Suggestions sought - Family trip withsome diving

I have a vacation coming up in a week and am trying to plan a last minute getaway for the family with, hopefully, some diving mixed in for me. I will be the only diver, with spouse and two young children. I have only done 11 dives not including cert dives ( Key Largo ) and will be flying from NYC. I have been looking into the USVI primarily, as a Carribean option, but am open to suggestions. I am looking for the following:
Family friendly, including for toddlers
Reputable dive ops which offer an opportunity to hire a personal dive guide ( I did that in KL and feel safer than going with a random buddy)
Sandy beaches
Topside activities that we can all do together
We dont need nightlife or dining out on this trip and are open to both resorts or rentals.
Nonstop flights preferred but will consider other options if really appealing.
Budget - under $3,000 for flight, accomodations ( will need to pay for three tix only )

Thanks in advance!

Pity you not flying out of Toronto, got some great deals from here for November. But you can take a look at my website under destinations for ideas. Also under operators for reputable dive shops. SCUBA DESTINATION DEALS - HOME

Hope you weathered Sandy well.

Bryan

Look at divetrip.com for some pretty good last minute deals. Your budget is pretty tight, though. Good Luck.
DivemasterDennis

jejton,
have you considered bermuda?
plane ticket could be less.
most of the diving is shallow wrecks.
gulf stream pumps tropical life to bermuda.
there is lots to do topside.
regards,

I assumed Bermuda and upper carribean would have been hard hit by Sandy. What kind of weather and diving can I expect at Bermuda now? I have found some rentals in Placencia and AC that fit my budget but I'm not sure about the cost of flying from Belize Intl to either of those locations, as well as how the kids would tolerate it. AC looks like better diving but Placencia has more nondiving options for activities from what I can tell. Any comments?

Tropic Air is just over $180 r/t Belize City to Placencia. The Airline of Belize - Tropic Air
Maya Island Air is $201 inc. tax/etc. Maya Island Air Airline In Belize
I used next weekend, to get prices for your dates simulate booking a flight.

It's a pretty small somewhat loud single prop plane also - "how the kids would tolerate it"

And there's the landing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk0DxXmBExo

Due to the size of our aircraft there are certain limitations to the size and amount of carrying capacity and baggage. Tropic Air permits each passenger one (1) carry on and two (2) checked bags with the following dimensions:

Allowable carry on size accepted are personal bags such as a purse or a small backpack with a maximum weight of 15 lbs. Due to limited cabin space, all carry on must fit in your lap.

Each checked bag has a maximum weight of 33lbs., 62 linear inches with a width limited to 30 inches and height of 15 inches.

Click to expand...

Although Maya uses the same aircraft on some routes, they also have 3 ATR-72's. I would check where they use them since that's a factor in your decision.