Where to go in August?

[Seppia]

Hello everybody
I have been lurking a little while, it is time now to start my first topic!
My wife and I (NYC residents) are looking to go on a 7-10 day vacation beginning of August.

The ideal location should have the following characteristics:

- located in a place that is reasonably close to New York (Caribbean, east coast US, could stretch to California/Baja California).
- with good odds of having little or no rain in this time of the year (so I would avoid the areas in the hurricane belt).
- needs to have sandy beaches (I could dive three times a day for a week, my wife would get bored)
- possibly not crowded
- good diving!
- would want the support of a dive operation, we like to dive "relaxed", with the guidance of a dive master that knows the sites, where to look, average conditions, etc.

my wife and I are both divers, but I am more passionate than she is (I have around 100 dives, she has 30, and we started diving at the same time four years ago), that's why we "need" the sandy beaches so she can stay there while I have fun underwater.

Some of the places we were and what we liked/disliked, just to give you an idea of our tastes.

- Salt Cay, Turks and Caicos, and that's about as close as possible to the ideal spot: very nice diving, very few people, nice beaches.
- little cayman: best diving we've done so far but my wife missed the beaches.
- Bahamas: all great, a little overcrowded by our standards.

Thanks a lot in advance for your advice!

 

[diversteve]

Virgin Gorda has some of the nicest beaches in the Caribbean. Some are actually only accessible by boat as there's only a few roads on the whole island. Only 3K people live on the whole island. And there's no crime. We rented a villa and the property mgr. couldn't provide door keys, they'd never needed them in about 5 years. Mango Bay Resort is mid-range. From some of the villas there you walk off your patio onto the beach. Mango Bay Resort ? Caribbean Vacation, Beach Resort, Villa Rentals, Virgin Gorda

If money is no object there's Little Dix Bay Resort. Here's why your wife might like it:

Rosewood Little Dix Bay is located within close proximity to seven secluded beaches around Virgin Gorda that can only be accessed by sea. In addition to the three-quarter-mile stretch of sand the resort is located on, the resort’s staff will provide details about each of these beaches including the range of snorkeling opportunities, sunset views, level of privacy, sand color and quality. These beach drops are a true beach lover's delight.

Caribbean Beach Resort | British Virgin Islands Resorts | Rosewood Little Dix Bay

It's all boat diving with DiveBVI - truly a first class valet operation. We never touched out gear all week until it was returned clean and dry. Every dive is DM led. And they know where stuff lives. The Rhone is the signature wreck there (remember The Deep? - filmed there) The whole country (BVI's) is pretty casual. If you go Rock Cafe is a must - better than the name sounds.

For something similar to Salt Cay maybe Scrub Island? DiveBVI has a satellite shop there. It's nice but not the best beach in the BVI's. Home page | scrubisland
Or Cooper Island Beach Club - they have their own dive operation (Sail Caribbean Divers) just for their guests. Cooper Island Beach Club - A Caribbean paradise in the British Virgin Islands

To get to the BVI's fly into St. Thomas - that's a non-stop from JFK IIRC - then take the fast ferries over. http://www.bestofbvi.com/info/bviferry_sttCA_tortola.htm

Of course it's still in the hurricane belt.

To get out of that, maybe Curacao? It's so far south they seem to never have hurricane problems - once that I can recall since about the mid-90's.

Downtown can be crowded but probably 95% plus of the people live near Willemstad. Out west it's very quiet at night. There are some nice beaches - many are also some of the better dives and most have an on-site operator. So with a little planning you could dive while your wife stays on the beach. Most have on-site operators and refreshments also - a couple have nicer restaurants. With a few exceptions most rental properties are near but not on the beach.

There's also the Dive Bus - they do escorted shore dives and they pick you up at resorts near Willemstad and also private guides like Bas Harts. Plus there's any number of boat operators - most based at one of the resorts. There's also "Relaxed" Guided Dives - they do escorted shore diving in the west.

It's the same diving as Bonaire since they're 50 miles apart. Just easier to get to and more populated. There's really no good beaches on Bonaire except at Harbour Village Resort so I didn't recommend it.

We stayed in Lagun for a few days. For us it was too quiet. And no restaurants nearby. Kind of vertical in that area so many of the properties are 60'+ above the water on cliffs. Westpunt is a little better but that end of the island is more ironshore so the beaches aren't as nice. Pictures of a lot of the beach dive sites: Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Curacao, ABC Islands

The Marriott in Piscadera Bay has a nice beach also - their restaurant fronts it in one area. It's a nicer Marriott. Not the best shore dive there but Caribbean Sea Sports is on-site. And it's just far enough away from downtown to be reasonably quiet - only a couple mile drive to the heart of the shopping/restaurant/nightlife areas by the swinging bridge. Cruise pier is near the bridge also.

Curacao Travel- Caribbean, Curacao, Dutch Caribbean has all you need.

 

[drrich2]

my wife and I are both divers, but I am more passionate than she is (I have around 100 dives, she has 30, and we started diving at the same time four years ago), that's why we "need" the sandy beaches so she can stay there while I have fun underwater.

I was going to ask about whether you'd considered east Florida coastal locations, like Jupiter, West Palm Beach and Key Largo (not for a sandy beach in K.L., but you shouldn't have to drive too far to get to one), but it dawned on me that she's only got around 30 dives and I don't know you guys cert. level(s) or whether you like doing any deep wreck dives. If you don't have AOW or Deep, an operator may not let you dive the Spiegel Grove or Duane out of Key Largo, and I'm told that drift diving in Jupiter is often deep enough it's wise to dive with nitrox to get better bottom times there.

So, with her in mind (I've got a wife who's a 'dabbler diver,' similar dive count to yours, and only likes minimal current tropical 'aquarium' conditions with pretty coral reef), let me ask -

1.) What are your cert. levels? Got AOW? Nitrox?

2.) How deep do you guys like to go? What's the max. depth of your comfort zone?

3.) Are you mainly reef divers, or do you like to do some wrecks?

4.) Have you guys done any drift diving, and if so did you like it? I like drift diving fine, but my wife (who was impaired with a bad sinus infection at the time, and preoccupied with her 'why is he way back at the back of the pack' newbie diver brother at the time) did not like it (on 2 dives in Cozumel).

5.) Are land-based activities a big deal?

Richard.

 

[Seppia]

Wow thanks a LOT to both for the information, I've got plenty of stuff to look at now.
Thank you so much!
To respond to drrich2:
1) no we both have just Open Water, no nitrox.
2) I usually like to stay above 120 feet at all times, my wife prefers to stay above 70.
3) most of my dives have been wall/reef, I've done a few small wrecks in the Bahamas and I liked it a lot, I am sure my wife would love that as well.
4) I did (in Cozumel as well) and I like it, my wife would not, I am sure.
5) we originally come from a small city in the mountains of Italy (Como), so whenever we get a chance to get out of beautiful-but-uber-busy New York, we mostly look for quiet and peace.
This to say: the moment there's a place to find food we have all we need in terms of partying and social life

Regarding my wife's comfort zone, I just need the place to have some dives that fit her, not all of them, since she would dive with me once every three dives.
just to give you an example, the last time we went together was in Salt Cay: I did three dives/day, she would ask the dive master in the morning which one was going to be the easiest (so usually the second one in the morning) and she would join us for that one.

Again thank you VERY much for your help

 

[kasi]

if you are on a cruise ship you can take an excursion there where you will have your boat docked right there and no doubt that Virgin beach is one of the superb becah in the world many tourist go there to spend time...