August trip ideas (with nondiving spouse)

[jejton]

I am working on a surprise vacation for my wife (this will be our first without kids in 10 years) and am in the idea gathering stage. Most likely this will have to be in August, probably first half of the month, and be for a week or so. I dive, she doesnt - so I'm looking for a destination that has both. So far I've dived Key Largo and Puerto Aventuras (total of about 30 dives). I may get my AOW this spring, if it makes a difference. Some nightlife would be a plus. Dining is not a factor at all. We will be flying from Chicago, and would like to keep the flight to 6hrs or less (direct is even better) so as not to waste 2 days. Am open when it comes to accomodations - AI to vacation rentals and anything in between. Would like nice beaches, preferably opportunities for private ones. So far, I've managed to come up with two options.

1 - Cabo - Never been there but heard lots of good things. Seems to have good diving, other water activities, night life and shore options. August seems to be a good time for deals but not sure if the heat will be too much.

2 - Aruba - Similar to Cabo in respects, a little more moderate weather. Diving doesnt seem to be great (I know Bonaire would be a better choice but not sure if theres enough to satisfy my wife there).

Any thoughts on the above, or other suggestions?

 

[diversteve]

Bonaire diving, Aruba beaches is called Curacao. And there's nightlife there as well. One advantage for diving is most of the beaches are also named dive sites with operators on-site. Some of the better western sites are among the best I've dove on either Bonaire or Curacao. No need for AOW, most of the better diving is above 80'. Like Bonaire the reef parallels the shore and it's generally low current - you have to get on a boat to find a drift dive.

A quick check 1st week of August shows flights are under 7hrs. out and 8hrs. back. It's American and you arrive on Curacao at 2PM with a short layover in MIA. The resort areas/town are a $40-50 taxi ride - none have shuttles except maybe the Sunscape AI but if you're trying to get away from kids that's not the place - so we just rented a car on arrival. Budget was the best deal we found.

You might find some more remote beaches there as well in different areas. Some like Playa Jeremi have no facilities so are less popular - we dove there all morning and as we were leaving a couple walked up, spent 10mins. on the beach then left. Others like Porto Mari are so popular that parking on weekends is a problem - but finding a dive buddy isn't. Mid-week we even had some of the more popular beaches/dive sites just about to ourselves. Once you're 10 mins. outside of Willemstad in either direction it gets really quiet really fast with very few dining options so I'd visit but stay closer to town for the other things you want.

Nightlife is quite a few night clubs - in one area we drove thru there were at least 3-4 playing music one night. Mambo Beach Club is a party all by itself. Avila has a Blues/Jazz club some nights - Jazz is popular on Curacao. There's at least a dozen casinos also - the one at the Renaissance is like something you'd find in Reno - the others are mostly smaller catering to the resort guests.

There's a lot of shopping downtown - the colored buildings you see in their ads are the shopping district downtown on the south side of the waterfont. Downside is the MegaPort nearby but if there's few/no cruise ships in, the waterfront is very pleasant. The famous swinging bridge is there to walk across to either side - on the north side you've got the Rif Fort/mall complex - a mix of old fort, shops, restaurants. A nice one there is Bistro Le Clochard, they have nice views of the waterfront. Another mid-island is Landhuis Daniel - both are award winning options.

Two places to consider staying are Lions Dive Resort or the Marriott Emerald Beach Resort/Casino. Both have on-site dive operators, shore dives, nice beaches and are somewhat more upscale. Lions Dive is about 10mins. south of town in the Sea Aquarium resort area - besides the aquarium there's some nearby shops/restaurants and Mambo Beach is actually walking distance from there. The Marriott is in Piscadera Bay - 2 miles north of downtown - far enough to be away from the congestion yet easy to access. There's a few other resorts nearby and several restaurants - Pirates Bay nearby is a combo beach bar/casual night club/pier/dive shop. Somehow it works...

A lot of Curacao boat diving is in the same areas so 2 dives and you're easily back before noon - sometimes earlier. If your wife snorkels, Ocean Encounters at Lions Dive does a combo trip most afternoons.

Curacao - a Unique Island Paradise for everything.

 

[jejton]

Wow. Thanks for the great info! I'll have to look into it.

 

[Doc]

I had a similar problem years ago, the non-diving spouse thing.

I booked a trip to Roatan, but as we transited through Houston, we planned to put her in a limo then fly her out to the Dos Brisas Spa for that week.

I went to Roatan and had a blast. She did the spa week thing in West Central Texas.

She hooked up with a rich oil guy, never saw her again, and he went bust. I ran into a Member of the Swedish Bikini Team at CoCoView and that worked out okay, too. She brought along her look-alike cousin.

Win, win, win.

Hope that helped.

We will now return to the standard formulaic "advice"....

 

[jejton]

Good laugh.

 

[RJP]

My wife doesn't dive, nor do my two children. Family trips to places like Hawaii or Cayman Islands can be difficult to dive, since diving there usually means being gone before they wake up and being absent for 2/3rds of a day out on a boat.

One of our favorite family vacation spots is Curacao. Been there three times, and will be back many more. With plentiful shore diving, most of which can be done from some of the islands nicest beaches, I'm able to get a fair bit of diving in on a "non-diving" family vacation. Goes like this...

Nice, leisurely breakfast at hotel before heading off to a beach like Playa Porto Mari. Set up camp at the beach with the wife and kids, and then tell the dive op on site that I'm looking for a shore dive buddy and point out where I'm sitting. Play with the kids in the sand and the water for a while, chat with the wife, etc. At some point a single diver or buddy pair will approach me and ask if I want to join them for a shore dive. Before grabbing my gear I turn to my wife and say "I'm going for a quick dive... want me to grab you a pina colada on the way back?" and walk into the water. 45-60min later I'm back on my lounge chair with a cold beer, a pina colada, and happy wife. Typically I can get 10 or so dives in during a one-week trip without anyone really noticing/caring that I did a fair bit of diving.

We always stay at the Marriott since there's plenty for a non-diver to do: nice beach, great pool, swim-up bar, etc. Dive op on site is great, and even for the boat dives they come back to the dock for the surface interval for many of the two-tank dives. Again, decreasing the perception that "you were gone all day."

Everyone in the family loves "Daddy's Night Dive" at the Marriott house reef. There's a bar right on the ocean. We sit down for a few drinks and appetizers as the sun sets. When I see my buddy walking over to the dive shop 50ft away, I tell my wife what to order me for dinner and then I head over, throw my gear on, and walk into the water. The kids play "follow daddy's dive light" as we dive the reef that essentially wraps around the point where the bar sits. 45min later I'm back on my bar stool with a cold beer, BBQ ribs, and a happy wife. If your wife is anything like mine, you can probably do your night dive while your wife is getting ready for dinner (OK, I could do a 90min deco dive while my wife is getting ready for dinner) and then hop in the shower and be ready when she is.

Marriott is a good location; not far from downtown, relatively easy access to beaches and sites west/north of the hotel.

 

[jejton]

Thanks RJP. You're making Curaçao look like a good option. Now going inAugust, will that change anything?
Anyone have thoughts on Cabo as an alternate choice?


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[diversteve]

August is a good time for Curacao since it's below the hurricane belt so generally not as affected by storms in the Caribbean - often not at all.

 

[Manuel Sam]

My two cents' worth on Cabo San Lucas: it has all of what you require but.....

Nice beaches, yes. Private? Not in Cabo San Lucas proper.
Lots of lodging and dining choices.
Lots of water activities, for sure. It's a bigtime fishing mecca if you care for big game fishing. Glassbottom boats, jetskis, snorkeling, parasailing.....
Nightlife, yes.
Good diving - it's all relative. What do you want to see? Within the divesites closest to Cabo San Lucas, there will be the usual tropical fish (most of which you have not seen before since you have only dived in the Caribbean/Atlantic side), stingrays, maybe a white tip shark, maybe sea lions, and if lucky, maybe a passing mobula or mobulas. There is a deep canyon near the tip of the Baja peninsula, so much is possible, but you'd have to be very lucky.

From Cabo San Lucas, it is possible to arrange day trips to Gorda Banks, which is a site reputed to have hammerheads and other pelagics; to Cabo Pulmo, which has big schools of fish and one site with possibly Bull sharks; and further up in the Sea of Cortes for snorkeling with whalesharks. These day trips usually require a minimum number of divers and of course cost more.

August is hot. And it is also hurricane season, but it is also hurricane season in the Caribbean so that's a wash.

 

[RJP]

Thanks RJP. You're making Curaçao look like a good option. Now going inAugust, will that change anything?
Anyone have thoughts on Cabo as an alternate choice?


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Have been there in August. It's a touch warmer than other times of the year, but as mentioned above there's very little chance of a hurricane.

---------- Post added February 16th, 2015 at 04:43 PM ----------

August is hot. And it is also hurricane season, but it is also hurricane season in the Caribbean so that's a wash.

Curacao is considered outside the hurricane belt. Doesn't mean a storm won't hit... but I'd have no problem booking an August trip.