Best Caribbean Diving???????

[Scubastl]

I am looking for the best Caribbean diving. I organize a trip every year for a group of friends and we just returned from La Romana Dominican Republic. Next year we are looking for the best of the best. Here is where we have been:
1. Cozumel
2. Belieze
3. Curacao
4. La Romana DR
5. Bahamas
6. Florida Keys

We are looking for great visibility, large formations, large fish, great reef, lots and lots of swim throughs, and great ship wrecks. Next year we are looking at doing either Turks and Caicos or Roatan. Is there somewhere else we should be looking?

Thanks for the help.

 

[ben_wilson3301]

Grand Cayman, Little Cayman or a liveaboard that did both would be a good choice.

 

[lulubelle]

Little Cayman. Leaps and bounds above those you have listed imho. Good all inclusive land based resorts there.

 

[Alex777]

Grand Cayman (Little Cayman's swim-thrus are not as good and it doesn't have the Kittiwake). Stay in a hotel, not an all-inclusive so you can use different dive ops on different days in different parts of the Island. Dive 1/2 your time in East End and 1/2 on the North Wall, with 1 day out for the Kittiwake.

 

[rongoodman]

Little Cayman or the southern Bahamas(I did this on the Caribbean Explorer--I don't know what's available land based).

 

[Laurie S.]

St. Lucia.

 

[lmorin]

I can't advise relative to your stated wish list of "great visibility, large formations, large fish, great reef, lots and lots of swim throughs, and great ship wrecks," but if your thread title indicates the most important criterion, "best Caribbean diving," then surely Bonaire should be at least discussed.

 

[ben_wilson3301]

I have dove both St Lucia and Cayman, Cayman is MUCH better. The coral life and abundance of fish has declined in St Lucia. Still a great place to dive, but there are much better.

 

[CanadianTravelAgent]

I love Turks and Caicos diving, but it doesn't have wrecks or swim-throughs. What it does have is great visibility and the potential of large pelagic life, including humpback whales, depending on the time of year. It depends on what is most important to you and your friends.

I was most recently out in Little Cayman and wall was truly spectacular. There were a few swimthroughs, no wrecks (need to go to Cayman Brac for that), a few distant shark sightings, very good reef life. Nothing much to do on Little Cayman. Grand Cayman or Cayman Brac might be a good choice for you.

As someone else mentioned, another option would be a liveaboard - always been my favourite way to dive!

 

[jlevine]

I would definitely include Bonaire in the Dutch Caribbean near Aruba. I would also look at Roatan, Honduras. Roatan has great walls. For more info on Roatan, go to the Central America/Bay Islands forum.