I won two tickets to anywhere in the Caribbean that Delta flies! Where should I go?

[Krtismo]

Here is an overview of our situation, this isn't strictly a dive vacation, so I need to work it out so both my wife and I enjoy the vacation.

1) We need to travel between November and the end of April. What would be the best time to go?

2) I'm not dive certified yet, but I guess I would consider myself an advanced snorkeler/amatuer freediver and my focus is underwater videography. So I would like to have easy access to shallowish shore diving around 10'-30' or so, preferably in front of or near our resort/hotel. (winner is Bonaire?)

3) My wife has all of her own really nice snorkeling gear and wetsuit even, however, she still a little shy in the water, so it would be nice for her to be able to snorkel with me easily. Realistically, I'll be doing most of the snorkeling by myself, but I will need my wife to be able to be near me. (winner is Bonaire again I think)

4) My wife would probably prefer a more traditional all-inclusive type of resort where we don't have to worry about our next meal and spending too much money on food. While that would be nice, it would really limit our options, but if we could make that work it would be great. We definitely would like to be ON or VERY close to the water and have a pool. (winner....no idea, but probably not Bonaire)

5) We are planning 4-6 nights and trying to keep the total for our stay under $1000

6) We will be flying out of Atlanta. Here is the interactive Delta map if you want to see the options I have: Delta Routes | Delta Air Lines

Thanks for the help everyone! We're really excited but there are a lot of options so we need help narrowing it down.


-Kurt

 

[lmorin]

Kurt--as you have gathered, Bonaire meets most of your criteria. However, be aware that Delta to Bonaire is only Saturday to Saturday from Atlanta. You can go to Aruba and then take another airline's smaller plane to/from Bonaire (Tiara or Insel; read the schedules carefully; Tiara, at least, does not have the same schedule from day to day).

Maybe Aruba would be best. The diving options are not as great, but there may be more to do and you may be able to and from Aruba more conveniently.

 

[diversteve]

We need to travel between November and the end of April. What would be the best time to go?

After April 15th which is the start of Low Season in the Caribbean.

Anything beachfront with a pool on Bonaire is going to be $100/nt.

If you move off the beach, it's 2/3rd's of that. Compare Eden Beach - hotel room @$100/nt + tax - with Lagoen Hill - Studio Apt with full kitchen @$60+tax. Both have pools. Also factor in a car at $40/day with CDW. Lagoen Hill is two miles inland from downtown - not near much of anything. There's about 4-5 resorts with restaurants near Eden Beach, the deli nearby and a small food store. There's also a couple of warehouse food stores on Bonaire and several large markets.
http://www.edenbeach.com/index.php?lang=en
http://www.lagoenhill.com/

And Food is high on Bonaire, both in food stores and at many of the restaurants. Everything is imported. There are less expensive options - KFC, Subway, BobbeJans BBQ, etc. but not a lot of them. An average meal cost us at least $20pp/nt. And we didn't eat in a lot of the better places. It Rains Fishes was one of them, it was closer to $100 for two of us with drinks.

I think $1000 total is really hard to do on Bonaire. Maybe 4-5 days. But as mentioned, you can't fly Delta direct except Sat-Sat so you're looking at $2-300 more for the connection from Aruba. We recently priced that flight out at $106 R/T on Dutch Antilles Express in another post. They're cheaper than Insel.

You also need to factor in the departure tax with that budget. To get off Bonaire will cost you $40pp. It's only $9 from Bonaire to Aruba but IDK if Aruba adds one also.

You mentioned your wife may wait around near you. At any of the shore dive/snorkel sites outside of those at the resorts there's NO facilities. Not even shade at many of them. So she'd be sitting in the car. Also if she's uneasy about snorkeling, how is she going to do crawling over ironshore/coral rubble at the surf line to get out to it?

This is a shorediving site but it shows entry pictures at many of the sites on either island. Scuba Shore Diving Region: ABC Islands

IDK about the snorkeling there but you might consider Cozumel instead. Some friends stayed at Hotel Villablanca outside of town - about a 2mi. walk or short cab ride. For about $700 for the whole week. If you book 5 nights they include a full breakfast and one dinner. I've heard places closer to town are even cheaper.

I noticed Delta flies to Roatan. That might be another option. Stay on the West End - you can do that as cheap as $25/nt. for a room. Even beachfront at Sueno Del Mar is $79nt. double occ. And includes free snorkel trips. There's also good shore snorkeling in Half Moon Bay about a 1/4 mile walk from there. Both sides of the bay are supposed to be good, Half Moon Resort calls the snorkeling off their property some of the best in the Caribbean. We saw snorkelers there daily.

A cab from the airport is $25 and you neither need nor want a car - the entire West End is walkable, other good snorkeling at West Bay is 2 miles away and cabs are plentiful and cheap. No trip nearby except the airport (fixed) should cost you more than $10-15. Even downtown Coxen Hole - although it's not worth the time. Your only other costs would be a $35 departure tax.

If you could find something affordable on West Bay Beach - Bananarama? - that's one of the nicest beaches in the Caribbean. In many places the reef is just offshore so lousy for swimming but good for snorkeling.

If you stay across the road from the beach in the West End, accommodations are even more reasonable. Look at Posada Arco Iris for examples. There's also two small food stores in the area, Internet access and we bought good lunches for under $10 at several places. Food is real cheap in the West End, from street vendors to a decent meal for under $20.

Downside of that area is you'll live in DEET the entire time you're there. The beaches all have sand flies/fleas. If you did want to try diving, that would be the place, Discover Dives are about $100 - 1/2 of what I've seen elsewhere. That includes all the gear.

Downside of Roatan is most places don't have a pool.

 

[Krtismo]

Thanks for the info guys, that's the type of info I'm looking for.

Also, I forgot to clarify a couple things, Mexico is also an option in case I didn't make that clear, so yes Cozumel might be worth looking into.

Roatan might not be an option because it is technically Central America, and my tickets only have lower 48 of the USA, Mexico, and Caribbean written on them, but I plan on asking about that.

Other islands I'm considering are USVI, Antigua, St. Lucia or similar because of the more 3 dimensional beauty of the landscape vs the flatness of the Florida Keys and Punta Cana D.R. which are the only places I've experienced. But right now I could be talked into or out of anything at this point.

Also, we could do 6 or 7 nights if the price was right. We were only considering a shorter trip to save money and vacation time at work.

Thanks again, keep the info coming!

 

[diversteve]

I didn't look at the map but if St. Thomas is an option, that might be worth considering. There's some fairly reasonable resort/condo options on the East End. All have pools and are beachfront. We rented a studio condo with kitchen - older but clean just south of Coki Beach for $89/nt. We were just there for 2 days before moving on to the BVI's but we managed diving, dinner in Red Hook and getting around via cab. The most expensive ride was from the airport - on a shared van I think that was $20.

Coki Beach is a shallow snorkel there - not the best but the cruise ship snorkels go there. There were also snorkelers at Sapphire Beach Resort - IDK if it was good or because they were staying there. Dive In is on-site and rents snorkel gear.

From the East End/American Harbor though it's a 1/2 hr. via car ferry to St. John. Trunk Bay is known for snorkeling, there's snorkel trails there. Also part of the island is some sort of marine park reserve. The reason you likely don't want to stay on St. John is that it's mostly pricier higher-end resorts. This is slightly biased but it gives you an idea - St John Snorkeling The last ferry leaves around 9PM afaik.

Day trips to the BVI's might not be out of the question either, The Baths off Virgin Gorda are a famous snorkel spot. IDK who goes there except Low Key Watersports from St. John but there must be other options. Since it's the BVI's bring your passports. The fast ferries from St. Thomas to Tortola take an hour also - not sure if there's any good snorkeling there. Certain nights they run later. Low Key Watersports - Snorkel Trips - US Virgin Islands

I think that there's good snorkeling off St. Croix also. Cane Bay Wall is just off the north shore, there's the Frederickstad Pier and a short day boat ride away is the Buck Island NMP - that's all they allow there except for limited diving in two locations.

Antigua was pretty pricey the last time I checked.

 

[workingwwood]

Hi Kurt, I live in Antigua and can say Antigua is under rated for snorkeling and diving. Antigua can be pricy but doesn't need to be. It depends on where you go and if you are a savvy traveler. There are great resorts on the island like Sandals, the St. James club and Veranda Resort(the Bachelorette was shot here and will air again on Monday). These are pricy.
Jolly Beach Resort is on one of the best beaches on the island and is reasonably priced. It's an older hotel but has everything. You could also look into renting a villa in Jolly Harbour. If you look hard enough you can find good deals and it is a safe gated community. I used to live there for four years. Tons to do from Zip line, boat tours Stingray City etc,. Antigua also has great snorkeling and great diving. The best dive shop on the island with the best dives and snorkeling is Extreme Marine Scuba. Take a look at them on TripAdvisor. They are in English Harbour. The next best would be Indigo divers in Jolly Harbour. Antigua is truly one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean with the best and most beaches and tons to do.

Good luck and enjoy your trip where ever you go.
Cheers, John