Help, need to Book ASAP

[THRASH]

Hi,
I'm using my husbands ScubaBoard login. We are looking to celebrate our anniversary with an awesome dive trip in June 2016. Our most exciting dive locations so far have been Jupiter, FL, Panama City Beach, FL, St.John, and St. Thomas. Now we're ready for something more tropical, exotic and definitely ready to step it up. We live in Atlanta and we want something fairly easy to get to, ideally less than 4-5 hour flight (not a deal breaker though). We will save our Hawaii and Great Barrier Reef trip for further down the line. For now we're hoping to get to somewhere in the Caribbean or Mexico unless we are convinced otherwise. Something HUGE for both of us, in addition to the diving, will be the quality of food/restaurants at the destination. We have been to resort towns where the food was not that great. We're hoping to find upscale restaurants with great food to enjoy after a long day of diving (hole in the walls are also fair game, we just want good, quality food). We prefer not to stay at an all inclusive so that we have the freedom to try the best local spots. Nice hotel recommendations are welcomed too!

I don't want the destination to be on the travel warning list, I want warm water and excellent visibility ,good air conditioning at the hotel, I tend to like boat dives (never been shore diving though, and like to be catered to). Also I would really like to see a Hammerhead Sharks and Whales and.....you get the point. Is this too much to ask?

Since we don't have any friends who dive we wanted to get the opinions of you guys on this forum. Tell us where we should book..... Ready, Set, Go!

 

[cbm32]

The easy answer is Cozumel.
I dont think you will find any better diving as close to you.
Tons of very good dive ops and lodging to choose from. (Tres Pelicanos and Aldora Divers are favorites of a lot of people here in scubaboard and Villa Aldora is a good choice for lodging. El Cid is also nice and the AI there is optional)
Plenty of great restaurants at all price points.
If you have time check out the beaches on the eastern side of the island...beautiful beaches over there and very few people on them (if any) most of the time.

 

[John A Lewis]

Cozumel
Playa del Carmen
Cancun
Isla Mujeres
Grand Cayman
Grenada

Some are walkable, some would have you rent a car, others a cab is feasible. Different packages are available to all, so you don't have to do all-inclusive.

 

[gopbroek]

+1 for Cozumel and Tres Pelicanos, there is a direct flight from ATL on Delta (less than 2 Hr).

 

[jonhall]

Hi,
Now we're ready for something more tropical, exotic and definitely ready to step it up.

For now we're hoping to get to somewhere in the Caribbean or Mexico unless we are convinced otherwise. Something HUGE for both of us, in addition to the diving, will be the quality of food/restaurants at the destination. We're hoping to find upscale restaurants with great food to enjoy after a long day of diving (hole in the walls are also fair game, we just want good, quality food).

I don't want the destination to be on the travel warning list, I want warm water and excellent visibility ,good air conditioning at the hotel, I tend to like boat dives (never been shore diving though, and like to be catered to). Also I would really like to see a Hammerhead Sharks and Whales and.....you get the point. Is this too much to ask?

You left out St. Croix. Not as commercial as St. Thomas but probably more so than St. John. I stay in the "pink condos" because I have a relative there. On west side of island in Fredricksted, condos can be rented and are 20 feet from the water. Decent snorkeling and it's like having your own private beach. Dive with N2theBlue (less than 5 minute drive) by the pier and DO a shore dive of the pier. There are reefs, walls, and wrecks. Water is calm on west side. There are some good restaurants and beach bars here and in Christiansted along the waterfront on the other side of the island.

St. Martin has become a favorite of mine since my last trip there. Others will say diving is so-so and I would have said the same after my first trip there. Dove last time outside Great Bay which had some diversity in the dive sites and really enjoyed it. Reef and nurse sharks on almost every dive. Reef sharks swim right by you. Being an island split between the Dutch and French, there are lots of great eating places, many around Simpson Bay on the Dutch side and in Grand Case on the French side. Beautiful water all around. Stayed at Belair Beach Hotel (through timeshare exchange) for a week and it had the nicest beach of any place that I've stayed at. Walked to the resort next door and ate several times.

As mentioned in earlier posts Cozumel is a convenient choice. If around Cancun in June, you'll be there at the beginning of whale sharks season It is a snorkeling trip (in my near future plans to do.) Wouldn't say it's exotic, but fulfill your other requirements. Stayed at El Cid La Cieba one year. They have a pier where dive ops will pick you up from.

Grand Cayman is also a good choice. Good eats all over and many good dive ops. Stayed at Cobalt Coast which is a dive resort last time I was there. Accommodations were okay, great service, and optional all-inclusive. Food was very good, but good eats can be found elsewhere around the island.

Good luck!

 

[Lopez116]

Cayman or Cozumel are both good options

 

[edwants2dive]

We live in Atlanta and we want something fairly easy to get to, ideally less than 4-5 hour flight (not a deal breaker though).

First You live in Atlanta if you can't get an easy flight from there it doesn't exist! Oh how I miss the great state of GA!

+1 on the Caymans
I would say Bonaire also if you book the right place you can get plenty of boat dives and some of the resorts have easy access house reefs.
Buddy Dive is one resort that comes to mind. Dive Friends Bonaire is another.

 

[diversteve]

I'm reading you're looking for a more upscale island experience as well as great diving so this is geared towards that.

I'd lean towards Grand Cayman also. Excellent wall diving, you might see a very occasional hammerhead off the North Wall. Lots of Eagle Rays, lots of big pelagics, some reef sharks, in early summer the Silversides invade Devils Grotto turning it into one of the best dives there - other times not so much. There's 365+ named dive sites around the island and some are just stunning - Babylon, Ghost Mountain, even the classics like Orange Canyon, Big Tunnels, Trinity Caves etc. while dove a lot are still probably in excellent shape. They just put down the Kittiwake a couple years ago if you want to dive a "safe" wreck and as odd as it seems we had the most fund diving Stingray City once. Not the snorkel but the dive. Seriously clear water, summer is about the best time for conditions and the dives aren't even much of a boat ride. If you wanted to try shore diving - Turtle Reef is about the best of that. If you wanted a guide Happy Fish Divers does that there. It's an easy shallow dive and there's a Tarpon Cave to the south - you can mingle with them if you don't spook them. It's pretty awesome.

Nice properties to stay at? How about the Ritz-Carlton, Westin or Marriott Grand? If you want a condo instead there's a concierge property on Seven Mile Beach. And if you're going for a week, you won't be able to try all the best of Cayman's best restaurants. Gourmet Restaurants in the Cayman Islands Don't miss Blue, it's Eric Ripert's (Le Bernardin fame) other venue. Plus I believe there's 5-6 restaurants just at the Ritz - I'd guess they're all pretty good...lol.

Everything Cayman - https://www.caymanislands.ky/
Everything about diving - Dive in Cayman, Grand Cayman Diving, Cayman Islands Scuba Diving

Another option could be Turks & Caicos - specifically Providenciales (Provo) Grace Bay Beach is one of the nicest in the world so it attracts a higher end crowd. There's so many 4-5 star properties you'll have to look at the website to pick one. Equal number of gourmet quality restaurants at them also.

Arguably the diving is even better than Grand Cayman - deep wall diving and there's a lot of reef sharks, stingrays, eagle rays, roaming pods of dolphins etc. I'm pretty sure it's the best diving I've done and I've dove a lot of the best of the Caribbean. The downside is that the best dives are a 45-60 min. boat ride south so the typical dive day consists of pickup at your resort, transport to a south side marina, 2 dives, lunch then back arriving around 2:30PM - 4:30 if you do 3 dives. There's also a lot of dive sites along Grace Bay and NW Point - a 10min boat ride. The liveaboards even spend their first 2 days there so it's very good diving also. You might run into Jojo the dolphin also if he's still around.

No whales in summer though although they do go thru there on the way to the Silver Banks off the DR. Even the two liveaboards switch over to snorkel only trips there in winter till about Feb. There is no shore diving option either except one operator offers one but it's escorted and the same price as their boat dive so do that instead.

Turks and Caicos World’s Top Islands - Turks and Caicos Tourism Official Website

You'll be disappointed on Bonaire for two reasons. One is the food. While it can be pretty good, really only At Sea or It Rains Fishes are gourmet level. Maybe La Balandra (IDK) at Harbour Village - which is really the only upscale resort on the island also. People go to Bonaire for cheap shore diving, there's no large pelagics except tarpon and I believe the last time they saw a hammerhead it was mentioned here on SB. Even finding sharks there requires a special east side trip. Macro is amazing there but that doesn't sound like what you want. Bonaire Offical Site - Top Destination for Diving and Eco-Activities

Most of what you want can be found in Hawaii - in Winter - on a future trip. Humpbacks, Dolphins, Reef Sharks of all sizes, Tiger Sharks in some areas etc. Lahaina Divers runs a day trip over to Molokai to dive with Hammerheads. So I'd go with Maui or maybe the Big Island. Maui is a no-brainer for luxe accommodations - places like the Grand Wailea, Fairmont Orchid or Ritz Carlton Kapalua - probably a dozen more - and some superb restaurants. Either is a good place to shore dive also. Oahu definitely also, I just don't like the congestion there in Waikiki and Honolulu where most things are.

 

[LiquidDivingAdventure]

Grenada is a great destination. I have a diver friend who was just there (second trip I believe) and reports it to be like the Caribbean islands of the "old days." The kind of trip you dream the Caribbean to be but don't often find. Turks & Caicos are similar in nature, Dominica too is a nature paradise. Grand Cayman has a mix of excellent Caribbean diving and good restaurants. Cozumel not so bad but a bit more commercial than the Caribbean of the old days. If you go to Grand Cayman, load up the SpotCayman app on your phone and you will have the town at your finger tips.

 

[Damselfish]

I would suggest Grand Cayman or Provo in Turks and Caicos, which diversteve has covered pretty well. I think your odds of big stuff are better in T&C, though I personally prefer Cayman overall.

One thing I would add about Grand Cayman is more info about location - all the famous dives mentioned are not readily accessible from one op/location as they'e on all 4 sides of the island. You'll often read the best diving is from the East End which is fairly true (when conditions cooperate), and odds of better conditions would be good in June. And if you want to be catered to Ocean Frontiers is the op. But it's something of a restaurant wasteland out there, there's a few good places but probably not where you want to stay if you're focused on the food. For food you'll want to stay someplace in the West. I would normally suggest Cobalt Coast on the West end. It's pretty nice especially for a dive resort though not overly upscale if that's what you're really looking for. But it just got sold and is now in the family with the Little and Brac Beach resorts. It looks like you can still stay there without doing the AI but I have no idea if it makes sense now to do so. I assume they will still dive the north side as much as possible because of their location (which is generally better diving than the crowded west wall and may have a better chance of big stuff), but I don't know. They will be doing their valet diving thing so if you like to be catered to it should be very good for that. It sounds like it will be just a morning 2 tank boat then shore diving - there is decent shore diving on site but it's a longish swim and can get blown out a lot especially around the winter, again June should be good odds. You may not care if you're not into shore diving, but might care if you want more than a morning boat trip.

As much as I like luxury I'm not fond of staying in big higher-rise hotels of the Cayman Ritz/Westin type when I'm diving, where I wind up dripping through a marble lobby and elevators carting camera gear and misc stuff to the room, but that's me. If you're looking for that, there are a variety of good independent ops that will take care of gear, pickup, and generally cater to you and there are plenty of reviews of those but I'm not familiar myself. Besides those places you might look at Lighthouse Point Condos. I haven't stayed or dove there (yet) but the condos look pretty nice, and my impression is the onsite shore dive is pretty good and would be a good/convenient place to try out shore diving. And it's not too far a drive to the restaurants of SMB. Divetech is the op there and is running 2 tank boats am and pm. It's a good op though unless something has changed is not a valet style op.

Another island to consider is Curacao which has lots of good restaurants - not so much famous Eric Ripert type places, but different/interesting options and a good choice if you'd rather feel you're in Europe than Miami. Usually I would say for the best diving there stay at the West End. Lodge Kura Hulanda there is quite nice, but your restaurant options are rather limited around there and it's a long drive to most. For restaurant hopping you would want to would want to stay someplace near town. The Marriott Beach resort is not too far from town and a pretty good place to drive to many good restaurants. It has a pretty well regarded dive op on site, and even some shore diving there, though how valet they are I don't know. Curacao has pretty nice diving, and you can get lucky sometimes with bigger stuff (and pretty good chance of spotting dolphins on the surface) but there are better chances of big stuff in T&C or Cayman.