In which order should I plan a scuba diving holiday?

Question

Let me explain: there are at least 3 things to consider:

1. I want a decent dive company in the area I'm looking at (Gozo).

2. I want decent accommodation

3. I want to fly there cheaply.

It would be easy enough to book a package holiday or get the dive company to arrange everything, but I want to do it all myself to save money. Should I find the company first? Or the accommodation first? Or the flight? Or are they interrelated? Surely someone out there has been through this process...

Answer 1

i would look go in the order that you listed, if it's a diving vacation, you want to make sure that you are going with a reputable dive company, you'll be miserable if you make a poor choice with the dive company. after you find a good company, i would look at where to stay, because again you will not have a good time if you stay somewhere far away from the dive shop or that is just a miserable place to stay. after you get those two things figured out, start looking at the flights and find a cheap one that works with your schedule. the more flexible you can be with you schedule, the better your chances of saving money. in fact, if you're really ambitious and flexible, look into flights that are very popular, they tend to be oversold which opens the possibility of getting "bumped" on your flight. you can easily rack up free plane tickets, meal vouchers, and hotel rooms by volunteering to give up your seat on an oversold flight and taking the next one, which means your next vacation could be free (at least the airfare).

Answer 2

Do a bit of research first. Look up dive companies and hotels in the area you want to go to. Try using expedia to book it all as they do flights, hotels and excursions etc. If you want you could try your local travel agents too. I did this for a trip to komodo and it was cheaper than I could find on the net. Hope this helps a little.

Answer 3

#1 and #2 ought to be considered at the same time. It's no good getting accommodation that's too far from who you plan on chartering and it's no good chartering from a company that is takes too long to get to their departure point. Two routes to go here. Either ask the hotel who has a decent operation nearby or ask the charter operator if they'll do a pick up near your hotel.. Your chosen accommodation may after all, be on the dive boat's way to the dive sites you want to see.

Both #1 and #2 are going to determine how much fun you're going to have on your trip, so I'd give them equal consideration.

For me, flight costs aren't a huge consideration unless the difference is over 200 bucks. I'm willing to pay for convenience simply because I want to ENJOY my trip, not have extra hassles tossed in, like connection stops and the like.