short boat rides and shore diving suggestions?

[Jackie]

Back in the day, I dived frequently. Sadly, I am older and way rusty. And my ability to get motion sick has also upped.
Where would you all recommend I stay where there is some shore diving where I can work on basic skills and find my bouancy as well as easy boat diving, where the walls do not drop off to infinity.
Cost is not the main concern.
Grand Cayman would be best, as I can just do one flight and not loose a a lot of time on travel days. I am also not keen fretting on connections.
I would really like to sell this destination and diving on my significant other who has little experience and none recent.
Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Doctorfish]

Grand Cayman is not bad for your needs, but the walls do drop off to infinity and the boat rides are about 10 minutes or so on the west side. Bonaire is even better. Lots of easy access shore diving as well as short boat rides to Klein Bonaire if you want. Flat water. Most of the dive lodges have good house reefs that are well supported.

 

[Jackie]

I have been thinking about Bonaire... my main concern are the ongoing reports of crime and such. But mostly getting there seems very time consuming.
We just got back from the Galapos where we lamely snorkeled. The three stops really took it out of us. And so many people got messed up on connections.
Getting to GC is direct, cheap and fast.
Thank you so much for your response. How is the diving on the West Side? Ten minutes is ok.
I used to dive in the Atlantic which could be Great or terrible. I never was one of those people who felt better underwater.

 

[KathyV]

Grand Cayman is a great place to enjoy a vacation and diving and that may be attractive to your significant other. Since cost is not a major concern I suggest getting a condo in the Central or Northern Seven Mile Beach and renting a car so you can see and enjoy many of the topside attractions. You can visit some of the nicer shore dives with onsite dive ops like Turtle Reef at Macabuca. There is also great snorkeling available from shore. You could make arrangements with a smaller dive op like Cayman University Divers to give you refreshers and personalized attention during diving. The best diving is on the North Wall and the East End IMO, but the dive op will suggest nearby sites that are close, easy, and nice dives.

 

[Doctorfish]

I don't think you would be disappointed with either island.

There is no big issue with crime on Bonaire.
If people leave stuff in their truck at dive sites, it disappears sometimes. That's all.

There are direct flights Newark to Bonaire and also easy connections with Delta via Atlanta.

There is, however, something to be said for non stop to Cayman.
The diving on the west side of GC is generally quite good. North and East are better but weather dependent.

 

[Alucard]

The "walls dropping off to infinity" are the outer walls on Grand Cayman - there is usually a "mini wall" which starts at around 30 feet and drops to 60 feet, so you have ample possibilities of doing some wall-style diving without having to go really deep. In addition you have entertaining shallow dives like Stingray City and the ex-USS Kittiwake which are fascinating dives in their own right without having to go deep at all. Both of these are boat dives.

There are several places that you can stay where there is shore diving right off the property - none of them are on Seven Mile Beach (which, being sandy, offers limited opportunities to see much when diving from shore) - this usually gives a cost-effective way of getting comfortable again. Most of them have on-site dive shops or easy access to one, so that you can hire someone for an "orientation dive" with your s.o.

Sunset House and Cobalt Coast spring to mind as the more "hotel"-style of places, but you can also go the condo route - places like Bonnie's Arch and Coconut Bay, both in West Bay, offer shore diving right off their site to established (i.e. with a buoy) dive sites and very easy access to the mini wall. There are local dive ops who would pick you up from these locations to go boat diving. Unless the weather is a bit iffy, boat rides to and from the dive sites are short - the issue that most find is that it's not the trips out to the sites that do it, it's the surface interval between tanks. Most places, though, you can just go for a swim and that usually calms down the rocking boat feeling.

In addition to these shore dives, you also have Lighthouse Point and Turtle Reef at Macabuca, which provide some nice options for shore dives, too.

(Note that these are all on the western side of the island - I am less familiar with the eastern side or the north shore.)

I do think that Grand Cayman would fit your needs - there is plenty do do during your nightly surface intervals, too - fantastic restaurants, and places to just sit and watch the sunsets. The island has famously low crime, too.

Hope this helps!

 

[EastEndDiver]

Something to keep in mind when doing boat dives is that most are 2 tank dives which means you will be out on the water for about 3-4 hours usually you have an hour surface interval between dives and the boat stays out .....don't know how this will effect your motion sickness.

There are lots of shore dive options which have been mentioned above if you prefer that.

 

[Doctorfish]

I personally would not stay at either Sunset House or Cobalt.

Sunset is somewhat old and a bit run down. Their boats are similar.
Cobalt is on the north shore of the island in the middle of nowhere. Shore diving there is very much weather dependent and a long swim from shore.

I prefer the 7 mile Beach strip for access to restaurants as well as the beautiful beach itself. There are a number of rental condos at the north end of 7MB that are quite nice and relatively inexpensive apart from peak season.

All the west side dive operators will pick up and drop off if you want.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

For short boat rides and walls that don't drop forever I might suggest San Andrés, Colombia or San Pedro (Ambergirs Caye) Belize.

San Pedro (airport code: SPR) doesn't have much for shore diving but the boat rides are short and we did surface intervals back at shore. Sort of miniwall diving, easy and clear warm water. But air connections from NYC are not good - minimum 2 stops each way.

San Andrés (airport code ADZ) does have shore diving, and walls that drop to 80-100ish feet in a steep hill like fashion rather than Cayman's fall-off-a-cliff walls.. Sort of like a bigger mini-wall from Cayman. Air transport from NYC is one stop each way, either at Panama (PTY) or Bogotá (BOG) and cheaper than San Pedro.

 

[Alucard]

I prefer the 7 mile Beach strip

The OP specifically asked to stay at a place where there is shore diving. Your suggestions of being on Seven Mile Beach will not meet those requirements.