Spring Break Recommendations (Caribbean)

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RVBldr

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Messages
389
Reaction score
147
Location
Redmond, WA
# of dives
500 - 999
I'm looking for a good all-inclusive for next year's Spring Break, to include diving for the family. We've done Beaches T&C, which worked out well for a 10-year old boy, but we might be looking for another good location next year. Caribbean or Mexico could be options and I'm looking for potential decent school for a 12-year old to get certified.

Any good suggestions?
 
I can't really assist with an AI that is not dive centric.
That being said there appears to be an abundance of good AI's to choose from in the Cancun (and south area) of Mexico.

From what I have read on this board two favorites are:

Catalonia Riviera Maya ? Catalonia Yucatan ? CataloniaRivieraCancun.com® Specials

Hotel Playa Paraiso | Iberostar Paraíso Lindo Hotel | All inclusive hotel

Some people stay here on Cozumel - the location is top notch

Cozumel Palace ® | All Inclusive Beach Resort | Official Site
 
Those look interesting, any idea how diving works at the resorts? Do they use off-site ops or leave from the resorts?
 
Some others to look at:

Lions Dive & Beach Resort voor een heerlijke vakantie! - AI if you add the meal plan.
Sunscape Curaçao Resort, Spa & Casino - used to be a Breezes kids resort. IDK much about it.

Curacao might be good as a family destination because there's other things to do there - the Sea Aquarium (walking distance from Lions Dive), the Ostrich Farm, shopping downtown.

For your jr. diver, many sites have a shallower component, the reef starts to drop between 30-40'. One of the signature dives - Tugboat - is 17' deep. And fully penetrable by anyone. Just about every beach also has shade, an on-site dive operator and refreshments of some type. Many are locals beaches also so there's always people nearby. At Varsenbaai there's turtles in 8' of water south of the dive dock. And squid under it often. At Nos Kas - the old Habitat resort site - I burned up my remaining air "diving" near the dock in some rocks and along the waterfront chasing flounder.

Van der Valk Plaza Beach Resort Bonaire - Bonaire is really a dive destination - not a lot else to do there. Plaza is the only full AI but about 6 of the other resorts bundle room/diving/truck/breakfast so they're a possible option. Not a lot of good beaches on Bonaire and not much else to do except dive, maybe see the Donkey farm once. Downtown is pretty small but they do have some good restaurants if you get tired of the Plaza choices. If you plan to shore dive there - most do - the entries are typically very rough over ironshore/coral rubble both at the water's edge and out in the surf line. New diver, balancing a tank, maybe not the best idea. You can also "dive the resorts" - most are on known shore dives and have dive docks - obviously other amenities also. None of the dive sites on Bonaire outside of them have any sort of facilities - or shade except for some trees/bushes.

St. Croix All Inclusive Beach Resort | USVI Vacation BEach Resort | Divi Carina Bay All Inclusive Beach Resort & Casino - don't know much about this except the shore dive at the resort is not great. Frederickstad Pier is about 25-40' deep and is dove if there's no cruise ships nearby.

Bolongo Bay Beach Resort|Fun Casual-Best All Inclusive Vacation Packages St Thomas, US Virgin Islands - on the quieter East side of St. Thomas. St. Thomas Dive Club there has been mentioned as a beginner friendly operator. Bolongo Bay is older so IDK what condition it's in. Most of the dives in that area don't get much below 50' - Cow/Calf Rocks - one of the better dives - has a maximum depth of 40' We did some drift dives off the Cays (Grass, Congo, etc.) and I'm sure we never broke 50'.

Before you ask, Ocean Encounters has a shop at both Lions Dive and Sunscape, Toucan Divers is on-site at the Plaza, the Divi has a Cane Bay dive shop on site and STDC is on-site at Bolongo as mentioned above.
 
Curacao is a nice spot for families. We were ther last Feb. and stayed at Sunscape Curaçao Resort, Spa & Casino. It is kid friendly. The food is pretty good and the resort has a very calm lagoon for swimming and snorkeling. The fish are plentiful and just a short walk outside your room to the beach.

There are several options for a cert class for the 12 yr old. Right accross the street from Sunscapes is Welcome to the Dive Bus. They are a great outfit and offer very personalized service. They might be a good choice for your son's cert. Sunscapes on site dive operator is Curacao Padi Scuba Diving - Ocean Encounters Curacao and they offer cert classes. I dove with both operators. The boat dives with Ocean Encounters were good but one day was a little crowded as they pick up divers from several resort locations and the boats tend to fill.

When we were booking my brother's OW certifications course, Ocean Encounters was going to charge an extra 25% for a private class since they were not able to sign any other students. We ended up using the Dive Bus for his certification and although he was the only student there was no additional fee for the course. He was given terrific personalized attention and certified there. I also took my AOW with The Dive Bus and was the only student. I had a great instructor and was able to tailor the cert toward my interests. They also include the full PPB specialty as part of the AOW cert. Overall the experience with the Dive Bus for training was great. The Pierbaai Reef was a great place to train and sure beats a swimming pool any day.
 
Diving in Cozumel can be on-site op or off-site op. Most of the dive ops are relatively small, and there are literally dozens and dozens of them. Most have only 1 boat. Some have 2 boats, some have more. It is all up to what you are wanting and your particular needs. This is different from most other places in the world... you can pick whichever dive op you want, and they can pick you up at the hotel pier each day. There are a few exceptions (no one picks up at hotels north of town as all reefs are south of town and gas is expensive) and a couple of resorts do not let other dive ops pick up at their pier without paying a fee. So it really does depend on what you want.

If you want to get your 12 year old certified, then I would look into doing the bookwork and confined water portion at HOME before your trip. Then all you have to do is the 4 Open Water dives with the Instructor on your vacation. This means that no vacation time is wasted sitting in a classroom for 2 full days prior to diving.

FYI - My 12 year old got certified in Cozumel (all bookwork and confined poolwork done at home before trip) and it was fantastic. The fishlife in Cozumel is fantastic!

So who else is coming on your trip? Is everyone diving or do you want your afternoons free for other activities?
What is your budget?
 
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