Honeymoon and Diving Caribbean?

[vols3232]

I have had multiple friends go to the Grande at St Lucia. They have all come back raving. None of them dove while they were on their honeymoon. My wife and I got married last year and we went to Cozymel for our honeymoon. We stayed at the Occidental Grande. The resot was beautiful and romantic. There are 4 restaurants. One is a buffett and the other three require reservations. It is an all inclusive and we upgraded to the royal club. They treated us like a king and queen. We made 17 dives with the dive op on site. We were planning on doing 10 and enjoyed it so much we did more. Some of the best dive sites are 5 minutes away by boat. The only negative was that we were a 20 minute cab ride away from town. This meant that we stayed on the resort most of the time. The positive about this was that we did not encounter any of the cruise ship traffic. There are 2 pools at the resort. One for laying out and enjoying the quiet and one for the more active. There is not much late night at the resort. We found that the resort and the destination suited our budget and desires better than Sandals on St. Lucia which was our second choice. Let me know if you want any more info. Congrats and good luck.

 

[robbcayman]

Goatshow, I would be interested in your trip report and pics. One other place that I am seriously considering is Bora Bora/Moorea. The only downfall to these places is the price. I heard the diving and top side are the best.

I am planning this honeymoon as a surprise to my Fiance, so the decision is upon my shoulders. We live in Oklahoma and flight distance is a factor, which may rule out Bora Bora. Has anyone had any experience with Moorea/Bora Bora I would venture to say it's the prettiest place in the world. My fiance said she would prefer to stay at a Sandals, the only problem with Moorea or Bora Bora is they are all pretty much Bungalows. Plus, the food prices are outrageous.

Decisions, Decisions hmmmm ???

 

[robbcayman]

Vols, we live in Oklahoma City so Cozumel is a 2 hour flight and we have been there twice in the last year. My fiance loves Cozumel but said she wants something different for our Honeymoon. Cozumel is cheap, great diving and close but not for this trip. Thanks for helping.

 

[Gamecock]

St John is very good, very romantic. Tortola, particularly Cane Garden Bay is a hot spot for a week and you don't need a rental car. Check out Quito's there. Also, We Be Divin there at Quito's is a GREAT outfit and will cart you around to the best dive sites around Peter Isle and such. I've been to St John 7 times now with my wife, our first was our honeymoon. Check out www.seaviewhomes.com for some potential spots. You'll need a jeep rental there too but it's worth every dime!

 

[DeWDiver]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I especially like the Virgin Islands & St.Lucia. For some reason my wife to be is hell bent on staying at a Sandals & there are a few on St. Lucia. Has anyone had an experience with the Sandals hotel chain? Are they the Wal-Mart of the Caribbean etc..?

My wife and I were in St. Lucia in late April and stayed at the Sandals Grande. We were with some other couples who have stayed at various Sandals resorts and they all said this was the nicest. Used the on site dive service, it is free when you stay there. The diving was O.K., but that's comparing it to the Caymans and Coz. Dive service was top rate. Some of the divers had stayed at the other two resorts, all said the grand was nicer.

Sandal's is definitely not the Wal-mart of the Carib. Food is great and the use top notch liquor. Even saw Grey Goose and other top end stuff. Drank some also. I would definitely go back. Anse-chasenet resort looked very nice - from the water as that was as close as we got. One thing of note, there are two airports on the island, I would definitely try to get a flight to the one nearest the resort. It is only about a 15-20 minute ride. The other can end up being 60 plus over very narrow, rough roads.

 

[The Goat Show]

For those who are interested, I posted some of my pictures from my trip to St. Lucia.

http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php

If that link doesn't work then search photos by username for "The Goat Show." - for those who didn't already know.

 

[ShanaLyns]

The absolute place to go is Ti Kaye on St. Lucia. My fiancee and I got engaged there. The diving is good (not Belize great or something like that, but lovely and with long bottom times b/c much is shallow) and the scenery above water is gorgeous. TiKaye is by far the most romantic hotel I've ever been to, and I travel extensively (100k miles a year) because of my job. It's a magical combination of barefoot elegance, stunning natural scenery, and gracious service. You'll have to tear yourself away. The website does not do it justice. Some of the pictures on Trip Advisor do a better job of showing you how gorgeous it is. It's smaller than Anse Chastanet and solely focused on couples. Try it! If I had my way, we'd be going back there to get married.

Island Divers, their dive op, rocked. Terrell, Mary, and their crew were wonderful. Don't miss Superman's Flight or Pinnacles. Both are truly gorgeous dives.

www.tikaye.com

 

[Misty89]

Finally - another Ti Kaye fan! My husband and I were there last September for a week and it is my second favorite vacation we've had (second only to our honeymoon in Fiji - so that's saying something!). We did everything - land tours, 4 days of diving, no skimping on wine with dinner, etc. - for less than half the price of a Sandals. We were one of maybe three couples not on a honeymoon.

There are only 33 cottages, no kids allowed. The diving was beautiful - so many great colors because of the minerals - colors I haven't seen anywhere else. Great snorkeling right at the resort for "down time". Island Divers was great - and on "island time". Dives usually started around 9:30-ish - no rushing to make an 8:00 a.m. dive boat.

I could go on and on - I hope to go back in the next couple of years - it was fantastic!

 

[divingjd]

The diving in St. Lucia is pretty good, but not in the first rank in the Caribbean. If you are looking for sharks, rays, turtles, and other large animals, St. Lucia is not the place. St. Lucia is known for small critters and gorgeous sponges. The azure vase sponge, fairly rare in most of the Caribbean, is pretty common in St. Lucia. Crinoids (also known as feather stars) are very common in St. Lucia and contribute to the overall colorful environment. You will see lots of spotted morays, sharptail eels, parrotfish, huge schools of creole wrasse, the occasional turtle, lots of damsels, wrasses, and other small reef fish. The reefs are relatively healthy, although there are spots where there is a lot of dead coral. After Cozumel, I was not very impressed with St. Lucia at first, but when I learned to stop looking for big animals and focus on the little critters, I had a great time. Because St. Lucia is a volcanic (rather than limestone) island and has rivers (the Caymans and Cozumel do not), there is more sediment in the water and viz tends to be in the 60 ft. range, rather than the 100+ you see in the Caymans and Coz.

Anse Chastenet is a drop-dead gorgeous resort with outstanding service and a great dive op. The best diving in St. Lucia is all within a five-minute boat ride. In fact, the "house reef" they use for shore dives is some of the best diving in St. Lucia. I have been to a Sandals in Jamaica and there is no comparison to Anse Chastenet. If you are thinking about someplace like Moorea or Bora Bora, then you really ought to look into Anse Chastenet. By the way, the website doesn't do the place justice. It is actually more scenic and romantic than you can convey on the web. My 2 cents.