Been to the Marriott three times. Will go back. Use Advanced Search using "Marriott" and my username to find some info.
Caribbean dive locations for Jr diver
- Thread starter SteveInMD
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Enjoy your family vacation, and dive safe.
I only visited Curacao one time, before my kids were diving. We were using Sun Set House and their dive op, both now gone I believe, and we were diving a different area than most resorts use, I believe. Several times we were surprised by sudden, very strong currents, quite similar in strength to Cozumel diving, which is why we chose Bonaire for the kid's as new divers the next year. The currents may just have been related to the location/resort we were using, I have no experience elsewhere on the island.
The Curacao diving was awesome, as is Bonaire. I'd say you really cannot go wrong with either.
We did do the Bonaire boat diving the first few dives with my new OW divers, to break the kids in gently, and then began to add shore dives. For us that place is magic, and my kids, now grown still talk about those dives.
I only visited Curacao one time, before my kids were diving. We were using Sun Set House and their dive op, both now gone I believe, and we were diving a different area than most resorts use, I believe. Several times we were surprised by sudden, very strong currents, quite similar in strength to Cozumel diving, which is why we chose Bonaire for the kid's as new divers the next year. The currents may just have been related to the location/resort we were using, I have no experience elsewhere on the island.
The Curacao diving was awesome, as is Bonaire. I'd say you really cannot go wrong with either.
We did do the Bonaire boat diving the first few dives with my new OW divers, to break the kids in gently, and then began to add shore dives. For us that place is magic, and my kids, now grown still talk about those dives.
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Both are - turn the volume way down and see what's left of Sunset Waters now. Pretty sad. Some sort of bankruptcy that got tied up in the courts so the owner just abandoned it IIRC. Since 2007 or later since it was still a functioning hotel then. The breakwater and the dive is still there - I assume the Cessna also. I heard somewhere a couple years ago a storm took out most of the beach.
[video=youtube;vCgeS0UFWPw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCgeS0UFWPw[/video]
Sad.
The dive op at Sun Set was a bit shaky, even when we were there, from what a PADI Course Director that was with us said. Some Instructors in our group took it upon themselves to change filters on the op's compressors, and double check all their o2 settings.
The signs of their coming end were already showing, several years before they failed.
Still, we had a ball diving with their crew, even if we had to watch over their backs on some issues.
RV
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Went to Grand Bahama. Stayed @ Taino Beach Resort. Dove with Caribbean Divers. Perfect for our 11 year old.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/bahamas/473444-diving-freeport-bahamas-post7168865.html#post7168865
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/bahamas/473444-diving-freeport-bahamas-post7168865.html#post7168865
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maj2
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We are off to Grenada on Saturday for a week of diving with my 11 year old daughter.
From my own research and what I have been told, there are several sites suitable for Junior Open Water divers. Some entirely less than 40ft, and some are sloping from around 20ft to around 90ft with lots at the shallower end for my Jr diver.
Will followup when we get back as to how it all goes.
My wife does not dive, so this is more of a "family vacation with diving" rather than a "diving vacation with family". Grenada was attractive for the abundance of topside activities while we are not diving. Other than diving, we plan to spend lots of time hiking in the rainforest, taking dips in the mountain waterfalls, spice plantations, etc.
By the end of our Grenada trip, my daughter will also have an Adventure Dive under her belt to count toward her Jr AOW that she hopes to finish on a planned LDS trip to Bonaire in March 2016 that coincides with her school's March break. Our LDS has started doing these trips annually specifically to cater to families with Jr divers.
We did Grand Bahama last year with my daughter, but the sites were all pushing or slightly exceeding the 40ft mark (eg 40-45ft).
From my own research and what I have been told, there are several sites suitable for Junior Open Water divers. Some entirely less than 40ft, and some are sloping from around 20ft to around 90ft with lots at the shallower end for my Jr diver.
Will followup when we get back as to how it all goes.
My wife does not dive, so this is more of a "family vacation with diving" rather than a "diving vacation with family". Grenada was attractive for the abundance of topside activities while we are not diving. Other than diving, we plan to spend lots of time hiking in the rainforest, taking dips in the mountain waterfalls, spice plantations, etc.
By the end of our Grenada trip, my daughter will also have an Adventure Dive under her belt to count toward her Jr AOW that she hopes to finish on a planned LDS trip to Bonaire in March 2016 that coincides with her school's March break. Our LDS has started doing these trips annually specifically to cater to families with Jr divers.
We did Grand Bahama last year with my daughter, but the sites were all pushing or slightly exceeding the 40ft mark (eg 40-45ft).
Hi,
I run a Mobile dive center specialized in teaching and guiding in a professional and personal manner on Curaçao.
We believe we have some of the easiest and at the same time most adventurous and diverse diving in the Caribbean, easy entry on mostly sandy beaches.
We have been operation for over a year and in that time we trained numerous junior open water divers. Also we provide snorkeling adventures for very young kids.
There are direct flights to Curaçao from Charlotte, Miami, New York, Toronto,......well connected yet pristine and unknown to most!
If you want you can send me a PM for more information.
Scuba
I run a Mobile dive center specialized in teaching and guiding in a professional and personal manner on Curaçao.
We believe we have some of the easiest and at the same time most adventurous and diverse diving in the Caribbean, easy entry on mostly sandy beaches.
We have been operation for over a year and in that time we trained numerous junior open water divers. Also we provide snorkeling adventures for very young kids.
There are direct flights to Curaçao from Charlotte, Miami, New York, Toronto,......well connected yet pristine and unknown to most!
If you want you can send me a PM for more information.
Scuba
maj2
Contributor
Well, just got back from Grenada and can highly recommend the diving for those with Junior divers. Not much (if any) shore diving, but the reefs we dove were very healthy and had lots of life.
As noted in my previous post in this thread it was a family vacation with diving as opposed to a dedicated dive vacation.
I did four days of diving during our week there, and my daughter did three days. All sites were within Jr OW depths and we never duplicated a site all week.
Dove with Native Spirit in Grenada and would not hesitate to recommend them as well.
As noted in my previous post in this thread it was a family vacation with diving as opposed to a dedicated dive vacation.
I did four days of diving during our week there, and my daughter did three days. All sites were within Jr OW depths and we never duplicated a site all week.
Dove with Native Spirit in Grenada and would not hesitate to recommend them as well.
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