Suggestions needed - planning a trip third week in March 2013

We are hoping someone can give us some advice...we want to go on a fab holiday to the Caribbean..never been there before. hubby is an advanced open water nitrox diver so he wants lots of diving. I want snorkelling and a great pool and beach. We both want luxury...no screaming kids....we want to fly from either Dublin or the uk. (we live 50% of the time in either Manchester or Dublin)...we had thought of Bonaire as it has direct flights Dublin/Amsterdam/Bonaire which appeals but dont know much about it....have heard so much about all the caribbean that we really dont know where to start. we have a large budget so thats not really an issue...prob anywhere around 7000 uk but we can go higher. we would like 10 days prob.

I would like somewhere that is safe, someone of you may have heard of the Irish woman who was murdered on her honeymoon in Mauritius which frankly appalled us all in Ireland...we have dived in the Red Sea and in Malta which we love...

thanks in advance !:cool2:

For more luxury or specialty I would look into Sandals, Couples, Secrets, Iberostars, Four Seasons and Intercontinental properties. You will have to look at each to determine if they are adults only. I understand that Iberostar in Jamaica is adults only but the Iberostar in Cozumel Mexico is not. Some of these are AI but some are not.

Most all inclusives will be in places like Jamaica, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. Some also in St. Lucia and Antigua and a few in the Bahamas.

I know that Sandals and possibly Four Seasons will have good and/or multiple large pools.

I can't really make any recommendations about snorkeling.

As for destinations, you could consider:
St. Lucia (Sandals, Anse Chastanet or similar). The diving is decent but not great beaches overall IMO. Topside views are spectacular around the pitons
Grand Cayman - I think Grand Cayman is crowded but 7 mile beach is good. Good diving and the hotels can be upscale. I am not recommending Little Cayman or Cayman Brac as these are more a dive desination.
Cozumel Mexico- The Intercontinental is good but not alot of beach (almost none). I believe children are allowed. Cozumel Palace is high end and has a pool but not huge and very little beach.
Turks and Caicos - I have not been but understand they have some higher end hotels and good diving.
Bahamas - Can have higher end properties on different islands. I have been to New Providence (Nassau) and Exuma. The beaches on Exuma are the best we've seen (Caribbean, Hawaii and Fiji). I am not a fan of Bahamas diving for the most part.
USVI and BVI - I have not been but USVI may have some higher end options and decent diving around both. USVI may have high cruise ship traffic. Not sure about BVI.
Bonaire could be good especially for shore diving. I would think they have high end accomodations. I would check the forums on this board for Bonaire advice.

As for safety, I have not had a problem at any destination including Cozumel Mexico which I consider safe. Street smarts are a must at any location.

Direct flights are nice but some of these you may need to connect throught the US or Puerto Rico.

In March you should avoid most honeymoon couples at places like Sandals and others. You should not run into spring break crowds at the higher end resorts but could in cities or spring break desinations. Cancun (MX) is known for that but Cozumel (MX) much less for example.

we want to go on a fab holiday...both want luxury...no screaming kids

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Kids should be less of a problem in March since - at least in the U.S. - most are still in school. As mentioned above you may run into spring break crowds in some areas. Primarily in Cancun, Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and other Mexican destinations - maybe Nassau, Bahamas also since it's close to the U.S.

Here's a list to get started - LMK if any are of interest for more details - several are going to really stretch your budget.

www.caymanislands.ky
Grand Cayman Vacation | Marriott Seven Mile Beach Resorts
The Westin Grand Cayman Seven Mile Beach Resort & Spa, Grand Cayman

Beautiful by Nature - Turks and Caicos Islands - Turks and Caicos Tourist Board
All Inclusive Turks and Caicos Resort & Residences Caribbean Luxury,Restaurants,Kids Welcome,Grace Bay Beach Providenciales

Welcome to the Official Website of the BVI Tourist Board
Caribbean Luxury Resorts, Hotels & Villas | Rosewood Little Dix Bay | British Virgin Islands
Biras Creek Resort - Biras Creek Resort British Virgin Islands

Also look at Caneel Bay or the Westin on St. John in the USVI's. The Ritz-Carlton on St. Thomas's East End is nice also.

Curacao Travel- Caribbean, Curacao, Dutch Caribbean
Marriott Curacao Beach Resort & Emerald Casino | Piscadera Bay
Curacao Beach Resort | Lodge Kura Hulanda and Beach Club | Curacao Resort

scarke,
If thinking about Bonaire here are the places I would look at given your budget. Bonaire doesn't have a lot of beach per se but sand is over rated to me . Luxury is hard to define for me as well. This are all nice places. Two are north and two south of town. All of them I would stay at. Only capt don's is a resort. others are smaller type places. have never stayed at any of these as I don't have the money
Bellafonte and BelMar are south of town and don't have a restaurant onsite. Both are ocean side and you can swim snorkel dive right off their dock. Other two are north and ocean side too. both have restaurants onsite. there are more luxurious options but not sure the diving snorkeling would be that great on site.
anyway my thoughts.

Bellafonte Chateau de la Mer
BelMar Condominiums
Den Laman Condominiums
Captain Don's Habitat

Bonaire = DIVING! lots of diving 3-5 a day easy. Few kids except on kids week at Buddy. Bonaire != Luxury. (!= is NOT) it is not a slum but it is not luxury, Great diving cheap. about 4k (couple) all up from here.

actually if you really want luxury then I think Grand Cayman or one of the St. Islands, Maybe look at Little Dix Bay resort in BVi. we do BVI on a boat, and with friends it is about 2.5k a couple for 10 days, would need to stay at Little Dix Bay or one of the other 5* s to get near 7k(us) but then you get the attention.


Would not go to cozumel, not luxury, about 3k a couple for a week. Sorry that is all the islands I can think about at the moment.

For real luxury and good diving plus snorkeling I highly recommend Turneffe Island Resort: Belize Scuba Diving | Belize Flats Fishing | Belize Resort | Turneffe Island Resort

mblazer brings up another option I meant to include. There's some very nice resorts on the Belize mainland also. From land diving is all done by boat - there's also longer boat trips to some of the best of the atoll diving. Staying on Turneffe you're already there - but it's a little isolated. There's only two days per week that their boat goes back to shore to exchange guests.

What's nice about staying in some of the mid-country onshore locations is (borrowed from Hamanasi):

We are only a day trip away from Mayan ruins, caves, jungle rivers, birding, horseback riding, rainforest trekking, norkeling, diving, fishing, local culture and more.

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Roberts Grove claims the best beaches in Belize are there also.

Some to look at:

The Best of Belize Hotels & Belize Resorts | Welcome to Hamanasi!
Belize Resorts | Belize Hotels | Belize Diving | Placencia | Luxury Beach Resort - Robert's Grove
Turtle Inn, Luxury Resorts in Belize - Turtle Inn at Coppola Resorts

Gosh what a great response....will look into all of the suggestions. I had read on the web that Sandals etc are not great for diving ? More interested in honeymoon type thing ?....Maybe if he wants the best diving, I cant have the best resort !..........will have a look at Turks and C....and Grand Cayman...Mexico is not on..Uncle lived there till 2 months ago and has now moved back to Ireland...his stories are scary and there are so many other places to go anyway. I am presuming that weather wise end of March is ok ? Bonaire posters seem obsessed with mossies....?

Diving with Sandals can be conservative. There are quite a few "honeymoon" divers. They tend to surface as a group so if there is someone who uses up thier air quickly, the group gets the dive cut short. I would say most sites are more conservative but I did get good dives in St. Lucia. They are safe and tend to have good equipment and boats. They are very safety conscious. I see them as more rigid but that based on my experience with other locations and dive ops. It's not horrible just not great.

You can go outside the resort for a dive op but it can be expensive but allows more freedom. The diving is included in Sandals price. I have not seen anyone using Nitrox so that is a question for them.

March will be out of hurricane season but you could still get rain. Maybe slightly chilly in the evenings but depends on tolerance.

Turks & Caicos seems largely a luxury destination and might suit you. I was there a couple of months ago, but at Club Med (meets your no-kids requirement, but probably not your desired luxury level). Lots of big, posh resorts, almost all of them on stunning beach, though I don't know which ones might be best for you. The diving was very good and sharky, once I left the resort and went with an independent dive operation that dove the West Caicos--diving Grace Bay, where the resorts are, doesn't seem to be all that great. But the independent dive ops make it easy--they generally pick you up at your hotel and drive to where they dock. It's a short ride.

I like Bonaire, though I don't think of it as the epitome of Caribbean luxury. I haven't been there for a few years--maybe the hotels have gotten fancier, in which case you might be okay. I know Cozumel, our favorite standby, is out, but I wouldn't necessarily rank it on your uncle's stories, unless he actually lived on Cozumel, which so far seems little affected by some of the troubles associated with other parts of the country. I imagine you could find something to please you in Grand Cayman, too. I thought the diving in T&C and Grand Cayman were similarly very good.

If Bonaire is a fairly easy flight for you, I'm wondering if Aruba or Caracao might be as well--I'm not sure how the diving compares (I know a lot of people dive Caracao, at least), but I'm thinking they might have some fancier resorts.

Does topography count? Islands like Bonaire can be downright desert-like. Places like Dominica (and I assume St. Lucia) are more lushly tropical, Caymans and Caicos sort of in-between.

Also, your budget sounds big enough that if you wanted, you could probably rent yourself a nice little villa with staff in a lot of spots.