Best Caribbean dive Resorts??

[drrich2]

The wife and I like being treated like we are " Rich and famous" for a few days of our meager Middle Class lives. We definitely like going to the 'All Inclusive resorts." What are the best Diving All Inclusive resorts in the Caribbean??

I'm too cheap to pay for what you may be looking for, but I don't know what you're calling 'rich and famous.' Most any dive tourist qualifies in the eyes of many locals. Some like 'valet diving' where staff set up your gear. Especially as you start out in the hobby, there's a lot to be said for setting up your own and building familiarity with where to put weight & how much, how to get the strap tight on the tank, etc... I know convenience matters, too.

And some people want to be catered to by hotel staff who know your name, in room jacuzzi, onsite massage options, etc...

From what I read in others reports, aside from my own travels, if I wanted what you may, I'd consider...

1.) Utopia Village in Utila - check out Blues Runner's review. Then hunt up Giffenk's review.

2.) Cozumel Palace - I don't see a lot of reviews, but what I see are pretty much golden, if you put the price aside. If I wanted to stay at a southern A.I. for short boat rides, I'd look at those. I've seen positive mention of Grand Park Royal (Trip Advisor page). Be aware in Cozumel, you can often book with a dive operator separate from the hotel/resort, even if there's an onsite dive op.

3.) St. Lucia is a beautiful island, and it's got a number of Sandals locations. They don't take kids (Sandals is associated with another resort line, Beaches, that takes kids), and they ain't cheap. Reviews of Sandal's included diving I've seen (I don't recall which locations) weren't particularly good; short dives, for example. You can book (& pay) an off site operator; I've dove with Scuba Steve's on St. Lucia a couple of dives and loved it. One place in St. Lucia that gets some very nice reviews (from people willing to pay the cost) is Anse Castanet.

4.) On Bonaire, the more upscale place is reputed to be Harbor Village. Their page claims 'boutique luxury.' I don't see many reviews but then, airfare to Bonaire is expensive enough I think many aim to contain costs on island. If you really want to make it special, book a day or two with Bonaire from the Sea, sort of a private charter luxury boat if I understand correctly. We've got a thread on Scuba Board talking about it.

5.) Curacao's larger than Bonaire, said to have more topside stuff to do, has sandy beaches and thus easier entries/exits at the cost of longer swimouts compared to Bonaire. Maybe @diversteve or @Damselfish knows a luxury resort there?

Richard.

 

[Beach57]

No doubt about it, I love the Brac. Reef Divers have always done things right. Great dive boats. Staying there, or somewhere else, they treat you well. If you book diving with them, but choose to stay somewhere else, you can take tanks for shore dives anywhere on the island. Rent a car for shore dives, and for exploring the caves and bluffs on your surface interval.

Grand Cayman would be the Sunset House for me. Not luxurious (unless you consider a room on the Caribbean shore to be a luxury), but my tipping point is the lagoon and fantastic shore diving at will. Friendly management, good dive boats, a great Tiki Bar, and last but not least - Cathy Church's underwater photography center is on property.

 

[diversteve]

if we're going to do Rich and Famous, I've got some suggestions...lol

Jade Mountain is on the hill above Anse Chastenet - owned by the same company so they share facilities. IDK much about it except it appears to be nicer - and won a lot of awards.

Harbour Village on Bonaire is probably the nicest property there. Not sold as an AI but it's pretty self-contained and five minutes drive to downtown for the few other good restaurant options. They have their own dive operation also. If you did want to shore dive, pay VIP Diving to do the heavy lifting...

I'm sure there's a few upscale resorts on Curacao but the only one I can think of is Lodge Kura Hulanda - one of the Leading Small Hotels of the World. The villas are nice (I've been in one) and they have arguably the best shore dive off their property and Go West Diving on-site for boat dives. Downside is it's in Westpunt - 45mins+ drive to town/airport etc.

Barefoot Cay on Roatan is pretty nice - villas on a private cay, Barefoot Divers for their guests and occasionally the R&F crowd moor their yachts there. Also there's a spa, they rake the beach to get rid of the sand flies and there's a nice protected lagoon for snorkeling. From their restaurant upstairs you can see dive boats at Mary's Place one of Roatan's signature dives. Nice pool/spa and for a treat the chef will prepare a meal in your villa.

Most of these are not AI but have everything you mentioned on-site.

The Westin on St, John has Cruz Bay Watersports on-site. You fly into St. Thomas and take the ferry over - takes about 1/2 hr. Or drive 45 mins. to the East End (Red Hook) and take the car ferry over.

I have not been there but Caneel Bay Resort is supposed to be pretty luxe also - Patagon Divers on-site and last I knew the only way there was via boat. Another Leading Small Hotels of the World property. Good shallow diving off St. John and the cays nearby also.

The other Patagon shop is across the channel on St. Thomas's East End at the Ritz-Carlton - as you can guess it's pretty nice. Not a great beach though - none in that area are.

Crossing into the BVI's Little Dix Bay Resort is as nice as their website looks. Exceptional service, I was asked about 6x by staff members one afternoon while wandering around if they could help me/show me the way.. Currently closed for renovation until December.

On Grand Cayman the Westin has a Red Sail Sports shop on-site. Sometimes they beach a flat-bottom boat and pick up divers. Otherwise every dive operator has a shuttle to their boats in a nearby marina. It's a nice Westin - been there once. A more upscale dive option could be Indigo Divers - their "van" is an Escalade, they do small groups - 6-9 max and optionally offer massages between dives.

My other suggestion i have not been to is Francis Ford Coppola's Turtle Inn on Belize. In the safer part of the country according to my friend who lives/works nearby. Dives are all boat dives and it's a longer ride out - almost an hour to the best of it.

If you only have four days - one thing to consider is travel time. I think that precludes Bonaire, the Sister Cayman Islands or Roatan but flights my be different from your area. I'd guess you're no more than 2 hours from Grand Cayman. Southwest recently started flights to Belize City and the local flight to the Placencia area only takes 1/2 hr. otherwise that wouldn't be an option either.

hth, I would not have seen this thread except drrich alerted me to it.

PS if you really want to do Rich and Famous - Necker Island in the BVI's rents villas on those weeks no one has reserved the whole island. It's Richard Branson's private island - if you saw the recent photos of Barack Obama Kitesurfing - he was just there. Only $4500 per DAY and they have a few days available next month...LOL. Island Holidays | Necker Island

 

[Trace Malinowski]

If you want to apply the "rich & famous" philosophy to something a little different and cozy and be treated like the only guests because you are the only guests, may I recommend checking out some of the crewed yacht options from companies such as Ed Hamilton & Co. Yacht Charter Agents.

 

[arcticat99]

try a cruise with dive excursions a taste of a few places ,i was on p[princes cruise last January that took me diving in grand turks,grand caymen and cozumel
and you are spoiled on the ship

 

[KeithG]

CocoView on Roatan is AI. It may not make you feel very rich or very famous, but it is an extremely popular option depending upon your budget. Roatan also has AKR.

And you could consider a liveaboard. Not always luxurious, but I do feel pampered since the effort required to go diving is so easy.

 

[KathyV]

The wife and I like being treated like we are " Rich and famous" for a few days of our meager Middle Class lives. We definitely like going to the 'All Inclusive resorts." What are the best Diving All Inclusive resorts in the Caribbean??

@Brian Robinson, I think that you need to give us more information. How much time do you plan to travel? Do you have a week or only a "few days"? What season do you want to travel and what is your budget? Are you willing to pay for "Rich and famous" or do you just want to feel Rich and famous? You are getting a wide variety of recommendations and sharing a bit more information would help a lot.

 

[Damselfish]

Everyone will have a different definition of "best." There's been lots of good suggestions but I agree more information is needed or we're all just shooting in the dark. It's not clear what luxury means to the OP, what they are looking for budget-wise or otherwise, or if AI is a requirement or just preferred. There's not that many real AI dive resorts in the Caribbean, especially ones that are luxurious. There's lots of other AI resorts where you can probably find more real luxury, but diving is an option rather than the focus. And "regular" AI resorts that include diving don't always have a reputation for doing the best job at the diving part. I'm guessing a valet style dive op might appeal as a part of the luxury thing, but that's just a guess.

Having said that, Little Cayman Beach Resort suggested by several people could work well. Some might call it luxury (especially as dive resorts go) and some would just call it nice. But it's AI, and consistently does a very good job at everything at a not ridiculous price. Other places mentioned in Cayman are worth looking at too, though I don't really like much about Sunset House or think it has any degree of luxury.

As far as Curacao, everyplace is a compromise of some sort if you're serious about diving. Kura Hulanda Lodge mentioned earlier is the first place that usually jumps to mind for an all around nice choice there, but is a compromise on location (good for diving, not so good for restaurant choices/shopping/seeing the rest of the island.) It's not AI, though in my experience the food quality has been erratic enough that I don't think I'd want it to be. The dive op is good though not valet, with good onsite shore diving, tank pickup for other shore diving, and a pretty nice setup. (The setup doesn't allow for diving outside the daytime shop hours without jumping through a few hoops, which is unfortunate.)

Sunscape Curacao is a classic AI, but with a pretty decent dive op though I'm not sure the diving is actually included there. (Not an op I'm crazy about, or located to get to the better diving on Curacao, but still probably better than diving at many mainstream AIs.) I don't think of it as luxury and it's not my thing anymore, but if the OP enjoys the classic AI style it might work for them.

Trying to think of other places that are more in the luxury vein that haven't already been mentioned...

Young Island is a place we like. It's a private island off St Vincent that is AI and sort of rustic-luxe - small spa, individual or attached bungalows some with private plunge pools, no AC though. The higher end rooms are a hike up the hill, but the units along the beach and water are nice enough and we prefer those. (It's vacation, we're lazy.) Not a dive resort per se but Dive St. Vincent will pick you up at the dock and take care of your gear so it's actually pretty convenient, and it's interesting diving if you enjoy the smaller stuff, with common sightings of stuff like seahorses and frogfish. St Vincent is a bit of a pain to get to, but they just opened a new airport so that situation may improve.

Petit St. Vincent Resort is a private island resort which qualifies as genuinely luxurious, and opened a Jean-Michel Cousteau dive center some years back. I'd written the place off as their diving rates were astronomical early on, but they seem to have come down to something more reasonable.

 

[wildbill9]

Southern cross little cayman, get a beach bungalow. Out door shower (you will never use the one in your room, small boutique hotel with fabulous food, great staff, exceptional diving, small groups. I really can't say enough good things about southern cross, we seldom repeat destination but we go back every year or two. We have walked by lcbr and just shook our heads. Read the reviews on ta or pop me a message. We never have heard the word "no" when asking about anything. Owner has been on property last 2 trips and is great to talk with. Bill and Dee Dee

 

[jndiver]

I'm going back to little Cayman resort for a 2nd time in a year. Been to Bonaire, GC also the last 2 years and found LCBR is best for a relaxing place no hassle diving and crazy clear water. Reefs are in great shape and the Bloody Bay Wall is spectuliar. If i want lots of big marine life then i'll stay home and make the 20 minute drive to the Jupiter or Palm Beach boats. Food very good for a remote island, diving outstanding and a quite place to relax. No club crawl on LC just a wonderful place to go and dive, get away and enjoy friends and nature.