Great new dive destination... after Coz? Caymen, Bonaire, or other suggestion?

[MerMomDiver]

After 3 years straight of wonderful Cozumel summer dive vacations, with 6-pack fast boat dives... am overwhelmed with options about a place to try to branch out in experiences. Certified 3 years ago, and all 37 post-certification dives have been the walls and beautiful carpets of Cozumel. Scuba Diving mag rates diver preferences in Caribbean as Caymen and Bonaire as tied for No. 1 choice. But ideal dive sites really depend on the diving group and a lot of other factors. Here is my group's favorite factors, and I look forward to opinions on a destination that matches these... and also logistical advice on: island hopper flights, accomodations, "best sides" of an island, dive ops, etc.

Our dive travel style/preferences/profile:
1) Family of divers ranging from an adult advanced with 100 dives, to me with 35 dives, to my 13-year-old certified Junior Diver who has 20 Cozumel drift dives under his belt.
2) We love bright and beautiful coral, getting lost in the fish, and turtles and eels.... probably more "micro" divers contrasted to big animal or adrenaline diving. We love a few swimthroughs, but not technical ones with our Junior Diver.
3) We like a bit of comfort and a safe environment, as this a family of divers. We have done all-inclusives previously, because I like to relax and not think a lot about logistics when on vacation, other than being on point and alert with safe fun diving. Open to local dining off-resort, if not complicated to find and get to yummy places.
4) When I say a bit of comfort, I recognize that can run the gamut. So the past few years, for example, I have been accustomed and comfortable paying in Cozumel $1500 for a week's accomodations at 3-4-star (TripAdvisor rated) sites, for 3 people including food and adult bevs for me and my honey. Plus $1800 for up to 10 dives on a fast-boat for the 3 of us... but bear in mind that has included a private DM (at about $50-65 extra per day) for us with Junior Diver so we can go at our pace at shallower depths (like on top of the walls or not deep on the walls), and everyone on the boat has a groovy experience.
5) We love 6 pack fast boat diving with good DMs... but am open to beautiful shore diving.
6) We like diving at locations where there are NOT 20 other divers immediately around.
7) We like a destination where we can do some other things too, like explore the area, snorkel, bike ride... and feel comfortable doing so.
8) A destination with accomodations that have some appealing interests for a young teen are nice... like a nice pool and cool environment and some room to explore on site while still being safe. In other words, a small adult-oriented B&B or hotel with no grounds, that was bare-bones and just for diving and eating, would not fit the bill for captivating or interesting.

Thanks.

 

[RickyF]

Have you considered Roatan? It doesn't quite meet all of your requirements, but it does meet most of them. The reefs and macro life are amazing. I have been four times and always dove the south side of the island. I have stayed with Barefoot Cay which is an all inclusive resort with swimming pool and small 6 pack dove boats. They have two bedroom lofts and bungalos and the food is very good. The dive shop is top notch. There is not a lot of other activities close by, but you can go zip line, swim with dolphins, etc. It might be worth your checking it out.

 

[MerMomDiver]

Thank you for the Roatan suggestion! Had not had that up in the list yet, but will look more into it.

 

[Absolutbill]

I cannot vouch for anything personally but I met a diver at a meet and greet through work. He swore that Saba was the place to go? I have only done light online research into this island, it seems neat.


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[danvolker]

Our dive travel style/preferences/profile:
1) Family of divers ranging from an adult advanced with 100 dives, to me with 35 dives, to my 13-year-old certified Junior Diver who has 20 Cozumel drift dives under his belt.
2) We love bright and beautiful coral, getting lost in the fish, and turtles and eels.... probably more "micro" divers contrasted to big animal or adrenaline diving. We love a few swimthroughs, but not technical ones with our Junior Diver.

I am going to tell you about how Palm Beach could be worthwhile for you to consider. The "Zones" of Palm Beach ideal for your family are the area of Breakers Reef, Pauls Reef, the Boynton and DelRay Ledges....This alone is 2 weeks of diving without seeing all of it. See this zone in this video One Day of Diving in Palm Beach.... - YouTube

The other Zone optimal for your described wants is the Blue Heron Bridge Marine Park....this is shore diving, free, tidally dependent( about 45 minutes later each day) with about 2 good hours of diving each day for a family..though many macro photographers use a 4 hour window every day( this has more tidal current, so may be unwise). This is a gentile Petting Zoo of a dive site, that has become world famous for macro photographers finding Octopus, squid, frogfish, nudibranchs, sea slugs, sea horses, and dozens of other marine life rarely seen at most destinations. Here they are abundant. See this are in this video Tour of Blue Heron Bridge Marine Park - YouTube

3) We like a bit of comfort and a safe environment, as this a family of divers. We have done all-inclusives previously, because I like to relax and not think a lot about logistics when on vacation, other than being on point and alert with safe fun diving. Open to local dining off-resort, if not complicated to find and get to yummy places.
4) When I say a bit of comfort, I recognize that can run the gamut. So the past few years, for example, I have been accustomed and comfortable paying in Cozumel $1500 for a week's accomodations at 3-4-star (TripAdvisor rated) sites, for 3 people including food and adult bevs for me and my honey. Plus $1800 for up to 10 dives on a fast-boat for the 3 of us... but bear in mind that has included a private DM (at about $50-65 extra per day) for us with Junior Diver so we can go at our pace at shallower depths (like on top of the walls or not deep on the walls), and everyone on the boat has a groovy experience.

The Dive Resort Experience is something that Palm Beach is hard at work building now. It is optimal at the Hilton Oceanfront on Singer Island, and many of the features found at the Hilton should be available in Jupiter and Boynton Beach/Delray over the next year.
At the Hilton on singer Island, you are about 1 mile from the dive boats you can choose from. There are 12 packs and the 20 passenger boats, however you should know that in Palm Beach, most of the boats normally do NOT dive people in one big group..in fact the norm would be more of groups from 2 to 6 divers, each group towing a dive flag. You can follow a dive guide with maybe 6 to 8 divers, and certainly you could arrange to have one of your own, to dive just with your family.
The Hilton has a Dive Shuttle service, so that you do not need a rental car. You can use this also to visit the Dive shop about 700 yards away on the Island, Pura Vida Divers.....or, to visit other Restaurants and cafes on the Island.
If you want All Inclusive pricing, rather than going for the special diver rate of around $109 per night this year ( rack more like $185) then you would need to speak with Sales Director Katherine Saad, and ask for exactly the services you want included. Katherine will design your all inclusive for you. To reach her : 561-472-0305 or Katherine.Saad@hilton.com

Singer Island ( while mostly a beach lined Tropical forest preserve ,except for the Southern most 2 miles of it) is also about 15 minutes from the new South Beach of South Florida, the Downtown Waterfront area of Clematis and City Place in West Palm. All the shopping, dining, and amenities typically unavailable at a Dive Resort Destination.

5) We love 6 pack fast boat diving with good DMs... but am open to beautiful shore diving.
6) We like diving at locations where there are NOT 20 other divers immediately around.

Since the Palm Beach boats dive you in your own separate group at your pleasure, I think you would find the added luxuries of the 12 packs and 20 person boats quite nice. Most of these larger boats you see in http://sfdj.com/FindaDiveBoat.aspx run at over 20 mph.....Narcosis is so fast I have a video of them pulling a water skiier while going from one dive site to another

7) We like a destination where we can do some other things too, like explore the area, snorkel, bike ride... and feel comfortable doing so.

Bikes are available for rental at the hotel, there is hiking and Kayaking at the MacArthur State Park Preserve a couple of miles north on the Island....Kayaking | Friends of MacArthur Beach State Park, Inc.

8) A destination with accomodations that have some appealing interests for a young teen are nice... like a nice pool and cool environment and some room to explore on site while still being safe. In other words, a small adult-oriented B&B or hotel with no grounds, that was bare-bones and just for diving and eating, would not fit the bill for captivating or interesting.

Check out the Hilton on this page http://sfdj.com/FindaHotel/HiltonOceanfrontSingerIsland.aspx , I think you will find it pretty awesome for teenagers.

Finally...here is a composite video that shows the Island from the air, and the marine life in a nice assortment of dive experiences typical in Palm Beach.... 6 minute Tour version of "Why Divers prefer Palm Beach" video - YouTube

 

[DeputyDan]

I cannot vouch for anything personally but I met a diver at a meet and greet through work. He swore that Saba was the place to go? I have only done light online research into this island, it seems neat.


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No to Saba - the diving is too deep for a 13 year old.

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Bonaire would be a good second next location to give a try.
It was the first out of country location I took my kids to for diving - they were 13 and 16.

 

[Insta-Gator]

You would love the Cayman Islands, but not the cost. We go there almost every year but it is expensive.

 

[TSandM]

We just came back from a week in Loreto, Mexico. Although there aren't colorful corals (there are some) it was the "fishiest" place I've dived outside of Australia. The scenery was gorgeous, too. The town was quiet and pleasant, and not obnoxiously touristy at all. All the diving we did was fairly shallow (max depth for the week was 50 feet) and FULL of critters. I was not able to find an all-inclusive in my web search, but the town has several hotels, and there is also the Inn at Loreto Bay, which looked quite nice, and the Villa del Palmar, which is beautiful, although quite a ways south of the town itself, which is where the dive ops are.

BTW, Dan isn't kidding about West Palm. The diving there was great, and the Hilton on Singer Island was probably the single friendliest hotel I've ever stayed in.

 

[danwig]

Check out Bonaire and Buddy Dive

 

[ColoDale]

We checked out Belize as part of our wish list. For some reason it was a bit more expensive than Cozumel but the diving is reportedly good though Blue Hole would be out due to depth for you. Lot's of information on it in the SB forums and we did make email contact with Gaz Cooper who answered my wife's questions. His website is informative also.
We have found that almost all Caribbean destinations are more expensive than Cozumel/Mexico. The Dominican Republic was roughly on par tho.