Hotel / Diving Recommendations - Family of 4 - New to diving

[GoldieVT]

Looking for some advice- we're a family of 4 (kids are 18 and 20) and looking to do a vacation in the first 2 weeks of 2026. My wife and I can't just sit on a beach so we thought doing a diving vacation would be fun. I have my PADI cert, others don't so we'd be using part of our vacation for their shore and open water dives. I'd likely do a refresher and maybe snorkel while they do the course. I think they'd likely do the online eLearning prior to the trip.

Looking for hotel and dive shop recommendations. It would be nice if the hotel had rooms with 2 bedrooms but we could also do 2 separate rooms (kids and parents). It doesn't need to be low budget but also not looking for top of the line hotel either. We'll want some downtime from diving and my daughter would enjoy a hotel with a pool/beach. We also like to get out of a hotel restaurant and get some local food so proximity to other dining would be nice.

While it will be exciting to do some great diving, the goal is to get certified, get comfortable with diving, see some cool stuff and have fun.

I welcome any suggestions and thank you!!

 

[crabapple58]

Looking for some advice- we're a family of 4 (kids are 18 and 20) and looking to do a vacation in the first 2 weeks of 2026. My wife and I can't just sit on a beach so we thought doing a diving vacation would be fun. I have my PADI cert, others don't so we'd be using part of our vacation for their shore and open water dives. I'd likely do a refresher and maybe snorkel while they do the course. I think they'd likely do the online eLearning prior to the trip.

Looking for hotel and dive shop recommendations. It would be nice if the hotel had rooms with 2 bedrooms but we could also do 2 separate rooms (kids and parents). It doesn't need to be low budget but also not looking for top of the line hotel either. We'll want some downtime from diving and my daughter would enjoy a hotel with a pool/beach. We also like to get out of a hotel restaurant and get some local food so proximity to other dining would be nice.

While it will be exciting to do some great diving, the goal is to get certified, get comfortable with diving, see some cool stuff and have fun.

I welcome any suggestions and thank you!!

Refresher and nitro with Aldora Divers. Their adherence to diver safety was top notch and the DMs very motivated to get you comfortable. There is a cash discount for USD. We stayed at Aldora Villas and it is lovely. Full kitchen . You can snorkel and dive from the ladder near the patio. We would walk to town or catch a taxi. We appreciated the quiet especially when the cruise ships were packing the town pier area. Aldora diver boats will pick divers up from the patio.

 

[Racer_X]

We went in March. I have kids around your age that are moving slowly down the certification path.

You are getting a lot of recommendations of places for a dive-focused vacation. Is that all you want to do?

If not, I'd suggest something different. First, base yourself in the south, away from the town. Beginner sites will be to the south, so more south = shorter boat rides. We chose the Iberostar because a "2 tank dive" starts around 8:30, goes back to the doc around 10:15 for a potty break (which your new divers may very well need due to physiological impacts of diving), maybe swap out rental gear if issues happen (which they can), and then go right back out. You're back at 12-12:30ish for lunch.

At THAT point, you can go back out for 2 dives in the afternoon and potentially a night dive every other day or so. Or not. Offgas, take a break. Go snorkeling at Money Bar or Sky Reef (both recommended) and be back for dinner (restaurants, better than the buffet as long as you don't try the smokehouse).
Do a day of 4 dives and clear your computers by doing the pearl farm or rent a car and head to the east side where the beaches are, then hit the Mayan Ruins for an afternoon.
"Downtown" is like half a day max, and a lot of it, especially by the cruise ship docks, is the hard-sell culture of Mexico versus other Mexican local cultures.

The Iberostar, oddly enough, is an IHG property. So it's affiliated with the Holiday Inn AND Intercontinental hotels (odd^2). The on-site dive op, Dressell, is well set up for new divers. Yeah, they are big boats, but the groups are good sized, and they put newbies with practiced DMs. They have most of their processes down pat - well practiced. Free nitrox, and if you ask, you can get lucky with big 15L tanks for your new-diver airsuckers.

If you all really ARE new divers, it's a great place to make friends. I got put with a group of 3 and got an invite to their house to go diving any time after the second tank. That offer was repeated a few days later as well. My wife, non-diver, made a friend with a scuba widow and they are talking about a girls weekend in a couple of months. I met 3-4 new people every day and ended up hanging out at breakfast and a dinner or two.

oh, one final recommendation: Dump the kids one night, make reservations for two at Buccano's for 30 minutes before the sunset, eat outside, and share the lobster nachos. It's a long expensive cab ride, but if your kids stress you out the way mine do, it's guaranteed to de-stress.