Recommendations on dive resorts

[Gray Diver]

Hi folks,
I'm an long time diver (30+ yrs). Mostly dive the Caribbean, (Belize, Caymans, Cozumel) Looking for a "new place".
Wife quit diving yrs ago, but loves going to those tropical locations with me. Love Cozumel, but the pace of diving has changed there. Used to be back by noon, now everybody is doing surface intervals on shore at a beach club, people ordering burgers and fries, and now we don't get back until 2 or 4 in the afternoon, she feels widowed.
Spent a very enjoyable week on Lighthouse Reef, Belize this yr. 3 dives a day, back after every dive and we had meals together before I'd go off diving again. Island had some nice beaches, was very remote, and not a lot of people. Looking for something similar, any suggestions?
Thanks for all your help in advance.

 

[KathyV]

Have you looked at St. Croix? Good diving and the Fredricksted Pier is a great shore dive, and they have nice beaches and topography, and also interesting topside activities. There are both populated and rural areas on St. Croix.

You mentioned Cayman but have you primarily visited Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman or have you also been to the Sister Islands of Little Cayman or Cayman Brac? Great diving and definitely remote, quiet settings on Brac and Little. They both have some nice beaches but the great beaches are not at the dive resorts, but the Cayman Brac Beach Resort has a lovely sandy beach for sunning and relaxing as well as a huge, gorgeous infinity pool. The Cayman Brac Beach Resort and the Little Cayman Beach Resort are small, diver-dedicated all-inclusive resorts and the reefs are close so the boat rides are short. You go out for 2 dives in the morning and you are back in time for lunch. You go out for 1 more dive in the afternoon and you are back in time for afternoon/evening activities.

Grand Turk might be an option. I've been to Provo in the T&Cs but I have never been to GT, but it is my understanding that it is small and remote and the reefs are short boat rides - unlike Provo. There is a cruise ship port on GT but that is at the other end of the island from the dive resorts - or so I have read.

Curacao has nice beaches and good diving. There's a lot of shore diving there but good boat diving is also available and it is a beautiful island.

St. Lucia is beautiful but it is mostly big, all-inclusive resorts so that might not be what you are looking for.

Roatan has many dive resorts so there might be something of interest.

Saba is small and unique, no real beach but an interesting place. It's vertical though, not that easy to get around.

I've never been to Grenada but it might be worth checking out.

 

[Gray Diver]

We have been to the USVIs before but not to St. Croix. Thought last yrs hurricanes took a toll on them.

Dove Cayman Brac 5 yrs ago, while I liked the diving, I wasn't impressed with the dive operator. Everyday we dove in front of the house we were renting, I could've shore dove the same 3 buoys. Have considered going to Little Cayman, it's still on the short list.

Always wanted to do St. Lucia, but have heard mixed reviews on the diving.

Roatan is nice, but perhaps a little too big for us, (looking for a much quieter place). When we were there the dive shops were doing the back to the shop after every dive. At the time I didn't like it because it stretched the day out too long, (couldn't do much else). We have looked at 2 resorts on Guanaja.

Heard good things about T/C, just haven't found the right place there yet.

ABC is on the horizon, maybe next yr.

We usually take 2-3 trips to the tropics per yr. Really looking for a small place that caters to divers, Perhaps one, if not the only resort on the island. This yr we had stayed at Huracan Dive Lodge on Lighthouse Reef. Diving was good, staff excellent, food and atmosphere 5 stars, but the lodge is built away from the beach, (as a hurricane shelter), so you don't see the water from your room. But very small, only 5 rooms. There was another resort on the island, and they were oceanfront. This is what I'm looking for, just don't want to go back to the same place so soon. Plus we've been in Belize 3 of the past 5 yrs.

Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[KathyV]

We have been to the USVIs before but not to St. Croix. Thought last yrs hurricanes took a toll on them.

Dove Cayman Brac 5 yrs ago, while I liked the diving, I wasn't impressed with the dive operator. Everyday we dove in front of the house we were renting, I could've shore dove the same 3 buoys. Have considered going to Little Cayman, it's still on the short list.

Always wanted to do St. Lucia, but have heard mixed reviews on the diving.

Roatan is nice, but perhaps a little too big for us, (looking for a much quieter place). When we were there the dive shops were doing the back to the shop after every dive. At the time I didn't like it because it stretched the day out too long, (couldn't do much else). We have looked at 2 resorts on Guanaja.

Heard good things about T/C, just haven't found the right place there yet.

ABC is on the horizon, maybe next yr.

We usually take 2-3 trips to the tropics per yr. Really looking for a small place that caters to divers, Perhaps one, if not the only resort on the island. This yr we had stayed at Huracan Dive Lodge on Lighthouse Reef. Diving was good, staff excellent, food and atmosphere 5 stars, but the lodge is built away from the beach, (as a hurricane shelter), so you don't see the water from your room. But very small, only 5 rooms. There was another resort on the island, and they were oceanfront. This is what I'm looking for, just don't want to go back to the same place so soon. Plus we've been in Belize 3 of the past 5 yrs.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Have you looked at Dunbar Rock in Guanaja? I've never been so I can't comment on the diving, but the resort is the island and you get an ocean view from every direction!
Dunbar Rock

And here is a very positive report about Utopia Village on Utila:
Utopia Village, Utila - Trip Report

I think that St. Croix and Provo would be too developed for your tastes, and they were both hit by hurricanes last year although I understand that Provo is fully open for business again and St. Croix is doing well.

There are only 2 small dive resorts on Grand Turk, but they were also hit last year - and they do get cruise ship passengers on the island.

I was one of the people that was ambivalent about the St. Lucia diving, but it's been a long time and others rave about it so I don't know - it is a beautiful island.

You don't mention budget, but Southern Cross is a very small (8 -10 rooms?) quiet and upscale diver-dedicated resort on Little Cayman, it is a bit more expensive than the other options on LC, but it may be just what you are looking for. There are only 3 resorts on Little Cayman and they are all small, remote and diver-dedicated. When are you planning to travel? Most of the island, including Southern Cross, shuts down for the summer from mid-August through September (see link below) but the LCBR stays open.
https://www.caymancompass.com/2015/08/07/little-cayman-s-big-summer-shutdown/

And I suggest that you also look at the Clearly Cayman resorts, see the link below. They have 3 small (30 rooms?) diver-dedicated resorts that are on the water, one on each of the Cayman islands. They are all-inclusive and the food is buffet style - but really delicious, at least that is true for CBBR and LCBR but I haven't eaten at CCGCR yet.

Clearly Cayman

I don't know why your dive op took you to such a small range of sites when you rented a house on Brac - perhaps bad weather limited their choices?

My husband and I are heading back to the (Clearly Cayman) Cayman Brac Beach Resort for the 5th time this fall and their dive op (Reef Divers) is right onsite and very easy and convenient and they have taken us to many, many sites around the island. And if the weather is calm they will take a boat over to Little Cayman (for an extra fuel charge) to dive Bloody Bay Wall.

We stayed at the Little Cayman Beach Resort again last year and the diving is the best in the Caribbean IMO. The first 2 days we had some wind and only dived the southern side of the island, which is nice but not spectacular, but the rest of the week we dived Bloody Bay Wall and Jackson's Bight and it was exceptional.

You should also look at their Cobalt Coast Grand Cayman Resort because it is far off the beaten path and away from the developed and touristy areas on GC. It is also right on the water, ironshore not beach, but they have a small manufactured beach and a pool - and the dive package includes unlimited shore diving (and snorkeling) on the house reef along with the boat diving, but the shore diving on that end of the island can get winded out during the fall and winter months. If you could travel in August, @BDSC has a group going there for a really great price:
COBALT COAST RESORT on GRAND CAYMAN

Compass Point on the East End of Grand Cayman may be another option of interest.

 

[Hoag]

Look into Bohio on Grand Turk. A typical day will run something like this:

• Breakfast
• Diveboat meets you right on Bohio's beach
• 5 minute ride to the 1st dive spot
• After everyone is done, back to Bohio for the surface interval and to place your lunch order
• Back on the dive boat for another 5 minute ride to another dive
• After everyone was done, back to Bohio
• Secure your gear
• Grab a quick shower & get into some dry clothes
• Go back to the dining room and your lunch will be brought out in a couple minutes.
• The afternoons are yours to do as you please.

A couple of notes:

• Bohio does cater to the cruise ships, but as a guest of the resort, there are areas both on the beach and around the resort which are off limits to the cruise ship people so interaction can be kept to a minimum.
• The package I was on included breakfast and lunch but not dinner. Dinner looks expensive on the menu, but there is enough food for 2 meals so either you & your wife can share, or you can take your meals back to the room & stick them in the bar fridge till the next evening when the kitchen will be happy to reheat them for you.
• Diving is typical TCI diving - meaning it is wall diving. Dive sites were deep enough that they weren't really affected by last year's hurricanes. The infrastructure on the island, however was a different story. It was hit very hard, but from what I have heard, it is pretty much back to normal.

 

[Damselfish]

Have you looked at Dunbar Rock in Guanaja? I've never been so I can't comment on the diving, but the resort is the island and you get an ocean view from every direction!
Dunbar Rock

I stayed at Dunbar Rock last April. I left some comments on Dunbar Rock in this thread and there is also a bit on it's sister resort Clark's Cay.

 

[Gray Diver]

I've actually looked at Dunbar Rock and Clarks Cay.
Dunbar might work, a little worried about lack of space, ie, nowhere to go to besides your room. (Like to be able to walk a beach once in awhile, though the wife says she thinks she could handle it, (small beach).
Clarks looks better, but the "family friendly" scares me, could get pretty loud.

 

[Damselfish]

Similar to a liveaboard, it might seem there's nowhere to go, but there's always more places than you would think. Besides the little beach which had kayaks, there's a decent amount of common areas with inside living/dining room, outside eating/lounging area and bar by the pool. A game area which I think had a pool table and I forget what else. If the very shallow dive there is good I would think it's worth snorkeling. There's the rooftop gym/massage room, for which she wouldn't have to compete for massage times with divers. Also a little pavilion on the roof with hanging chairs, and some hammocks around. You could spend a bit of time exploring the rock. If they are going over to the north side to dive, there is a nice beach area near the cut through the island on that side. They had a picnic there one day and we also dropped off people there to do some training dives off the beach. Perhaps she could get dropped off there for snorkeling or walking if the dive boat is headed north. They have a large boat they took on a tour to Bonacca town and stuff the last afternoon, I don't know much about that as we skipped it. But maybe they would run someone there on a skiff or there is some sort of water taxi she could go and explore (though I didn't get the impression Bonacca town is too exciting.) So you might ask them about ideas for non-divers - actually I see they list a bunch of non-diving activities and tours on their website which I don't think were there when we went, so perhaps they have had demand for this.

I'm guessing they describe Clark's Cay as family friendly because of the pool with the lazy river, the 2 bedroom units, and the fact that you don't have to constantly worry about your kids falling off the Rock someplace. But mostly in comparison to Dunbar Rock - while I have no way of knowing for sure I don't get the sense Clark's Cay is the sort of location that would be overrun with kids, or actually have many at all. Especially if you're not going when school is out.

 

[Trailboss123]

I am going to throw out a recommendation that is on my hit list and apparently not on a lot of people's radar. It's a little bit off the beaten path, but the resort does a good job in assisting you with getting there. It is part of the Bay Islands of Honduras and no more difficult to get to than Guanaja. I am thinking about combining a week here with a week on Roatan. It is the only resort allowed to operate on the Cayos Cochinos. For your non-diving wife, it offers way more than any of the 3 resorts on Guanaja and one of the reasons that I am considering it. My wife likes to do additional things when we are on a dive trip.She loves to hike, for example and this resort provides that opportunity.
Turtle Bay Eco Resort⎢Cayos Cochinos Hotel & Diving

I found out about it from the good people at Reef and Rainforest in my former hometown of Portland, OR:
Turtle Bay Eco Resort - Reef and Rainforest

Also, glad you are considering the ABC's - with the exception of the lack of white sandy beaches (there are some though)- I think Bonaire would suit you and your wife also. The diving is fantastic, you can shore or boat dive and be back in a timely manner. There are wonderful homes, condos, resorts to stay at right on the water and for a week long stay, there are a number of other things to do on the island for excursions. More than most people give it credit for.

 

[Trailboss123]

Also, not sure if you are considering Clearwater Resort on Guanaja? Here is a link to a review from my two very good friends that I dive with monthly. They enjoyed it and found the diving to be incredible. Particularly if you are into Swimthrough's. But, the one complaint they had was the isolation. Once there, you aren't going anywhere else. You are stuck at the resort basically.

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