Looking for Suggestions

[diversteve]

Diversteve's dire alarmist inference of personal safety issues aside

Seriously Doc, it wasn't alarmist. You yourself have commented on the armed staff at Cocoview. Funny that I didn't see that at the other three locations I mentioned above. Although to be fair our condos in Curacao did have a gated entrance.
excerpted from: Country Specific Information - US Dept. of State

The crime threat in Curaçao is generally considered low although travelers should always take normal precautions when in unfamiliar surroundings.
The crime threat in Cayman Islands is generally considered low
Although the crime rate in The Turks and Caicos Islands is relatively low, crimes do occur.

vs.

Copan, Roatan/Bay Islands, and other tourist destinations have a lower crime rate than other parts of the country, but thefts, break-ins, assaults, and murders do occur. Exercise particular caution walking on isolated beaches, especially at night. Coxen Hole on the island of Roatan should be avoided after dark.

And yes I did selectively choose from the information available. I did not want to post all of the crime/safety info for each location here.

I also had a pleasant, worry-free, perfectly safe trip to Roatan. Couldn't help but notice that our rental house there had a 24hr. watchman though...

 

[RickyF]

And thus, nowhere near "amazing"?

The truth is, in the Caribbean (which is what this thread has been narrowed to), there remains very little "amazing diving", and what there is- it's nowhere near any lodging that is up-scale or any real shopping.

You're looking for a cruise-ship port destination that would allow for such developed infrastructure, yet still have the best of the Caribbean. It really doesn't exist. Success spoils. You would do better to totally drop the element of "shopping" (safe or risky), and concentrate on diving vs. laying about the pool. That you can come a lot closer to getting "above average Caribbean diving".

You say you've been to Roatan, but that's a big island and there are huge differences between the various zones. Diversteve's dire alarmist inference of personal safety issues aside, by this time, no matter where you have stayed there previously- you know the shopping s-u-c-k-s on Roatan. There is nothing truly upscale for lodging in the Bay Islands, and the geography that makes Roatan's diving "amazing" is located in a small zone on the South side. The rest of the Bay Islands is just typical of what is some of the best-of-what's-left in the Caribbean... not a bad thing.

Your best bet is Cayman for her, and you go dive with a more advanced dive charter rather than the typical micro-manager dive-ops that 99% of the tourists stumble into there. There is still some fairly interesting diving on Cayman, but not seen by most, usually wholly dependent on very atypical weather for access.

Thanks for the input! Yes the shopping on Roatan sucks!! We have stayed at Barefoot Cay the four times we have been. The resort is "nice" and the diving is pretty good. The people there are almost like family and the dive shop has always taken good care of me. We just want to try something different. I will certainly look at Cayman. Any suggestions on Dive Op's?

 

[Doc]

We have stayed at Barefoot Cay (Roatan) the four times we have been. The resort is "nice" and the diving is pretty good.

Wow, that's an amazing "return" rate! I really don't think you're going to find the variety of small creatures that are abundant in their local reef, but it depends upon what your DM's were doing when you visited. In the Caribbean, that localized geographical area is impossible to beat.

I will certainly look at Cayman. Any suggestions on Dive Op's?

I would suggest Dive Tech (Link-> Grand Cayman scuba diving cayman island scuba diving cayman island scuba resort cayman scuba training cayman cayman island scuba grand cayman scuba dive cayman islands scuba diving scuba diving in grand cayman scuba diving cayman scuba diving on gran ). It is not the same kind of dive operation that gets it rated in "the top 5 of the Caribbean"... those are generally the distressing, prima-facie representations of cattle boats.

After doing four trips to Roatan's Barefoot Cay, you have been exposed to a nice, gentle approach to a dive op, some of the best u/w macro sights in the Caribbean, some very attentive (maybe not the best naturalists) DMs in the business. You now have high standards in terms of experience base and sensibilities. It's going to be hard to eclipse that. I will speak in terms of my broad base of travel experience, not just doing internet research and pasting Expedia website links, but over the years, time has changed things underwater at GC. I pick dive destinations just based on quality of diving available, so it's been a few years since I returned to G.Cayman.

You should look for a dive op that can service the North/East as well as the common South/West sites. On days that the weather is agreeable, they can take you to the rugged and steep walls that are still the homes of larger pelagics. This is the same dive vacation planning theory that I would apply to Bonaire and Grenada... don't follow the crowd, especially the ones that take part in (or quote) Top Ten Polls for Divers.

I defer to others who have had more recent experience~ just look deeply into what exhortations you are hearing.

 

[kerk72]

dominica, is a great place to go if the non diver likes hiking and waterfalls.

Dominica really ISN'T the place for people who love to shop. I love Dominica and the diving is great, but getting there is difficult - you have to go via another Caribbean island as there is no international airport there.