ISO Guidance / Recommendations for Dive trip in late July easy to reach from east coast USA

[JxS]

TLDR: I need help planning a dive trip for 1 adult with OWD cert + 1 adult and 2 children (10 and 11) who want to get certified. Dates 7/28-8/2. Destination easy to reach from the East coast USA.

I am looking for some advice on where to go as well as specific recommendations on lodging and dive shops for a scuba trip I'm planning: It will be one certified adult diver as well as another adult and two kids (10 and 11 years old) who need to get their PADI or SDI OWD certification.

I live in the Mid Atlantic region of the US (near Baltimore/Washington, DC), so I'm thinking Caribbean somewhere, maybe Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica etc. Dates are 7/28-8/2, so it's gonna be hot pretty much everywhere... I just got my OWD certification in Cozumel this March, looking for a different place this time (although I will definitely go back there at some point to do more dives!).

Considering we'll have two kids, I am thinking either resort or some place that has other entertaining stuff for them in the area. Safety is obviously important; and I don't want to have super long drives to the scuba company or extremely long boat rides out to the dive sites for this.

Thank you so much for any input in advance!!!

Jan

 

[bmag78]

Turks and Caicos would tick most of the boxes , except for kinda long boat rides (30-40 minutes?) .
Dive Provo is an excellent shop that does lots of certs.
It's also pretty easy diving... Generally no current and excellent visibility. Good for beginners
There's a wide range of hotels ranging from expensive to really expensive.
Ports of Call resort is nice location and the most affordable. Near but not in the beach.
Sibonnet hotel is beach front and also affordable but not central location.

 

[JxS]

Turks and Caicos would tick most of the boxes , except for kinda long boat rides (30-40 minutes?) .
Dive Provo is an excellent shop that does lots of certs.
It's also pretty easy diving... Generally no current and excellent visibility. Good for beginners
There's a wide range of hotels ranging from expensive to really expensive.
Ports of Call resort is nice location and the most affordable. Near but not in the beach.
Sibonnet hotel is beach front and also affordable but not central location.

Thank you so much for the input. Very much appreciated, and I'll definitely check it out

 

[tkaelin]

I would look at Bonaire especially for the younger divers who want to get certified staying at a place like buddy’s or Capt dons

 

[Doctorfish]

I agree with tkaelin. Bonaire is a great place for juniors getting certified.

 

[TooCold]

Edit: I guess I've done a mini-trip report.
TLDR: Grand Turk is safe, quiet, freindly, pretty much all local family-run businesses. Where I stayed was across the street from a beautiful beach, a 2-5 minute walk to choice of 4 dive shops. Some interesting things to see/tour on land.

TCI beyond Provo to other islands (eg Grand Turk) is quieter, more "local" (if that makes sense) and less expensive. But with kids you'd have more rangling to do for the connecting flight out of Provo. On my return connection the airport was a zoo, and we left about 4 hours late. At least the local flight had no issues with weight/size of dive gear luggage. Everything on the island was local: I don't recall coming across a single offshore/chain/franchise business for food (groceries), food (restaurants), or accomodations anywhere on the island, and I poked around a lot.

I spent 3 weeks on Grand Turk. I dived with Grand Turk diving, which was fine:
Grand Turk Diving Co, Ltd..
I was disappointed by all the coral bleaching when I was there, but that's not the shop's fault. Boat trips were pretty short most of the time, and we went out even when I was the only diver (which was most of the time). It was a small boat, no crew. The dive guide took the boat out and it was left anchored and unattended during dives. That was my first experience of that, and a little disconcerting.

I met another solo traveller; he was diving with Blue Water:
Home - Blue Water Divers, Grand Turk.
He really liked them; it was his third time back diving with them.

I stayed at Salt Raker:

HOME | Salt Raker Inn

The Salt Raker Inn is a historic landmark located on quaint Duke Street - Grand Turks.

www.saltrakerinn.com

which was perfect as far as I'm concerned: the accom, the service, the folks, the small friendly bar/restaurant in back where locals usually outnumbered tourists.

The fellow I met was staying next door at Manta House:

Historic Manta House | Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands

www.grandturk-mantahouse.com

I toured his suite, and wow. Pricier than my room, but: big, two bedrooms, kitchen, ...

Did I mention that right across the street is a gorgeous sandy beach, and the best hangout location on the island (built over the sand)? Food and drinks. They closed early evening when I was there.

This location is (just) outside Cockburn Town (the TCI capital), which is why it was so nice and quiet in the evenings/night. No *blaring* "music" I've encountered in lots of other Caribbean destinations. You can bop around the entire island on a rented golf cart - they're not out of place on the main road(s). The bartender at Salt Raker made the call for me: the golf cart was delivered to the hotel an hour after I arrived, and I dropped it off in the airport parking lot on departure. No fuss, no muss, no having to make arrangements for drop-off, or get a taxi to the airport.

I'm trying to think of a negative, but really, maybe just the odour wafting off the lagoon right beside the road you pass on your way into town - sewage treatment is a challenge given limited budgets and the low-lying geography of the area of the town.

So, I'd suggest looking into Grand Turk - talk to hotel and dive shop operators and get a sense of whether it fits you and your family's needs. I think you stand a good chance of getting more personalized, more accommodating service there than at any of the big super-commercial resorts on Provo.

Wherever you end up, enjoy your tirp!

 

[Jafo19D]

San Andres, Colombia is pretty good. It's an island off the coast of Colombia. There is a daily (I think 2 on some days) direct Avianva flight to Bogota from Dulles. Once in Bogota it's an easy connection to San Andres, since there are many every day. If you go there I highly recommend Scuba San Andres.

And from San Andres there is even more incredible diving in Providencia which is a 15 minute flight from San Andres. There I recomend Anda Di Wata