Caribbean Criteria

[PaulVS]

Great info, thanks!

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

I would look at the Bayahibe/Dominicus area on the south Caribbean Sea side of the Dominican Republic. There is reef diving, wall diving, wreck diving and even a cave dive. There is a Hilton, Dreams, Iberostar, and Catalonia resort. We have been there 4 times and are returning next week.

 

[PaulVS]

I would look at the Bayahibe/Dominicus area on the south Caribbean Sea side of the Dominican Republic. There is reef diving, wall diving, wreck diving and even a cave dive. There is a Hilton, Dreams, Iberostar, and Catalonia resort. We have been there 4 times and are returning next week.

Ding-Ding-Ding! Another winner. We can possibly do the Hilton La Romana Adults-Only Bayahibe/Dominicus. Can do a direct flight to Punta Cana w/ cheaper airfare, and about 3 hours less travel time each way, with an hour trip from the airport to the hotel. YouTube diving videos look great, and location and reviews look superb. Definitely added to the list, and may possibly move one step ahead of Curacao for our September trip. (Curacao would move to Spring 2024)

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

I would look at the Bayahibe/Dominicus area on the south Caribbean Sea side of the Dominican Republic. There is reef diving, wall diving, wreck diving and even a cave dive. There is a Hilton, Dreams, Iberostar, and Catalonia resort. We have been there 4 times and are returning next week.

Ding-Ding-Ding! Another winner. We can possibly do the Hilton La Romana Adults-Only Bayahibe/Dominicus. Can do a direct flight to Punta Cana w/ cheaper airfare, and about 3 hours less travel time each way, with an hour trip from the airport to the hotel. YouTube diving videos look great, and location and reviews look superb. Definitely added to the list, and may possibly move one step ahead of Curacao for our September trip. (Curacao would move to Spring 2024)

Thanks for the tip!

If you decide on Bayahibe, I recommend Scuba Fun, they are a local dive shop in Bayahibe. I have been diving with them for about 7 years. Tell John (the owner) that ScubaSteve from Canada sent you. ScubaFun | Dive Center Bayahibe
We have stayed at the Hilton twice when it was a Dreams, It is about a 50 minute ride from the Punta Cana airport with a private transfer and is only about a 10 minute walk from the village of Bayahibe. If you would like any other info feel free to message me.
We are going to Curacao for the first time in October. I will let you know how it goes.

 

[divingjd]

Can your wife teach classes at a Divi resort? That would being Bonaire into play, which is great diving. If you want a comparison of St Lucia diving and Cozumel diving, here’s what I can tell you based on one trip to St Lucia and over 20 trips to Cozumel. Visibility isn’t nearly as good at St Lucia, because with the mountains and the rainforest, you get quite a bit of runoff. Still pretty good vis, just tops out between 40 and 60 feet instead of 80-100. No walls, really. There is a lot of sloping underwater topography. There is drift diving, but the current is not as strong and persistent. I remember lots of colorful sponges in St Lucia, particularly azure vase sponges. Some differences in the fish populations, too. I remember seeing indigo hamlets in St Lucia, which I have never seen in Cozumel. In Cozumel, I see lots of barred hamlets and the occasional butter hamlet. My general impression was that St Lucia was lush, in a way, underwater, reflecting the island environment. Cozumel has more impressive reef structure and better visibility. I enjoyed St Lucia, but Cozumel is so much easier to get to and so much more affordable that it’s my go-to location.

 

[PaulVS]

The resorts available to her are only the very largest AI chains... there may be others that do it but they don't show up on the radar. And right now St Lucia doesn't show any options for the foreseeable future. We would have no problem going back to Cozumel in the future so honestly, if we could have a repertoire of Cozumel, Curacao, Dominicus, and maybe one other locale we would be completely fine. Bonaire, being the diving Mecca that it is, is not out of the question for just a "regular trip" for us at some point. My wife would also like to try out Turks and Caicos, which has several options available to her for fitness classes.

Also, we will definitely check out ScubaFun when we go to Dominicus

Thanks for the info!

 

[Diver Rick]

Little Cayman Beach Resort is everything the OP listed.

Highly recommend.

 

[PaulVS]

Little Cayman Beach Resort is everything the OP listed.

Highly recommend.

Unfortunately it doesn't check all the boxes. Definitely not a large all-inclusive. But will keep in mind if we do go to Cayman sometime.

 

[Matt B]

St. Lucia with Sandals Resorts sound appealing?

I've not dove by Dominican Republic but they have A.I. resorts, I believe? Might be worth checking into.

We dove St Lucia with the Sandals Resort. We really enjoyed the dive sites, the dive operation was just fine. We recently dove with Sandals at the Royal Bahamian Resort. We were so disappointed we didn't even dive a second day. Way over crowded, One DM in charge did a fairly good dive briefing but there were about 4-5 groups. The DM my wife and I were with did not say 1 word to anyone in our group, didn't go over hand signals, nothing. Dives were max 30 minutes. One really big mistake was when we arrived at the 1st dive site, the first group DM sent his group into the water first. When he got in he called the dive as it was really murky. He should of got in first to check before he sent his group in. And one diver was on his own agenda and actually beelined right for the bottom without the group. This guy was armed with a spear gun and was going after Lion fish. He was just a guest. Then we had to wait while everyone got back on and cruise to a second site. Also the guests were to put their gear together and do buddy checks, which I am fine with, but with no DM's watching over. It was just a mess.

 

[PaulVS]

I always thought that from aerial photographs the Bahamas look like it should be one of the world's greatest diving locations. Haven't heard anyone who would agree with that assessment though.