What about Curacao? I haven't been, but there was a great post recently about a place with an awesome house reef.
Bonaire again? Looking for recommendations for new dive destination.
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Here is a Coco View Resort Review- save you some time trying to find it.
Coco View Trip Report: July/August 2018
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You're not going to find a house reef on the Sister Islands although my b-i-l owns next to BRBR and does dive their lagoon - saw a whaleshark there recently. Otherwise as mentoined, need a car to drive to the other sites. I could be wrong but I don't believe there's any shore diving off Little Cayman.
No pool at Cocoview if that's an issue. But they have the best shore dives on the island, the wreck out front, the wall nearby.
No house reef at Barefoot Cay but it's more upscale.
Anthony's Key on the north side has both but not the best house reef - although you can also dive the channel between the resort and the Key - it's sort of a muck dive. Plus the dolphin programs at RIMS - including a dive. Also they currently have a BOGO program. You want Superior either on land or on the Key as that means A/C.
Media Luna is supposed to have a good house reef but is more remote on the south side.
We fly to Houston then direct to Roatan (stopping at Pappadeaux for lunch) Roatan is a pricier flight but everything there is cheaper. It is the buggiest place I've ever been and you should do the Malaria program b4 you go.
I'd look at west Curacao also. or east Curacao. There is an active cruise port there but you almost never see them except if you go downtown during the day.
On the West Side Lodge Kura Hulanda in Westpunt is as nice as it looks. On one of the better shore dive sites. Plus there's about 5-6 more within a 10min drive. I'm not a fan of AllWest Apt's on the other side of the bay since there's a lot of stairs down to the water.
If you do condo's - Lagoon Blou is pretty nice. On the Lagun dive site (above it) Downside to West Curacao is it's really quiet, there's only one market nearby and it's a 45min drive from Westpunt or 30 from Lagun
On the east side Lion's Dive Resort will meet your needs, nice facilities, nice grounds, Ocean Encounters main shop is 50 yards away and it's in the Mambo Beach/Sea Aquarium area for other things to do, Far enough away from downtown that hey have a shuttle but close to many of the attractions. Also for $200pp you can dive with the dolphins.
No pool at Cocoview if that's an issue. But they have the best shore dives on the island, the wreck out front, the wall nearby.
No house reef at Barefoot Cay but it's more upscale.
Anthony's Key on the north side has both but not the best house reef - although you can also dive the channel between the resort and the Key - it's sort of a muck dive. Plus the dolphin programs at RIMS - including a dive. Also they currently have a BOGO program. You want Superior either on land or on the Key as that means A/C.
Media Luna is supposed to have a good house reef but is more remote on the south side.
We fly to Houston then direct to Roatan (stopping at Pappadeaux for lunch) Roatan is a pricier flight but everything there is cheaper. It is the buggiest place I've ever been and you should do the Malaria program b4 you go.
I'd look at west Curacao also. or east Curacao. There is an active cruise port there but you almost never see them except if you go downtown during the day.
On the West Side Lodge Kura Hulanda in Westpunt is as nice as it looks. On one of the better shore dive sites. Plus there's about 5-6 more within a 10min drive. I'm not a fan of AllWest Apt's on the other side of the bay since there's a lot of stairs down to the water.
If you do condo's - Lagoon Blou is pretty nice. On the Lagun dive site (above it) Downside to West Curacao is it's really quiet, there's only one market nearby and it's a 45min drive from Westpunt or 30 from Lagun
On the east side Lion's Dive Resort will meet your needs, nice facilities, nice grounds, Ocean Encounters main shop is 50 yards away and it's in the Mambo Beach/Sea Aquarium area for other things to do, Far enough away from downtown that hey have a shuttle but close to many of the attractions. Also for $200pp you can dive with the dolphins.
drrich2
Contributor
Curacao Trip Research Notes
Curacao Trip Report with SB Surge Jan. 2019
Might help you get started researching Curacao. Shore diving in the southeast Florida down through the Caribbean region limits you a good deal. Bonaire is probably best-known. You're aware of Grand Cayman (others have mentioned Cayman Brac, which has some, and I did read a report on Scuba Board about a member who found a spot to shore dive off Little Cayman) and Cozumel. St Croix gets some praise, too -
St. Croix Research Report Aug. 2017 - St. Croix Research Report Aug. 2017 although I found the swim-out at Davis Bay long, Cane Bay way long, and the Frederiksted Pier won't exactly be 'house reef' easy in the sense you have access at Captain Don's, even if you stay close. CocoView Resort in Roatan gets a lot of good report, and others mentioned that.
I'm thinking Curacao or CocoView Resort for the win, given your desires.
Richard.
Curacao Trip Report with SB Surge Jan. 2019
Might help you get started researching Curacao. Shore diving in the southeast Florida down through the Caribbean region limits you a good deal. Bonaire is probably best-known. You're aware of Grand Cayman (others have mentioned Cayman Brac, which has some, and I did read a report on Scuba Board about a member who found a spot to shore dive off Little Cayman) and Cozumel. St Croix gets some praise, too -
St. Croix Research Report Aug. 2017 - St. Croix Research Report Aug. 2017 although I found the swim-out at Davis Bay long, Cane Bay way long, and the Frederiksted Pier won't exactly be 'house reef' easy in the sense you have access at Captain Don's, even if you stay close. CocoView Resort in Roatan gets a lot of good report, and others mentioned that.
I'm thinking Curacao or CocoView Resort for the win, given your desires.
Richard.
I don't think that shore diving is common on Little Cayman but it is available. The reefs start shallow and are close to shore and are popular with snorkelers - so I don't know why it isn't more common.
@Ricardo V. has posted about shore diving Little Cayman, see link below:
https://www.scubaboard.com/community/posts/8139619/
And here's more info about shore diving LC:
ZF2NT Home Page
Shore diving is more common on Brac than LC from what I've seen; here's an article about shore diving Brac:
https://xray-mag.com/pdfs/articles/Travel_CaymanBrac_LawsonWood_60_locked.pdf
OP
diver-jean
Registered
Thanks so much for sharing this information. Lion's Dive sounds like a winner! I will investigate further. (love Pappaduex's too)
OP
diver-jean
Registered
OP
diver-jean
Registered
Thanks so much!
noj3333
Contributor
+1 for Roatan...
-1 for Roatan and CoCoView. I've only been once, so it could well have been an anomaly, but the viz was worse than my local quarry. Not fun. The shore dive in front has a very long slope to get to it, and we had to follow the line like in a cavern to not get lost. The resort was OK, a bit rustic. I hav no desire to go back, and wife has stated she will NOT go back.
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