best Sandals or Sandals type diving experience?

[AstridWilson]

Just returned from Little Cayman Dive resort where the Diving was spectacular, the valet dive service awesome and the food was amazing; however our next trip will be with non-divers, so we were thinking about a Sandals resorts as we can do 1-2 dives a day and still have things to do during down time. Comments or suggestions for the best Sandals or Sandals type diving experience. FYI: Been to Jamaica and not interested in that Island again.

 

[olphart]

I was blown away by the service at the Beaches Resort in Ocho Rios. The diving sucked, but if their Beaches resort on Turks is as good, I'd go in a heartbeat. No tipping, yet treated like royalty.

 

[parzdiver]

Sandals is a great vacation - with some diving included. You will get a couple dives a day. There are a number of threads here that talk about limitations, but I was happy enough with my Sandals St. Lucia trip that we are going to Grenada in January.

 

[CA TAH]

Definitely interested in this as well, we have a sandals trip coming up in the next 18 months, dove in St Lucia, and were a little underwhelmed by it, anyone dove with Sandals in Bahamas, looking at the Royal Bahamian resort.

 

[KathyV]

Here is a recent thread about the Beaches resort on Provo in the Turks and Caicos:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/gr...-diving-turks-beaches-resort.html#post7408855

 

[drrich2]

Astrid:

I've not dove with Sandals or at Little Cayman, so this is based on reading reviews by those who have. LCBR gets lots of praise from divers (both the resort & the island); enough to put it on my hoped for bucket list. Sandals, well, do a forum Search for Sandals and I think you'll see the feedback in terms of included scuba diving is not so positive. Or so I recall; judge for yourself.

Be mindful that even if you stay at a Sandals, you might have the option to book with an offsite dive op. It'll be more money, but it's an option to think about.

Richard.

 

[cammurphy]

Have been to Sandals at Turks for 5 different visits....approx 1 week each. The attraction for our family is just that....its for families. The diving I would have to rate as very good to excellent depending on the day, and the trip. Our daughter did her final certification dive there, and has been a virtual fish ever since. Their training/teaching crew is outstanding. Diving is included in your stay....two tank dives per day. We have also gotten included in Night dives, as well as extra trips (+$) to the outer Islands. When the wind is blowing, they will take you by van to the other side of the island no charge.....so the commitment to divers is top shelf. The boats and people are terrific. Make no mistake though....this is diving at a resort. I am now 60, and enjoy the relaxed dives....as opposed to struggling in a current where I have had to hump gear just to get to it. There are incredible dive sites to see and experience, and everything from whale sharks to dolphins, sharks to octopus, and everything in between. The added bonus is that after the dive, you and your group/family are at a wonderful resort that has something for everyone. If you are the only one who dives in your family, you still get credit for taking them on a great vacation, but you get dives in everyday! The food is second to none at 8-9 restaurants (only 1 buffet style), and on top of that, it has all the amenities for kids..... water park with slides surfing and a big floating river, their own restaurant, video game center, tennis, volleyball, and a stretch of beach that has few betters. Sailboats, windsurfers, kayaks...you name it, they have it. Snorkeling trips on a huge cat are included.

Where it really shone for us, was a family group trip....divers dove....kids had a blast, Grandparents enjoyed the spa life, and everyone met up at the end of the day and ate, drank and enjoyed each other, without having to put up with all day stress of being together. Access is good to great depending on where you are coming from.....We are in western Canada....late day flight to Toronto, and then off the next AM to Turks .....we are there by 2 PM, and enjoying dinner by the ocean with little or no stress. Equipment provided.....have only had to return one piece of equipment in 5 weeks of diving. Bring your own mask/snorkel of course.

People are a big reason why we keep returning. Johny....THE dive guy, the different boat captains, are all focused on making sure you have a great time. We haven't come across anything that we needed/wanted that wasn't at the resort.

I recommend Beaches Turks to everyone that has a family that likes to dive . We are lucky enough to have all options available to us, and this is our choice. We get a 40% discount for rebooking, and can set up a reservation for just a few hundred bucks, and then not have to pay till 30 days out.....My wife loves it. My 16 year old daughter is excited to go on a trip with her parents, and I think I have won the lottery every time we go.

 

[RJP]

our next trip will be with non-divers, so we were thinking about a Sandals resorts as we can do 1-2 dives a day and still have things to do during down time.

Curious as to why you're jumping immediately to an all-inclusive Sandals-type resort simply because you'll have non-divers with you? There are thousands of places where you can get some dives in and still have non-diving stuff to do without needing to go to an all-inclusive situation.

If you want AI for other reasons, that makes sense. But it wouldn't occur to me in a million years that AI was a good way to balance the needs of divers and non-divers.

---------- Post added September 22nd, 2015 at 01:02 PM ----------

My 16 year old daughter is excited to go on a trip with her parents, and I think I have won the lottery every time we go.

Interesting that you mention her age. Have you been to an AI since she's turned sixteen?

We have two kids - 11 and 17 - Beaches-type places are off the table for us because when our daughter turned 16 she was then considered an adult. This means we could no longer book a room that is fine for "two adults, two children" and had to book larger, far-more expensive accommodations that are for "3-4 adults, multiple children" which sends the cost through the roof. Add to that the fact that my 16yr old "adult" will not be drinking booze and will be eating four chicken nuggets or a half a grilled cheese sandwich or similar for dinner and the cost-benefit equation of an AI resort goes out the window.

In T&C a few years ago we were able to rent a luxurious beach-front 4br villa (that makes the Beaches 4br Butler Villa's look like a Motel 6.) Infinity pool, secluded beach, private chef for dinner, all food, all booze, all activities, and even airfare for far, far less than it would have been to stay at Beaches... even at their best price. Since doing that once several years ago, that's now our approach to family vacations. We often go in with my sister's family (who were long-time Beaches T&C guests) and the nine of us rent some huge villa on a beach somewhere.

I know some people love the AI thing - and Beaches T&C is a great example. They are great for couples... or families with young kids. But there are often oddities about pricing that make them silly. Even if you have the money. Try this exercise:

1. Find the best deal you can for five adults (one of whom is 16) and four children to stay in a 4br beachfront villa at Beaches T&C.
2. Divide that amount in half.
3. Search the web for what kind of private luxury villa rental accommodations you can get for that price.

For example, the beachfront 4br Key West "Butler Villa" at T&C Beaches would be $32,500 for a week. (And that's at 65% off their "rack rate" which is north of $90k.)

For $16,000 you can get an awful lot of private villa. Of course, you won't have a water park... or two thousand friends to share the pool with.

 

[drbill]

My niece planned her destination wedding at Sandals in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. She said one of the reasons was so I could dive. They advertised "unlimited" diving yet I found out we were restricted to two dives a day with some lasting only 30 minutes. False advertising in my book. I didn't go.

 

[cammurphy]

RJP....The point about kids who have reached the age of sixteen is well taken.....Checked with the family controller.....we are booked Dec 16-23 - all in $7550.00 US (ouch for those of us from Canada).....no problem with a 1 bedroom....and Beaches has her listed as an adult.....she will hit seventeen before we depart. Now - we don't go overboard on the room..... French village is the reservation, .....but we usually get upgraded to the Italian village. The 40% discount I mentioned is included in that price. Flights are on top, but we have family in Toronto that we visit on the way thru as sort of an early Xmas tradition....all in all, it works for us. We have often thought about renting a private spot, and doing the day diving thing, but this is a major treat for us as a family. We have other arms of the family, but there is only one other thats a diver, and they are in a different part of the world. We know that we are bound to enjoy a great vacation with not a great chance of surprises.....hopefully! This will probably be the last of our Turks adventures, as daughter will graduate from high school, and between work and adventures with her friends, she will probably shake loose for her own trips.

PS...you didnt mention the price that you paid.

Mark