Does this place exist?

[RickyF]

If you want to stay in the US, try Moorehead City, North Carolina or Hatteras. Diving the outer banks is awesome! Plenty of beaches and shopping for the wife!

 

[danvolker]

First off, we have been to the Keys, Cozumel 6 or 7 times, Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas. We're kind of looking for something new. However, we're looking for a place that has good beaches, decent diving.. at least with good marine life and/or reef. Oh.. and the wife wants a place that has some shopping or something other than just water related activities.. she's not a diver. We really don't want any super long flights, so maybe somewhere in the Caribbean. Does a place like this exist? Any ideas would be appreciated.

How about :

• beautiful beaches
• Awesome world class diving
• huge fish and huge volume of marine life with healthy coral reefs--3rd largest barrier reef in the world
• Better Restaurant Dining than ANY Other major Resort Destination, by an enormous margin
• Better Shopping than all other Dive Destinations
• Great paddleboarding and kayaking, with mangrove forests and still water for mile after mile, or an Amazon-like river experience, with dense forest canopy overhead, and a river with eagles above, and alligators on the banks....
• 15 minutes from the international Airport
• Stay on an Island that is part eco sanctuary and part semi-developed in a worldclass hotel, 3 minutes from the diveboats, and the hotel will bring you to the boats with their shuttle....

Of course, I am talking about Palm Beach Diving.

• Proof of my comments --the diving quality.... 6 minute Tour version of "Why Divers prefer Palm Beach" video - YouTube
• The dining and Shopping from Entertainment Districts like the Waterfront of downtown West Palm at Clematis street and City Place( 15 minutes from Hilton Singer Island Dive Resort) or the elite shopping on the Famous Island of Palm Beach, on Worth Avenue, where the Rich and Famous from all over the globe travel to for shopping and dining(18 minutes away) see Things To Do in The Palm Beaches & Boca Raton-The Best Way to Experience Florida
• Where to find out everything you need to about this place is www.sfdj.com ... First Dive Magazine on the Internet, the South Florida Dive Journal specializes on covering the very best diving in South Florida, which is Palm Beach...and the magazine shows the whys of this with every issue.

 

[Bryan Cunningham]

Curacao and The Dive Bus recommended by Scuba Steve is a good option. Used to work with Mark when he was in the Bahamas, he is a great guy and you will have a good time with him. Flights can be a bit tricky, depending on where you are leaving from.