Caribbean dive travel ideas?

[TheQuintessentialMan]

Any of you guys suggest some cost effective locations in the Caribbean, preferably served by Southwest Air, that can accommodate divers and non-diver? Didn't fly enough this year so thought I would use my companion pass some before I loose it in Dec. The wife does not dive Nor does my dive buddy's wife) so there would need to be activities to keep her amused; we would probably take side trips to local cultural, historical, and nature sites too. Shore diving access would be great. We are more Hampton inn types as opposed to The Royal Exalted Sultan type accommodations although all inclusive would be nice so not to worry about meals and such. The bugger is going to be traveling with all the dive and photog gear (terrestrial, no housing just yet.)

Thanks

 

[diversteve]

Southwest started flying to Belize last year - from Love Field to Belize City - through HOU. Once there it's a short flight/ferry from BZE to Ambergris Caye - one of the primary dive destinations.

Some of the shore excursions, Mayan ruins, cave tubing, the semi-famous zoo etc are accessible from there or via the short ferry ride back to the mainland first. Or checkout Placencia to the south, it puts you a lot closer to many of the non-dive attractions for the cost of a short 2nd flight but the diving then becomes mostly an hour or so boat ride daily. Dive prices reflect the time/distance.

IDK the Ambergris options but some in my group spemt a week in Placencia - Splash Dive lists many of the options and their affiliated company does many of the land tours, ruins, jaguar preserve, howller monkeys, ziplines etc. - it's who we used.

No shore diving that I know of...if you do bucket list diving, the famous Blue Hole is an all-day excursion from Ambergris.

They also fly to Nassau but it's pretty expensive, nice beaches but not much eco/history except for a couple forts the wives will go thru in a morning. Plus diving there is limited to two options, Cove's or Bahama Divers who sort of compete on price but 2 dives exceeds $100 for either. Both have free shuttles, Cove's is 1/2 hr. south plus from anything. Decent older properties can be found in Cable Beach or the end of Paradise Island opposite the Atlantis mega-resort.

I notice they fly to Aruba now also, there's both boat and shore diving there with a vehicle and some nice beaches. My sense is not a lot of culture other than the shopping/some old forts etc. I have not been there.

 

[Damselfish]

I think it's tricky getting a Southwest destination to match up with what you want. Define cost effective - what budget do you have in mind?

I wouldn't normally suggest Cayman as a cost effective destination, but if you rent a condo for 2 couples and eat in most of the time it could be. There is some shore diving which has been discussed extensively on other threads. Boat diving would add up if you do a lot of it but I wouldn't totally skip it as you mostly can't see the sites Cayman is famous for from shore. I don't think of it as a super interesting topside destination, but there is lots of shopping, some small museums, botanic garden, and a few other things. Lots of other water activities though of course that sort of thing could add up too. And the beach depending where you stay. You would want a car.

Belize is good for diving and activities, but always going to be a compromise on location. The best diving is mostly by liveaboard, or at least remote.. Ambergris diving makes land activities possible but still not convenient. Southern diving like Placencia makes land activities maybe easier but the diving inconvenient. Generally it's not a place where you can do a couple dives in the morning and do land activities with your wives in the afternoon, as you'll probably need to leave in the morning to get to anything. So it will be you diving and them touring (probably on organized tours.) I think it works better to separate diving and land activity parts of a Belize trip staying 2 different places, but with 2 divers and 2 non, that may not be what you're looking for.

 

[elbig]

You could try Turks and Caicos or Aruba.

 

[Flutter]

Not sure if Curaçao is easily accessible by SW flight but, as @elbig mentioned, the ABC islands have great shore diving options. If you stay in/near the capitol, the women would also have options - sight seeing, shopping, dining, and Willemstad is a historic colonial city. We stay in Westpunt when we dive there, but I am pretty sure there are shore diving sites closer in - worth looking into perhaps. The Superior Producer wreck sits there in the harbor of Willemstad. (My current photo/avatar is from a shore dive in Westpunt. We love it there).

 

[Damselfish]

• Aruba
• Belize
• Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos
• Cancun
• Grand Cayman
• Havana
• Liberia, Costa Rica
• Mexico City
• Montego Bay
• Nassau, Bahamas
• Puerto Vallarta
• Punta Cana
• San Jose, Costa Rica
• Turks and Caicos

 

[KathyV]

Below is a list of Caribbean destinations that you can get to on Southwest. You may not always be able to fly direct from Dallas, you might have to connect from FLL. We are in the Chicago area and we would have to connect via Fort Lauderdale for many Bahamas and Caribbean destinations.

I have been to several of these destinations but not all. I understand that Aruba has a lot of topside activity but not the best diving, but some diving.

The T&Cs are expensive but have great diving (and lots of sharks and large animals) but the best reefs are rather far from shore on Provo. So you may be spending much of the day on a boat to dive 2 tanks, which might not be the best option because you are traveling with non-divers. I don't know of any shore dives around Provo, I think that the same may be true of Cabo. We've done liveaboards from both Provo and Cabo but that isn't an option when traveling with non-divers.

The Ports of Call hotel in Provo is nice and near the restaurants and shopping but it is not on Grace Bay Beach, but I think it would fall into a similar category as a Hamptons Inn.

Ambergris Cay is not the best diving to be found around Belize, but it is a major tourist destination. I haven't dived Palencia but that may be an option.

Nassau is expensive and the diving is good but not great but you will see a lot of sharks.

Rather than staying in Cancun it would be better to continue on to Cozumel for better diving. There are many lodging and dive options there, including all-inclusive resorts.

I agree with Damselfish that finding a condo, apartment, or suite on Grand Cayman might be the best Southwest Caribbean Destination that offers good diving, including shore diving, and lots of topside attractions and activities. Wherever you stay, make sure that you are not eating out 3 times a day as that gets very expensive, but that is true of many travel destinations.

Grand Cayman isn't just shopping and restaurants, there are many opportunities to visit cultural, historic, and natural sites, but you have to be willing to rent a car and drive on the left side of the road. Car rentals are usually a pretty good deal on GC.

Some places you might take a look at include: Coconut Bay Condos, Lighthouse Point, and Cobalt Coast (all north of 7MB) and Sunset House (near George Town and south of 7MB). Cobalt Coast offers an all-inclusive option but the shore diving can get winded out pretty easily, but they have a small, man-made beach. Sunset House includes free breakfast and Cathy Church's photo shop and gallery are on site.

I believe that Compass Point offers an all-inclusive option but no shore diving and it is quite far from the popular areas of George Town and Seven Mile Beach.

Since you mentioned Hamptons Inn, take a look at Comfort Suites. It is in the heart of the popular Seven Mile Beach and West Bay area. They offer studios, 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom suites and free breakfast. They are not directly on the beach but they are on the same side of the road, so you don't have to walk across the street, just take a short path to get to the beach.

Another place to consider in the 7MB area is Sunshine Suites, but you have to cross the street (West Bay Road) to get to the beach and there is a daily resort fee to use the facilities of the pricier Westin Hotel.

Our favorite is the Turtle Nest Inn and Condos in Bodden Town. It is in a quieter, residential area, about 10 to 12 miles to George Town and 7MB so you have to some driving, but it is centrally located so you can access most areas of the island fairly easily. A compact rental car comes with your reservation but you can pay for an upgrade for a larger car.

You can head east without encountering much traffic to dive with Ocean Friends or Red Sail or you can drive north of 7MB to dive the best shore dives like Turtle Reef at Macabuca, but you will have to time these excursions to avoid rush hour traffic.

You can also make arrangements to dive with many West Bay dive ops like DNS and Cayman University Divers and DiveTech and others, but you may have to meet the boat at West Bay Marina and factor in the rush hour traffic. Many of the dive ops will pick you up if you stay in the 7MB area.

TNI sits on a nice little beach but it is not the powdery white sands of the 7MB but there is good snorkeling right off-shore and 2 pools on site.

Good luck wherever you decide to go!

International Travel - Southwest Airlines

See where we fly.

• Aruba
• Belize
• Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos
• Cancun
• Grand Cayman
• Havana
• Liberia, Costa Rica
• Mexico City
• Montego Bay
• Nassau, Bahamas
• Puerto Vallarta
• Punta Cana
• San Jose, Costa Rica
• Turks and Caicos

 

[Hoag]

You won't be able to get all the way there on SW, but I highly recommend the Bohio on Grand Turk. You can fly SW into Provo, but then you would need to catch a "puddle jumper" over to Grand Turk.

While the Bohio is definitely a "dive resort", they have a beautiful beach, a pool & other activities for non-divers. The food is very good and the portions are huge. Each room has a small bar fridge in the room.

Diving on Grand Turk consists of sandy shallows leading to walls that drop off to the abyss. The reefs were very healthy and there were not a lot of lionfish. There were, however a lot of turtles. It was not unusual to see a few turtles on any given dive. (The most we saw on a single dive was 5.) We did see one or two sharks, but it was no where near as "sharky" as Provo.

 

[scubadada]

Go to Grand Cayman, Seven Mile Beach or West Bay or T&C, Providenciales, Grace Bay. This would give you the best diving and provide activities for the non-divers. For a land based operator on T&C, I would recommend Caicos Adventures, on Grand Cayman, there are many fine operators, I like Wall to Wall.

 

[Diesel_Diver]

Been to the Caribbean 3 times so far, always did the Sandals thing. I know I know, it's not for the hard core and a lot of people complain about it. But it did get me wet, provided all the gear, and it was all included. Plus there was plenty of other things to keep my non diving partner happy. No it's not a diving vacation but it was a vacation! If you would like to do it on a budget check out the Sandals Inn ( aka The Carlyle) on Montego Bay Jamaica. It's a quaint little place 52 rooms ( we love the atmosphere) diving is a short ten minute transfer away( and the transfers are included as well) they normally time their dives around the 35 min mark.