OW/AOW destination recommendation: Aruba /Punta Cana /Cancun/Montego Bay

[pedo]

I love Aruba.
I have had great dives there with both Aqua Windies (near the hospital) and JADS (down by Baby Beach). Aruba diving is not world class but it is more than fine for beginners (and really anyone).
I agree about getting the training done at home, who wants to sit in a classroom on vacation?

 

[KathyV]

Hello,

We are planning an extended family vacation at Thanksgiving this year.
(1) It has to be a Caribbean destination with direct flight from DC area
(2) it should be a decent diving destination for beginners so that my niece can get her OW and my husband and I can get our AOW.
(3) We prefer to stay at an all-inclusive resort with an on-site dive operation or something close-by

We have narrowed our choices to: Aruba, Cancun area, Punta Cana, Nausau and Montego Bay, due to direct flight restriction.

Any thoughts on these destinations from a beginner's diving perspective? Any PADI shops/resorts you recommend?

Thanks in advance!

Grand Cayman ticks a lot of items on your list but there are no big all-inclusive resorts on the island. Cobalt Coast is a small, diver-dedicated resort with Reef Divers onsite. Cobalt Coast offers unlimited shore diving on the house reef when you are staying there and diving with them - but that end of the island is likely to get windy in November - you may not be able to shore dive with them but the boat diving will be fine.

There are a few other places with onsite dive ops, like Lighthouse Point condos with DiveTech onsite. Most folks stay in condos and prepare one or two simple meals per day and then go out for one main meal per day. There are many good restaurants, dining options, and modern grocery stores on GC - that's probably why they don't have a big all-inclusive resort - they don't really need one. People like to get out and explore and the island is safe and you don't have to worry about eating the food or drinking the water.

A lot depends on your budget and the other kinds of things that you like to do on vacation. Is this mostly a dive vacation or a tropical vacation with some diving? If you want only direct flights during the holiday week then GC may work for you, but not if you want a mega all-inclusive resort.

BTW, all 3 of the Clearly Cayman all-inclusive dive resorts are offering a Holiday Travel Special that includes the dates for Thanksgiving Week, see the link below.

The Cobalt Coast resort is on Grand Cayman and their other 2 resorts are on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. It is only a short flight (15-30 minutes) from Grand Cayman to the Sister Islands of Brac and Little Cayman. Reef Divers is the onsite dive op at all 3 resorts.

Clearly Cayman

Thanks all for the great info here!

Unfortunately, there's no direct flight from DC area to GCM on our travel dates (Nov 27- Dec 1).

And this is a family vacation with mostly non-divers, so we don't get to pick just the best destination for diving, but my husband and I would definitely like to plan a trip there ourselves sometime.

FYI, Southwest is now flying direct from BWI to GCM - once per week on Saturdays, see the link below:

Southwest launches new Baltimore route | Cayman Compass

 

[BackAfter30]

FYI, Southwest is now flying direct from BWI to GCM - once per week on Saturdays, see the link below:

Southwest launches new Baltimore route | Cayman Compass

It's more than Saturdays, we're headed there...next Sunday!

 

[DivingChipmunk]

Thank you all for very helpful information here. We looked into GCM, but there's no direct flight on Wed from BWI.

For various reasons/restrictions, we are now focusing on choosing a resort in Riveria Maya, and here are two candidates:
1. Catalonia Playa Maroma, on-site dive center: Pro Dive
2. Iberostar Tucan, on-site dive center: Dressel Divers

Any experience you've had with either? Any other resort/on-site dive center you would recommend in the area (preferrably not further away than Playa del Carmen)?

Thanks again for your help!

Sue and Scott

 

[Kevin Moran]

If you are looking for a dive shop in Playa del Carmen, I would recommend WetOwls. A small shop but big on personal service. I am going back to Playa in December and look forward to seeing Christine and Jhair again. After using them once, I wouldn't use anyone else.

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

Montego Bay is the worst diving I have ever seen...hands down and I dive quite a lot... I would rule it out immediately.

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

If I can also make a recommendation.... if you are staying in playa Del Carmen. Look up Geraldine solignac
geraldine.solignac@gmail.com she is a certified razor instructor and has been diving the cenotes for 15 years in tulum. Take a day and book her to take you to the cenotes to do 2 dives. They are excellent for beginners as there is zero current/they are freshwater and breathtaking...preferably the pit one one other. It’s a ‘top 5’ all time dive for me and I had never even heard of it until she took me there as a surprise when I was doing my course. She will happily pick you up and drop you off at your hotel after. She is a well known dive guide.

 

[Kevin Moran]

I did El Pit in June. Loved it and plan to do it again in December with Angelina. Thanks for the referral. I plan to use WetOwls for the week but they don't do any Christmas dives. Maybe geraldine can help.

 

[Kevin Moran]

Oh and I love the pictures.

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

Tnx. A bunch more at my Instagram ‘ministryofgiraffes’ although I had some issues with the light...going back to do some more shooting in November..