Luxury Dive Resort

[Diver Dennis]

Private Yacht charter might be for you. Here are a couple boats that with more than 2 guests are cheaper than the Four Seasons and you can dive as much as you want.

http://www.caribbeancruisingvacatio...arch=Categories&search=Motoryachts+2-4+guests

This is a 93' with a dive instructor on board...http://www.viewyacht.com/islandvoyager/ for $25K/week if you had 2 other couples, all inclusive.

Just 2? this is about the same prices as the Four Season's boat... http://www.viewyacht.com/centrecourt/ DM on board.

 

[Diver Dennis]

Here are more, ranging from $4,500/ week.

http://www.caribbeancruisingvacatio...ch&typeSearch=Categories&search=Diving+Yachts

 

[tvictory]

They are building a Ritz Carlton resort on West Caicos. I don't know if it's open yet, but it will probably meet your criteria when it does.

 

[Damselfish]

Yeah, I noticed this. But that doesn't detract from the Four Seasons as a liveaboard dive boat, it's just the typical European way. French Polynesia is similar. A lot of the resorts have onsite dive shops with their own boats, but they only offer a single tank morning trip and a single tank afternoon trip. When we stayed at the Moorea Intercontinental, for example, we ended up using an outside dive shop that offered a 2-tank trip. If we could only convince those lazy Europeans to dive more and sun less we'd have a lot more luxury dive resorts to choose from.

I actually wouldn't mind 2 really good dives sometimes (assuming thats what you got) and the rest of the day to play or loaf. The times almost bother me more - if I'm only doing 2 dives early morning and late afternoon are about my least favorite times. If I'm not diving I wanna sleep later. And the light is usually so much nicer in the middle of the day.

I think the best compromise is a luxury hotel with an on-site shop, but that often means compromising on the number of dives a day (usually just two) and the quality of the dive operation (which usually caters to the lowest common denominator, the recently certified inexperienced diver, since experienced divers usually know better and don't dive with the onsite resort).

My favorite compromise idea is a good liveaboard, followed by a few days at a nice resort. If I can get in some additional decent land based diving fine, and if not I've at least had my fill and can just enjoy loafing around a nice place and that's fine too.

Sure, starting at $1,000/night during hurricane season. I didn't find the diving at Northwest Point to be all that, at least in comparison to the far better stuff at French Cay when we did the Aggressor. For a $1,000 a night dive resort I'd want to be sitting on a much healthier reef.

yeah, I figure if you're willing to pay that, you can just charter their boat to go whereever you want.

 

[Damselfish]

I agree, but would amplify the "not really luxury." My priority is good diving. Once I've met that, I seek out the best accommodations I can get. In the Caribbean, my choices are Harbour Village in Bonaire, Turneffe Island Lodge in Belize, and LCBR in Little Cayman. If my girlfriend isn't traveling with me, I default to an Aggressor. They all represent a compromise in terms of luxury, but I'd rather do that than compromise on the diving.

I get that method. I pick places I want to dive, then see what's available for accomodations and dive operators and everything and decide if something works for me. I almost always compromise on the place rather than the diving. Occasionally I look at it the other way - see a neat resort and investigate if I can get the diving to work, but that's usually just internet surfing entertainment.

 

[Garrobo]

Check out the resorts on Guanaja in the Bay Islands off of Honduras. You can spend some heavy bucks there.

 

[Mossman]

Check out the resorts on Guanaja in the Bay Islands off of Honduras. You can spend some heavy bucks there.

Where? I hadn't noticed Guanaja was priced much different than the other Bay Islands.

 

[Steve50]

LCBR is generally a great all around experience, but it's not really luxury.

Agree but are there really any dedicated dive resorts in the luxury category?

 

[Damselfish]

Like I said someplace above, I doubt it.

 

[Scubadonna]

We stayed at Harbour village (bonaire) last November and we loved it. The rooms were very luxurious and the diving was So convenient!