Destination Wedding + Diving...Any ideas

[er1n99]

My dive buddy and I are getting married...(April 2010)

We're having a destination wedding, but don't know where to go. Our ideal choice is going to Palau and having the shindig there, however, we figure that we'd like our parents to come and airfare is expensive... So, we've set our sights on the Caribbean and was looking for help from ScubaBoard...

5-7 days with the family in wedding location (with good diving). Then 5-7 days somewhere else by ourselves with really good diving. We're looking for the wedding location to be somewhere where there is enough stuff to do for non-divers as well as good diving for the dive group. In so far as the second location, we have no preference as to where, just somewhere that would be easy to get to from the first location. And we are open and would be excited to do a liveaboard.

Our current shortlist includes USVI, Belize, and Turks & Caicos, but we are open to suggestions and hope that you guys have great ideas/experiences that you can share with us.

Also, on a semi-unrelated note, does anyone have a travel agent that they recommend that can make all the hotel/flight and possible "excursion" arrangements for us and the guests?

Thanks in advance!

[RoatanMan]

I'd take everybody to Bahamas Nassau or Freeport. Let 'em go nuts.

After that, you can get on a liveaboard or fly easily to San Salvador and have great Caribbean diving, very remote and cozy.

Your "short list" won't really fulfill all of your needs, but the Belize option might if you get them all out to one of the larger cays, first. That's expensive, and the level of topside entertainment is about 2% of Nassau. It's easy to get "good" diving by Caribbean standards, but "really good diving", well- that's not so nearby and accessable.

[Rhone Man]

You could do a USVI/BVI split.

[robint]

Not Caribbean, but price would be about the same: I would do Kona, Hawaii for the wedding area (lots of topside activities for party), then jump on the Kona Aggressor for a week of serious diving.

for Caribbean:
I would look at Cozumel, it is probably the cheapest place and they do lots of beachside weddings. Topside stuff available, too.
Next choice would be Playa del Carmen or Cancun area, right across the channel. Lots of things for the group to do, then you could go over to Cozumel for a week of diving.

[pafindr]

I've heard that Saba is beautiful and the diving is great.

[Cecil]

Or do the wedding in Aruba then jump over to Bonaire for the best part.

[Rickg]

Location - Wananavu Beach Resort, Viti Levu, Fiji. Here is a link to my trip report from our 25th wedding anniversary trip.

Fiji Trip Report

Travel Agent - Susan Young at Island Dreams.

Island Dreams Travel scuba diving vacations, cozumel scuba diving, dive travel, dive resorts, diving trips

And if you click on the Picasa link in my signature line below you will see the pictures (both above and underwater) from our trip.

[er1n99]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, keep 'em comin...

We're really trying to stay away from Mexico (we've done Puerto Vallarta and Cancun already), as well as trying to at least do the "wedding" part in a place whose official language is English, just so that the hassles of translating documents and whatnot is partially avoided...I realize that getting married in another country (or even USVI) is harder than getting married at home and comes with certain hassles, we just don't want to add having to translate things from Spanish (of which we don't speak).

Thanks for the travel agent recommendation I'll give her a call. Anyone ever use "World of...Diving" out of LA/Hermosa Beach, CA?

[Diver Lori]

If getting legally married in another country is an issue. Do the justice of the peace thing here and then have your ceremony wherever you decide to go. No legal issues that way.

[Rickg]

I forgot to say that Kai Viti Divers is no longer in business and Wananavu has a new dive op with a new 31' boat so there shouldn't be any issue with the diving.