Any recommendations for a family dive vacation?

[gasgirl]

We are planning a spring break hoilday with our 13 & 14 y/0 Jr Open Water divers. We have taken them diving on our own before in the Cayman islands and Bonaire but it was a lot of work for us. This time we want to relax and enjoy as well so we are thinking about wither an all inclusive dive resort or a liveaboard that is family friendly... of course, a price discount for the kids would go a long way in our final choice. Has anyone got any suggestions?

 

[Papa_Bear]

Aggressor has kids week, and I would look at Cozumel maybe some place like Paradises has kids programs that run all day! The beaches are safe and they even have a play that the kids put on! When I have gone with families it has always been a positive experience!

 

[Papa_Bear]

dup post!

 

[Peter Guy]

Timing is one of the key issues of course. Last year, in October, my wife and I stayed at a Wyndham all inclusive resort in Playacar which is part of Playa del Carmen -- about 50 miles south of Cancun (and the ferry terminus to Cozumel). As I recall we got a very nice deal -- about $100/night for the two of us (not each) which included lodging, meals, drinks and whatever was going on at the resort.

I've thought about bringing my daughter's family there on vacation -- and school be damned! The pricing was great.

PS My wife thought the food was mediocre at best -- I thought it was quite edible -- take your pick.

 

[Doc]

We have taken them diving on our own before in the Cayman islands and Bonaire but it was a lot of work for us. This time we want to relax and enjoy as well so we are thinking about wither an all inclusive dive resort or a liveaboard

Not sure what that meant- are you looking for a place that had kids programs where they can go off and be safely entertained? Or were you okay with being with them 24/7, but just no longer want to worry about meals or going to the off-prem dive op?

Look at Sandals and other family friendly all inclusives.

Give it two more years and you'll really be ready to travel while diving with them.

 

[robint]

We are planning a spring break hoilday with our 13 & 14 y/0 Jr Open Water divers. We have taken them diving on our own before in the Cayman islands and Bonaire but it was a lot of work for us. This time we want to relax and enjoy as well so we are thinking about wither an all inclusive dive resort or a liveaboard that is family friendly... of course, a price discount for the kids would go a long way in our final choice. Has anyone got any suggestions?

Spring Break - I would look at Cozumel or just over on the mainland at Riviera Maya area, lots and lots of family friendly all-inclusive resorts. I love the idea of an all-inclusive for teens as there are game rooms and pools and other kids their age to hang out with....plus there is non-stop food available for those little walking stomachs (that is what we used to call our daughter as she ate non-stop all day long, especially on vacations!). Also, you can take a day off diving and go over to the mainland and visit Xcaret or Chichen Itza.

Another option is Anthony's Key at Roatan. They have alot of activities geared for kids, dolphin program, etc.

Liveaboards are great, but most 13-14 yr olds would be bored out of their minds with no tv or internet for a week. There is nothing to do onboard but dive and talk about diving.

robin

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Second the recommendation for Cozumel. Plenty to do and some great diving.

 

[gasgirl]

Umm... I guess I didn't make myself clear enough in my original post.

My two kids are already certified divers and want to dive. We have already taken them shore diving and boat diving on Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Bonaire.
However, my husband and I end up doing a lot of the extra work carrying their tanks and gear to help keep them from overexerting themselves.

A liveaboard sounds like the best option to circumvent that issue but I have not found any discounts for kids (including the Aggressor boats for Spring Break week) and I am afraid they will not dive enough to warrant the full price. For example, they will definitely skip the deeper dives in the morning and they probably will not be doing any dives we deem to be too difficult for them... eg. drift dives, poor conditions, etc.

We have spoken to Anthony's Key and their kids program is geared towards teaching non-certified juniors the basics rather than actually diving. If we want them to dive with us at all, we were told they would have to pay full price.

We have gone to the Mayan Riviera and they are not fans of the organized activities/programs. They are mature kids who are extremely interested in the environment and they would much rather be diving with us.

Thank-you for all the suggestions so far but it's still not helped us find what we are looking for... a "real" dive vacation for all four of us with a pricing format that makes sense for the amount and type of diving the kids will end up doing.

Thanks again for all your help!

 

[robint]

I think we all understood that the kids are divers, but you need to understand that a diver is a diver taking up a spot on a boat and must pay full price. I don't know of anywhere that gives a discount to anyone who is certified for their age. The fact you want a discount for your "mature" kids is rather insulting. It sounds like you want them to be treated like adults, hang out with all the adults, but pay less. Really? :shocked2:

In my post regarding Anthony's Key, I never said anything about a Kid's Program, I said there are things there to do that kids like, like dolphins, etc. They could do a PADI course with an instructor regarding reef conservation, etc. too. Same goes for all the other places, your kids would be full paying divers. If you check out Cozumel all-inclusives like I mentioned, you would see that the diving only includes 2-tank dive each day. After the morning dives, your kids would be able to do other activities around the resort if you would want or spend the day with you.

 

[gasgirl]

robint,

I never said anything about paying less for each of the boat dives that the kids end up doing... we have paid "full price" for those dives on other trips with no issues.

We chose the boat dives we did because the dive profiles were compatible with what we considered safe for Jr Open Water divers.

We also paid "full price" for our tank rentals for shore diving but the resort was willing to prorate the price for the number of tanks the kids actually used as opposed to the weekly rate.

But having to pay for up front for a bunch of dives they can't do just doesn't make sense. I was hoping to find something out there that had a dive program that would meet our needs.

The comment about them being "mature" was to answer the question asked by RoatanMan that they do not want to be left behind and "entertained" while we go off diving.

As far as Cozumel goes, it is not a good choice for us as I have indicated I am not interested in any drift diving at this point as we do not want to have to deal with currents.

Actually, I feel quite insulted by your post.