Rustic, quiet, cabanas, calm waters...

[sunk]

Hi everyone,

I've been searching, reading, and changing my mind every day. I'm looking for a February vacation spot with good diving, a nice beach, quiet atmosphere, and cabana style accomodations (no hotels.) I don't care about deep diving, just lots of marine life - only interested in small dive groups. Short boat rides are very important.

All suggestions welcome. Here are my experiences so far:

Tobago - got certified in Charlotteville with Ron's Watersports. We never dove with more than another couple. Ron's an excellent instructor. Fish life was truly abundant. Loved Tobago. Major drawback for me is that I get seasick and the seas outside the bay were rough. Will go back.

Cozumel - stupidly stayed at Iberostar thinking there was a nice beach there. Will never stay at an all-inclusive again. Hated it. Clear water, pretty corals, but marine life seemed sparse. Can't stand the structured dive operation.

Xcalak, Mexico - loved it. Stayed at Costa de Cocos. On one dive we were surrounded by a tornado of huge tarpons - just me, my husband and the dm. Only did one other dive which was ok. Good snorkeling off shore.

Loreto, Baja - ok, wouldn't go back. Stayed at Baja Outpost, very loud town, nice cabanas, long boat rides. Diving with sea lions was fun, but the rest was eh.

What looks good...

Utila - Laguna Beach Resort - though a couple people say there aren't schools of fish and I'm not sure I want to deal with sand flies as we deal with many bugs where we live. Also some say average food - good food would be a plus.

Belize - love inland (got married at Five Sisters Lodge) but haven't had much luck on the coast. Placentia looks most appealing but the boat rides are too long.

Hawaii Big Island - any cabanas within walking distance to the beach and a small dive op?

Grenadines? St John? Dominica? We're coming from the northeast US, close would be nice but not a must. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[CuriousMe]

I spent a week on Blackbird Caye, Belize last month. We stayed in rustic style cabanas, did 3 dives a day....saw lots of life and a few large animals.

The boat ride there is an hour and a half....but for the dives, the rides were so short most days (5-10 minutes) we would come back to the resort for surface intervals.

Peace,
Cathie

 

[DandyDon]

And welcome to Scuba Board. :hi: You might introduce yourself on Intros & Greets so we can welcome you further...

Have you looked into Roatan Island? I prefer Fantasy Island, but you might prefer Coco View. Use the SEARCH option at the top of the page for hours of opinions. Two possible challenges:

(1) The marine life there is impressive, but you may be looking for mind boggling, which it ain't.

(2) Food is not impressive at any of the Roatan resorts, I don't think. It's okay, just not super. Coco had an alleged problem with food handling, but even if it was true - it's long fixed.

good luck,



don

 

[wandernsoul]

Grand Turk` Turks and Caicos. You get the short boat rides, 5-10 minutes, and Very Nice Diving, but no cabanas. I love the place, been 6 times now.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

wandernsoul once bubbled...
Grand Turk` Turks and Caicos. You get the short boat rides, 5-10 minutes, and Very Nice Diving, but no cabanas. I love the place, been 6 times now.

You dog. Headed there in January, 2004 for the first time. Glad to hear someone else recommend it. You might warn others that there is no social life.

 

[wandernsoul]

Hey Tim,

I've got a great social life on Grand Turk. With Smitty, the most wonderful divemaster of all time (Sea Eye Diving), and Alan, the ever ridiculous manager/bartender at the Osprey, and of course Colin, the owner of Island House, the Very Nicest Place to stay on island. And on and on. They are all good friends now.
But in all honesty, you're right, there's not much to do there but dive. Which is why I love the place.
While you're there make sure you check out the museum. Very nice stuff. My first trip to the island was with Earthwatch, to do archaeology (and of course dive!) and some of the stuff in the museum is from what we found!
If you have any questions about the place let me know. Where are you staying?
I'm Quite Jealous.

Have a ball!
Beck

 

[Damselfish]

St. Vincent diving is pretty good, especially if you like lots of small critters. We like Dive St. Vincent ( http://www.divestvincent.com/ ) There's another operator (re)open now (Fantasea?) but we've never had an opportunity to try them. Young Island Resort ( http://www.youngisland.com/ ) is great - I don't know if you'd call these cabanas, but it's not a "hotel." Pricey though. There's some small hotels nearby that are reasonable though the diving still isn't exactly cheap.

Bequia diving is pretty good too, and there are a number of small cabana type places or little inns. Quite the neat little island, though more trouble to get to. We stayed at the Gingerbread ( http://www.gingerbreadhotel.com/ ) which is not exactly cabanas, but it's just 9 very nice and large rooms with huge decks or patios - when inside you could easily pretend you're in a bungalow. We used Dive Bequia ( http://www.dive-bequia.com/ ) and were pleased with them.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

wandernsoul once bubbled...
Where are you staying? I'm Quite Jealous.

We grabbed one of the condo units at Aqua House. Looking forward to great diving, a Cuban cigar and a nice glass of Scotch (in that order). Life is good and the best is yet to come.

 

[wandernsoul]

but diving and Scotch are right at the top of my list!

Hey Tim, make sure you do a dive called The Pits. When I was there in Sept. we saw 5 seahorses, two of which were mating!! Awesome. Last year there were also a couple of frogfish there. Nice shallow dive so you can spend a couple of hours, and you can do it as a shore dive as well.
If you dive with Sea Eye please give Smitty a big kiss for me.

Have a ball,
Beck

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

I am literally counting the days (48). Oh and by the way if you like good scotch check out Oban. Nectar of the gods.