"older" not-very-experienced diver and a prospective-diver adult son looking for advice on where to go

[PatW]

I like the "Sister" islands in the Caymans. Generally great visibility, very good sea life, and Reef Divers is a fine operator.

I have been to Turneffe Island Resort in Belize. It is expensive. It is skiff dives at 60' by and large. And it is an out island. But it is a very good experience.

I prefer Utila to Roatan. I think Utila has better corals and a greater variety than Roatan. The operator I used to use has closed so I cannot recommend one. The times I went, it was pretty heavily fished so not much big stuff. A fair bit of small stuff and a fair number of sea horses.

Cozumel is fine. It is generally drift diving from skiffs. There are some really good operators. The farther south you go, the better the reefs.

 

[Oldbear]

1+ for Cozumel

I am organizing an Open Water & Advanced Open Water/Nitrox combination course in Cozumel for Jan.

 

[flatoutsask]

Hi. I got PADI certified at age 64 about 7 years ago but haven't dived in about 4 years now. But this Christmas holiday, my 32 year old non-diver son and I are looking to do a trip for him to get certified and me to take a reactivate refresher course. We're tentatively thinking about the Caribbean ( Caymans, Belize, Turks and Caicos, Roatan) . Would really LOVE some advice about our best options! Here's what's on our "wish list": A good school, where he can get certified and I can do the needed refresher/reactivate course. All boat dives....I'm just not up to or for lugging gear acorss the shore anymore! Good marine life, good visibility, warm (ish) water in late Dec. (I hate wet suits and would really love to dive in just a skin and am comfortable doing so in temps in the low 80s. ) Enough folks around, bars and restaurants, etc. to go to in the evenings for my son to enjoy on his own. Clean, nice place to stay with decent food options , but doesn't (in fact, shouldn't be) overly fancy (or pricey!)

All suggestions and advice welcome!

My daughter and I did our open water on Isla Muheras off Yucatan about 1/2 hr ferry from Cancun. Good, diverse diving. We stayed at Airbnb but some modest resorts on island or very accessible for daily commutes by ferry to Cancun