For beginning, newly certified divers, planning your first dive vacation is beyond exciting. You went through a lot to learn diving theory and all the necessary skills to earn your certification. Depending on where you live, there’s a good chance your open water dives were cold with questionable visibility.
But, you made it and now it’s time to claim your prize by experiencing the thrill of diving in a warm, tropical location with underwater visibility for days and calm, bathtub-like conditions. It’s going to be fabulous!
However, for some, embarking on such a trip can also be intimidating. No one wants to be that diver—the clueless, out of control, pain in the **s, that no one wants to dive with, or that other divers talk about behind their back. In truth, most divers are a supportive lot, and good dive boat crews are always ready to help wherever necessary.
Just the same, the learning is barely getting started with your Open Water certification, and taking that first trip as a new diver involves a lot more than what you covered in your scuba class.
Scuba Diving Trips for Beginners
Scuba diving isn’t hard, but as with most activities, scuba divers see more and enjoy longer, safer dives as they gain experience. As helpful as other divers are, stepping off a dive boat for the first time as a beginning diver can be nerve-racking. There’s a lot to think about. Are you weighted properly? Will your ears clear? Can you keep up? Will you be an air hog? Will you get lost? Can you control your buoyancy?
As a diving instructor, I talk about dive trip planning and the best beginner scuba diving locations all the time. Almost always, there are students in my Open Water dive classes that had a trip planned before they even signed up.
The topic of dive travel comes up all the time. Naturally, beginning divers want to know what to expect on their first trip. Along the same lines, I’m often asked about the best destinations for beginning divers. Not surprisingly, the answer is “it depends…”
The Best Destinations for Beginning Divers
I have my favorites. For the most part any destination that has safe, pleasant conditions, short boat rides and lots to see in shallow water is perfect for beginning divers. However, that alone isn’t quite enough. Dive staff is everything. I’ve been on lots of dive boats that are termed, “cattle boats,” meaning they fill every seat and stick to a rigid schedule in order to maximize the number of paying divers they can deliver to and from the reef.
Cattle boats suck for newly certified divers (all divers, really). Crews are often burned out and don’t have the time to offer much individualized support. As a result, you’ll be left to sort out a lot of things on your own. The Florida Keys are famous for these types of dive operations. However, if you are going to the Florida Keys, I wholeheartedly recommend Key Largo Dive Center (https://keylargodivecenter.com/).
My Number One Destination for Beginning Divers: Riding Rock Resort
My far and away favorite vacation destination for beginning divers is Riding Rock Resort & Marina in San Salvador, Bahamas. You can read about Riding Rock elsewhere on this site. What makes Riding Rock great is not only the spectacular dive conditions and incredible marine life, but dive staff is amazing. They are supportive and accommodating in every way.
Also, San Salvador, Bahamas dive sites are diverse and close, so boat rides are short. Most dives there are wall dives, but the top of the walls are between 30 and 40 feet, so you can stay shallow and enjoy some amazing diving while you build your skills.
My Second Choice for Beginning Divers: Maui Pacific Divers
Next, I like Maui a lot as a beginning diver vacation choice. Maui enjoys year-round excellent conditions, amazing visibility and access to some incredible beginner-friendly dive sites. Some of these are accessible from shore. Mala Wharf is a well known example. I’ve dived there, both by boat and from shore. It’s amazing!
Shore access is a bit rocky, so for most beginners, I’d recommend doing Mala Wharf as a boat dive. And, for that, the best Maui boat diving operation is definitely Maui Pacific Divers (https://mauipacificdivers.com/). Captain Mikel and his partner, Maggie are the kindest, most considerate and accommodating boat crew I have ever been on the water with.
Add to that, their boat is fast and I am 90% certain they limit scuba trips to six divers. If you are traveling in a group, Maui Pacific Divers makes it easy to have their entire boat to yourselves. It makes for the perfect, custom, un-rushed beginner diving experience.
Other Great Vacation Options for Beginning Divers
There are so many great trip options for newly certified divers, it is impossible to list them. On top of that, as active as I am in dive travel, I’ve barely scratched the globe. So, by all means, use the comments to tell me about your favorites.
A few others I think are really good beginner diving options are Coco View Resort in Honduras, the Big Island of Hawaii, St. Croix USVI, Curaçao and Bonaire.
Coco View on Roatan and Buddy Dive in Bonaire are particularly cool because they both have a house reef where you can grab a tank and easily walk right into the water. It’s perfect for dialing in your buoyancy control and getting your weighting right. There is also lots to see, and both destinations are affordable.
The Best Scuba Diving Trip for a New Diver
The best trip for a new diver is the one you take. All of the options I’ve listed are perfect for newly certified divers, but there are thousands of places to dive all over the world, and possibly close to where you live. The best way to fall in love with diving is to dive. You took your Open Water course because you had a goal. Don’t let that enthusiasm fade by not diving.
If you are interested, I’m working with some other instructors to design a series of dive trips for new divers. These will be instructional in nature, but very fun and definitely a diving vacation. You’ll have an opportunity to master buoyancy control, trim, navigation and lots of other skills that will transform your diving.
At the end of the week, you’ll feel in control and understand how pros make diving look so easy. I’m aiming for April or May of 2025 for our first trip (most likely at Riding Rock). Email me if this sounds like something you’d like to explore: joe@joescuba.com
Happy diving!!