Hello, and looking for suggestions in the Caribbean

[Mr. Manfrenjensenden]

I'm Peter, a new diver, and I newly joined the board. I live in Boston, just got my open water certification on a trip to Cancun, and am already looking to plan my next trip somewhere warm.

I'd love to have any and all suggestions of places to go, either locations or specific resorts, that fit most of the following criteria. This is for travel with my wife, who's very active and will snorkel a bit but has no interest in diving.

-Easy access to reef dives with good fish and coral, perhaps even on-site shore diving possibilities. Possibilities of seeing sharks, turtles, etc. would be great. I'd be going solo so would need to have other people there with whom I can buddy
-On-site snorkeling, or snorkeling that's easy to get to
-Either adults only or not overrun with kids. An older crowd is fine
-Tennis
-Exercise classes (yoga, etc.)
-Other activities possible, ideally for my wife when I'm out diving
-All-inclusive or not. If not, easy access to a reasonably interesting town. Good food, or good food options is ideal. A bit of nearby culture never hurts
-Good beaches with no or limited bugs
-Modern clean rooms
-No one bothering you on the beach
-No big problems with theft
-Reasonably priced and scheduled flights from Boston, ideally direct. Would prefer not to fly too far, so I suppose this limits us to Bermuda/the Caribbean
-We prefer nice and reasonably priced to luxurious and expensive.

All ideas welcome, whether you know them from experience or have just heard good things about them. We're up from everything from an all-inclusive where we never leave the property to renting an apartment and cooking/organizing for ourselves. Would love to have suggestions for travel any time of year.

Thanks,
Peter

 

[diversteve]

Some options where you'll find everything on your list. I mentioned specific resorts also where i know them. All have on-site dive operations and most/all the amenities you want. I've been to all if you need more details. Priced basically low-> as far as overall cost. All should be under 8hrs. from Boston

www.curacao.com
Either Lions Dive resort (no tennis) or the Marriott Emerald Beach. Nice low-current diving but mostly smaller stuff. Lot's of turtles and you will see some rays, eels etc. The Dive Bus does escorted shore dives and your wife can snorkel the same sites.

www.tourismbonaire.com
Either the Plaza Resort or the more upscale Harbour Village. Both about the only resorts on a beach. HV may not have tennis courts. Plenty of turtles. And shore diving. Sharks are rare. Most people buy a dive pkg. that includes a 4dr. truck so have room for one more if asked. And divers are probably the majority everywhere - on flights, in the restaurants, bars etc.

Turks and Caicos World’s Top Islands - Turks and Caicos Tourism Official Website
IDK the resorts but there's a lot of them on Grace Bay Beach - and it's stunning. All boat diving though but you'll likely see sharks, excellent wall/reef diving, lots of rays, possibly dolphins. Really pricey though. JetBlue has one non-stop flight there daily. Don't book the Beaches AI though - it's about the most kid-oriented one I've ever seen.

www.caymanislands.ky
Seven Mile Beach is also a nice beach. The big resorts probably have most of what you want - the Marriott Grand, the Westin, others. Some shore diving options also but it might be harder to find a buddy as most are a little remote on the north side. Cayman is also a big cruise port so downtown can be really congested during the day. All the diveops will pick you up - here's a list: www.cita.ky

Hope this gives you a start.

 

[TulsaTime]

All my Caribbean diving has been with Sandals and Beaches. I'm in a similar situation - my wife is not a diver and so needs other entertainment avenues.

On the positive side, they're all inclusive, including diving and gear. You also won't have a problem being a "solo" diver since they always go in groups with a DM (usually about 8 divers per DM).

On the negative side, there are a lot of vacation and Discover Scuba divers on those trips so if you're looking for something more advanced or challenging, this might not be it. Their information says they offer night and advanced dives but I haven't looked into that (yet) so I can't comment there.

Specifically, I've been to Ocho Rios and Whitehouse in Jamaica and the Beaches in T&C. Jamaica diving was nice but they've really overfished the reefs there so there wasn't a lot of sea life, comparatively. T&C on the other hand was outstanding - schools of fish, sharks on more than half the dives, turtles, eels, lobster, you name it.

Don't book the Beaches AI though - it's about the most kid-oriented one I've ever seen.

That's mostly true but if you stay out of the Italian and French sections, you can avoid most of the annoyance (not a dig at those nationalities - the resort is segmented into different areas called Italian, French, Caribbean, and one more I can't remember).

My wife and I wanted to get all of the "kids" (youngest is 19) together for one last family vacation before everyone went their separate ways and since Sandals doesn't allow singles, Beaches it was. We stayed in the Caribbean section and while there were a few younger ones underfoot, most of the smaller ones and crowds kept to the Italian and French pools.

 

[mmmbelows]

I'd suggest Isla Mujeres as a very simple and easy place to go that checks off everything on your list, plus you've been almost there already if you've been to Cancun, it's just a 30 minute taxi ride from the Cancun Airport to the ferry and a 30 minute ferry ride to the island. The diving is easy and shallow, perfect for a beginning diver.

-Easy access to reef dives with good fish and coral, perhaps even on-site shore diving possibilities. Possibilities of seeing sharks, turtles, etc. would be great. I'd be going solo so would need to have other people there with whom I can buddy
>> quick boat rides with most dive sites around the island or ones you already know about from Cancun

-On-site snorkeling, or snorkeling that's easy to get to
>> depending on where you stay

-Either adults only or not overrun with kids. An older crowd is fine
>> depending on where you stay

-Tennis
>> depending on where you stay

-Exercise classes (yoga, etc.)
>> available on the island from independent providers, I've tried 2 different ones that were both excellent

-Other activities possible, ideally for my wife when I'm out diving
>> mostly beach/pool time

-All-inclusive or not. If not, easy access to a reasonably interesting town. Good food, or good food options is ideal. A bit of nearby culture never hurts
>> probably not AI, Isla Mujeres has a very active restaurant culture, international foods on one main walkable street with 90% of the restaurants

-Good beaches with no or limited bugs
>> no problem

-Modern clean rooms
No problem

-No one bothering you on the beach
No problem

-No big problems with theft
No problem

-Reasonably priced and scheduled flights from Boston, ideally direct. Would prefer not to fly too far, so I suppose this limits us to Bermuda/the Caribbean
-We prefer nice and reasonably priced to luxurious and expensive.
>>You got to Cancun at least once before

Stay somewhere around the North Beach area and everything you wanted is right there.

How does it look?

 

[Mr. Manfrenjensenden]

Thanks for all the suggestions. These look great!

 

[Mia Toose]

Turks & Caicos also has the scuba liveaboard Turks & Caicos Explorer II (www.ExplorerVentures.com). I worked on that boat and love love love the diving!! I also still live on the island and dive often. Don't hesitate to contact me directly if you have any questions I love to connect people with great locales etc.

Some options where you'll find everything on your list. I mentioned specific resorts also where i know them. All have on-site dive operations and most/all the amenities you want. I've been to all if you need more details. Priced basically low-> as far as overall cost. All should be under 8hrs. from Boston

www.curacao.com
Either Lions Dive resort (no tennis) or the Marriott Emerald Beach. Nice low-current diving but mostly smaller stuff. Lot's of turtles and you will see some rays, eels etc. The Dive Bus does escorted shore dives and your wife can snorkel the same sites.

www.tourismbonaire.com
Either the Plaza Resort or the more upscale Harbour Village. Both about the only resorts on a beach. HV may not have tennis courts. Plenty of turtles. And shore diving. Sharks are rare. Most people buy a dive pkg. that includes a 4dr. truck so have room for one more if asked. And divers are probably the majority everywhere - on flights, in the restaurants, bars etc.

Turks and Caicos World’s Top Islands - Turks and Caicos Tourism Official Website
IDK the resorts but there's a lot of them on Grace Bay Beach - and it's stunning. All boat diving though but you'll likely see sharks, excellent wall/reef diving, lots of rays, possibly dolphins. Really pricey though. JetBlue has one non-stop flight there daily. Don't book the Beaches AI though - it's about the most kid-oriented one I've ever seen.

www.caymanislands.ky
Seven Mile Beach is also a nice beach. The big resorts probably have most of what you want - the Marriott Grand, the Westin, others. Some shore diving options also but it might be harder to find a buddy as most are a little remote on the north side. Cayman is also a big cruise port so downtown can be really congested during the day. All the diveops will pick you up - here's a list: www.cita.ky

Hope this gives you a start.

 

[Greg Arruza]

I'm actually in St. Lucia right now. I just booked a trip to Sandals Whitehouse next year. After reading this, I kind of want to switch to T&C. Is there a best Jamaica Sandals resort for diving? Or should I pass on Jamaica all together?

 

[Mia Toose]

I'm actually in St. Lucia right now. I just booked a trip to Sandals Whitehouse next year. After reading this, I kind of want to switch to T&C. Is there a best Jamaica Sandals resort for diving? Or should I pass on Jamaica all together?

Hi Greg!
T&C is so much better than Jamaica as it just has less tourism so the reef is in better shape. It's probably a bit more expensive though, unless you stay on the liveaboard, which is so much fun. Let me know if you have any questions at all! Happy to help as I live on island and I've also worked and lived on the boat!

 

[diversteve]

As good as the T/C Explorer is - and it is very excellent, I think not for the OP's wife to snorkel due to mooring placement since many are in 40' or more. Or it's a pretty healthy swim to shallower water. She doesn't carry kayaks either right? Just the tender. Which stayed dry on the sundeck most of our week except for once when the crew repaired a mooring while we dove.

Also a non-diver on a liveaboard? They'd lose all interest in the conversation by the first night...LOL.

 

[scubadada]

Grand Cayman on Seven Mile Beach or Turks and Caicos on Grace Bay may be the best choices for a diver and a non-diver spouse.