Where to Dive with Jr. Divers

[KathyV]

...I think we are settled on AKR...

I know that you have made your decision (sounds like a good choice, too!) but I am posting the link below for anyone else interested in this topic. Cobalt Coast, a small all-inclusive resort on Grand Cayman, is offering family diving packages with special rates for the summer:

Dive Into Summer - Only In Cayman

 

[tkaelin]

I would vote for Bonaire. When my kids wanted to learn how to dive we went to Bon and it was perfect. Stay someplace with a house reef that you can walk out and dive from where you are staying. There is no better place for kids and family to dive. Great conditions and weather almost all the time. Great instructors and perfectly easy. We loved it. My kids were 12 and 15 on our first trip in 2009. Returning this Jan. The shore diving from a house reef resort is the way to start them out. In Bon you will not have to deal with dive ops imposing limitations on how deep your kids can dive. We encountered all kinds of issues trying to dive with them elsewhere when one had a jr. cert.

 

[Zod066]

How about Fiji? Good deals at My Fiji - Best Value Luxury Fiji Holiday Packages
Please drop me a line
info@diveawayfiji.com

 

[frostfire]

I'll throw in my $0.02.

I have dived Cancun, Nassau, and Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean. I would recommend Cancun or Cozumel since they are primarily drift diving conditions and I don't think great for beginners. Nassau was nice but only went diving one day.

The Beaches Resort in Turks and Caicos was where my then 13 year old daughter learned to dive. It's an all inclusive resort with food and beverage but can be a little pricey depending on the package. But diving is included with 2 tank morning dives and 1 tank afternoon dives. There is a 5 star PADI center on the resort and that's where my daughter learned to scuba (for an additional fee - which would have been the same price as training at home.). There are two other resorts in Jamaica as well.

best part about vacation is that the kids have a miniature water park in the resort. Dive in the morning. Spend time in the water slides in the afternoon. Have nice dinner in resort restaurant. It was absolutely one of the best dive trips with the family I've had. When in Maui and Kona I spent about $140 pp per day diving. Four day dives and two night dives for two divers and rental gear with tips really added up! And at the Beacphes resorts gear is also part of the package. I took all my gear last time but at least I didn't have to pay for my daughter's gear rentals either. And they do cater to beginner divers. Factoring what I pay out of pocket for diving the cost seems like a better deal all things considered.

Just as general info on Beaches T and C....Regardless of whether you are a newbie or a divemaster (DH and I are both rescue divers), Beaches requires you to do a check out dive in the POOL before they will allow you in the ocean. They only do that check out dive once a day. So depending on your flight, that can lop 2 days off your dive trip. They also required a note from your doctor stating that you had a recent physical and were cleared to dive.. It was pretty obvious to us that they had been sued. This was 9 years ago, so maybe the parent corporation has changed the policy, but consider this when doing your planning. The diving was lovely there, but I would go out with a different dive operator and skip the two days being 'checked' and get right to the good stuff!