Luxury Accommodations and Really Good Diving?

[FPDocMatt]

As a rule, really good diving does not coexist very well with luxury accommodations (excluding liveaboards), but if you're willing to compromise a little bit on the diving and a little bit on the luxury, you should be able to find something that meets your needs.

That's an interesting statement. I wonder why luxury accommodations and really good diving don't coexist very well?

[Hawkwood]

Think about it for a moment. Are the same folks who complain about paying anything more than dealer cost for equipment going to pay $400 to $500 a night for "luxury" accommodations, especially when the point of the exercise is to spend as little time as possible in or around the accommodations?

We have certainly been to very nice places that offer above average accommodations along with fantastic diving - the key is the diving (or flats fishing) comes first and they are not inexpensive:

Southern Cross Club - Diving and fishing vacations on Little Cayman Island in barefoot luxury

Belize Scuba Diving | Belize Flats Fishing | Belize Private Island Resort Vacation | Turneffe Island Resort

Fiji Secluded Private Luxury Green Resort

None are "luxury" if you mean a five star Fairmont hotel type luxury, but all cater to small numbers of guests and feature private bungalows. However, they are luxurious in their own way.

At Koromakawa you will be the only people there - only one unit. Diving is just you and the guide - nobody else. Imagine diving five days, never see another dive boat, and dive on sites that have never been dived on before.

Oh, and I should add, including airfare and associated costs, for each of those three trips alone, we probably could have done a half dozen trips to Cozumel, Roatan, Vancouver Island, San Diego, etc. Heck, could have traveled to Hawaii at least a couple of times for the same cost of each one of those trips.

[Darnold9999]

Also consider market size. The number of people that are able to do luxury trips is quite small, the number of people that are able to do luxury trips and are avid divers is tiny. Does not really make sense from a business standpoint to build a luxury resort to only cater to that small market. You might include the market, but unlikely you would want to create a resort just for that market.

[katepnatl]

Personally, i wouldn't want a lot of $$$ put towards true luxury accommodations bc it would be completely wasted on me. If I'm doing the amount of diving I typically do on a vacation, the only aspect of the accommodations I'm paying attention to at night, is the bed. Now, of course, that's once a certain baseline is met, of course.

I have to say, in looking back, that my most fond memory of a land-based dive vacation is KBR in Indonesia. The grounds are just absolutely gorgeous and the staff is great. And there is a spa there, and a nice pool, so a non-diving partner may enjoy it, if they are looking for relaxation. I wouldn't call it 5-star personally, but I *would* go back (in a minute) and that is saying a lot, with all the places I haven't been. What was the question again, I just got caught up in my memories of that resort .

Oh yeah - to answer the specific question - I would guess that luxurious accommodations simply aren't as important to divers bc they aren't spending as much time ON PROPERTY... AND, they get their eye candy thrills by what they see *under water*. Just my guess.

[fire_diver]

Those two terms are at odds with each other because of demographics. In order for a location to have "luxury" occomodations, it must have a well devoloped infrastructure, large volumes of traffic to move people and supplies. All that movement creates runnoff that hurts the reefs and fish, or the increased boating, snorkeling, fishing, etc damages them.

On the other hand, if you want pristine underwater environments you CAN'T have all those other people around. This is why liveaboards typically give you the best dive sites.

[FPDocMatt]

Those two terms are at odds with each other because of demographics. In order for a location to have "luxury" occomodations, it must have a well devoloped infrastructure, large volumes of traffic to move people and supplies. All that movement creates runnoff that hurts the reefs and fish, or the increased boating, snorkeling, fishing, etc damages them.

On the other hand, if you want pristine underwater environments you CAN'T have all those other people around. This is why liveaboards typically give you the best dive sites.

Ah, there's a logical, insightful reply. Thanks!

[TSandM]

In order for a location to have "luxury" occomodations, it must have a well devoloped infrastructure, large volumes of traffic to move people and supplies.

I'm not sure that's true. One of the most amazingly luxurious and elegant places I've ever seen is Petit St. Vincent, in the Grenadines. There is virtually no infrastructure, and I'm not sure how they maintain the level of luxury that they do. I would suspect there would be great diving there, but I don't know where the nearest dive op would be.

There are GORGEOUS, high-end hotels in the South Pacific, with rooms out over the water. And there are active dive ops there, although I think for many places, the diving is not that great. But the Hotel Kia Ora on Rangiroa looks like one of the ultra-luxe places, and the diving in Rangiroa is as good as I have done anywhere.

And I believe there are some liveaboards that are pretty posh . . .

[diversteve]

And I believe there are some liveaboards that are pretty posh . . .

Arenui and Pelagian are two - Wakatobi's pretty upscale for a land based resort also. More of a cruise ship with diving would be the Paul Gauguin cruises.

[Thiad]

I have to say that Barefoot Caye does a fantastic job on both accounts. No, it's not the Four Seasons, but their accommodations are beautiful, the food is glorious, the people fantastic and the diving is spectacular. It was truly a memorable trip for me and one I hope to repeat soon.

[FPDocMatt]

Wakatobi's pretty upscale for a land based resort also.

All I can say is, Amazing!

Some day, I'm definitely going to Wakatobi. Wow!

---------- Post Merged at 02:51 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 02:40 AM ----------

I have to say that Barefoot Caye does a fantastic job on both accounts. No, it's not the Four Seasons, but their accommodations are beautiful, the food is glorious, the people fantastic and the diving is spectacular. It was truly a memorable trip for me and one I hope to repeat soon.

Just checked out their web site. http://www.barefootcay.com/ Also fabulous! That one's now on my list too!