Unfortunately, as a private individual, I do not have access to either prices or availability. In fact it is highly unlikely that I will even remember how much I paid for a given trip at a given time of year. As many locations have different prices during high and low seasons, what I paid would probably not be useful in any case.
Unfortunately, I cannot. Normally I tend to stay at the more upscale places and can only speak from experiences at those locations and areas.
They both have their pluses and minus. Live aboard dive boats easily provide 5 or sometimes more dives per day compared to land based which normally provide only 3. Live aboard dive boats normally have access to a relatively large number of sites that are not accessible, because of travel time, to land based diving operations. However, due to space restrictions, accommodations on live aboard boats are small relative to land based. Some do not have private heads while other do. Eating is a major activity on live aboard dive boats and the food is usually excellent. As with any all inclusive, it is easier to budget travel costs when all activities are included. However you are paying for all activities and if you don’t make use of them, they will go to waste.
Both the Dancers and Aggressors provide excellent value. However they tend to be 5.5 days of diving while the smaller Pacific live aboard dive boats are more often 10 or sometimes more days of diving. Given travel times, it is more effective to go on trips with more dive days.
Actually, sea sickness is more of a problem on land based diving because those boats are smaller and rock more.
I dislike crowds. For locations that are extremely popular, there is a tendency to over dive some of the best sites.
Quite simply water contact optics produce the best images. A housed wide angle lens simply does not produce corner to corner sharpness compared to the Nikonos RS 13 mm lens, the Nikonos RS 18 mm lens, or the Nikonos 15 mm lens. For macro, a housed camera is probably equal to or slightly superior to the RS and for extreme macro, a housed camera will beat the Nikonos RS. Most subjects I shoot would not tolerate a Nikonos V with a framer.
Actually, other than my review, I cannot provide any other information. Please contact Cathy directly.
Caribbean diving is quite simply not as good as Pacific diving. In addition, as a photographer, I normally dive solo rather than with a buddy or a group. The Caribbean dive operators (with rare exceptions) do not appreciate or accommodate this need.
Despite what Center for Disease Control recommends, I do not recommend Larium. It is ineffective and mimics the symptoms of decompression sickness in some people under some circumstances. I personally take Doxycycline which is more effective, has fewer side effects, but does create sensitivity to the sun. I am not a doctor nor do I play one on television so I recommend talking to your doctor about this.