All-inclusive resort with decent diving?

[cybdiver]

Honeymoon? New Couple? White sandy beaches? or secluded pink beaches? Saint James Club Antigua has it's own dive boat. Want more privacy? Take a short plane ride and stay on the sister Island of Barbuda.
Antigua wins awards for Honeymoon vacations every year.
Consider going a little early if you like the big yachts and see sailing week 2013 - April 27th - May 3rd

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

Look at the El Dorado Seaside Suites in the Mayan Riviera
www.karismahotels.com/HotelsResorts/ForAdultsOnly/ElDoradoSeasideSuites
It's a small boutique all-inclusive resort with ala carte restaurants, no wrist bands, beach waiter service, no kids.
We have been there the last 2 years and Like it better than Sandals for about a third of the price.
As for diving, you can do some ocean diving, cenote diving or hop the fery over to Cozumel for a day of diving.

 

[kwbarpilot]

You can try the RIU in Paradice Island Bahamas,and call Stuart Cove divers.They come to the resort pick you up go diving and take you back.2 dives half day 4 dives full day.(Diving is extra,not part of the resort).You can also check out Sun Set Grand in Ocho Rios Jamica With Jamaica Scuba divers (Diving extra)Be sure to read my thread on Diving in Jamaica.

 

[Bryan Cunningham]

Are you traveling from Canada or the USA? If Canada I can help you out with some great options.

Cheers
Bryan
SCUBA DESTINATION DEALS - HOME

 

[maydaybaby]

I stayed at the Iberostar in Cozumel for 12 days last April/May. Hubby and I (<50 dives) plus another couple (<200 dives). We had a great experience and would stay there again when we return to Cozumel. Although we are novice, we have done some very popular dives -- Roatan, Belize, St Lucia, Puerto Rico, St Thomas... Cozumel was amazing, just for the awe the formations of coral and all the swim-throughs. Probably my favorite spot so far!

Dressel divers were good. Nitrox is free, so we obtained our nitrox certification there and used nitrox throughout our stay. They have three boats, which were always full. We found that we needed to reserve our spots for the entire week as soon as we arrived. However, there were sufficient DMs so that there were never more than 6 - 7 in our group. Three boat dives each day with a schedule of dive sites posted -- helpful in planning our dive. We purchased a large packsge of dives which they allowed us to split between four divers, plus we pre-paid our dives and saved addition $ that way. I think it averaged out to be about $25 per tank -- and that was nitrox! We felt we got a great deal, plus the resort itself was a package thru Apple Vacations and ended up being quite affordable. The dive sites were all a very short ride by boat; so close, in fact, that we spent our surface intervals back at the resort.

The resort was very nice, btw: not luxury, but certainly on the higher end of what is available in Cozumel, perhaps? Not close to town, but we never felt the need to leav the resort! On the beach; nice pool; decent food (three specialty restaurants included, but require reservations), all drinks included (frozen pina colada and strawberry marguerita machine whirring continuously and can be enjoyed without alcohol), nightly entertainment (a little lame and cheesy, but we are early to bed anyway.) We did enjoy the beach party one night, but never stayed up late enough to see the nightclub. Daytime activities and an entertainment staff to keep things lively. Peacocks roam the resort, but the flock of pink flamingoes stays in the lagoon and the parrot keeps to the lobby.

I must caution, however, that it IS Mexico and one can become very ill -- I spent the last 4 days unable to keep food in my body and was hospitalized for 4 days as soon as I returned home. The resort uses purified water; we even used bottled water to brush our teeth and no one else got sick, so our best guess is the lettuce and other uncooked salad veggies were probably washed in local water -- I was the only one that ate salad. So just use caution and don't eat the salad. Having said all that, it was a very enjoyable vacation and I would recommend it.

 

[oldguysrule]

I stayed at the Iberostar in Cozumel for 12 days last April/May. Hubby and I (<50 dives) plus another couple (<200 dives). We had a great experience and would stay there again when we return to Cozumel. Although we are novice, we have done some very popular dives -- Roatan, Belize, St Lucia, Puerto Rico, St Thomas... Cozumel was amazing, just for the awe the formations of coral and all the swim-throughs. Probably my favorite spot so far!

Dressel divers were good. Nitrox is free, so we obtained our nitrox certification there and used nitrox throughout our stay. They have three boats, which were always full. We found that we needed to reserve our spots for the entire week as soon as we arrived. However, there were sufficient DMs so that there were never more than 6 - 7 in our group. Three boat dives each day with a schedule of dive sites posted -- helpful in planning our dive. We purchased a large packsge of dives which they allowed us to split between four divers, plus we pre-paid our dives and saved addition $ that way. I think it averaged out to be about $25 per tank -- and that was nitrox! We felt we got a great deal, plus the resort itself was a package thru Apple Vacations and ended up being quite affordable. The dive sites were all a very short ride by boat; so close, in fact, that we spent our surface intervals back at the resort.

The resort was very nice, btw: not luxury, but certainly on the higher end of what is available in Cozumel, perhaps? Not close to town, but we never felt the need to leav the resort! On the beach; nice pool; decent food (three specialty restaurants included, but require reservations), all drinks included (frozen pina colada and strawberry marguerita machine whirring continuously and can be enjoyed without alcohol), nightly entertainment (a little lame and cheesy, but we are early to bed anyway.) We did enjoy the beach party one night, but never stayed up late enough to see the nightclub. Daytime activities and an entertainment staff to keep things lively. Peacocks roam the resort, but the flock of pink flamingoes stays in the lagoon and the parrot keeps to the lobby.

I must caution, however, that it IS Mexico and one can become very ill -- I spent the last 4 days unable to keep food in my body and was hospitalized for 4 days as soon as I returned home. The resort uses purified water; we even used bottled water to brush our teeth and no one else got sick, so our best guess is the lettuce and other uncooked salad veggies were probably washed in local water -- I was the only one that ate salad. So just use caution and don't eat the salad. Having said all that, it was a very enjoyable vacation and I would recommend it.

In reference to the 'water' in Cozumel, the entire island has been converted to a filtration system, but I realize it is not always a gaurentee. Fiesta Americana is a 5 Star and we have had no problems with drinking the water there, but they do provide bottled water too. Since tourism is the only source of revenue, Cozumel has done a tremendous job of making it a safe and enjoyable place to stay. Agreed with previous post that possible fresh raw vegetables could be to blame but have seen no eveidence of it with our stays.
Many people from all over the world come to visit and I would deduce there could be a viral componant to the illness picked up from another person. We always have hand cleaner with us and use it constantly when out in town and at the resort.
Dive House, which has two piers on the island, one at Fiesta Americana are the best in MHO, and I highly recommend all inclusive Fiesta Americana/Dive House.

 

[CanadianTravelAgent]

Just coming back to Scuba Board after a bit of an absence and came across this post. What did you decide?
I am a Sandals fan myself for a romantic holiday. If the focus is the romance and the diving is secondary, this is an amazing choice. If your focus is on the diving, I would find a dive operator who runs independently from the resort as they will be only focused on the diving!
Let me know if you need any assistance in planning your trip!

 

[t4e]

I must caution, however, that it IS Mexico and one can become very ill -- I spent the last 4 days unable to keep food in my body and was hospitalized for 4 days as soon as I returned home. The resort uses purified water; we even used bottled water to brush our teeth and no one else got sick, so our best guess is the lettuce and other uncooked salad veggies were probably washed in local water -- I was the only one that ate salad. So just use caution and don't eat the salad. Having said all that, it was a very enjoyable vacation and I would recommend it.

jeeez i become ill reading comments like this

 

[Rottekatz]

What did you decide?

Yes, What did you decide?:cool2:

 

[Altissimus]

Yes, What did you decide?:cool2:

Lol Since the public demand to know...

We booked Secrets Maroma in Riviera Maya - which ticks the decent AI resort (great reviews on that one).

Then, as we didn't like the look of any in-resort diving options, we went out-resort to go find the diving, and I haven't actually booked this yet but I have shortlisted a couple of LDSs - probably will go with Mexico Blue Dream out of Playa del Carmen.

Now the only question I'm still trying to ask is hire a care or not hire a car? Taxis or buses? Some horror stories on the interwebnet about tourists in hire cars getting fleeced by the police around that part of the world...so, not sure on that one yet. Might wait til we're there and make a call when we can see what it's like.

Thanks to all the suggestions above - I hope this post doesn't close this thread, because I think there's a load of useful information above that other folks would benefit from.

To those that put adverts up, I'm not flying from Canada or the USA - a small proportion of us live in the "rest of the world". Good luck with your businesses.

Best wishes,
A.