I'm wanting to take my wife somewhere besides Cozumel. She is not into wreck diving. Her biggest thing is to see the marine life while underwater and be able to enjoy a decent beach while on land. It can be a man made beach, she just likes sand, palm trees and an adult beverage or two. So, what are some good destinations that are reasonably priced that I should check out? Thanks in advance.
Best Marine Life destination, reasonably priced
- Thread starter gt2003
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Diver Dave1
Contributor
Southwest is flying to Grand Cayman now, making flights more reasonable for some people. Nice beaches on east and west side and decent Carib. diving.
drrich2
Contributor
I love Bonaire, but you don't get much sandy beach unless you stay at Harbor Village or Eden Beach Resort (I think there's another exception or two, but Bonaire is not a sandy beach destination), and the glory of Bonaire is the dive freedom (when, where, how much & how long you wish) made possible by shore diving. Which is work. I also recommend people headed to Bonaire the 1st time join a group to help them learn their way around, since driving along the west coast in a truck is needful to maximize the experience.
Curacao is larger, said to have sandy beaches, and offers shore diving though the reports others post don't seem to 'shore-only' focused. Haven't been diving there, but it sounds pretty good.
I've been reading up on Grand Cayman a bit; from what I'm told, overall a pricy destination, airfare & car rental tend to be surprisingly affordable to factor those into your total trip costs when comparing to competing destinations, and a couple of reputable 'near beach' options that caught my eye were Sunshine Suites and Comfort Inn (the latter's nearby beach got trashed in a recent hurricane, I'm told; I don't know how fast it'll recover). Some deals at Turtle Nest Inn, car included, sounded great, if you're willing to get away from Seven Mile Beach and do some driving.
St. Croix could provide what you want. I imagine St. Thomas could, too. You might read some reports on Ambergris Caye out of Belize. Roatan is a popular dive destinations; I don't know off-hand who has & doesn't have much sandy beach.
How important is it for her to get to some population center for colorful Caribbean buildings & shopping? Someone who stays on the reservation vs. someone who likes to roam can change recommendations drastically.
Richard.
Curacao is larger, said to have sandy beaches, and offers shore diving though the reports others post don't seem to 'shore-only' focused. Haven't been diving there, but it sounds pretty good.
I've been reading up on Grand Cayman a bit; from what I'm told, overall a pricy destination, airfare & car rental tend to be surprisingly affordable to factor those into your total trip costs when comparing to competing destinations, and a couple of reputable 'near beach' options that caught my eye were Sunshine Suites and Comfort Inn (the latter's nearby beach got trashed in a recent hurricane, I'm told; I don't know how fast it'll recover). Some deals at Turtle Nest Inn, car included, sounded great, if you're willing to get away from Seven Mile Beach and do some driving.
St. Croix could provide what you want. I imagine St. Thomas could, too. You might read some reports on Ambergris Caye out of Belize. Roatan is a popular dive destinations; I don't know off-hand who has & doesn't have much sandy beach.
How important is it for her to get to some population center for colorful Caribbean buildings & shopping? Someone who stays on the reservation vs. someone who likes to roam can change recommendations drastically.
Richard.
You could stay in Playa and still be able to ride over to Coz for a few dives. There are some nice reefs very close by, and those sandy beaches she's interested in.
Or save some money and dive Florida.
If you are not interested in a lot of topside attractions, take a look at the Cayman Brac Beach Resort. It's a small, clean, reasonably-priced, diver-dedicated all-inclusive resort on a lovely little island. The price includes clean, modern, pleasant accommodations, valet diving, good food, airport transfers, and hotel taxes and service charges. They also offer some packages that include 3 drinks per night. They have a lovely beach, a gorgeous infinity pool, beautiful diving, and there's even a small spa.
Cayman Islands All Inclusive | Cayman Islands Vacations
https://vimeo.com/165357805
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