Darren and Kim Dawson have been scuba diving since 1998. We have visited many Carribbean dive destinations including the Caymans, Bonaire, Belize, the Bahamas, Dominica, and the Bay Islands of Honduras (Roatan and Utila).
This web site provides an overview of the various destinations we have visited, along with links to trip reports, photos galleries, and slide shows from our trips.
We have not yet begun to explore the Pacific (except for one brief trip to Hawaii early in our diving days). We do hope to schedule some dive vacations to the Pacific in the next few years.
Kim has been taking underwater photos since we started diving. I started out with a Sea & Sea film camera (which met an untimely death in the deep blue), rental Nikon film cameras, followed by two housed Canon digital point & shoot cameras, and finally a housed Canon DSLR (the Canon 40D) with a variety of normal, macro and wide-angle lenses.
For some thoughts and tips on underwater photography for both digital point & shoot cameras and SLRs, see the Photography page.
Belize
Belize is one of our current favorite Caribbean scuba destinations. We have taken three trips to Belize, two live-aboards and one land-based vacation. The first trip was in December of 2000 after a hurricane had been through the area earlier in the fall. We were very disappointed with the diving and didn't return for 9 years. However, our two recent trips were outstanding, and we plan to return again in 2013. Our most recent trips were aboard the Hughes Wind Dancer live-aboard, which explored Lighthouse Reef, and a stay at Isla Marisol resort on Glover's Atoll. Both were good trips, but we thought the diving overall on Lighthouse was better than Glover's, and we really loved the Wind Dancer. This boat was in the Hughes Pacific fleet, so it is larger than many other Caribbean live-aboards. Glover's Atoll offered a great variety of macro life and fish as well as stunning coral and reef formations for wide angle photography.
2011 - Isla Marisol: Trip Report Slide Show Photo Gallery
2009 - Hughes boat: Trip Report Slide Show Photo Gallery
2000 - Nekton boat: Trip Report
Caymans
We have visited the Cayman Islands four times, with two trips to Little Cayman, one visit to the east end of Grand Cayman, and one trip aboard the Cayman Aggressor that went to all three of the islands. We like the diving in the Caymans, particularly Little Cayman. The most outstanding feature about the diving here is the visibility - it always feels like swimming in an aquarium because the water is so clear and the color is beautiful. The Bloody Bay area of Little Cayman has some spectacular dive sites, and the east of Grand Cayman has very interesting topography with lots of swim-throughs and canyons, though the seas on that end can be very rough. We have only done a few dives on Cayman Brac (from the Aggressor) so we can't really comment on the diving.
2009 - Little Cayman: Trip Report Slide Show Photo Gallery
2007 - Little Cayman: Trip Report Slide Show
2001 - Aggressor: Trip Report Slide Show
1999 - Grand Cayman: Trip Report
Bonaire
Bonaire is probably our all-around favorite dive destination for family vacations. We have made 7 trips there since 2003, 5 of them with our daughter (now 14 years old and certified) and one with our 7-year old son. Bonaire has plenty of kid-friendly restaurants and grocery items, and the apartment amenities are comparable to home in the US, making it a good choice for families.
The diving is very easy in Bonaire - you can rent a truck and shore dive on your own for the entire week. Dive sites all along the shore are marked with yellow stones imprinted with the dive site name. Get a copy of the "yellow book" at any dive shop for detailed descriptions of each dive site and tips on entering/exiting the sites. Bonaire is known mostly for macro critters and a large and abundant variety of fish life, but there are also sites on the south side with beautiful coral and sponge formations for wide-angle shots. To learn more about "all things Bonaire" - visit Bonaire Talk .
2011 - Sand Dollar: Trip Report Slide Show Photo Gallery
2011 - Bellevue: Trip Report Slide Show Photo Gallery
2008 - Den Leman: Trip Report Slide Show Photo Gallery
2007 - Den Leman: Trip Report Slide Show
2006 - Den Leman: Trip Report Slide Show
2004 - Belmar: Trip Report Slide Show
2003 - Belmar: Trip Report Slide Show (2003 Underwater)
2003 - Buddy Dive: Trip Report Slide Show (2003 Topside)
Roatan
Roatan is probably our favorite dive location. We have visited the island six times, and stayed at CocoView Resort five of those six times. It is currently the one location that we try to visit every year. CocoView has a loyal following of repeat guests, and for good reason. The dive operation at CocoView is the best all-around dive op that we have experienced in the Caribbean with spacious custom-built boats, a large well-designed gear storage area, and a great staff. We love the flexibility to do a combination of boat and shore diving. We especially enjoy doing night shore dives on the Prince Albert wreck; there is an unbelievable amount of unusual macro life there. The diving near CocoView around the middle of the island is good, but we also enjoy the diving on the eastern end of the island. We stayed at the Reef House Resort (further east) once, and we have done the 3-tank east end trip from CocoView. The sponge and coral formations there are breathtaking, making for great for wide-angle photography.
2011 - CocoView: Trip Report Slide Show Photo Gallery
2010 - CocoView: Trip Report Slide Show Photo Gallery
2010 - Reef House: Trip Report Slide Show Photo Gallery
2009 - CocoView: Trip Report Slide Show Photo Gallery
2008 - CocoView: Trip Report Slide Show Photo Gallery
2005 - CocoView: Trip Report Slide Show
Other Caribbean Destinations
In recent years we have tended to spend our dive vacations on Roatan, Bonaire, Little Cayman, and Belize. This is primarily because each of these locations is relatively easy for us to reach from the Atlanta or Charlotte airports and we enjoy certain features of the diving and/or the location. However, we have enjoyed visits to other locations, including Dominica, Grand Turk, Cozumel, and the Bahamas. Of all these other Caribbean locations we have visited, we enjoyed the diving in Dominica the most – the diving in Soufriere Bay on the south end of the island is spectacular. Unfortunately, the travel is just not feasible for us. We really liked the island of Grand Turk – the water there is absolutely gorgeous with varying shades of turquoise and blue, but we thought the diving there was just average. We dove the Bahamas from a live-aboard and had a good time with the group on the boat, but the diving was not on par with most Caribbean diving.
2006- Dominica: Trip Report Slide Show
2005 - Grand Turk: Trip Report Slide Show
2005 - Dominica: Trip Report Slide Show
2004 - Utila: Trip Report Slide Show
2002 - Cozumel: Trip Report (No photos)
2004 - Bahamas: Trip Report Slide Show (Incluldes Belize 2000 pix)
Travel & Dive Destination Information:
Travel
We are fortunate to live half-way between Atlanta and Charlotte as Atlanta is Delta's main gateway to the Caribbean and Charlotte is US Air's gateway. Travel in and out of Charlotte is pretty easy and we would definitely recommend flying through Charlotte if you need to connect to a Caribbean destination. Travel through the Atlanta airport can be relatively smooth or a real pain - there is only one terminal for international flights and it can get very backed up, especially on Saturday flights. Over the years we have flown through various Caribbean & Central American airports and our general preference is to avoid connections in those locations if at all possible (Antigua immediately comes to mind). Also, recent weight restrictions on both checked baggage and carry-ons on the small, inter-island planes has also weighed into our decisions when making travel plans - it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to take your own dive gear in checked luggage or heavy carry-on bags containing camera equipment.
Weather Info
Click here for a guide to average temps and rainfall for various Caribbean destinations.
Info on Caribbean dive destinations
Two of the most popular websites for Caribbean divers are ScubaBoard and Undercurrent . They contain posts from divers regarding all aspects of diving in various locations throughout the world.
Some popular locations have their own forums that are operated and moderated by divers who visit those destinations regularly. These include:
Below are links to information regarding Caribbean destinations posted by fellow divers (we believe this information to be accurate at the time of publication):
Links to websites of other divers that include information, trip reports, and slideshows:
General Photography Info:
I started experimenting with underwater photography in 1999 when film cameras were still in use. I first owned a Sea & Sea 35mm film camera with an external mount macro lens. At that time I did not do much topside photography, and it is obvious in my early photos. I would advise anyone who wants to shoot underwater photos to learn about general photographic principles such as composition and lighting in order to improve results. After losing my Sea & Sea on a night dive, I rented nice Nikonos film cameras on a couple of trips in the early 2000s before housing two different Canon point & shoot digital cameras. I finally broke down and housed my Canon 40D digital SLR camera in 2008 (Merry Christmas, Happy Valentine's Day, Happy Anniversary . . . ).
The first thing to realize about underwater photography is that it can be a very expensive hobby, particularly if you are considering housing your digiltal SLR camera and lenses. For example, a good strobe for a a housed digital SLR will cost you more than $500, and the entire housing system (strobes, housing, sync cables, ports, etc.) will end up costing in the range of $3,000-$5,000, and that is not including the camera and lenses. If you are willing to make this investment, you can use a variety of lenses, from macro to fish-eye, and achieve outstanding photographs. However, you can obtain very good results from a housed digital point & shoot camera on a much more economical basis (my point & shoot set-up, including camera, cost around $1,000), particularly if you add external mount macro and wide-angle lenses. You can certainly see a difference between the two systems (as one would expect), but you can definitely get decent photos from a point & shoot camera system if that fits your budget and interest. See more details regarding both set-ups by following the links on the left.
For a comparison of photos taken with these two camera systems, scroll through the photo galleries below. You can probably get better results from point & shoot camera models available today, but this will give you a sense of the difference. Each set includes macro, fish, and wide angle shots for comparison. Scroll through each set by clicking on the next photo in the stack at the top; click on the main photo to view it in full-screen mode to see details.
DIGITAL SLR (CANON 40D) POINT & SHOOT (CANON A40 & A540)
Digital SLR: Click here for sample photos from different lenses
I currently shoot with a housed digital SLR: my Canon 40D. I have an Ikelilte housing (not the most expensive or best housing on the market, but a good value for the money) and two Inon strobes. I use Canon 60mm and 100mm macro lenses and a Tokina 10-17mm fisheye lens. The 100mm macro and the fish-eye lens are relatively recent additions; prior to the Tokina lens I used a Canon 10-22mm lens for wide angle shots.. The main issue I have had with the Ikelite housing is the cheap plastic gear system for zoom lenses - it just doesn't work reliably so I don't use it. Also, I have to set the strobe output level manually since I am not using Ikelite strobes.
I purchased my underwater housing set-up from Backscatter in California since I don’t have access to a local dive shop with expertise in underwater photo equipment. I did some research on the various options on-line, then I worked with Russ at Backscatter and told him what camera and lenses I had, and what brand of housing, strobes, and strobe arms I wanted to purchase. He gave me good advice and set the system up for me. I have found them to be VERY helpful during and after the purchase and would definitely recommend them. I chose the Inon Z-240 strobes because they are compact and well-made, and they use AA batteries. They are expensive, but good. I use Ultra-Lite strobe arms because they are light-weight and flexible (which means I can go from macro to wide angle shooting without changing the arms).
General Tips:
*Canon 60mm and 100 mm: ISO 100, F 4.5-8.0 for fish & large subjects; F 11-16 for macro
shots, 1/120 - 1/200 sec
*Tokina 10-17mm: ISO 250, F 8.0 (change as necessary depending on light); 10mm,
1/90-1/120 sec, set on 10mm
Lenses:
