Where to go (without going thru Miami) with a non-diving spouse?

[Sharka]

Hi folks - Background on us. We are in our early 30s and have approx 50 prior dives. Prior diving experience includes Grand Cayman, Belize, Philippines and Sipadan Malaysia. I am usually my husband's dive buddy except this time I am pregnant! So I obviously cannot dive. :depressed: We are looking to go to somewhere in the Caribbean for a week in early Feb to relax. My husband is not the type that can just sit on the beach for one week straight. We need to find a place where I can send him off on a boat for morning dives like every other day (yes lucky him).

We like - good beaches, good food in local restaurants, calm vibe, can pay for lodging below 500USD a night
We are looking for - somewhere we can get to relatively easy from NYC. My main pet-peeve is going thru Miami airport. Both times I went thru Miami via AA we missed our connecting flight back to NYC due to long long immigration lines. I can usually treat Miami immigration as a bad joke but I refuse to stand in line for 2 hours while I am pregnant
We are not looking for - All-inclusives, night life, noisy bars

Some location I have researched so far:

Grand Caymans - Pros: good food / easy diving / easy to get to from NYC, Cons: we have been there before and we like to try somethine new
T&C Provo - Pros - safe island with upscale accomendations / easy to get to from NYC, Cons: long boat ride to dive sites means I will be sitting alone on the beach on days I sent my husband off to diving
St John USVI - lush island relatively unspoiled with good restaurant choices, Cons: don't really hear anyone talking about diving there

Can anyone offer some new location idea? We can always go back to GC as last option but I do refer to try a new location

 

[Cecil]

Three choices for you, Bonaire, Bonaire and possibly Bonaire. Direct flight from JFK on Delta on Saturday. It will meet your budget and have great diving. The only weekness is the beaches are not very good but fine for hanging out under a palm tree. One big advantage no boat rides, so hubby will only be gone for a short time to get in a great dive.

 

[diversteve]

Curacao - same diving as Bonaire, a lot easier to get to and a lot of nice beaches. There's at least 1/2 dozen west of Willemsted that have shoredive sites just off the beach. At least 3 or 4 east of town also. Sunset Waters has a nice beach area and they do a couple of the better boat dives but the resort itself was really tired looking in spring 2007. From what I've read lately it's not gotten any better.

For the kind of $$ you're willing to spend, the Marriott in Piscadera Bay is really nice, close to a couple of good restaurants and 10-15mins. to downtown or the airport. They have a nice pool complex, casino, pool bar/grill, and a nicer beach restaurant and some sort of outdoor nigthclub on the other end of the cove they're on - but it was only noisy on Friday night. Nice beach also. Caribbean Sea Sports is the Marriott's on-site diveop and there's a shoredive off the beach - from there or at Hook's Hut 2 mins. away - it's a combo beach bar/restaurant/diveshop. Same reef, just a farther swim out.

Another upscale property is the Lodge Kura Hulanda in West Punt, it's also very nice but no beach and a 45min. drive back to town as it's all the way on the west end of Curacao. Great diving out there but not much for you to do. It's one of the leading small hotels in the world - something like that is on their website.

Back in Piscadera Bay, the Hilton next to the Marriott may also be nice, the bar area was, but the hotel itself is pretty old - I'd guess 70's.

If your husband wants to do some accompanied shorediving, there's the DiveBus. Suzy, the owner is a member. I think they pick up as far out as PB also - they're located east of downtown.

And did I mention the non-stop Continental flight Saturday morning from Newark?

 

[Papa_Bear]

Cozumel or Grand Bahamas? Kicked back and fun things to do for non-divers! From Golf to hiking, Off-roading, sightseeing, shopping, and drinking! Good vibes and not too expensive!

 

[diversteve]

Another option might be Virgin Gorda in the BVI's. It's quiet, peaceful (except for the goats and chickens) pretty untouched in some areas, has some georgeous beaches and a couple of really nice resorts. Little Dix Bay is one of the top resorts in the Caribbean - Conde Nast Traveler this month - but I think it's over your $500/day - maybe double. There's another one there - something with an M? - that also sits on it's own private beach. DiveBVI is based on Virgin Gorda, since the smaller islands (better diving) are within a 1/2 hr. or so, it's easy to do two dives in the morning and be back for lunch, we did it every day during the week.

Another option might be Leverick Bay on the north end, it's sort of a yacht resort (as is most of the BVI's) though. Semi-nice beach with large permanent umbrella tables and they do a beach buffet on Friday's that everyone attends, locals, tourists, our divestaff etc. You'll need a car to drive to and from town though, it's a good 20-30 mins. with not much in between.

You fly into St. Thomas and take a ferry from the downtown port or a cab to the East End where (I believe) there are more frequent ferries. They're fast ferries so the ride to Virgin Gorda is under 2hrs. BVI Customs/Immigration took us all of five minutes and they didn't even check our bags - it's pretty casual. Two of my friends left VG at 8AM on the ferry for a 1PM flight out of St. Thomas and had time to shop in St. Thomas before they left. There's also a local airport on VG, a friend flew out of there, but they're small planes - like twin Cessna's.

I can't speak for the resorts but at the villa we stayed in near town there was no crime. The mgr. didn't even have exterior door keys and on his advice I left my room door unlocked. My laptop, uw video gear, cash, iPod etc. in plain sight, nothing was touched. Really friendly local people also, it's sometimes difficult to keep to a schedule without being rude. It's probably the most laid-back place I've ever been.

 

[DeputyDan]

US Air services many islands through Charlotte - Delta through Atlanta and Continental through Houston.

Miami is easy to skip!!!

 

[Web Monkey]

Hi folks - Background on us. We are in our early 30s and have approx 50 prior dives. Prior diving experience includes Grand Cayman, Belize, Philippines and Sipadan Malaysia. I am usually my husband's dive buddy except this time I am pregnant! So I obviously cannot dive. :depressed: We are looking to go to somewhere in the Caribbean for a week in early Feb to relax. My husband is not

Buddy Dive on Bonaire (tell them you want a first floor room if stairs are a problem).

You can hang out by the pool or in the room and he can dive right behind the resort or take the truck out and go shore diving. They have nice restaurants and just enoguun night life to make it interesting and relaxing, without being noisy and busy.

You guys can take the direct flight out of Newark (and I beleive Texas also).

Terry

 

[dave_w]

When we did day dives out of Provo (T&C) with Caicos Adventures we were generally back on shore pretty early, like 2 pm. Two-three dives per day. And you could always take the boat ride one day and just hang out or snorkel (if up to it), the ride was nice and scenery is pretty.

 

[Gwen1011]

I try to avoid Miami at all costs as well. Through Charlotte you can go to Grand Turk via Provo. The boat rides are shorter from Grand Turk and there are easy and quick flights from Provo to GT.

Or you could get just about anywhere through Houston if you fly Continental, or if you prefer AA, through Dallas.

How about some cenote diving on the Yucatan? The diving over there aside from the cenotes really is pretty good. Some interesting sites right off shore between Playa del Carman and Tulum. And you can't beat it for pretty beaches.

Gwen

 

[Curacao Sunshine]

I recently heard that including taxes, Continental, direct Newark to Curacao this February was about $450. We have a new Marriott, The Renaissance opening January 16th right downtown. Personally we like the west end of the island both for the countryside and the diving. I'll second diving with the Dive Bus if you stay in town. Email me and I'll send you a ton of info on Curacao.
Sunshine
curacaosunshine@gmail.com