Caribbean Islands - which is best?

[Lamnid]

Me and my boyfriend are thinking of the Caribbean as this years holiday destination. He wants to kitesurf and I want to dive so it seems perfect. However, we're a bit stuck on which island to choose. My goal this year is to do some diving with sharks - so that's priority 1! Does anyone have any info on what the best time of year and the best places to see sharks are? Also can anyone give any general good advice on nice places to dive in the caribbean?

To be honest we looked at St. Lucia so far so we've not done a heap of research yet!

Thanks,

Caz

 

[DeputyDan]

Bonaire may have the best kite and wind surfing on the planet - but no sharks.

Generally no shark guarantees in the Caribbean. The Bahamas would be your best shark diving locale.

 

[robint]

Me and my boyfriend are thinking of the Caribbean as this years holiday destination. He wants to kitesurf and I want to dive so it seems perfect. However, we're a bit stuck on which island to choose. My goal this year is to do some diving with sharks - so that's priority 1! Does anyone have any info on what the best time of year and the best places to see sharks are? Also can anyone give any general good advice on nice places to dive in the caribbean?

To be honest we looked at St. Lucia so far so we've not done a heap of research yet!

Thanks,

Caz

Your boyfriend would love Bonaire, they do alot of wind surfing there. I don't know what other islands do it though - we just saw them out in Bonaire daily.
No sharks there for you though. If you want to see sharks you need to check out The Bahamas and Turks & Caicos. Reef sharks are pretty common there. I would start my searching with those two places.

 

[Walter]

Saba and Grenada are great locations for sharks.

 

[diversteve]

Grand Cayman has both, but the sharks are kind of hit/miss. They used to do feeds there but stopped about 5 years ago. We spent a week diving there and didn't see one. People I know saw them off the North Wall just about every dive. But too deep to get close to.

Nassau has both. There's several places on Paradise Island. Google Nassau kitesurfing.

And reef sharks are pretty much guaranteed with Stuart Cove's Shark Adventure. I've also heard that diving where they hold the feed during non-feed times is pretty much a guarantee - and maybe a better experience as they'll approach looking for a handout.

 

[Walter]

Don't encourage feeding.

 

[Alex777]

I recently dived for a week on GC's East End and saw sharks every day, so the odds of seeing one there are pretty good.

 

[GradyDiver]

My wife and I are planning our next trip and she also wants to see sharks (she got excited by all my Hammerhead pictures from my recent Galapagos trip). We're considering Nassau for the crystal clear water (Into the Blue was a great sales pitch for the island) and Stuart Cove's Shark Adventure (I know this is a feeding event, but I know people who have seen it and it is awesome). There also appears to be kite surfing there. That being said, once you get your fix of sharks, you really ought to consider Bonaire for both of you. You can dive as much as you want (within safety limits - hopefully. And on your own (dive masters are optional and additional cost). There is also incredible kite surfing there (a few people I spoke with claim its one of the best kite surfing locations there is). Check out the links below.

Have a great vacation!

Stuart Cove's Aqua Adventures
Shark Adventure

Cross-Shore Kite Boarding Adventures

In case Bonaire is considered:

Boniare webcams - no more underwater cam, but you can see older pictures in the BonaireTalk/Archives area.
KiteBoardingBonaire.com

 

[Lamnid]

Hey thanks for all the posts! We've decided that the Bahamas will be doable - I want to stop off at Bimini and have a word with the guy at the biological field station as that's somewhere I've always wanted to go.

Now I would like to hear about any experiences any one has had travelling in The Bahamas - we are looking at Nassau and Grand Bahama. Is it easy to flit between islands? Also what is the vibe like in these places? Lonely Planet keeps mentioning dangerous areas etc (we got our hire car stolen on our last holiday and we're a little jumpy now!).

Thanks.

Caz