Advice Needed - Family Friendly Dive Dive Destinations

[humanFish]

Hello Scubaboard!

I'm attempting to lock down a destination for trip this year in April for my family of four. My wife and I usually go to Coz without the kids once a year and stay at the Occidental Grand. Grand is fun and we get a lot of dives in, but they have no real kids club.

My kids are will be 8 and 4.5 at time of travel. We are looking for advice on hotels/resorts/locations that would be a good fit for us. Ideally, we are looking for a place where diving is close by and a kids club is available. In other words, a place the kids can be well entertained and cared for while my wife and I dive. Someone recomended the Presidente, in Coz, but looking for other destinations as well. We are travelling from Northern CA and focused on Mexico and/or the Caribbean.

Thanks for any help!

Humanfish

 

[scubatoys]

Humanfish,

Have you considered The Bahamas? Atlantis is great for kids and the diving is amazing. One of my favorites. Your kids would have more than enough to do and they have places where they can play and be watched over while you and the wife are diving.

 

[diversteve]

Sunscape - the AI resort on Curacao - is a former Breezes kids resort. Good beach for the kids since it's behind a breakwater also. Ocean Encounters has a shop - and I believe keeps a boat there. Besides the resort activities, they'll transport you to the Sea Aquarium (think small Seaworld) nearby and the Ostrich Farm is another attraction nearby. It's also five minutes from downtown Willemstad for shopping, dinner etc.
Our Resorts & Spas
Our location at Sunscape Curacao Resort | Ocean Encounters Diving Curacao

Sunscape also has a location at Sabor on Coz. Which seems odd because a friend with a timeshare there said part of Sabor was clothing optional.

Another option could be Beaches on Provo, Turks/Caicos. They have a dive op on site and seem to cater to kids of all ages, Kids Camp, Xbox area, etc. Local diving is 5-10mins. offshore but if you do the better diving off West Caicos/French Cay that's 45 min+ boat ride so you may not get back till after lunch. Turks and Caicos All Inclusive Family Resort - Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort Villages & Spa

Atlantis Resort on Nassau is geared around kids. If you dove with Bahama Divers you'd be back before noon - they leave from a dock across the bridge from Atlantis. The other operator - Stuart Cove's also picks up there but you have to factor in a 45min. ride each way with them to their south side location. It is of course not the cheapest option...lol Kids Activities & Entertainment | Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas

I realize it's not Mexico or the Caribbean but there's always Maui...the Grand Wailea is the one with the pool complex, water slides etc. You can shore dive there off Wailea Beach in front of the resort. And there's a dozen other shore dives within a 10min. drive. Plus the Kihei boats leave around 5:30-6:30, do two dives and are back around 11AM. Maui Family Resorts | Maui Family Vacation | Grand Wailea

 

[robint]

check out Hotel Cozumel....

Kids Club | Hotel Cozumel & Resort


and Allegro
Allegro Cozumel Resort - Cozumel Allegro - Allegro Cozumel - All Inclusive Specials

 

[Altamira]

Have you considered a Disney cruise where you can dive while the kids are enjoying the best kid's clubs that you can imagine? It does not get any better than a Disney kid's club--everything is designed to keep them busy and happy, and they do that very well.

 

[WizardTrips]

Diversteve is great with these recommendations! He beat me to the ones I was going to recommend although I must admit I think I learned from his posts previously and read up on some of those spots!

Sunscape is an AM Resort and most AM resorts seem to be great although I think the Secrets Aura Coz is a miss? Regardless that is not for families.