Resorts for (moderate) handicapped diver

[edpdiver]

Hi, my wife and I have been diving for 3 years and we love it. We have already logged about 160 dives. I am posting this to get recommendations for resorts that are suitable for us. My wife has multiple sclerosis, and while she is a strong swimmer and diver, she is unable to walk long distances, climb a lot of steps (a few are fine, ~10-15 for example), and has trouble on uneven terrain and hills. So I am looking for ideas of dive resorts that meet our needs.

First, here is some information on places that we have been and enjoyed. We have been to several Caribbean locations. We loved Little Cayman Beach Resort, Compass Point on the East End of Grand Cayman, and the Reef House Resort on Roatan. Those three locations were nice resorts, had great diving, and were fun places to go. We also enjoyed Hotel Presidente in Cozumel, a few locations in the British Virgin Islands, Young Island in St. Vincent, and Petite St. Vincent. We are going to Bonaire (Harbour Village) this March, too. We have also been to a couple of great luxury resorts in Bora Bora and Moorea, and really enjoyed that diving, as well as the beautiful scenery above the water surface. Finally, we just returned from Wakatobi in Indonesia, which was our favorite dive trip so far (we are returning this summer). All of these resorts are relatively small, or have some centrally located accommodations that are close to the restaurant, pier, office, and what-not. That is the sort of thing that we are looking for.

So, I would like to get recommendations on other destinations and specific dive resorts that you think might be appropriate for our needs. They can be pricey and luxurious, or simple and rustic. We enjoy both. I am particularly interested in suggestions for Fiji, as I have seen that many resorts are on hillsides, and it is difficult to tell if they would be suitable for us. Also, some of the Fijian resorts appear to be pretty long boat rides from the dive sites, and we like to keep our travel times less than 30-40 minutes, maximum. We are thinking of Atlantis Dumaguete in the Philippines for next year. Any other Philippines suggestions are welcome. I am also curious about Malaysia, the Maldives, Micronesia (Truk, Yap, and others), Papua New Guinea, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, and anything else that you all can come up with.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Erwin

 

[Damselfish]

You've already been to some of the first ones that popped into my head.

Have you considered liveaboards? Many of the boats will have either cabins and dive deck on the same level with dining room up a deck, or dining room and dive deck on the same level with cabins below. So there will be some stairs but not too many, and "commuting" is greatly minimized. I don't know how much worse it is for her if the stairs are moving? The last liveaboard I was on there someone who had trouble getting around, I think disabled due to polio as a child if I remember correctly, and he did all his diving from liveaboards finding that much easier.

 

[edpdiver]

You've already been to some of the first ones that popped into my head.

Have you considered liveaboards? Many of the boats will have either cabins and dive deck on the same level with dining room up a deck, or dining room and dive deck on the same level with cabins below. So there will be some stairs but not too many, and "commuting" is greatly minimized. I don't know how much worse it is for her if the stairs are moving? The last liveaboard I was on there someone who had trouble getting around, I think disabled due to polio as a child if I remember correctly, and he did all his diving from liveaboards finding that much easier.

Damselfish,

Thanks for the reply. Actually, I have thought about liveaboards, and even the ones with some steps would be okay. We are considering the Turks and Caicos Explorer (probably next year, as it will be hard to fit into our schedule anytime soon). We want to try one relatively close to home, before going all the way to Fiji or Australia and finding that we do not like it as much as a resort. Any suggestions of good liveaboards are certainly welcome, too. But we do like land-based options, and would like to find more of those, too (particularly for destinations that we have not been to yet).

Erwin

 

[El Orans]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Moved to General Travel and Vacation Discussions.

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[Dave Zimmerly]

Check out Divi Flamingo in Bonaire. When we were there, we meet a group of disabled divers, all in wheel chairs. They were pleased with the handicap-friendly resort and had a blast diving.

Regards,
Dave (aka "Squirt")

 

[Doc]

unable to walk long distances, climb a lot of steps (a few are fine, ~10-15 for example), and has trouble on uneven terrain and hills. So I am looking for ideas of dive resorts that meet our needs.

Sounds like CoCoView The reef and critters (and resort) are a whole lot different than the Roatan that you've already seen.

We are thinking of Atlantis Dumaguete in the Philippines for next year. Any other Philippines suggestions are welcome.

We have been to Atlantis Puerto Galera two times, now . It would be the very last place I would suggest for your needs. Look at the photos in sig line Doc_Adelman/Philippines Hotel Atlantis Pto Galera - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting. Atlantis Dumaguete might be different- we hope to go this year

Note that there is a similar thread running currently in this same forum.

 

[Crawl79]

Close to home, can't beat the Flower Gardens for a liveaboard experience. But would the stairs on the boat be an issue of the seas are rough.

 

[El Orans]

Note that there is a similar thread running currently in this same forum.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ge...s/218381-handicap-accessible-dive-resort.html

 

[edpdiver]

Roatanman,

Thanks for mentioning the similar post. I looked it over, and it is helpful. However, their situation is not exactly the same as ours. We do not need a perfectly handicapped accessible resort, as a few stairs are okay; it is more that we want a fairly level one where there are some accommodations that are close to the restaurant, dive pier, office (and BAR).

Erwin

 

[Web Monkey]

Hi, my wife and I have been diving for 3 years and we love it. We have already logged about 160 dives. I am posting this to get recommendations for resorts that are suitable for us. My wife has multiple sclerosis, and while she is a strong swimmer and diver, she is unable to walk long distances, climb a lot of steps (a few are fine, ~10-15 for example), and has trouble on uneven terrain and hills. So I am looking for ideas of dive resorts that meet our needs.

I've been on a dive boat with an "elevator" in the stern. You just walk on to a submerged grating, and the captain then brings you up to deck level.

I'll bet there are at least a few liveaboards with something similar.

Terry