Hotel / Diving Recommendations - Family of 4 - New to diving

[GoldieVT]

Looking for some advice- we're a family of 4 (kids are 18 and 20) and looking to do a vacation in the first 2 weeks of 2026. My wife and I can't just sit on a beach so we thought doing a diving vacation would be fun. I have my PADI cert, others don't so we'd be using part of our vacation for their shore and open water dives. I'd likely do a refresher and maybe snorkel while they do the course. I think they'd likely do the online eLearning prior to the trip.

Looking for hotel and dive shop recommendations. It would be nice if the hotel had rooms with 2 bedrooms but we could also do 2 separate rooms (kids and parents). It doesn't need to be low budget but also not looking for top of the line hotel either. We'll want some downtime from diving and my daughter would enjoy a hotel with a pool/beach. We also like to get out of a hotel restaurant and get some local food so proximity to other dining would be nice.

While it will be exciting to do some great diving, the goal is to get certified, get comfortable with diving, see some cool stuff and have fun.

I welcome any suggestions and thank you!!

 

[crabapple58]

Looking for some advice- we're a family of 4 (kids are 18 and 20) and looking to do a vacation in the first 2 weeks of 2026. My wife and I can't just sit on a beach so we thought doing a diving vacation would be fun. I have my PADI cert, others don't so we'd be using part of our vacation for their shore and open water dives. I'd likely do a refresher and maybe snorkel while they do the course. I think they'd likely do the online eLearning prior to the trip.

Looking for hotel and dive shop recommendations. It would be nice if the hotel had rooms with 2 bedrooms but we could also do 2 separate rooms (kids and parents). It doesn't need to be low budget but also not looking for top of the line hotel either. We'll want some downtime from diving and my daughter would enjoy a hotel with a pool/beach. We also like to get out of a hotel restaurant and get some local food so proximity to other dining would be nice.

While it will be exciting to do some great diving, the goal is to get certified, get comfortable with diving, see some cool stuff and have fun.

I welcome any suggestions and thank you!!

Refresher and nitro with Aldora Divers. Their adherence to diver safety was top notch and the DMs very motivated to get you comfortable. There is a cash discount for USD. We stayed at Aldora Villas and it is lovely. Full kitchen . You can snorkel and dive from the ladder near the patio. We would walk to town or catch a taxi. We appreciated the quiet especially when the cruise ships were packing the town pier area. Aldora diver boats will pick divers up from the patio.

 

[Racer_X]

We went in March. I have kids around your age that are moving slowly down the certification path.

You are getting a lot of recommendations of places for a dive-focused vacation. Is that all you want to do?

If not, I'd suggest something different. First, base yourself in the south, away from the town. Beginner sites will be to the south, so more south = shorter boat rides. We chose the Iberostar because a "2 tank dive" starts around 8:30, goes back to the doc around 10:15 for a potty break (which your new divers may very well need due to physiological impacts of diving), maybe swap out rental gear if issues happen (which they can), and then go right back out. You're back at 12-12:30ish for lunch.

At THAT point, you can go back out for 2 dives in the afternoon and potentially a night dive every other day or so. Or not. Offgas, take a break. Go snorkeling at Money Bar or Sky Reef (both recommended) and be back for dinner (restaurants, better than the buffet as long as you don't try the smokehouse).
Do a day of 4 dives and clear your computers by doing the pearl farm or rent a car and head to the east side where the beaches are, then hit the Mayan Ruins for an afternoon.
"Downtown" is like half a day max, and a lot of it, especially by the cruise ship docks, is the hard-sell culture of Mexico versus other Mexican local cultures.

The Iberostar, oddly enough, is an IHG property. So it's affiliated with the Holiday Inn AND Intercontinental hotels (odd^2). The on-site dive op, Dressell, is well set up for new divers. Yeah, they are big boats, but the groups are good sized, and they put newbies with practiced DMs. They have most of their processes down pat - well practiced. Free nitrox, and if you ask, you can get lucky with big 15L tanks for your new-diver airsuckers.

If you all really ARE new divers, it's a great place to make friends. I got put with a group of 3 and got an invite to their house to go diving any time after the second tank. That offer was repeated a few days later as well. My wife, non-diver, made a friend with a scuba widow and they are talking about a girls weekend in a couple of months. I met 3-4 new people every day and ended up hanging out at breakfast and a dinner or two.

oh, one final recommendation: Dump the kids one night, make reservations for two at Buccano's for 30 minutes before the sunset, eat outside, and share the lobster nachos. It's a long expensive cab ride, but if your kids stress you out the way mine do, it's guaranteed to de-stress.

 

[sharky60]

Blue Angel Resort has been our vacation and dive op home for over a dozen years.

 

[GoldieVT]

We went in March. I have kids around your age that are moving slowly down the certification path.

You are getting a lot of recommendations of places for a dive-focused vacation. Is that all you want to do?

If not, I'd suggest something different. First, base yourself in the south, away from the town. Beginner sites will be to the south, so more south = shorter boat rides. We chose the Iberostar because a "2 tank dive" starts around 8:30, goes back to the doc around 10:15 for a potty break (which your new divers may very well need due to physiological impacts of diving), maybe swap out rental gear if issues happen (which they can), and then go right back out. You're back at 12-12:30ish for lunch.

At THAT point, you can go back out for 2 dives in the afternoon and potentially a night dive every other day or so. Or not. Offgas, take a break. Go snorkeling at Money Bar or Sky Reef (both recommended) and be back for dinner (restaurants, better than the buffet as long as you don't try the smokehouse).
Do a day of 4 dives and clear your computers by doing the pearl farm or rent a car and head to the east side where the beaches are, then hit the Mayan Ruins for an afternoon.
"Downtown" is like half a day max, and a lot of it, especially by the cruise ship docks, is the hard-sell culture of Mexico versus other Mexican local cultures.

The Iberostar, oddly enough, is an IHG property. So it's affiliated with the Holiday Inn AND Intercontinental hotels (odd^2). The on-site dive op, Dressell, is well set up for new divers. Yeah, they are big boats, but the groups are good sized, and they put newbies with practiced DMs. They have most of their processes down pat - well practiced. Free nitrox, and if you ask, you can get lucky with big 15L tanks for your new-diver airsuckers.

If you all really ARE new divers, it's a great place to make friends. I got put with a group of 3 and got an invite to their house to go diving any time after the second tank. That offer was repeated a few days later as well. My wife, non-diver, made a friend with a scuba widow and they are talking about a girls weekend in a couple of months. I met 3-4 new people every day and ended up hanging out at breakfast and a dinner or two.

oh, one final recommendation: Dump the kids one night, make reservations for two at Buccano's for 30 minutes before the sunset, eat outside, and share the lobster nachos. It's a long expensive cab ride, but if your kids stress you out the way mine do, it's guaranteed to de-stress.

Sorry for the late reply but thanks for all this great info. A good question about just doing diving and your suggestion for other activities a couple of days is a good one. We're on the fence about all inclusive, we often enjoy checking out food options outside of the resort.

With the Iberostar being so far out of town, did you rent a car or is there transportation to town (or does the town not really have much to offer...)? Thanks again!

 

[Scott K]

Looking for some advice- we're a family of 4 (kids are 18 and 20) and looking to do a vacation in the first 2 weeks of 2026. My wife and I can't just sit on a beach so we thought doing a diving vacation would be fun. I have my PADI cert, others don't so we'd be using part of our vacation for their shore and open water dives. I'd likely do a refresher and maybe snorkel while they do the course. I think they'd likely do the online eLearning prior to the trip.

Looking for hotel and dive shop recommendations. It would be nice if the hotel had rooms with 2 bedrooms but we could also do 2 separate rooms (kids and parents). It doesn't need to be low budget but also not looking for top of the line hotel either. We'll want some downtime from diving and my daughter would enjoy a hotel with a pool/beach. We also like to get out of a hotel restaurant and get some local food so proximity to other dining would be nice.

While it will be exciting to do some great diving, the goal is to get certified, get comfortable with diving, see some cool stuff and have fun.

I welcome any suggestions and thank you!!

It depends on what you want to do. I've been diving throughout the Caribbean and the world for that matter, but I don't like to go to Mexico. I rarely get sick, but when I go to Mexico, I usually get sick. I would recommend Bonaire. Very accessible, short boat rides, calm water, excellent visibility and fish life. As others have suggested, do all the pool work before you go, a month or two before you leave. You'll do two 40 foot dives, then two 60 foot dives, and after that, the undersea world will be your kids's aquarium. My wife saw an octopus on her first takeout dive in Bonaire, and six squid showed up for her second. I would rent a VRBO. There are a multitude of good dive shops, including Dive Friends, Divi Dive, and Buddy Dive. If you're a foodie, there are also excellent restaurants downtown. Plus even when your children become adults, they'll still want to go on trips with you. In January I took my two daughters, who are 27 & 30, my oldest daughter's fiance, and my youngest daughter's two friends to Tobago for a dive trip. It was a blast. Finally, if you like horses, there's a donkey sanctuary, which is fun.

 

[GoldieVT]

Thanks for the suggestion. Bonaire was mentioned by our local dive shop as well. Some other local friends who take dive trips regularly mentioned Cozumel. I'll do a deeper dive (haha) into Bonaire!

 

[mikacoop]

Sorry for the late reply but thanks for all this great info. A good question about just doing diving and your suggestion for other activities a couple of days is a good one. We're on the fence about all inclusive, we often enjoy checking out food options outside of the resort.

With the Iberostar being so far out of town, did you rent a car or is there transportation to town (or does the town not really have much to offer...)? Thanks again!

I just got back from a week at the Iberostar & diving with their onsite op, Dressel Divers. Great trip! Dressel is super professional & organized, & I really liked all the dive leaders, who seemed extremely competent & experienced (I've also dived with them in Bayahibe, DR, & had a similarly good experience). Yes, the boats are large & often fairly full. But each individual dive group is usually around 6 to 8 divers. Honestly, I never left the resort once (except on a dive boat). But there are taxis that hang out at the hotel to take customers into town, if you want. (I used one when going to the airport, & I think it was $30 USD). There's also a car rental agency at the hotel (my son easily rented a car for the day to tour around the island). There's a large, beautiful sandy beach to lounge on, but the ocean shallows there are bit on the rocky side—so, rather than walking directly in from the beach, most ocean swimmers enter off of the sides of the pier, where there are steps for that purpose. The breakfast at the main buffet restaurant is hard to beat, & its dinner offerings change daily, which is nice. For me, that was all I needed, but YMMV. The 3 other restaurants can be hit or miss. Regardless, my sense is that transportation into town from the Iberostar is easy, if you need it.

 

[crabapple58]

Thanks for the suggestion. Bonaire was mentioned by our local dive shop as well. Some other local friends who take dive trips regularly mentioned Cozumel. I'll do a deeper dive (haha) into Bonaire!

Yes, you definitely have to rent a car in Bonaire, There is very little uber or public options. It is recommended you rent a pickup truck as there are roads that are packed dirt and the north park requires it. 123 car rental provided excellent rates and guaranteed an automatic. Keep in mind, Bonaire does not have the pristine soft sand beaches 'typical' of the islands. So lounging on the beach in a cabana is NOT Bonaire. Jive city at the Sorobon in south does have lots of water sport rentals, easy entry beaches and lots of space for parents to hang out in the shade. YOUNG PEOPLE GALORE trying out windsurfers, kayaks, kite surfers, all sorts of water sports. There is not alot of noteable restaurant activity, food is good but service can be slow and parking quite frustrating. Hence, all inclusive or cottage with full kitchen. The all inclusives that others have mentioned have more of a young adult pool scene, too.

 

[Racer_X]

. We're on the fence about all inclusive, we often enjoy checking out food options outside of the resort.

With the Iberostar being so far out of town, did you rent a car or is there transportation to town (or does the town not really have much to offer...)? Thanks again!

The shopping area of the town we did in less than half a day. We're not fans of the hard sell, and didn't need too much in the way of supplies. Sergio's was good and low key, but we weren't looking for opals.
There's tourist stuff for the cruise ship crowd - cuban cigars, pharmacies that don't require prescriptions, $75 tequila, etc. I'd imagine the nightlife is more active in town.
There are plenty of places where actual people live - so there's a real town there, too. It's about 25 bucks 1 way in a cab.

I'm normally someone feeling trapped on AIs - but I didn't feel that way because it was the place I was coming back to when I was done diving.

Our next trip we plan to take 1 day and go to the pearl farm (kinda curious, but probably a tourist trap), and 1 day renting a car to go a good beach on the east side of the island, take our time at the mayan ruins, and do a little of downtown before we go change for Buccanos. Outside of that - snorkel at Money bar, snorkel at Sky reef, and dive dive dive.

 

[acahir]

There's lots of good thoughts on specific hotels etc in the responses so far, so thought I'd weigh in on slightly different aspect.

I'm an independent instructor (side hobby, keep my hand in it to stay current after teaching full time for a few years, not trying to promote myself), and I've taken two groups of new divers on trips in the last few years. I think you have the right idea in trying to find hotels/resorts with other things to do, you never know how much someone will love diving. We scheduled our week+ trips with training at the beginning, a few fun dives, and then some tentative plans that could be changed for the second half. Both times the groups (one with kids, one without) wanted to dive as much as possible, but you never know.

If just being on a beach is enough of an alternative, any dive focused resort will do. But having other options (other water sports, restaurants, and activities etc) is a good backup, even for bad weather days.

For example, there's some great dive shops and hotels on Grand Cayman (happy to offer specifics), and the beach there is excellent with lots of non-diving water activities, but there's not a ton of other things to do on the island other than eat and shop. Some great food though!

I also just returned from a trip teaching in Puerto Rico and we had a great time, though our location was less diving specific and had lots of other options (hiking, surfing, etc). Can recommend some dive shops and AirBnBs, less of a resort area where we were.

As for the course, almost everyone does the eLearning route these days, and it works well for most people. Def better than spending part of the trip studying. Save the warm weather for being in the water, esp compared to New England (I'm in NH, right on the board of VT). Not sure where in VT you are located that's an hour away from a pool, but there is also a dive shop in NH that runs classes in White River Junction at the aquatic center there, just in case you didn't know about that one.

There are alternatives for different learning styles; instead of the eLearning that is reading focused, there are also videos combined with in-person instruction for PADI. I used this method with two high school aged kids that found videos easier to learn from, esp one who dealt with ADHD, while the adults chose to do the reading. One advantage was everyone was able to get familiar and practice setup with the equipment a few times before the trip as well, though we didn't do any pool sessions.

Feel free to DM if you have any other specific questions about any of this. Sorry for the delayed response, saw this week ago but only just got around to responding.

Angus