You might consider adding San Salvador to your list of Bahamas Out Islands for a dive vacation. It is a very small island but the diving is very good and you are likely to see sharks on just about every dive.
We haven't been there in a long time, but the more recent reports on SB are positive. We stayed at the Riding Rock Inn and it is a small, family owned resort. Nothing fancy, with dated décor, but clean and air-conditioned. The food was plain but tasty and the price was reasonable for accommodations, food, and diving. The dive operation was excellent, but again we haven't been there recently. We flew to Nassau and then took Bahamas Air to San Salvador. See the link below.
Riding Rock Dive Resort Bahamas overlooks the white sand beach of San Salvador
As far as I know, there are only 2 resorts on San Salvador, the small and homely Riding Rock Inn and the Club Med Columbus Isle.
We only had one vacation experience with a Club Med and we said "never again!" but it was a long time ago and the resort we were at has since closed (St. Lucia) and I have read that CM dive ops have improved. They used to operate their own dive op and it wasn't good at all - cattle boats that were packed with resort course divers! But I understand that they now outsource their dive ops to reliable vendors. So I don't know what it's like these days, you would have to research it. I do remember that the food was very good.
But the fact that there is a Club Med on the island means that you should be able to find reasonable and readily available flights to the island, no matter where you stay. But I believe that some of the Bahamas islands were hit by hurricanes earlier this year, so check into damage and recovery status during your research.
Some other places to consider are the Cayman sister islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, if you are looking for a land-based dive vacation on a small, quiet, Caribbean island with good pricing. You should be able to find flights to Grand Cayman easily and there are daily flights to CB and LC on Cayman Air.
There are more flights to Brac because their airport is larger and they get a couple of jet flights in/out daily as well as turboprops and smaller Twin Otter flights. The LC airport is very small and the Twin Otters are the only option, and they don't have lights so you can only fly in and out during the day. Sometimes you can find accommodations but it is harder to find flights.
The Caymans were lucky and didn't get hit by any hurricanes this year, so damage isn't a concern.
We love both CB and LC and we like to stay at the Cayman Brac Beach Resort and the Little Cayman Beach Resort. These are nicer resorts with better food and ambience than the Rocking Rock Inn IMO, but still small, family-owned, diver-dedicated resorts that are offered at a reasonable price that includes food, diving, accommodations, airport transfers, taxes, and hotel service charges. Tips for the dive op and nitrox are extra; see the link below.
Clearly Cayman
The CBBR has recently been renovated and it has a huge, beautiful infinity pool and a double decker bar. There are beaches in front of both resorts with beautiful ocean views, but they are not good swimming or snorkeling beaches - there are other places to ocean swim or snorkel on both islands, but you would need to rent a car. Cayman Brac is gaining a reputation as a shore dive destination but we haven't tried it yet.
We recently returned from LCBR and we went to CBBR last year. The reefs are healthy, the fish populations are good, and the Reef Divers op is excellent. Bloody Bay wall off of LC is one of the top Caribbean dive destinations and CB's diving is also very good - and if you like wreck dives then the Russian Frigate off of CB is a really nice dive.
You are likely to see some sharks in the Caymans but not many. Mostly nurse sharks and reef sharks, but you will see lots of turtles, and sting rays, eels, and loads of friendly groupers and lots of healthy sea creatures. The Cayman sister islands have done a good job controlling the Lionfish populations so you won't see many of them. We saw a lot of eagle rays during our recent trip to LC.
There are only 2 dive ops and one resort on CB, so you can either stay at the CBBR and dive with Reef Divers, or you can rent a condo and dive with Brac Scuba Shack - both ops have good reputations.
There are more choices on LC because the Bloody Bay Wall is a big draw. In addition to the LCBR, there is the Southern Cross Club, the Pirates Pointe Resort, and condos. We have only stayed at LCBR and dived with Reef Divers - but it has always been great.
BTW, I have been diving in the Bahamas during March and the water was cold IMO - in the low to mid 70s. It should be warmer in the Caymans, around 80 (high 70s to low 80s). So that's another reason to consider the Cayman sister islands.
Good luck wherever you decide to go!
