Tag: Budget travel

Travel Buddy

by patienceowenby3380

Today we’ll be talking all about travel partners – why they’re important, how to pick one, and how to keep them! This comes at an important time for me, as myself and my travel buddy book our next trip, and recover from our last one!

What is a Travel buddy?

A travel buddy is somebody that you go on the majority of your trips with. People will define this as different things, but I define it as somebody you go on 50% or more of your trips with. This isn’t to say that you aren’t able to travel with other people, but a travel buddy is someone you feel comfortable enough with to go on the majority of your adventures with.

Why have a travel buddy?

There are numerous reasons why having a travel buddy is advantageous over traveling alone or even just traveling with other, random people. Safety, comfort, and finances are all big factors in determining whether or not to have a travel buddy.

The first aspect to consider in travel buddy perks, is finances. The biggest perk is in hotels. Often the cheapest hotel rooms are two queen beds, and if you are willing to share a room with your travel buddy you can split your hotel costs in half. Seeing as hotel costs are one of the largest costs to consider when traveling, this is a huge perk. Often, you can get discounts on excursions when you buy two or more tickets, and when you purchase private tours, the cost can also be halved.

Comfort is another thing to consider when you are deciding whether or not having a travel buddy is worthwhile. When you are traveling the world, it can be nice to have someone to experience things with. Also, it can get quite lonely to be by yourself in a foreign place with no one to talk to. It can be difficult to explain to family and friends how traveling has impacted you, and it is comforting to have someone who can relate to those experiences. This can be even better when it’s a travel buddy versus a random person, because you will be comfortable with someone you are used to traveling with.

However, the most important thing to consider is safety. Having a partner that is experienced with traveling can be a great benefit when trying to navigate transportation systems, cities, and airports. This helps you not to get lost. Travel problems, such as airplane delays, theft, or scams are almost guaranteed to happen at some point if you travel enough. Having someone to back you up and bounce ideas off of while traveling can be very helpful in keeping you safe. It is also true that people are less likely to take advantage of you if you aren’t alone.

None of this is to say that you cannot travel solo, or with different people. There are some perks to traveling by yourself. If you are looking to travel solo, and you are a female, I highly recommend joining the Facebook page “The solo female travelers”. But I recommend being more experienced, and you definitely have to be more conscious than when you travel with a buddy.

How to select a travel buddy

Deciding who to travel with can be a pretty difficult, and such a big decision shouldn’t be taken lightly. A travel buddy is more than, and different than, a good friend. You don’t need to be best friends with the person you choose to be your travel buddies with, and your best friends won’t necessarily be good travel buddies. There are numerous aspects to look at when deciding who to explore the world with.

Should my significant other be my travel buddy?

As someone with a long term significant other, a lot of people ask me why my travel buddy isn’t my boyfriend. They think its weird that it wouldn’t be the natural assumption for me to want to travel with my boyfriend. However, early on my boyfriend and I discussed our travel desires and interests, and decided that he wouldn’t enjoy traveling to many of the places that I wanted to go. He wasn’t as comfortable as I was with the idea of getting out of our comfort zones and exploring foreign areas. So, although we do travel together, I have a different travel buddy. People assume that this means we just don’t enjoy being around each other, or that for some reason we love each other less than if we did travel together, but that simply isn’t true.

Just because you have a significant other does not mean they need to be your travel partner, and just because they aren’t your travel partner doesn’t mean you don’t love each other. You should base your travel partner on the following criteria, not on whether or not you are dating. If you work well traveling together, then that is perfect. A lot of couples do so successfully and have a wonderful time traveling the world together. However, do not be disappointed if this isn’t what works for your relationship. Hopefully, your significant other is trusting and understanding enough to allow you to travel without them.

Travel Expecations

One of the biggest things to look at when deciding whether or not be travel buddies with someone, is your travel expectations, and whether or not they match with your prospective travel buddy. How often do you want to travel each year? What regions of the world do you want to travel to? What types of activities do you want to do while traveling? What type of traveler do you want to be? Are you more interested in hiking and kayaking for instance, or do you want to visit museums and see beautiful pieces of architecture?

To work well while traveling together, you need to have similar traveling expectations. This should be something you discuss with your travel partner before you ever head out.

Athletic Ability

Something else to think about is your athletic ability. A lot of travel is exercise, and to make sure one isn’t holding the other back, make sure you have similar athletic ability. My travel partner and i hiked 30 miles in one week – if one of us was considerably slower than the other, or didn’t like to exercise that much, this could have led to a serious point of friction, and caused us not to see as much as we wanted to. After several weeks of adventure, its possible that your feet will hurt, your muscles will be sore, and you will be tired. After all of this, small differences in athletic ability will be very noticeable. Although being of different athletic ability shouldn’t entirely stop you from traveling together, its a point of consideration when you are choosing someone to travel the world with.

Financial situation

A tough discussion, but a necessary one nonetheless, is the financial situation of both people. Regardless of where or how you travel, traveling is expensive. If you are going to travel with someone, you have to determine how much each of you are willing to spend each year on travel. Be reasonable with each other, and select a reasonable amount to save up each year. If your financial situations are vastly different, it may be difficult to travel together – one of you will either need to travel less, or finance travel for the other person. This can lead to some resentment.

If your financial situations are not similar enough, this doesn’t mean you guys can’t travel together. But it may mean that the person with a more flexible financial situation travels with different people for part of the time as well, so that neither person is limited.

Time commitments

We all have lives that limit how often we can travel, and when we can travel. If one travel partner can only travel in summer, while the other travels only in fall, it can be difficult to find time to travel together. Another issue can be, if one person can only travel for a week a year, but the other can travel for half the year. This difference in expectations and needs can lead to friction while traveling, which is never good. Unfortunately, if your time allowances have no overlap, it may be difficult to travel together, however if it is just an issue of the amount of time, this does not mean you can’t travel together. As with finances, maybe one person just travels without the other for a portion of time.

Personalities

This is where friendship comes into play. Obviously, if you can’t get along with your travel buddy while you aren’t travelling, then it will be difficult to travel together. Although you dont need to be best friends, you do need to be able to get along well and socialize together. Traveling is often stressful and tiring, so being able to get along while you are tired and irritable is essential while traveling.

You don’t need to have similar personalities necessarily, but you need compatible personalities. And personality needs differ when you travel together. If one person isn’t a good planner, it may be necessary for the other person to pick up the slack. Maybe one person is good at navigating travel and flights, while the other is better at picking the perfect hotel. This is all something to think about when choosing the perfect travel buddy. Think about the flaws in your own travel style and find someone that compliments that well.

Maintaining a good travel buddy relationship

As I’ve said before, traveling is stressful! You don’t want that to lead to misery and hate between you and your travel buddy halfway through the trip, especially if you two are also friends at home. So, having a good plan to deal with this stress before leaving is very important.

“The Talk”

Everyone’s least favorite sentence in the world is “We need to talk.” But, with your travel buddy, it is necessary to say those four little words. It is important to talk about each other’s expectations BEFORE leaving for your trip. Not only your expectations for each other, but the trip overall. You should have this talk each time you leave for a new trip to refresh each person on the goals and expectations while you’re away.

Personal space

Regardless of how much you like someone, eventually you can get sick of them if you’re around them for too long. This can be an issue on longer or more stressful trips, where you are with your travel buddy every hour of every day for weeks on end. It is inevitable that at some point you may just need a break from each other. You need to have a way to tell your travel buddy to “F off” politely without hurting their feelings, letting them know that it’s nothing personal, you just need to get the heck away from them for a bit! So, it’s important to talk about this before leaving, during “The Talk”. My travel partner and I decided that if one of us says to the other “I just need some me time”, we have to give them 30 minutes of time where they can get away from us, with no hard feelings. But that’s just what works for us, you and your travel partner need to decide what works for you!

Fighting Negativity

It’s inevitable that you will get cranky at some point while traveling (At least, it is for me. Maybe some of you are better people haha). So it’s important to have a gentle way to tell your travel partner “Hey, you’re being a b*tch. Calm down.” For my travel buddy and I, we decided on the phrase “Stay positive!” I didn’t think we would need to use it, but after I lost my credit card in the only state in the US that didn’t host my bank, my travel buddy said it to me a few times. Sometimes bad things happen while you’re traveling, and it’s good to be able to be supportive of each other and be able to help each other. This is part of how my travel buddy and I do that, and I hope it works for you as well.

honesty

A big part of “The Talk” is just opening an honest pathway of communication between travel buddies. If you can’t be honest with each other, things will fester and before you know it, you’ll hate each other. Make it clear that you can tell each other anything that’s bothering you, without the other person taking it personally. If you’re doing something that bothers your travel buddy, they should be able to tell you without it hurting your feelings. Because it’s better for them to tell you upfront than for them to hold it in and hate you for it.

expectations

The one thing that is important to discuss prior to every single trip is the goal of each trip. What are you trying to accomplish? What’s the plan? What type of trip do you want to have? Small things like how active you want to be, how steadfast the plan needs to be, how late you want to sleep in each day, and how much you want to spend on food don’t seem like a big deal, but end up being what makes or breaks a trip and a friendship. One big clarification that my travel buddy and I made was that if one of us wanted to “leave the trail” to go see or experience something, we would change the plans to fit it in. Another thing we determine before each trip, is how many times each person is allowed to change or cancel a plan because they feel uncomfortable or want to do something else, regardless of the feelings of the other person. For instance, in Barcelona we each had 3 “get out of jail free” cards, that we could use to cancel any plan during the week for any reason. This is what worked for us, but it may or may not be what works for you. Just make sure to iron out all the details before you get there!

I hope you all found this information helpful! Until next time, live free my fellow travel bugs!

Grand Cayman

by patienceowenby3380

General Information

  • Native language: English
  • Currency: CI Dollar
  • Region: Caribbean
  • Climate: tropical
  • Country: British Territory
  • P safety rating (Out of 10): 10

Geography and climate

The Cayman islands can be found directly west of Jamaica and south of Cuba, smack dab in the middle of the Caribbean. Its about a two hour flight from the southern region of the United States.

When you step off of the plane, it is likely that you will be hit with a tropical heat wave, the kind that warms your cheeks and makes you immediately start to sweat. We headed for the Caymans in December, which is technically their winter time, but temperatures were an average of 85 degrees fahrenheit (29 degrees celsius). There were sporadic tropic storms, with warm rains and windy conditions during our stay. But for the most part, it was warm and sunny – enough to tan your cheeks.

What to Pack

I stayed for a week in the caymans, and here is all that I packed:

Clothes:

  • One Pajama set
  • Two pairs of shorts
    • Its very warm in the Caymans, even when it is raining. Its good to have cooler clothes.
  • One pair of jeans
    • I always bring one pair of jeans when I travel, just as a form of insurance. A “Just in case”. If it gets cold or you’re wandering about at night or in early morning, its good to have a pair of longer pants. Happy to report i did not need to wear them on this trip however.
  • Four tank tops
    • I actually probably could have gotten away with only two or three tank tops on this trip, but I always overpack.
  • One T-shirt
    • I always bring something with sleeves for the inevitable time in the trip where my shoulders get burned. Came in handy!
  • undergarments/socks
  • Two swimsuits
    • I always bring more than one swimsuit, that way I can trade off and always have a dry one. You’ll need multiple swimsuits for this trip!
  • Two pairs of sandals
    • I always bring one comfortable pair to walk around in during the day, and more “glam” ones to wear for a formal evening.
  • One pair of tennis shoes
    • I love to do hikes and adventures on my trips, so a pair of quality, comfortable tennis shoes is required for all trips. If you plan on hiking the mastic trail or the crystal caves these will be a need!
  • One pair of exercise pants
    • I always bring exercise pants for the same reason I bring tennis shoes. But they are also awesome to wear on planes, and you wont need to immediately change once you get off the plane.
  • One dress for formal evenings
    • We tend to do one nice dinner out during our travels, so I always bring one nicer outfit for the evenings and nice dinners.
  • Windbreaker
    • I packed this as an insurance piece, just in case it got cold or wet, and I was very happy with the choice. Sporadic rainfall does occur in the Caymans, and its nice to have a light waterproof jacket.
  • Rash Guard
    • I packed this namely for diving and snorkeling, and I was glad I brought it. A rash guard is perfect for diving here, since the water is so warm. Some people wore a 3 mm wetsuit, but I honestly did not see the need.

Other:

  • GoPro with all attachments
    • If you are serious about travel, a go pro is a great investment. I have an older version that works great.
  • Underwater Camera
    • We have a great Olympic brand underwater camera that we take on all of our tropical travels. It works great for snorkeling (though doesn’t work deep enough for diving). You will see some of the photos in this blog!
  • Drone (that I forgot to use, my bad)
    • A drone is another great investment if you are serious about traveling. It is an awesome way to get scenic views of the area you are visiting.
  • waterproof bag
    • If you are a water bug like me, a waterproof bag is a great investment (they don’t cost all that much). They work well to keep clothes and electronics dry for boating, kayaking, paddle boarding, and the like.
  • Passport/ID (Don’t forget!)
  • Diving/Snorkeling Gear
    • As someone who does a LOT of snorkeling and diving on my trips, it made sense for me to invest in my own gear. If you do snorkel and dive a lot, I recommend investing in your own gear as well, as it saves you money in the long run. However, if you just want to go out for a day I will talk about different rental options.
  • Health and Beauty Products
  • Sunscreen
    • As a fair lady myself, I need sunscreen for me not to burn. Its important to protect your skin – not only for the longterm effects and cancer prevention, but to not ruin your vacation as well. The best way to ruin your vacation is by having a horrid sun burn.
  • Bug spray
    • For some reason, bugs adore me. Im not quite sure if its my blood type or rum consumption while on vacation, but they just can’t seem to leave me alone. For this reason I have learned to bring bug spray with me on all trips. Its a good idea to have some on all tropical vacations regardless.

Where to Stay

We stayed in a cute little hotel near Bodden town called Turtle Nest inn. It was right on the beach, quite affordable, and came with a small car rental included. They also had a grill, and a lot of water sport rentals (Kayaks, paddle boards, the like). Though my bed was not comfortable, I would stay there again due to location and amenities. Though next time I may bring a mattress pad or a blow up mattress. They also have some of the best offshore snorkeling I saw on the island (though you have to snorkel past some foggier water with seaweed to get there). If you do happen to stay here, veer towards the right when snorkeling and you will end up on an amazing, massive coral reef.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

There are different regions of Grand Cayman, all with their unique flavor. Bodden town was a quiet town with a grocery store and a few smaller restaurants. Though it wasn’t particularly special, we chose to stay here due to location. It is about a 30 minute drive maximum to any point on the island from Bodden town, which made exploring the unique regions of Grand Cayman easier.

Seven Mile Beach is considered the busier part of Grand Cayman, and this is true. However, this “busy” is very mild in my opinion, being about as busy as any medium sized large town would be. Contrary to what you may hear, seven mile does not host the cruise ships and cruise passengers. The majority of the people you will meet in Seven Mile are vacationers or residents. The water here is phenomenal as well, being gorgeously crystal clear. However, it did not appear as though the snorkeling here was that great, with more sandy beaches than reefs. The majority of high end restaurants you will see are in Seven Mile, and the higher end resorts and hotels are mostly located here as well. All in all, a great place to relax, swim, and drink. But for my group it was out of our price range as far as lodging went.

George Town is also a fairly large town. It is a little less busy and more organized compared to Seven Mile beach. This is also where the airport is located, so a good home base location for those who like that. However, the cruise ship port is also in this area, and we did our best to avoid that area entirely. It was crowded and dirty compared to the other regions of georgetown, with peddlers trying to sell their wares to the people getting off the ships (Something you won’t see in any other part of Grand Cayman).

Camana Bay was clearly the playground for the wealthy. The clean, polished streets were lined with fancy boutiques, restaurants, and bars that you couldn’t hope to walk into without spending $200 USD. The buildings were all very new and clean, and sidewalks were lined with perfectly trimmed foliage. There is also a man made island in the center of the bay with hammocks and benches, perfect for a relaxing afternoon. If you have the money, this would be a phenomenal place to stay. However, if you’re traveling on a budget as I am, it may be a better afternoon getaway.

Rum point was an exciting region of the island. With calm waters, sandy beaches, great snorkeling, and fun bars, I felt right at home. This was the other region of Grand Cayman that did have some affordable options for hotels and condos. A little more quiet, reserved, and cultural than Seven Mile Beach or George Town, this is a great spot for those who don’t need to be surrounded by fancy restaurants or huge resorts.

The East End was the last region of the island we visited. It is very isolated, with mostly locals and residents in the area. The ocean appeared to have some great snorkeling, but was far too rough when we went for us to check. There weren’t very many options for hotels in the area, but a few smaller ones reside in the area. There are some unique restaurants littering the road, with some local food that is slightly more affordable than that found in Seven Mile or Camana bay. This would be a calm, relaxing place to visit if you weren’t in need of any fancy dining or bars, and were really looking to immerse yourself in the culture.

Not my photo, but useful nonetheless

Food

Compared to dining in the US or the majority of my other travel ventures, food in Grand Cayman is EXPENSIVE. 10 USD for a drink and 30 USD for a meal was the norm for your average restaurant. This is due to the cost of importing much of the food into the island. Due to this, we had to improvise a bit. To save some money, buy food to eat some of your meals at your hotel/condo. The best way to buy food on the island is to buy local food. Fruit stands litter the roads with very affordable fruits, veggies, and jams. On Saturdays there is a huge farmers market near Georgetown with affordable produce (you can find the address by simply typing “Farmers Market” into google maps). Grocery stores are also a fair option, but are more expensive than the local farmers. Meats are fairly expensive here as well, with the most affordable being chicken (You’ll see why once you get there). It is also worth noting that the majority of restaurants in Grand Cayman are very Americanized. We had trouble finding delectable island cuisine on our trip.

With that in mind, here are some of the restaurants we visited during our time on the island:

Chicken Chicken is located in Seven Mile Beach, and actually had some yummy, affordable food. They slow roast chicken on a rotating spicket that you can see when you walk in the door. The chicken is quite good, and the sides are agreeable as well. The cornbread is island style and VERY good. The average meal was $10 USD, which is very affordable for the island. All in all, a great stop for an affordable lunch or even dinner.

Peppers is a restaurant near Seven Mile Beach as well. The meals were your typical 30 USD a plate, and 10 USD a drink, but the atmosphere was fun and unique. The food wasn’t anything to cry home about in my opinion, but it was good and filled our bellies.

The Lighthouse is in between Bodden Town and East End, and had what I would consider to be the best food we ate on our trip. A higher end location where meals were easily 40 USD a plate, the food was good, and had a dash of island flair. There was more culture in the food here than we had eaten at any other higher end restaurant. Also, the view was amazing!

We also ate at the Harbour Grille Restaurant in Georgetown for breakfast, which had amazing breakfast foods (I can only hope this quality reaches over to their lunch and dinner menus). The interior is also very cute, with blue and white beach themed decor. Though still fairly expensive, I would recommend this location!

Culture Shocks

Note: Differences in culture are based on my own cultural experiences, and therefore are based on what a US citizen would be shocked by. I apologize for this one sided view, but of course I am unqualified to note differences in culture for other cultures/countries, as I am only a visitor to those countries as well.

Left Sided Driving

Unlike in the US, you drive on the left side of the road in Grand Cayman. Though we knew about this before we went, it was still an adjustment for our whole group with a few near death experiences as we adjusted. There are also very few intersections in Grand Cayman, with most being replaced by round a bouts. Make sure you are comfortable with round a bouts before you try driving there. Also, it was strange as a US citizen to see people honk as a “thank you” rather than a “screw you”, so be prepared for that as well.

Chickens…. Chickens Everywhere.

There are wild chickens EVERYWHERE in the Caymans. They are perfectly harmless for the most part, and just wander around looking for food you may drop. But still, it was bizarre for me to see. Try to catch a glimpse of the baby chicks when you can, since they are generally well hidden with their mommas. I enjoyed them quite dearly, and actually managed to pet one by bribing it with food.

Money

The Cayman Islands have their own currency, the cayman islands dollar, which is similar in value (but not the same) to the Euro. 1 CI dollar is approximately 1.15 USD. Note that the ONLY currencies accepted in the Cayman Islands are the CI dollar, and the USD. So be ready to exchange money if you do not carry either.

Cuisine

As I said before, the food in the Cayman Islands is very Americanized. However, there were a few things that were unique to the region. Jamaican Jerk chicken is one of the popular dishes in the region, and is a go to for lunch or dinner if you want a guaranteed decent meal. Its chicken rubbed with a spicy Jamaican jerk sauce, then generally cooked over a wood fire or in a wood fire stove. Mango sauces are also common sauces for a plethora of meals, including bread dishes and meat sauces. It is exciting to try the different kinds that restaurants have. The other food I noticed was plantain dishes, and breadfruit dishes, both of which I have only experienced in tropical regions and are worth a try.

The People

There was a unique and beautiful blend of people that reside in the Cayman Islands. Many had immigrated from the nearby countries, such as Jamaica, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. But we also met a plethora of people from far away European and African countries that had travelled to the Caymans and fell in love, so they never left.

Experiences

Stingray City:

Though very touristy, Stingray City is an unforgettable, must do experience. The stingrays are all wild, free stingrays that are by no means forced to stay in the region, but rather choose to stay due to the promise of easily accessible food. About 60 years ago, fishermen began to dump excess bait in this region so that they would not attract insects to the docks by dumping it there. By doing this, they began to attract stingrays to the area, who would eat the scraps. Older stingrays such as the one I am holding in the photo below taught younger stingrays to come here for an easy meal. To avoid the massive crowds, try to go either early in the morning or later in the evening, and avoid the weekends when the majority of cruise ships are in. We did both stingray city and the bioluminescent bay on the same trip, so we went later in the day and were only accompanied by about 4 other boats. We went with Adventura Cayman, on a private trip for $550 total (for both Stingray City, a snorkel tour, and the Bioluminescent bay) and they were a great tour group.

Bioluminescent Bay:

Since there are only 14 Bioluminescent bays in the world, I knew I had to see this one while we were in Grand Cayman. It is a once in a lifetime experience, truly, and was absolutely phenomenal. DO NOT MISS IT. We went during a full moon week, and because of this there were no tours going to the bay (the full moon apparently lessens the view of the bay), which is why we decided to do a private boat tour that would take us to the bay. Honestly, even with the full moon it was extraordinary, and I liked the fact that we had the entire bay to ourselves. There are a few ways to see the bay: snorkeling, kayaking, and glass bottom boats. We snorkeled, and I would recommend doing it that way, since it is the only option that actually gets you in the water with the plankton. The pictures do not do it justice, but I will show them anyways.

Other:

Though we didn’t get the chance to do these things, I would still recommend exploring them yourself:

  • Mastic Trail
  • Crystal Caves
  • Botanical Garden

Note: The Turtle Farm in Grand Cayman is also a popular tourist attraction. They do some turtle rescue and breeding for release, however they do still run a turtle farm and provide turtles for commercial purposes. For this purpose I chose not to go there, and won’t recommend others to do so. However, I do acknowledge the conservation efforts of the company, and respect other’s decision to go there.

Diving/Snorkeling

The reefs in Grand Cayman are massive and colorful, squeezed pack full of colorful reef fish. Some of the larger, more unique creatures you can find are turtles (loggerhead, greens, and Hawksbille), Southern Stingrays, Eagle Rays, and Nurse Sharks.

The offshore snorkeling I saw was nothing to cry home about, although there were some cool areas in Rum Point and Bodden Town. The real amazing snorkeling and diving is about 25 yards offshore, where the massive coral reefs start. As I said before, near Turtle Nest Inn in bodden town has some amazing coral reefs that are accessible through a fairly easy swim, and same with Rum point, although both areas you have to swim through a murky, algae coated area to get to the good stuff.

Farther out, there are some amazing, massive coral reefs. One trip we went about 80 yards offshore near rum point to snorkel, a place called starfish point by our guide, which had good visibility and exciting coral. It was my first time snorkeling in the evening, and we got the unique opportunity to see Midnight Parrotfish spraying eggs on the reef and ocean floor.

I also got the opportunity for a shore dive to see Devils Grotto, near Eden Rock. The coral reef here seemed to go forever in either direction, with bright splashes of color all over. I also got the rare chance to see a juvenile loggerhead sea turtle, a species that has been endangered for years. Though I didn’t come at the right time of year, they do have massive schools of silversides at Devils grotto as well, which I hear is pretty amazing.

The other dive I got to do during my time in Grand Cayman was a boat dive off of Spotts Beach. The fish life was flourishing here, and this dive probably had the highest density of fish I’ve seen on any reef. We got to see a few eels, and a group of Tarpon.

I did both of my dives through Don Fosters dive shop, which I happened upon by accident heading to Eden Rock. Both of my dives were absolutely fantastic, and the dive guides were very professional and fun. The weather did mean that dive opportunities were somewhat unpredictable, but they managed to tell me if my dives were cancelled the night before both times. Though they don’t do many east side dives, I would recommend them for any of your west side dives. I tried to do a dive through the famous Sunset House, but my dive was cancelled only thirty minutes before I was supposed to be there, and the employee I was dealing with was not gracious, so I gave up on that venture quickly.

When it comes to renting gear, all dive shops are likely to rent both dive and snorkel gear. Divers supply is the only shop I found that actually sold gear, and they rent out gear as well. This would be a good place to rent snorkel gear for your trip if thats what you need, though it is fairly expensive. I would recommend renting your dive gear through whichever shop you choose to dive through, and only rent it for your dive. That will save you a bit of money in renting.

I hope you all found this information helpful! Until next time, live free my fellow travel bugs!