Upscale dive resort at a bargain?

[FPDocMatt]

Okay, as a beginning diver, I've been to Sunset House on Grand Cayman (twice) and Hotel Cozumel in Cozumel. I'm also a beginner to the Caribbean. I was initially disappointed at these two resorts because they weren't what I've always seen in the movies when somebody goes to a Caribbean resort. I now understand that these 2 places are less expensive because divers want to dive, not be served drinks with umbrellas in them.

But just for a conrast, I wouldn't mind going to a more upscale resort to do a dive trip. My wife and I are planning to go on a trip to the Caribbean in January together. She has her open water certification, but no experience beyond her first dive trip, and she may not want to spend the whole week diving. So I'd like to take her someplace really nice, with aesthetically pleasant acoutrements, room service, movies in the rooms, a spa, etc.

But I'll want to do some diving, so a resort with a dive op on the property, a boat dock right there, etc, would be nice for me.

We got on the Sandals web site and looked at their resorts. Some are more expensive than others. I really liked the look of the one that charges $500 a day, but I absolutely don't want to spend $500 a day! My wife said she might be able to get on Priceline and find a luxurious resort for a bargain price.

Also I want to dive in water that's at least 83 degrees, so that rules out the Bahamas and South Florida in January.

One other thing. Neither of us drinks, and we're not into consuming mass quantities of food, so an all-inclusive may be a waste of money for us.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[t4e]

Mayan Riviera has really nice resorts if you don't mind that they are mostly around 45 minutes bus ride from Cancun airport, to me its worth the time.
we were at this resort in May Gran Bahia Principe Tulum- Hotels in Riviera Maya
they have dive shop on the premises but there are many more along that area that have their own dive shops

personally the AI is not about how much you eat and drink, we don't go to stuff ourselves to get our money's worth, its about the convenience and about the variety offered, everyone still has at least lunch and dinner in one day
you also get 3 a-la-cart with a week stay so that offers even more variety

 

[calicant]

Harbour Village Luxury Hotel Bonaire

 

[vladimir]

Yes, Harbour Village Beach Club is the closest thing to a luxury resort that I have seen in close proximity to quality Caribbean diving. The beachfront suites are spacious and well-furnished, the beach is perhaps the nicest on the island, the dive operation is well-run, and the restaurant, La Balandra, serves great food in a really pleasant setting out over the water. If you are accustomed to quality hotels the level of service might not meet your expectations—laundry can take 36 hours, for example, and they are not really set up for room service, though they will improvise as best they can. The diving out front is not up to the standards of most of the Bonaire dive sites, but if you wade in and swim south you can get to a decent reef easily.

Turneffe Island Resort is another worth looking at. They make some concessions to the remote setting, so it is also not up to the standards of a true luxury hotel, but it's close to some great diving and the private cabanas are quite nice. They sent me a 40% off offer recently, if I recall correctly.

 

[Scott]

Wakatobi Dive Resort - Our Accommodations

 

[diversteve]

Some to look at - I travel in low season so some may price out of your budget in winter.
Not all have room service but all have a beach and most an on-site dive operator.

Leverick Bay Resort & Marina, Virgin Gorda, BVI's - almost an AI due to location.
Little Dix Bay, Virgin Gorda - probably well over your budget - but exceedingly nice.
Mango Bay Resort, Virgin Gorda - may have families there - short drive to diveshop.

Marriott Frenchman's Reef, St. Thomas - may shuttle you to dive?
Bolongo Bay Resort, St. Thomas - probably low-end for what you want.
Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas - probably over budget.

Marriott Emerald Beach and Casino, Curacao - nice Marriott.
Lions Dive & Beach Resort, Curacao
Lodge Kura Hulanda, Curacao - not sure about their beach - also 45mins. from town.

Barefoot Caye, Roatan (AI) with a few local food options in French Harbor nearby.

Utopia Village, Utila (AI) - somewhat isolated, all resort travel is via their boats.

 

[Wookie]

If you are a Club Med type, Club Med Columbus Island had great diving, plus all of the Club Med amenities. Like going to Macdonalds, you know what you're going to get....

 

[Damselfish]

I'm sure you can find a deal on a nice resort on Priceline, but in my experience mainstream travel sites tend not to handle many of the places in good dive locations, especially resorts that happen to be reasonably well set up for diving, so don't rely just on that angle. For deals, sign up on mailing lists of places that interest you or keep on eye on their websites for seasonal specials. Some ideas-

Curacao:
Curacao Beach Resort | Lodge Kura Hulanda and Beach Club | Curacao Resort
Curacao Hotels | Marriott Curacao Beach Resort & Emerald Casino | Piscadera Bay

Cayman:
Welcome to Compass Point (nice condos, convenient boat dives with great op, but not an umbrella drink kind of resort unless you make your own.)
Cayman Resort | Vacation Packages from Cobalt Coast (nice small boutique hotel with great owner, no real beach here but still nice pool on the water to hang with bar and restaurant right there, shore diving on site can get blown out but you can dive from their other location. boat may leave from inn sometimes on weather, often they drive you to their boat at a nearby dock (for weather or logistics reasons)
Grand Cayman Resort | The Reef Cayman Islands All Inclusive (most resorty of these 3, dive not directly from there but dive with Ocean Frontiers at Compass Point, down the road and they will pick you up.)
Also see if any of the resorts on Little Cayman would suit you - Little Cayman Beach Resort, Southern Cross Club, Pirates Point - rather different from each other but all have their fans. Depends what you are looking for.

St Vincent: (getting to St Vincent is a slight pain as only smaller planes fly in but off the beaten track and good diving.)
Young Island Resort, St. Vincent & The Grenadines
Buccament Bay | Hotel St Vincent | Hotel Grenadines (I have not seen this place would love to hear from someone who has actually stayed and dove here.)

Some resorts on Grenada or St Lucia might work for you. Also, besides Turneffe Island in Belize, might be some other resorts that would fit the bill but I don't know much about them - Isla Marisol, Roberts Grove, Hamanasi, Coco Plum.

Probably lots of Indo-Pacific options if you want to travel further.

 

[farsidefan1]

Just a couple of notes to keep in mind. If you want 84 degrees in January you might want to consider Fiji or somewhere else in the pacific. Roatan in December my computer shows 81 degrees. Bonaire in Feb was 80 degrees. I doubt either one will be any warmer in January. Coz was 85 in August but hopefully someone who has wintered there will chime in. Again, I would be shocked if you could find temps of 84+ along the Coz or
Cancun sites in January. It's not going to be alot warmer anywhere in the Carib in January. In the pacific on the other hand it is mid summer.

 

[calicant]

........The diving out front is not up to the standards of most of the Bonaire dive sites, but if you wade in and swim south you can get to a decent reef easily.

We like the reef (Something Special) that you can swim to but found the journey under the marina entrance to be a very interesting part of the dive. We did it twice a day after boat or other shore dives and sometimes the second one after dark - once when the current was so strong the white buoy was fully submerged. There was a yellow frogfish, bait balls of various fish and always plenty of other critters to attract our attention - on the last night we spotted a snake eel. The outflow from brackish tidal lakes into the marina is filled with nutritious stuff which attracts a lot of fish. We watched a manta ray swim along the beach while we ate breakfast early one morning and they regularly visit the marina entrance. The dive out front of Harbour Village was our favorite except for the two East Coast dives and La Dania's Leap drift to Karpata. If the reef on the other side is known as "Something Special", I would rename the dive from Harbour Village as "Something Pretty Interesting if not Pretty"!

We liked Buddy Reef too and dived that twice a day after boat or other shore dives when we stayed there the week before.