Sandals resort next June. Going to dive some. Antigua or Grenada?

[eleanordream]

So the wife and I are looking at going to a sandles for our tenth anniversary next June. They are having some great specials right now but can't decide between the two islands. We are both certified and I'm working on my dive master. She is just ow cert and really likes good viz. she not much of a wreck diver but I think the statue garden would be cool. Any recommendations between the two islands for a special anniversary and some cool diving? Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[RJP]

Antigua diving sucks. Badly.

 

[Hawkwood]

We've been to Antigua and dived, but did not go for the diving. Antigua is a nice island, but I wouldn't be going specifically for diving. The west side can be rough and the vis is not that stellar. Limited number of sites too.

Can't tell you about Grenada itself, because we dived in Carriacou, south of the island of Grenada.

 

[Cateri55]

Just returned from sandals Grenada and dove all week...good operator and nice sites..you can't go wrong .

 

[drbill]

It depends on what kind of diving you want to do. I was supposed to go to my niece's wedding at a Sandals in Jamaica. When the price for a solo room rose to over $500/night and I heard reports about the "unlimited diving" being two dives a day lasting as short as 30 days, I decided it wasn't for me. However, it might be all you want.

 

[marine9]

Just returned from sandals Grenada and dove all week...good operator and nice sites..you can't go wrong .

Who did you dive with while there? Was it with the resort (Sandals) itself? Going down in January with my wife and are looking for a good
dive shop.

 

[DiverGrrl]

Sandals Grenada is beautiful with great food and amenities. We were there in May of this year. But we were a bit disappointed with the dive op there on site, and the diving. When they found our last dives were 7 months ago, they made us do check out in the pool, including removing and clearing the mask, retrieving the reg, and buoyancy control tests. I have over 500 dives and am a Master Diver, so this seemed a bit overkill. Also, at that time at least, the vis wasn't that great, and it was one dive at a time (which might be better now, i think they were still waiting to get a second boat to service the snorkelers at that time). We paid extra to go to the sculpture garden (the reason we went to Grenada), and while I was glad to see it, it has certainly taken a lot of damage from storms over the last few years. Some almost completely buried and difficult to see. The dive masters seemed to rush us through it, as they only go out in the late afternoon. So I highly recommend the Sandals resort... but not sure about the diving. I look forward to more recent reports as this new club gets its footing... and Grenada is known for its wrecks, so maybe there are better dive options than this.

 

[maat1976]

I did my AOW with Devotion2Ocean in Grenada. You kinda do need it for the wrecks, which were pretty cool, my fav being Shakem. I would des recommend them as a dive ago and Grenada for diving in general. I only had 11 dives when I arrived and I got to see some amazing stuff.

Claudia

 

[editmojo]

Haven't been to Antigua but just back from Grenada. The diving was better than I expected.

However Sandals probably won't take you to the best sites. Bianca C and Shakem are pretty deep. Sandals doesn't require computers so bottom time is short. As someone mentioned, 30 min. is about all you get. And you'll be with divers of all skill levels. Everyone is treated as a new diver. It's been my experience that you will have little say in the sites you will go to. At Sandals in St lucia it was 1 morning dive and 1 afternoon dive and if they didn't have a minimum number they would cancel. So if you wanted your 2 dives it took most of the day.

That being said, We've stayed at Couples and Sandals and had a great time. If you just want to get in the water then you will have fun. If you want to see specific sites and get max. bottom time than arrange for an off-site op.

 

[drbill]

At Sandals in St lucia it was 1 morning dive and 1 afternoon dive and if they didn't have a minimum number they would cancel. So if you wanted your 2 dives it took most of the day.

Are they still advertising "unlimited diving" given situations like this? I was told the limit was two dives a day at the Ocho Rios (Jamaica) Sandals as well. What nonsense.