business, cruise ship passenger town”. At least this is true of the main drag. And on some days, the place will be crawling with cruise ship people. If you stay at the resort, you won’t notice them much. But you will see the city-blocks-that-float in the channel every day.

Belize. A bit less flexible in terms of combining diving with “exploring”, but again offers both. The (good) diving is off the atolls off the coast. A bit of a boat ride so you would want to spend a couple nights out there. On the mainland there are a number of rainforest, eco-tour places to stay. And they have their share of ruins to visit as well. Some of the dive sites have some current (not as strong as in Coz), but a number of them are pretty calm as well.

Bonaire. For more of a diving trip, I’d recommend Bonaire. Of all the places I’ve been to in the carribean, Bonaire has the easiest, most relaxing diving. Most of the sites have very little current. And there is a lot to see in even the shallower depths (30’ or less). So you end up with these really long dives. Not much in the way of “exploring” on the island. But there are some cool things like flamingos, wild parrots, and wild burros to see on the island.

I would normally recommend the Caymans for diving as well. But Grand Cayman got nailed pretty hard by hurricane Ivan last year. I think Little Cayman and Cayman Brac fared pretty well. But you would need to fly through Grand Cayman to get to them, and that might be a bit of a pain. Again, these places are more for diving than “exploring”.

For less diving and more exploring, you might consider Costa Rica. Cool volcanos and rainforests to visit. There’s also white-water rafting (warm water, too), and some nice beaches. The diving is somewhat limited (unless you want to do the hardcore Cocos island trip), so you wouldn’t want to plan on much diving. Since there isn’t as much diving from the coast, there aren’t as many dive operations to be able to help with the re-certification. But if you dug around a bit I’m sure you could find someone.

That should get you started.

mayan riviera is absolutely gorgeous … also Huatulco is good - not yet overly popular so lots of new dive areas … believe site is hurrican divers in Huatulco, Mexico…all inclusive is good there - flights are expensive and for a little more you can get all inclusive service.

My all inclusive experience: Barcelo Maya - excellent service, good location, local buses, been there twice

Barcelo Huatulco - excellent hotel as well…

Oh, go to hell!

[someone had to say it!]

Well, I wouldn’t be averse to encountering romance (or a reasonable facsimile) on this trip, but that would require hell freezing over.

Well, I was in Melbourne yesterday and it was 37º. Is that hot enough for you? It certainly was for me. :slight_smile: