help me choose a location - sandals properties

[hcs3]

hello all,

i'm looking for assistance on choosing our next destination.

my wife and i are your average "once a year, warm SW" divers. hopefully someday more than once a year, but finances don't allow that just yet. we are both AOW certified.

my wife is not a fanatic about diving, though she thoroughly enjoys doing it. it just isn't the main reason why she goes on tropical vacations. her main purpose of these vacations is the luxury getaway. in short, she has fallen in love with sandals resorts. i can dive anywhere i want, just so my wife goes to a sandals.

i, OTOH, don't really care where we go, just so i'm diving 2 or 3 times everyday. good diving is the sole concern for me when choosing a destination. the fact that my wife makes me go to a sandals removes any worry from my mind about accomadations.

so far we have dove negril, jamaica twice. the first time we went we also got married (same day as being certified - helps me remember my anniversary ). we went back the second year simply because we had such a great time the first time. both times were extremely enjoyable. staff was fantastic, food was very good, and who can not enjoy the luxuries that come with a sandals resort? the diving was OK. water visabily was always excellent. anyone who has dove jamaica can tell you large fish are nearly non-existant. spear-fishing and fish traps are the main factor for this. plenty of corals once below 50 feet. i presume the large number of new divers is stressful to corals above 30 feet. one part that annoyed me is that snorkeling from the resort shore was rather poor. to get to see decent marine life, you have to either take the resort boat or brave the mulititude of wave-runners buzzing around. the resort snorkel boat leaves at the same time as the dive boats and only spends 30 minutes out there. i'm not willing to put my life in the hands of tourists driving wave-runners for the first time in their life.

so my dive destinations are limted to sandals resorts. i'm not against going back to negril, because it offers so much more beyond diving, but i'm also aware that it is not the best dive destination.

sandals are located in the following areas:

jamaica
antigua
turks and caicos
st lucia
bahamas

if we return to jamaica, it'll probably be negril. we've made plenty of friends with the staff (both dive masters and bartenders ). however, we wouldn't be against traveling to another sandals for a day or 2.

turks and caicos is a family (not adults only) resort. it'll take a bit of convincing for me to go to a family resort.

so what is your opinion?

thanks

henry

 

[Kat]

I have stayed at the Sandals in the Bahamas. I loved it there. I thought the food was great, they have lots of pools & hot tubs & there is a private island too. It's a very short boat ride out to the island. There is a restaurant, bar pool & hot tub. I have not been there since March 2001 so I am assuming the island is still there. The island does seem to be shrinking in size. I first saw it in '94 & then again in '95 when I went back in '01 I didn't even recognize it. It was about half the size.
The diving was alright. Mostly wrecks, cessnas, an oil tanker & the James Bond wrecks. We did get to see about 10 Caribbean Reef sharks on our fourth dive.
The diving might be better in St. Lucia, but I'm not sure. IMHO you can't go wrong w/ Sandals, if your into the all-inclusive thing.
It's nice because the price of diving is included. I wish they had a place in Cozumel or Playa Del Carmen, MX That would be my dream come true.

 

[O-ring]

I stayed at Sandals Royal Bahamian earlier this year...here's the scoop on the diving.

We went down there in March and stayed at Sandals. Scuba diving is included in the price of the resort as they have their own dive operation and boat. You get 2 dives a day (morning dives)...just walk down to the dock in the AM and catch the boat. All gear is provided except wetsuits, which you can rent for $10. They will also do night dives or custom type excursions for an extra charge. Since Sandals doesn't dive on Sundays, we dove with Stuart Cove's that day...they pick you up from your resort/hotel in a bus. You might be able to go on the afternoon dives, but I didn't ask...I was with my g/f at the time and she wanted to enjoy the resort. The afternoon dive is the certification dives and the snorkelers, so it will be shallow and uneventful if they let you go.

I loved Sandals as a resort...it just isn't my type of diving. They had so many horrible divers on our boat that they wouldn't take us anywhere that was deeper than 70'. No sharks either...they were afraid it would freak people out. It is nice easy tropical diving...if you like that, you will love it. And, like others have said, you really can't go wrong with Sandals...extremely luxurious and customer service out the ear...food was great too.

If I had it to do again...I would do the same thing, but I would schedule a day or two more with Stuart Cove's to some of the deeper shark-ridden stuff...

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Of those Sandals resorts on the list the best location BY FAR is the Turks & Caicos. The diving is sooo much better than Jamaica (pitiful), Antigua (somewhere between pitiful and marginal), the Bahamas (marginal) and St. Lucia (okay but not great). If you care about diving at all go to the Turks & Caicos and dive with Caicos Adventures. You will not be sorry. Family resort or no the diving is hands down the best on that list. We have been to all of the islands on your list and have gone back to Turks & Caicos six times. Do some research and I think you will come to the conclusion that it is the best all around choice.

 

[O-ring]

Of those Sandals resorts on the list the best location BY FAR is the Turks & Caicos.

One of the guys on our boat was a Sandals junkie and he said the same thing Tim did...that Turks & Caicos had the best diving of all the Sandals he had been to.

Question though...I thought the Turks & Caicos property was a Beaches and therefore had rugrats all over the place? I may be wrong, but when me and my ex-gf went the no kids factor was pretty important to us.

 

[hcs3]

thanks for the opinions thus far....keep them coming.

hi kat

I have stayed at the Sandals in the Bahamas

which one? i think they have 2 resorts on that island, or am i wrong?

The diving was alright.

how deep were the dives? in negril, the afternoon dive was always 30 feet (sux). small fish everywhere, but corals were hit-n-miss. no real rock structure...just open sandbed. great for training newbies, but not much else. i always went on them just to get more experience and bottom time. morning dives were 60 foot, unless we had all AOW divers (rarely). in that case, they went to 100 foot. i thought the 100 foot dives were excellent in jamaica, we just didn't do enough of them. they had excellent coral growth, and excellent structure. if we went 100 foot on every dive, i'd be going back to negril each year.

also, how was the snorkeling? i usually don't want to leave the water. i would snorkel 12 hours a day if there was that much to see. the snorkeling at sandals negril is pitiful unless you take their snorkel boat.

IMHO you can't go wrong w/ Sandals, if your into the all-inclusive thing.

well, we are, and that is why we want to go back

hi o-ring, thanks for chiming in.

All gear is provided except wetsuits, which you can rent for $10.

we have all our own gear. we learned from our first year at sandals that you should probably bring your own gear. their gear was not good at all. not to mention, i stand about 6'5" and 320lbs. not many rental places can fit me comfortably.

Since Sandals doesn't dive on Sundays,

hmmm. negril did, though we couldn't take them up on it. we arrived and left on sunday.

They will also do night dives or custom type excursions for an extra charge.

how willing were they to do this for you? i have to beg negril to take me on a night dive...and we are great friends with the staff. i had to find 5 others willing to pay $50 for a night dive before they would take me. i did, and after all that, they didn't even charge us. i would prefer to night dive every single night i'm there, if i have to pay or not.

I loved Sandals as a resort...it just isn't my type of diving. They had so many horrible divers on our boat that they wouldn't take us anywhere that was deeper than 70'.

sounds the same as negril.

No sharks either...they were afraid it would freak people out.

like my wife.

I thought the Turks & Caicos property was a Beaches and therefore had rugrats all over the place? I may be wrong, but when me and my ex-gf went the no kids factor was pretty important to us.

yes, it is a family resort. like you, i'm practically 100% against a family resort. when we stayed at sandals negril, we dined at the beaches negril. i couldn't get out of there fast enough due to the children EVERYWHERE. screaming, yelling, running, just a complete annoyance (can you tell my wife and i don't like children? ). not how i would want to spend my getaway. we stayed only long enough to dine and refill our drinks.

hey tim

Of those Sandals resorts on the list the best location BY FAR is the Turks & Caicos.

that is what i was afraid of.

If you care about diving at all go to the Turks & Caicos and dive with Caicos Adventures.

no offense, but that isn't gonna happen. at sandals your paying for everything, whether you use it or not. if i go to sandals, i'm diving with them.

perhaps we should schedule a T & C vacation that is not at a sandals? any recomendations?

thanks again

henry

 

[O-ring]

hmmm. negril did, though we couldn't take them up on it. we arrived and left on sunday.

You may be able to talk to them about it...they may have changed the policy. When we were there, Sunday was the dive crew's day off and the boat didn't go out.

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They will also do night dives or custom type excursions for an extra charge.
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how willing were they to do this for you? i have to beg negril to take me on a night dive...and we are great friends with the staff. i had to find 5 others willing to pay $50 for a night dive before they would take me. i did, and after all that, they didn't even charge us. i would prefer to night dive every single night i'm there, if i have to pay or not.

We didn't even try...there weren't enough other couples interested and it never panned out. We just did the morning dives.

To get a handle on where they go, check out the Sandals website and somewhere on there (I can't remember where) they show a list of all the dive sites they hit. Don't get me wrong, the diving was pretty good, just not what I REALLY like...here's what we dove:

Clifton Wall
Carib Breeze
Mike's Reef
Willaurie
James Bond Wrecks
Davy Tucker
Willaurie (again)
Tunnel Wall
Elkhorn Reef
Miranda Wreck
Trinity Caves

My max depth for the week was 77'. I don't think it was entirely the dive sites I objected to...I just don't enjoy DM led dives that much and that seemed to be their preference. I like to plan my own dives and work out my own bottom times, exposures, breathing mixes, etc.

 

[Natasha]

I have been to Sandals Royal Bahamian twice, Sandals Antigua twice, Sandals St. Lucia Golf Resort once.
I would only go back to St. Lucia now that I have been there. It is 1000 times better then all the rest.
Also, St. Lucia is the first place I ever saw a sea horse, and an octopus.
St. Lucia is my pick, if you can afford it.
It also is the most expensive of the properties.

 

[HomerJay]

I have only been to the Sandals Royal Bahamian, but know a couple who went to St. Lucia. Last I checked these were their top two properties with St. Lucia beating out RB by a hair.

I'd do the St. Lucia thang, and avoid the kiddies. If airfare and/or cost to St. Lucia are prohibitive, I'd go to the Royal Bahamian. I think they are running a pretty sweet special right now.

Let’s face it, it probably won't be the best available diving, but it will still be diving. Getting wet sure beats the heck out of a sharp stick in the eye.

-HomerJay

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

We used to do the all-inclusive resort thing. We now never do it. We rent a villa on Provodenciales and arrange our own diving and meals. Provo has some really great restaurants that you will miss out on if you just belly up to the trough at the resort. I would never consider any other way to travel. Check out a villa on Provo called "Top of the Hill". As its name suggests it sits on the top of a high hill near Turtle Cove. Great panoramic views. Your own pool and deck. Fully stocked with utensils, dishes, frig, stereo, cable tv, telescope for star gazing, etc.. No rugrats, no strangers, skinny dipping, loud music that you choose, etc. $2,800.00 per week. I dive with Fifi at Caicos Adventures because he is as far from a resort cattle boat as you can get. He only dives West Caicos, Molasses Reef, French Cay, etc. No cattle calls in Grace Bay. He has a brand new power cat that is out of this world. Its the best dive boat I have ever had the privilege of diving on. He is just bringing on line a second smaller cat for three tank charters to the far out rarely visited reefs. he lets you follow your own profile if you choose. Join the divemaster tour or strike out on your own. All dives are on the best walls in the Caribbean next to Bloody Bay Wall. Big pelagics are common. Reef is healthy. Lots of turtles and schooling fish. What more can you say. We love it and go back every year.