Resort Suggestions

[MyDogIsDoug]

We enjoyed Buddys (Bonaire) and Anthonys Key resorts and would like to stay at a similar dive focused resort this December (early December) and need suggestions. A resort that caters to divers, easy access to equipment, multiple daily boat trips (or shore diving) is preferred. We are newer divers with about 40 dives. We would like to have coffee and see the water from the window in the morning and be around other divers.

We are focusing on the Caribbean, but since we are looking in December we would probably seek places south of the Bahamas to target warmer weather. Recent travels also included diving in Cozumel and visits to T&C and the Caymans, so would rule those areas out for the chance to visit a new location.

I was initially thinking St. Croix or the BVI, but I can't seem to find any 'resorts' that have the same identity as Buddys and Anthonys Key. Any suggestions??

 

[CajunDiva]

Buddy Dive opened a second location in Dominica. It certainly looks appealing...

 

[diversteve]

There's the Divi Carina Bay on St. Croix - I haven't been there. It's advertised as the only AI resort on St. Croix.

In the BVI's there's several non-specific dive resorts with on-site diving. On Virgin Gorda Leverick Bay Resort has an on-site DiveBVI shop and keeps boats there. The accommodations there are up the hill from the main resort so most rooms likely have a good view of the sound and nearby islands - it's on their website. DiveBVI is one of the top 5 shops we've ever dove with and I've dove a lot of the Caribbean.

One of the best things to do on Friday night is attend the excellent beach bbq there. Tourists, locals, natives all go. Downside to Leverick Bay is it's a considerable drive to "downtown" from there for other dining/entertainment options, the ferry etc.

Bitter End Yacht Club - nicer than it sounds - has Sunchaser Scuba on-site. It's even more isolated. They advertise that most of their rooms have views of the Sound so ask about that.

More upscale is Scrub Island - DiveBVI has a shop/keeps one boat there also. Scrub Island All travel to there is via ferry from Tortola afaik.

Most people fly into St. Thomas and take the fast ferries over to the BVI's. It's easier/less expensive than the limited flights into Beef Island on Tortola. My friends were able to ferry back from Virgin Gorda in time for a 1pm. St. Thomas departure but I believe it was a Friday only.

Another option might be St. John - the Westin has Cruz Bay Watersports providing diving - it's a Starwood property so 4 stars or so. CBW does day trips over to the BVI's also - mostly the Rhone wreck since it's pretty close by boat.

I haven't been there but have been to Cruz Bay briefly - and dove near it from St. Thomas. It's basically the same diving as the BVI's, shallower, lots of corals/fans/fish. You can "drive" to St. John from St. Thomas via the Red Hook car ferry or take one of the people ferries from the port downtown a few minutes from the airport.

All these places are more upscale than Buddy's - the way things are in the BVI's.

There's no shore diving in the BVI's. In the USVI's - a few shallow spots off St. John and Coki Beach off St. Thomas which was average at best.

Cane Bay Wall off the north side of St. Croix is supposed to be good and shore accessible - an acquaintance with a condo there dives it from his neighbors yard. Also the Frederickstad Pier. Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: USVI, St. Croix, Caribbean

Another option could be Bolongo Bay/St. Thomas Diving Club on the East End. They do some sort of AI also IIRC. I liked St. Thomas's East End, a lot quieter than Charlotte Amalie and many of the dives are nearby - they also dive around St. John as well.

hth, haven't been there in a while so I'm not sure it's all current.

 

[drrich2]

Have you considered a live-aboard? It's a diver-focused, high dive count, simplified 'turn key' dive trip option. Picking a Caribbean Live-aboard, and my recent trip report from Cayman Aggressor IV May 2016, though you might like the Sun Dancer 2 (renamed Belize Aggressor IV) - trip report from 2015.

IIRC, travel to & from Dominica often takes around 2 days each way? Also, people post good things about the topside there; one of the only places I've read of that I might feel bad about 'just diving' and mostly ignoring the topside.

It's been reported on other threads that the diving in Roatan is different north vs. south; you've been to Anthony Key Resort, but have you considered CocoView Resort? They are very popular & might not have an opening, plus it sounds like you want to hit a new island, but worth mentioning.

Did you consider Curacao?
Curacao vs. Bonaire - Curacao vs Bonaire
Curacao 1st Timer Trip Report - Curacao 1st timer Trip report
Place to stay in Curacao - Place to stay in Curacao See Damselfish Post #3.
Curacao Trip with Teenagers in June - Curacao Trip With Teenagers In June

For more on St. Croix, which others mentioned, here's a Discussion of St. Croix as a Dive Destination, and Overall Impressions from First Visit to St. Croix. If I were aiming for a St. Croix trip, I think I'd want to stay to the north, so I could shore dive up there, but I'd want to get down to the Fredericksted Pier at some point (being mindful you'd have to hit it when no cruise ship is in).

Richard.

P.S.: You've got fairly tough criteria, if you want multiple daily boat trips (or shore diving to compensate) in warm weather (in December) but rule out Bonaire, Cozumel, the Cayman Islands (did you visit all 3?) and Roatan. If you travel in a better time of year for warm weather, consider Key Largo (trip report: note the dive op. I used moved their location a bit since then).

 

[MyDogIsDoug]

Thanks for the links. We have done a bit of traveling so I do understand finding a new location with my criteria is not easy. Thought about a live-aboard but I'm concerned that I might feel restricted in activities. We like to mix in other adventures and the live aboard theme kind of limits that (at least that is my understanding, however, I can be wrong on that issue since I have not yet experienced a pure boat vacation). Curacao is a possibility we hadn't thought about. Still searching....

 

[KathyV]

When you say you like to mix in other adventures, what does that mean? Do you like hiking, biking, climbing, animal preserves, and opportunities to enjoy nature?

Do you like restaurants, shopping, nightlife?

Do you enjoy other types of watersports, like kayaking, surfing, SUP?

Anyway, some liveaboards offer optional shore excursions if that is of interest. For example, if you take the Explorer Adventure trip to Saba/St. Kitts, you can arrive a day or two early and explore St. Martin and then during the voyage you can take advantage of shore excursions to Saba or St. Kitts, see the link below:

Saba /St. Kitts/St. Maarten Itinerary: Live-aboard Diving in Saba, St. Kitts, St. Maartin

 

[MyDogIsDoug]

Hiking, biking, climbing, sup, kayaking, hanging in the sand... yes those are all enjoyable to us. Good meals, does not have to be upscale, just tasty. Shopping and nightlife aren't priorities. The focus is to dive though, the other options are nice diversions to break up the week.

 

[diversteve]

Curacao is noticeably less expensive than Bonaire. For one thing all the Insel flights stop there first. Also it's the deepwater container port for the region so most things going on to Bonaire stop there first. Willemstad is a bigger city but once you get 15mins. west or east of town it's pretty quiet. Oddly although the Marine park starts slightly east of downtown and goes east to the end of the island, many would agree the better diving is west.

There are several "Buddy-like" resorts there - check Lions DIve Resort, the Sunscape AI resort, Scuba Lodge in town, Atlantis Apt's/Diving in town plus there's other resort properties with diving options - the Marriot Emerald resort in Piscadera Bay (not to be confused with the Renaissance) the older Hilton next to the Marriott. The Veneto in P-Bay.

Moving farther west there's Blue Bay resort - I believe there's currently a shop there. Farther west there's Bahia Diving/Apts. in Lagun or Lagoon Blou condos which share the shop. It's pretty quiet in Lagun and about 30 minutes drive to just about anything. Every one I've named in this paragraph has an on-site dive operator.

Farthest west in Westpunt both All West Apt's and the Lodge Kura Hulanda have Go West Diving on-site and their boats are kept at the LKH shop dock. (five minutes apart) IMO the best dives are there - Watamula by boat and Playa Kalki/Alice in Wonderland from shore/dive dock. Westpunt is 45mins. drive to town/airport.

www.curacao.com lists most of the options for resorts/diving. Hiking is possible thru Christoffel Park and there's some sort of hill/low mountain there. Otherwise it's pretty flat like Bonaire except both ends of the island are 50-100' above the water so there's a lot of stairs/ramps in places. Other sites you park just off the beach.

One small difference vs. Bonaire is almost all the beaches are nice, are dive sites also and generally have an on-site operator who can also provide tanks/weights. The few that are directly waterfront often have a dive dock to get you closer to the reef - at many locations the beach is at the end of a small shallow cove so it's a surface swim out to conserve air. If you wanted to dive then hang out at the beach, Porto Mari is one of the best for both - it's a favorite locals beach and a great double-reef dive. There is at least one SUP operator east of town also - probably affiliated with one of the hotels/resorts in that area.

Like Bonaire there's also a drive-up tank exchange at Relaxed Guided Dives - mid-island on the road west. Also the fishlife is very similar on both islands - at one site I told my buddies "you've just been to Bonaire" - same reef structure, schools of blue fish, invertebrates etc..

They also have the Dive Bus who will pick you up for escorted shore dives almost anywhere in Willemstad and take you to the better dive sites elsewhere. They usually do two dives at the same site and I think lunch is included - nice people, we talked to them once and they provided all sorts of options even after we realized our schedule wouldn't allow us to dive with them. Across the street from Pieerbaai beach/dive - one of the Carpile Wreck sites. Signature wrecks on Curacao are the Superior Producer and the Tugboat if that's an interest.

 

[KathyV]

If you are looking for warm water, and I don't blame you, then Bonaire and Curacao far to the south are your best bets. But since you are going in early December, the water temps in more northern areas like the T&Cs and Caymans should still be rather warm. Around the low 80s I think.

My favorite small, diver-dedicated "off the beaten path" resort is Cayman Brac Beach Resort. There's not much to do on tiny Brac but enjoy the water and the reefs and nature. "Hiking, biking, climbing, sup, kayaking, hanging in the sand" are typical Brac activities. The CBBR is an all-inclusive but the food is very good and I think that it is a bargain by Cayman standards. Most importantly, it is all about diving, see the link below.

The diving is even better at the Little Cayman Beach Resort but you might not be able to get a reservation or flights there for December because they fill up fast.

Cayman Island Dive Packages |Brac Reef Beach Resort

 

[KathyV]

There's the Divi Carina Bay on St. Croix - I haven't been there. It's advertised as the only AI resort on St. Croix....

...Cane Bay Wall off the north side of St. Croix is supposed to be good and shore accessible - an acquaintance with a condo there dives it from his neighbors yard. Also the Frederickstad Pier. Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: USVI, St. Croix, Caribbean...

We visited the Divi resort on St. Croix (to check out the tiny casino). It is far away from just about everything and they do not have a dive op onsite - or at least they did not at that time - and I recall reading quite a few negative reviews on Trip Advisor, but I haven't checked it out recently.

It was a bit disappointing and not the diver-dedicated resort we expected after having visited the Divi Flamingo on Bonaire.

But St. Croix is still a great destination and the Fredricksted Pier dive is one of the best in the Caribbean IMO.