The Best of the Best

[DivePartner1]

1. List of Islands where you have dove in the Caribbean:

Provo and French Cay in Turks and Caicos, Grand Bahamas, Key Largo, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac, Cozamel, in Honduras Roatan and Utila, and in Belize Ambergris Cay

2. Your 3 favorite Caribbean Dive Destinations, in order of your first choice to 3rd.

1. Little Cayman, best walls and fish in the Carrib. Little Cayman Beach Resort and Reef Divers. Recommend Reef Divers but not LCR. It's run like a wanna-be cruise ship with with forced sales events at meals, over loud music at night, etc.

But can't beat the diving.

2. Cayman Brac. Very close second to Little Cayman. Divi Tiara. Would stay there again. Competent dive shop, pleasant but not plush hotel and great diving.

3. Utila. Great diversity of life and in Feb. and March you will almost certainly see Whale Sharks. The downside is poor accomodations on this very small, stuggling island that you get to via cast-off Warsaw Pact aircraft. The best place is Laguna Beach Resort. Otherwise, the island turns of the electrity and AC at 10 pm each night.

3. If you could only go back to one Island every year for the rest of your life, which would you choose and why?

Cayman Brac. It has the quality of Little Cayman but more diversity of dive sights, inculding the ability to go to the Little Cayman walls on calm days.

 

[Tavi]

We keep going back to Grand Bahama. We liked it so much that we bought 2 one week memberships here

We dive with Grand Bahama Scuba

The diving is great. GBS has a nice boat and the staff is freindly and helpful. Safety always comes first. I thought I was starting to get bored with it but some hurricanes came along and changed all the dive sites!!

We love the Island, the people at our resort are great. The dive boat is just a short walk from our room.

We've thought of trading to go elswhere, but if we love it here why take a chance on ending up someplace that we don't like? We've had bad experiences with a couple resorts in Fla. I think if we do get bored of it we'll try something different. I don't think that will happen anytime soon though

 

[rad21]

1.List of Islands where you have dove in the Caribbean
Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac, Cozumel, Cancun, Turks & Caicos (Provo)

2.Your 3 favorite Caribbean Dive Destinations, in order of your first choice to 3rd

Little Cayman-LCBR, Reef Divers- love LCBR, no problems with Reef Divers, never had a bad dive there, had my best dives there

Grand Cayman-Westin, various ops, lots to do topside, good diving, good viz.

Turks & Caicos- The Sands- Caicos Adventures- would choose FiFi again. The only problem is long boat rides to the good dive sites


3. If you could only go back to one Island every year for the rest of your life, which
would you choose and why?

Little Cayman- love the wall diving, short boat rides to dive sites, spacious boats, great visibility, little to no current ( I don't like drift diving).

 

[Diver Lori]

1. List of Islands where you have dove in the Caribbean

Bimini Bahamas, Freeport Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, Little Cayman, Roatan Honduras, Caves/Cenotes of Akumal Riviera Maya Mexico, Cozumel, Turneffe Atoll Belize, Key Largo (and this one doesn't count as the Carribbean since the best diving is the Pacific Coast....Costa Rica...fantastic diving!)

2. Your 3 favorite Caribbean Dive Destinations, in order of your first choice to 3rd
choice and why they are your favorites. Where did you stay, and what dive op did
you use, and would you choose the same if you went back again?

My first choice: Turneffe Island Lodge, Belize. The dive op all others are compared to. First class lodging, dining and diving. Far superior
My second choice: Cayman Brac (with side trips to Little Cayman) Divi Tiara. Loved the diving but wouldn't recommend this dive op or lodging to my worst enemy.
My third choice: Caves/Cenotes of Akumal. I'm a cave diver....nuf said. Aquatech/Villa DeRosa

3. If you could only go back to one Island every year for the rest of your life, which
would you choose and why?

Well...I just completed my fifth year to Akumal. Does that answer your question?? Caves aside, for OW diving I would pick Turneffe Island Lodge.

 

[Sue_W_AZ]

List of Islands where you have dove in the Caribbean
What a great excuse to sit here and reminisce instead of work :14: Bonaire (2X), Curacao, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Grand Turk, Provo (2X), Belize (2X), Bahamas (many times)

Your 3 favorite Caribbean Dive Destinations, in order of your first choice to 3rd choice and why they are your favorites. Where did you stay, and what dive op did you use, and would you choose the same if you went back again?
1. Bonaire, SandDollar Condos, on site dive operation. I would move to Bonaire tomorrow if I could! Amazing wall diving, countless varieties of fish and sea creatures, reasonable prices for both meals and lodging. We're too lazy to rent a truck and drive ourselves around so we would do 2 tanks off the boat in the morning, having lunch, then shore dive off the hotel dock every afternoon and that dive never got dull!
2. Grand Turk, See Eye Divers, Turks Heads Inn - Great diving, great wall that started right offshore, lots to see. The people on Gr Turk are super friendly. Next time I'd move to the Osprey Beach Hotel.
3. Bahamas, AquaCat liveaboard - I've done both land based and liveaboard stuff in the Bahamas but I think the AquaCat was the best. 5 dives a day, great service, tons of variety, great shark encounters (both planned and unplanned). If you like liveaboards (and I really do) you should try them!

If you could only go back to one Island every year for the rest of your life, which
would you choose and why?
Definitely Bonaire!

 

[progressweasel]

1. Mexico, Cozumel, St. Croix, St. Johns, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman

2. Little Cayman - hands down my favorite. Stayed at Pirate's Point which is great. The food is great and it is the lowest key place in the world. No stress no attitude just heaven, then Grand Cayman diving with Ocean Frontiers then Coz. The coral is better on GC than LC but the sea life is awsome on LC.

3. I would and may go back to Pirate's Point every year and be happy

 

[parrotman]

1. List of islands in the Carib
Bonaire 5 times
Roatan
Grand Cayman
Cayman Brac
Bimini
Cay Sal Banks on a live aboard
Utila 3 times
Cozumel

2. Favorite island
Used to be Bonaire but now Utila. I would not go back to Caymans. Top 3 would be Utila, Bonaire and Cozumel.

3. If I could only go back to one island year after year it would be Utila. I love Bonaire
but I much prefer the charm and laid back attitude of Utila. Deep Blue Resort is my
resort and Dive op of choice. Some one posted that they turn the electricity of at 10pm. Not any more. Power stays on 24 hours. I will be going to Utila for the 3rd time in a year next month.

 

[caymaniac]

Hi All

If there's a similiar thread on this already, please point me to it.

I'd be interested in hearing from people with their answers to the following:

1. List of Islands where you have dove in the Caribbean

2. Your 3 favorite Caribbean Dive Destinations, in order of your first choice to 3rd
choice and why they are your favorites. Where did you stay, and what dive op did
you use, and would you choose the same if you went back again?

3. If you could only go back to one Island every year for the rest of your life, which
would you choose and why?

Thanks!
Pam

1. Aruba, Bahamas (Nassau-Freeport-Eluthera),Bonaire, Cayman (Grand-Brac-Little),Cozumel, St. Martin, St John (St. Thomas),Turks and Caicos (Provo).

2. Cayman Brac (Divi)
Little Cayman (LCBR)
the Alexandria on Provo T&C

3. The quiet on the Brac is nice, not as populated as many Carribean sites. The Brac is out of the way. Little Cayman can be dove while staying on the Brac, this lends itself to a two for one island vacation. The Brac is less expensive than LC. It is a least popular island when you ask divers... this keeps the tourists to a minimum. It doesn't take that long to get to the island like Bonaire or Coz.,St. whatever. The diving is excellent, good for begginner or advanced. The dive op at the Divi lets you go at your own pace/with your buddy no DM if you want. The dive op will ask for a suggestion on dive sites that you want to go to/and then they go there. The dive op will help you with your gear on and off the boat.

 

[MarkUK]

Islands visited: Curacao (twice), Bonaire (three times), St Lucia, Dominica (twice), Tobago (three times), San Salvador (twice), Grand Bahama, New Providence (four times), Eleuthera, Exumas (liveaboard), Florida Keys (four times), Turks and Caicos (Provo), Utila, Grand Cayman (three times), Little Cayman (twice), Cozumel, Barbados.

Faves:
San Salvador – awesome walls, hammerheads, freedom to actually dive, not play follow-the-leader, great resort and bar (Riding Rock Inn).
Dominica – prolific marine life, friendly people, no big name hotels (stayed in Castle Comfort and Fort Young), great island when not diving.
Little Cayman – Great wall diving, laidback atmosphere, good resort in Southern Cross Club.

New Providence – not in my list of faves, but if i had to visit one location for the rest of my life, this island has more to offer, walls, sharks, wrecks, coral gardens, etc.

Mark

 

[knotical]

List of Islands where you have dove in the Caribbean:
Bonaire
Caymans
Cozumel
Roatan
Also the Florida keys, Bahamas and Turks & Caicos which aren’t usually considered geographically Caribbean.

Your 3 favorite Caribbean Dive Destinations, in order of your first choice to 3rd
choice and why they are your favorites. Where did you stay, and what dive op did
you use, and would you choose the same if you went back again?
1 - Cayman Brac, marine parks, Divi, will use them again.
2 - Roatan, healthy reefs, Sueño del Mar, (no longer exists)
3 - Cozumel, price, various hotels and dive ops.


If you could only go back to one Island every year for the rest of your life, which
would you choose and why?
- Cayman Brac, because of the people and almost non-existent crime, but enough infrastructure for most needs.