What's a good destination for divers AND non-divers availiable from Canada

[dvleemin]

Hi,
My wife and I (divers) want to go on a vacation with my cousin and his wife (non-divers). Now we want to go somewhere that is reasonably priced and easy to get to. My cousin's wife will like an all-inclusive resort of some sort with a nice beach. The live in Vancouver and we live in Edmonton, so something that leaves out of western Canada (we can fly to Van before if needed).

The first thing we looked at is charters. The problem is the number of destinations charters go to has been seriously reduced. We were originally going to go to Cayo Coco in Cuba, which would have been a nice combination of diving and beaches.

My wife and I realize this isn't going to be the ultimate dive vacation, but we're willing to sacrifice that for going with my cousin. We would like to do SOME diving though. Right now my cousin has suggested Punta Cana in the DR, but that doesn't really interest me.

Any thoughts? I'm getting desperate here.

Darryl

 

[Natasha]

If you want to fly Air Canada, you can fly to Toronto and go non stop from there to:
Montego Bay
The Bahamas
Bermuda
or St. Lucia
Or you can all meet down in Chicago or LAX and take a number of flights to the Caribbean or Mexico.

 

[dvleemin]

Thanks Natasha,
I was afraid that was the answer I'd get.

Darryl

 

[JeffG]

My wife was there late last year on a charter. Direct flight from Edmonton.

There is some diving there, or you can take a day and go to Coz.

Thats what we are going to do next year. (My wife is the Non diver)

 

[dvleemin]

Thanks Jeff,
Unfortunately my cousin and his wife got married there about a year and a half ago there. So they don't want to go back

Any other suggestions?

Darryl

 

[AquaTec]

Belize, Cozumel...maybe Hawaii

 

[mexman]

Having just returned from Cuba before Christmas, it certainly gets my vote. It certainly is a whole lot easier for Canadians to visit than it is for our American friends. Having said that, I was surprised at the number of American traveling to Cuba from Canada, since they don't stamp your passport, it obviously doesn't pose a problem for those Americans that want to visit.

Mexico is still on of my all time favorite places to visit, in fact, I'll be leaving for Playa del Carmen in about 4 days. Our second visit to Mexico this year. If you've tried Mexico before, why not give Cuba a try.

 

[Northeastwrecks]

It appears that you'll need at least one connection, but how about San Diego?

I did a very quick search on expedia.com. It looks like you can connect in either Seattle or L.A., depending on the airline and your departure point. Neither of those is too far out of the way. Moreover, you could drive from L.A. to San Diego in a few hours if you really don't want to connect, thereby making it a direct flight. The Pacific Coast Highway is absolutely spectacular.

 

[dvleemin]

AquaTec once bubbled...
Belize, Cozumel...maybe Hawaii

Where can you get charters to Belize? WE thought about Hawaii, but its way overrated and expensive.

Darryl

 

[dvleemin]

mexman once bubbled...
Having just returned from Cuba before Christmas, it certainly gets my vote. It certainly is a whole lot easier for Canadians to visit than it is for our American friends. Having said that, I was surprised at the number of American traveling to Cuba from Canada, since they don't stamp your passport, it obviously doesn't pose a problem for those Americans that want to visit.

Mexico is still on of my all time favorite places to visit, in fact, I'll be leaving for Playa del Carmen in about 4 days. Our second visit to Mexico this year. If you've tried Mexico before, why not give Cuba a try.

My wife and I went to Varadero 2 years ago, so we didn't want to go to that part of cuba. We would love to go to Cayo Coco, b ut charters no longer go there.

Darryl