Luxury Dive Resort

[Wisnu]

Bali - for great both underwater and topside.
I consider Amandari - Luxury resort hotel Indonesia - home USD 750 - 3700 per night excl. tax and service cahrge - is luxury accomodation - a step away from Manta and mola (on the right season)

 

[sgj99]

when choosing a place to stay we usually just want a bed, a shower with hot water and decent food - after all the vacation is about the diving.

that being said: look into turneffe island lodge, belize. my husband and i went there with another couple back in march '07. no telephones, no tv's, even no locks on the doors. it was wonderful to get away like that. small dive boats, great dive crews, the whole dive op was first rate. food - i came home with what i affectionately referred to as a "turneffe roll" because the food was so good i know i gained weight.

i'm not sure you would classify this as a luxury resort but it was a very, very nice dive resort.

 

[Doc]

when choosing a place to stay we usually just want a bed, a shower with hot water and decent food - after all the vacation is about the diving.

You and I agree, but that's not the point of this year old post. Not being argumentative, just expanding on the inherent fact that "posh" doesn't seem to be offered at the same time a 4+ dives a day... at least not as land based.

We have been to some lovely resorts from the Philippines in the South Pacific to Sodwana in South Africa, but most of them are on a European Schedule that makes it more of a target of 2x a day. I would get serious and do 5 a day including night dive, but I have to tell'ya- that was really exhausting. When the boat comes in and out with every single tank dive, that's a lot of fussing around.

Always do a lot of research and find out if the operation really offers what you are looking for. A well fleshed out internet website replete with pictures of dive boats would be a good start. Quite often, when resorts require a dive guide for shore diving, this is because of boat traffic running in the area. Hard to tell in the Utila case as the finish details provided are very much so on the light side.

As to the Philhade in Thailand as discovered by Chaseh after the research, although Ihave not been aboard, my pals tell me that the diving is plentiful and well worth it, but the liveabaord is about a B- in most other respects (compared to other liveaboards). Things change, your experience is what's important. At $3800 plus airfare and transfers, it ought to be pretty memorable.

There are yachts in the Caribbean that you can hire out for 6x$5000 and they will keep you soaking wet on great dives (ones off the beaten paths) and fed like kings. Was that really the question?

Unless Cuba opens up and does a 180 turn, I don't believe that we will ever see a 5* resort in the Caribbean that offers 4 and 5 a day on reefs that are worth the time. With development comes spoilage. Remote areas with pristine diving can not support 5* operations, much the same as an upscale yacht (liveabaord) can not be maintained there, either.

 

[vladimir]

Bali - for great both underwater and topside.
I consider Amandari - Luxury resort hotel Indonesia - home USD 750 - 3700 per night excl. tax and service cahrge - is luxury accomodation - a step away from Manta and mola (on the right season)

I think the Amandari is in Ubud. If so, it's not a step away from anything but a lot of crafts shopping. It's probably at least an hour from Ubud to any decent diving in typical Bali traffic.

If you are looking for a luxury dive resort in Bali, I think the Mimpi Menjangan might qualify. I had a private villa with natural-hot-spring bath, indoor and outdoor showers, nice bathroom, etc., all in the shadow of a volcano, and diving was within a short walk and a 5 minute skiff ride. Eight years ago it was in excellent repair and the diving was excellent as well. It was pretty cheap then too, but that was because a dozen churches were bombed in Indonesia the week I was there.

 

[vladimir]

With development comes spoilage. Remote areas with pristine diving can not support 5* operations, much the same as an upscale yacht (liveabaord) can not be maintained there, either.

That is the trade-off, in a nutshell.

 

[Wisnu]

I think the Amandari is in Ubud. If so, it's not a step away from anything but a lot of crafts shopping. It's probably at least an hour from Ubud to any decent diving in typical Bali traffic.

If you are looking for a luxury dive resort in Bali, I think the Mimpi Menjangan might qualify. I had a private villa with natural-hot-spring bath, indoor and outdoor showers, nice bathroom, etc., all in the shadow of a volcano, and diving was within a short walk and a 5 minute skiff ride. Eight years ago it was in excellent repair and the diving was excellent as well. It was pretty cheap then too, but that was because a dozen churches were bombed in Indonesia the week I was there.

Vladimir, You're right - I meant Amankila not Amandari Amankila - Luxury resort hotel Bali - the resort at Manggis village - Candi Dasa.
BTW - I agree Mimpi Menjangan is very affordable nice resort - last year we enjoyed their courtyard villa with private pool for less than $200 / night.

 

[vladimir]

Thanks, Wisnu. I have never heard of the Amankila; is it new? It looks fabulous.

 

[Angelika Utopia Utila]

The shore diving is only guided by a DM for your first dive to make sure you are familiar with the terrain. After that, only the buddy system applies.

 

[Damselfish]

The shore diving is only guided by a DM for your first dive to make sure you are familiar with the terrain. After that, only the buddy system applies.

that's better, looks like you updated your website now?

 

[Belmont]

Club Med on Columbus Isle (San Salvador Island, Bahamas) is truly an all inclusive luxury resort.
They feature three dives a day and operate two catamaran dive boats.

Dives are on about 40 different sites around the western side of the island, two in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Wall and drift dives, the first part of the wall drops down to about 200 feet, then there is a sandy ledge about 100 feet wide and another drop to 12 000 feet.

You get to see all kinds of fishes, the reef is in good shape (only 800 inhabitants on the island and no fishing worth mentioning)

When I was there in May I saw 4 Hammerhead and a Tiger shark.

One thing to point out: they have an hyperbaric chamber on site with a specialist on call 24/24, talk about dive oriented resort!!

Plus the resort offers all the amenities and food to remember. European flavour and service, bilingual staff and less than a few hours flight from any eastern US cities.