Belize vs Turks & Caicos: which one is better for young families

[KathyV]

I echo @diversteve's comments about Zika. It's a small risk but the consequences can be quite devastating, especially for a young couple of child-bearing age, see the link below for the CDC's safety recommendations.

I also agree with others that Cayman and Provo are similarly expensive, but that there may be options for mitigating the expense somewhat.

Right now, as far as I can tell, the only dive/family vacation destinations popular with US travelers that are not under any level of Zika warning are Bermuda, Cayman, and Hawaii - and they are all expensive destinations.

Cayman is a wealthy country and they reacted quickly and aggressively against Zika because of the threat to their tourist business and the threat to their own populations.

Not only do they spray for biting insects, but they have also embarked on a large and costly program to prevent infectious mosquitoes from breeding. The strategy involves releasing genetically modified, laboratory qrown, male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to mate with wild females, producing offspring that do not survive into maturity. Brazil, the country where the Zika scare started in the Americas is using the same program.

Another advantage to the eradication of Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes is that they also carry other tropical diseases like chikungunya, dengue, and even yellow fever in a few areas.

Unfortunately, it is the Anopheles mosquito that carries malaria, but that isn't a threat in most popular Caribbean dive destinations except Honduras and the Bay Islands, but it is always wise to take some precautions against mosquito bites. I have a small chance of contracting West Nile Virus infection from the Culex mosquitoes in my own back yard! (That's why I don't like yard work - at least that's my story and I'm sticking with it!)

Women Trying to Become Pregnant | Zika and Pregnancy | CDC

 

[Carlos Danger]

...We also considered Playa De Carmen and Aruba.

Going to an all inclusive makes it easy to leave people behind, for my family at least.

Love Playa, but can be a very busy/loud environment; plus you would have to commute from/to the airport in Cancun, or fly in/out of Cozumel across the channel. The beaches are decent, but would rate the diving in the Playa area is just "okay". However, diving out of playa would be better on time commitment and less expensive. If I were planning to stay in the area with a young family, I would probably pick one of the big all-inclusive resorts on the south end of Cozumel. Better beaches and access to excellent diving right off shore, plus you can fly direct.

Aruba is similar to Provo in that the place is developed and spread out, and the good beaches/hotels, etc. are generally on one side of the island, but diving access is usually from town. Traveling to Aruba is pretty straightforward, and probably a decent choice from a "family" perspective, but it is a longer flight. Personally, I was not all that impressed with the diving, nor Aruba in general.

 

[Charred]

Love Playa, but can be a very busy/loud environment; plus you would have to commute from/to the airport in Cancun, or fly in/out of Cozumel across the channel. The beaches are decent, but would rate the diving in the Playa area is just "okay". However, diving out of playa would be better on time commitment and less expensive. If I were planning to stay in the area with a young family, I would probably pick one of the big all-inclusive resorts on the south end of Cozumel. Better beaches and access to excellent diving right off shore, plus you can fly direct.

Aruba is similar to Provo in that the place is developed and spread out, and the good beaches/hotels, etc. are generally on one side of the island, but diving access is usually from town. Traveling to Aruba is pretty straightforward, and probably a decent choice from a "family" perspective, but it is a longer flight. Personally, I was not all that impressed with the diving, nor Aruba in general.

I'd love to find a way to make Cozumel to work for family trips but the lack of beaches is a big problem.

Diving at Cozumel is perfect because you can stay at a southern AI, do single or double tanks dives as you please. You can literally disappear for 1.5 hours and get a dive in.

BUT...people rag on the AI dive ops. Everything is a comprise when diving with a family....

 

[DawgFan]

There are some good points here on mixing diving and family. As a mixed family (9 year old doesnt dive yet) I will encourage you to very carefully consider the total dive time you are away. If you leave at 8 am when are you back?

A 2 tank dive at some places could get you back at 2 pm. Rushing through breakfast and then missing lunch will likely result in a fight 3 days in...

Compromises are needed and its probably best if you consider non-ideal dive spots with great family vacation potential. I won't pick a place where I won't be back by 1 pm for lunch.

In June, we just got back from Dominican Republic and that worked out very well. We also considered Playa De Carmen and Aruba.

Going to an all inclusive makes it easy to leave people behind, for my family at least.

@Charred comment on return time post dives is exactly what I experienced in T&C and Grand Cayman this year.

In T&C, boat rides from Provo are about 45 minutes to the better sites. We'd leave condo around 7:30am and get back to condo around 2pm.

In Grand Cayman, each operator can have different schedules but the one we dive with has us leaving our condo around 7:20am and back to condo around 11:45am. Difference is boat rides are closer to 10 minutes to dive sites in GC.

I'm lucky my whole family dives so we avoid to you've been gone too long tension.