Best Sandals for Diving

[Fouremco]

I realize that going to Sandals and doing some diving is not the same as going on a dive holiday, but sometimes comprimises are necessary within a family. So-o-o-o, is there anyone who has gone diving with Sandals who can give me some insight as to the quality of the dive sites? I've dived with Sandals at Whitehouse (Jamiaca), where the reefs were dead and the sealife almost non-existant, but I'm hoping that some of the other Sandals offer better opportunities for a decent dive.

 

[Belmont]

I can tell you about the 4 Sandals I stayed at.

Whitehouse: you already know that one, that's where I got hooked on diving.

Dunns River: standard Jamaican diving, there's a wreck in the area, nice to see,

Royal Carribean/Montego Bay: two resorts that are covering the same area, you will get better diving there, nurse sharks, eagle rays, big lobsters, the possibility of meeting some local dolphins, two air planes, a wall dive, an area where you swim between huge coral columns. Royal has a smaller boat as of march 07. Very satisfying diving, oh there's a tug boat wreck and a swim through called the Widow maker, say hello to Raymond at Royal Carribean.

Negril: very good diving, different landscapes, dolphins, no big fishes but a lot of colourful ones.

It pays to get friendly with the dive staff, if the group of divers is fairly competent the will take you to some nice spots they don't take every one to.

If you go to Negril, say hello to Tina and Josh for me.

 

[Doc]

Wow- somebody who has been to them all and has a pretty good bunch of observations!

What were the individual resort's dive operations like, the boats, the gear storage, and all the rest of that kind of thing?

 

[Papa_Bear]

I say Crocs are by fare the best!

 

[ToddK]

My wife and I spent our honeymoon at Sandals in St. Lucia in 2000. I got a couple of dives in (prior to being certified). As I recall, it was nice, with plenty of fish, though at the time I had nothing to compare too!

 

[cfelliot]

We went to Sandals Negril in 2006. It was ok, but as you’re already said, not as good as a dive resort. The dive masters were excellent within the situation they were faced with. The fish were small, but if you’re willing to look, lots of interesting stuff.

Their compressor was having problems during our stay and fills could range from 2500-2800psi.

It was very mixed boat of people. The entire spectrum was covered from DMs on vacation to some people that I don’t think belonged unsupervised.

There were about 16-20 divers per boat with 3 DMs.

The Sandals boat also covers for the Beaches resort. There was lots of wasted time dealing with both.

Only one dive per boat trip. The pain was lugging all the stuff back to the patio and back again for the afternoon dive. No dive dock, you load from the beach.

I don’t fault the DMs for the above, it’s just the system for this type of resort. I still had a good time. I’ve been to Sandals Negril 5 times since 1995, diving only once, and have always enjoyed myself.

 

[deco_martini]

I say Crocs are by fare the best!

Beat me to it.

 

[Belmont]

If you are interested in a good 5 star resort with fantastic food and services plus top notch diving: Club Med Columbus Isle in the Bahamas.

Fantastic wall dives, they operate with two catamarans and offer three dives daily.

Last march I've seen 4 hammer head sharks, big snappers and other 2-3 foot trigger fish, many groupers, one they call Bob, we could pet him and he followed us during the dive. There was also a clown fish coming around sometimes, the locals called him Reed. .

 

[Belmont]

I almost forgot, talk about dive oriented resort: they have an hyperbaric chamber right on site.

 

[stevephilanyc]

I’ve been to Negril, Montego Bay, the Grand Bahamian, and St. Lucia. I thought the diving was okay (not great) at all of them, but the staff in St. Lucia was not at very accommodating with full boats and some days we were unable to dive since they were full prior to us arriving. (The dive staff at the other places was okay.) After four trips I’m not certain we would go back to Sandals based on the dive experience in St. Lucia—despite the really nice resorts.

Steve