Bit of this, bit of that

[Muncho]

Hi,
I\m looking for a Carribean destination for my wife and I for nextt summer. I'm an 'older' diver ( over 45 years diving) and she is a snorkeler.
I want a two tank morning dive that will get me back at noon-ish so that she won't be alone all day.. I've looked into Turks but they get back at 3ish sometimes.
Any ideas? We want to rent a small house or apartment.
We've done the Sandals' thing a few times but the diving is just too touristy and somewhat...boring.

thanks
Bernard

 

[flyboy08]

Oh, about anyone of a hundred location in the Caribbean will suffice.

Cozumel
Belieze
Roatan
Costa Rica
Bonaire!!!!!!!

Anyone offers exactly what our looking for and more.

 

[drrich2]

Aside from snorkeling, what else your wife (& you, for that matter) wants to do has a big impact. You've been to Sandals; about how many dives have you done, and how many islands (which?) have you visited? Knowing your prior experience makes it easier to target suggestions to your needs.

1.) Is a sandy beach a big deal?
2.) Does she snorkel a little, or are several hours of prime snorkeling a selling point?
3.) Do you like rustic and removed (Saba), modern & civilized (Georgetown, Grand Cayman, near 7 Mile Beach), staying on the reservation (e.g.: Little Cayman Beach Resort, CocoView in Roatan, a southern all-inclusive in Cozumel), or what? You mentioned renting a small house or apartment, but are you wanting that rural, in-town or what?
4.) Is shopping a big deal?
5.) When people say 'Caribbean' without qualifying further, I assume they want coral reef diving, maybe a wreck or two if handy. Just how important is 'top end' reef diving? Is it important to see 'big stuff' (e.g.: sharks, large grouper)?

If you're only doing 2 dives/day, I figure a fairly scenic island you can drive around is a plus. Take a look at my St. Croix Research Report Aug. 2017 - St. Croix Research Report Aug. 2017 I'm not saying it's better than other possibilities, but it might get you thinking about the ins & outs of one option, to better understand what you need.

I also read good things about Grand Cayman; maybe do a forum search for those package deals at Turtle Nest Inn (I think it's called; @KathyV), or consider Comfort Suites (Ambassador Divers onsite, IIRC) or Sunshine Suites as a couple of budget options near 7 Mile Beach. G.C. should have plenty of entertain her.

Richard.

 

[DeputyDan]

Coco View on Roatan would meet your needs.
Excellent snorkeling out front.
BE AWARE: IT'S RUSTIC

 

[AdivingBel]

Are you comfy solo? If so, Bonaire is nice. You and your wife can go to any number of sites that are good for both diving and snorkeling and set your own schedule. My wife and I both dive, but she doesn't dive as much as I do, so she snorkels some days. Lots of nice, intimate villas and apartments for rent. Dive Friends will rent you a pony rig, so you don't have to drag one with you. If you have a free day, you can take a solo class, if that makes you more comfortable.

I would also suggest Curacao as their beach/dive sites can be nicer for non-divers, but you'll need to be more comfortable solo as it's not as well supported and you'll need to make arrangements as pony rigs are harder to find for rental. At least that's been my experience to date.

If you're friendly & outgoing, it's easy enough to find buddies, but more difficult than boat insta-buddies. Both islands offer plenty of boat diving, but you lose the ability to set your own schedule and the intimacy of exploring sites together. Good luck and have fun.

 

[diversteve]

Cocoview fails the ":We want to rent a small house or apartment." test.

The other side of Roatan would be good for both - there's lots of small houses, apts, condos in the West End area - about a dozen boat dive operations for you and snorkeling on both sides of Half Moon Bay - we saw snorkelers almost daily off the east side at Half Moon resort - that area is also reachable within 50' or so of the public beach and there's also good snorkeling on the west point - it's just a short surface swim out since there's a condo property onshore - but the public beach extends to maybe 200' of it.

Your wife might also like snorkeling with the dolphins at Anthony's Key and there's a dive with them also. - 5-10 mins away from the West Ebd and some of the house rentals are between the two locations in Sandy Bay. I rented a larger house than you need from these people but they have others - Roatan Vacation Rentals | Beach Houses Condos Villas | Holiday Rental Home Listings in Roatan Honduras

Lots of shops, many of the better restaurants and nightly entertainment (mostly loud bars) are in that West End. An overview of the whole area can be found in the menu under Roatan here - also they're a good outfit to dive with IMO - #1 Roatan’s PADI scuba dive center on Trip Advisor | Coconut Tree Divers | Honduras

It's buggy most of the year - even on the beaches.DEET worked for us...

A more upscale option could be Barefoot Cay/Diving on the south side. As you can see from the photos there's a lot of snorkeling just off the beach - (they spray/rake it for bugs) there's a natural lagoon and up against the reef/breakwater is 18' deep. All boat diving with Barefoot Divers - the famous Mary's Place is 5mins. from their dock. Roatán Luxury Resort & Private Cay Diving | Barefoot Cay™ Resort | Dive and experience Barefoot Cay, a luxury boutique resort in the Caribbean , located on a 4-acre private cay on the south shore of Roatán Island.

The villas on the Cay are lockouts so can be rented as one or two bedrooms. All gourmet quality kitchens and nicer amenities plus they have a pool and spa. It's a few minutes up the road to French Harbor one of the towns there. The resort is as nice as it looks...

 

[jonhall]

Since Richard mentioned my favorite spot, St. Croix, I would also suggest that you do a little extra research into locales you are considering or that are recommended to you. My aunt-in-law, who lives in St. Croix, is currently here on the mainland as her place had water damage from the hurricanes. Although some dive ops (such as N2theBlue) and businesses are back in business (even without electricity), electricity isn't expected to be restored island wide until March. I would imagine some other islands have had changes that may affect the normal diving/vacationing experience.

 

[diversteve]

Curacao ccould work for both also - it's a lot more populated island than Bonaire so there's a lot more non-dive activities there - casinos, resorts, a couple shopping areas/malls - the famous old downtown. Yet we found the western part of the island - up to a 45min. drive out - extremely quiet at night. A couple times driving back to the Lagun area at night we didn't pass a single car.

There's multiple dive operations - most do 2 morning tanks and 1 afternoon tank. There's also escorted shore diving with the Dive Bus and they take snorkelers also. Most of the shore dives there are beach entries and just about all of them have a dive operation and food on-site. It's practically the same diving as Bonaire also - I saw many of the same fish on either.

As mentioned above, if you solo, there's several options to dive/snorkel together. The famous Tugboat site is 17' deep right off the beach, the nearby pier about 40' and there's a deeper wall dive there. At times there's a dive school there, otherwise it will be pretty deserted. There's a couple other options in that area also but IDK them well enough to comment on. I think Jan Thiel Beach is one.

Farther west of town there's good shallow snorkeling with turtles at Varsenbaai as well as a good dive.The turtles eat the grass in 6' just off the beach - the operator said they've been there forever. We also saw squid under the dive dock there. Off to the south in about 80' is a large pontoon boat wreck - it was used to dump some of the cars at the Carpile wreck sites - one there and one off Pierbaai south of town.

Porto Mari is a good locals beach nearby - both snorkelers and divers. The one place we were asked if someone could join us.

Playa Lagun is good protected snorkeling in the bay - good diving outside it. Turtles there also but probably too deep to snorkel - IDK how frequently they surface. Just on the other side of Lagun is Jeremi - Frommers lists the north side of the bay as one of the best Caribbean Snorkel spots and it's also a good dive. No facilities there at all - one of few sites.

All the way west in Westpunt GoWest Diving has two locations. At their Lodge Kura Hulanda main shop they do boat dives to the best of the nearby sites - in addition it's a really good snorkel - I don't as a rule snorkel but did there - there's a shallow beach entry just to the north and coral heads so shallow some break the surface. I chased flounder around in about 6-10' to the north there - just under the cliffs with the lodge above. And I wasn't the only one doing it. The kayaks from the lodge also tend to be in that area so keep an eye out.

Honestly of the 20ish shore dives we did there - most would have been good snorkels off the beach also - it stays pretty shallow till the reef rolls over and drops off a good swim out.