Dive destinations for new parents & grandparents

[anchochile]

As divers and soon-to-be first-time parents, my wife and I have been thinking about how to fit in some dive trips into our first few years of parenthood.

We're lucky to have two sets of grandparents who are great to travel with, so we're trying to think of destinations that would be fun and enjoyable for both divers and non-divers, so that we can take a trip with the kiddo & grandparents, take advantage of the free babysitting while we dive, and have an enjoyable non-diving time with everyone as well.

Hawaii is the most obvious answer for us. Good (if not world-class) diving and one of the loveliest places you could hope to be topside as well.

Any other locations that fit the bill for this? Our parents don't need nightlife or urban entertainment - they're happy with natural beauty, beach walks, snorkeling, hikes, scenic drives, interesting culture, etc.

Let the brainstorm begin!

 

[OzMikeM]

Fiji is fantastic with Kids. Even if it's just you and the kids (no grandparents) the local babysitters are fantastic and $9 FJD ($4 USD) an hour.

In May this year we stayed at treasure island with our 18 month old son. The wife and I dived, and our son had a fantastic time with the nannys.

Most Fiji resorts have similar features to this:
Best Kids Club Fiji Little Treasures Kids Club | Treasure Island Resort Fiji

 

[diversteve]

Now I don't think it will matter much to the kid so here's some toddler age suggestions.

Curacao should be on your list. In addition to most dive sites also being beaches with shade, food, tank rentals - many are local family beaches as well. Jan Thiel, Varsenbaai, Porto Mari, Cas Abao all qualify.

Plus there's a lot of non-dive things to do there for kids of all ages. At the Sea Aquarium (small Seaworld) even small kids can safely feed sharks/turrles - they have a pool with a perspex wall with small holes in it - you push the food thru. Also they might like the Ostrich Farm. If they want to sightsee there's a lot of old historical things downtown. The Sunscape AI reosrt (where we hold the Surge events) is a former Breezes kids resort. Also has Ocean Encounters on-site for both boat dives and they have a house reef. Nearby is the Dive Bus who will pick you both up there - leaving the rental car for the grandparents use. Similarly but a little farther east (it seems south) is Lions Dive resort. They have a small beach, shore dive, boat dives 50' away at the main Ocean Encounters shop and the Sea Aquarium is a short walk just across the channel/

Wherever you pick in the Caribbean check the CDC website for Zika - it's not as well contained in some Carib countries as you'd expect.

Pricier but with really nice beaches are Grand Cayman or Provifenciales (Provo) Turks & Caicos. There's Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman and its backed up by all sorts of shops/restaurants. There's the Queen's Gardens and the Butterfly Farm - also the Turtle Farm.
Driving is on the other side. Lots of other activities there and the dive operators all pickup at most of the SMB resorts or condo complexes and take you diving. There's also a few shore dives on either end of that area - Turtle Reef is worth the 15min. drive north.

Provo is stunningly beautiful and less populated. Grace Bay Beach is so nice it has it's own website - miles of wide, white sand. Equally pricey but there's a lot of condos on the beach. Shops will pick you up there for boat diving. There is no shore diving there. They dive off Provo - farther off Grace Bay or the NW Point area but the best diving is an hour boat ride away at West Caicos or French Cay. It's deep wall diving and very sharky. Those trips pickup around 8-9am but you won't be back till 2:30-4:30om.

Either is exceptionally low crime - the recent murder of that woman at Club Med must have stunned them. A couple I know that lives there says they have no crime. I did a liveaboard once and the captain replaced the fax machine onboard - he explained that when he threw the old one in the trash bin it would be with a note on it that it was OK to take it.

I would personally stay out of Central America till the kids are old enough to fight off the bugs - there's a lot of them. And Malaria on Roatan.

Belize at some point in the future might be an option. Ambergris is very laid back and the Placencia area is really quuet with nice beaches. The Belize Zoo is world famous and there's all the jungle activities, Mayan Ruins, Jaguar Preserve, Howler Monkey sanctuary etc. - all day trips from mid-Belize. Older kids might enjoy that while you boat dive - only.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

FWIW, we also like Hawaii because one kiddo has medical issues and so the proximity of healthcare with minimal language or insurance barriers was key. If our kids were still infants, even w/o extra health concerns I might highly value great medical care. (Not that that's restricted to the US; just something to consider.)

Nothing like a midnight run to ER with severe croup in a baby to make you appreciate a quickly accessible ER....

 

[diversteve]

Not that you need it with two sets of babysitters but the Breezes resorts (there's one on Provo) are very kid/toddler friendly - I believe they even have a nursery for crib age kids. And lots of activities for small kids.

So does Atlantis on Nassau but that's all boat dives and Stuart Cove's has a 45-60 min. shuttle from there. to dive. I don't remember a lot of kid friendly things outside of the Atlantis attractions like the tours and the dolphins. Quick flight from Miami though.

 

[diversteve]

To Doc's point - Grand Cayman is recently going after medical tourism - more than would be justified by the ex-pats living there. Some big Indian medical group is building a large world class facility there.

Curacao has the hospital other Lesser Antilles evacuate serious cases to. My friend got bit by a bug there and had an allergic reaction - we were able to get an ambulance to come out 30mins. from town and take her to a specialist there.

 

[Manneca]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Bonaire. Lots of condos/apartments with multiple bedrooms. Lots of snorkeling, drive up to Slagbai, over to Rincon, Gotomer, sit on the "beach" and read. Stay to the south and lots of walks along the beach road.

There's a good hospital and (I think it's still there) a med school. Lots of dining options, or cook in the condo.

The best thing is that you dive when you want to. You're not tied to a dive boat schedule. You can do one dive a day, take a couple of hours in the morning or afternoon and spend the rest of the time with the family. Or watch the kids while the grands snorkel. It's easy, laid back and depending on where you stay, fairly inexpensive.

Go during Carnival and have a blast (but don't plan on getting to the grocery store for a couple of days).

The shore diving is a piece of cake. Park where all the trucks are, head out to the drop off, swim against the current, turn around, swim for aways, pop up and find your truck/car and head in.

 

[flyboy08]

Any AI would support your need. Just pick a destination and go.

 

[drrich2]

DiverSteve already covered Curacao, which is what I was going to suggest St. Croix is another option. A few follow up notes:

1.) Bonaire,Curacao and Aruba are below the hurricane belt, and the warm is still quite warm even in winter. The northern Caribbean, well, can get a little cool (I've seen 76 degrees in winter, Cozumel and St. Croix on cruise stops).

2.) Bonaire is NOT a beach destination, and it's not known for a wide variety of topside civilized amenities. That med. school is the the 1st 2 years; those students do clinicals back in the U.S. (St. James School of Medicine, unless something's changed big time in recent years). I love Bonaire, but I'd pick Curacao over it for what you want.

3.) When our little girl was very young, good health care was important! Ear infections, bronchitis, stuff happens! Speaking of ears, babies don't know how to equalize and flights can be miserable. Think about that when you compare flight schedules round trip to/from destinations.

4.) Remember to factor in airfare and car rental (if needed) to comparative trip costs. For example. Grand Cayman has a rep. for being expensive topside, but airfare well in advance is pretty cheap and KathyV (I think) indicated car rentals are surprisingly value priced.

5.) I hope those 2 sets of grand parents are paying their own way! These trips can get very expensive.

6.) Probably not what you're after this time, but for future reference, a big cruise ship might be fun. Some on Royal Caribbean have nurseries, and once the kid's potty trained, their children's program can be a lot of fun for some kids, and give the parents a break. Various shore excursion options, the option to do 2 dives here, 2 on that other island...

Sunscape Resort Curacao would give you an all-inclusive so budget is easy to put together and no hassles hunting food, beach and pools are right there, a shuttle can take you to/from town, the Sea Aquarium is nearby and you can pay to get an in-water dolphin encounter (and pay to get photographed with one I think), and since it's a cruise port, they offer a decent range of topside excursions.

Richard.

P.S.: Almost forget, maybe Cozumel? They've got A.I. resorts, are a major cruise ship port, San Miguel's pleasant and the diving is good.

 

[Trailboss123]

I can't argue against any of the aforementioned suggestions-- all good options!

Since you mentioned Hawaii and since you are from No Cal. I would look at Kona, if you do choose Hawaii. I just came back from a great dive vacation there. Excellent diving, great topside stuff to do, wonderful family destination and inexpensive/short flights from the West Coast. Here is my meager trip report: Kona, Hawaii Trip Report- Sept. 12-19, 2018

Considering that you might be traveling with an infant and parents, (and as someone who raised 5 kids all over the world), I'd definitely look at flights and flight times! Getting to the Caribbean for those of us from the West Coast is always a challenge and almost always requires an overnight stay en route (just given the flight departure times and the time changes). So, something to put into the equation.

As for the Caribbean, the places we can actually get to in the same day, without an overnight layover or an ugly Red Eye, are Bonaire, Cancun/Cozumel, Belize and seasonally to Grand Cayman.

Florida is an often overlooked dive destination for those of us from the Left Coast. I am not sure why? I have found the diving in The Keys and the Atlantic Coast (between Ft. Lauderdale and Jupiter) to be exceptional and would certainly fit the bill for you-- based on what you have described.