Turks and Caicos or somewhere else?

[oceancat]

Hi. We were all set to begin planning a Turks and Caicos dive trip for the end of Jan. 2009 until a co-worker of mine informed me how disappointed she was with the diving there. Few fish she said...I wanted to get the opinions of others. We just got back from the Galapagos, so I know it won't be as good as that trip, but I am hoping for more fish than I saw in Negril. Is there an overfishing problem in T&C? My co-worker recommended Little Cayman over T&C. She was in Provo--so would that make a difference? We are thinking either Grand Turk or be somewhere in Provo where we can avoid Grace Bay if such a thing is possible. Any advice? Suggestions for other places (we are taking 2 small children ages 2&3, so recommendations need to be child-friendly). Thank you!

 

[kdl]

I'm looking for similar recommendations. We're thinking T&C or Curacao for next year. We love Bonaire, which is why we originally thought Curacao, but haven't heard much about it. Like Oceancat, I haven't heard great things about T&C within the past few years.

Oceancat - not traveling too far, we love Cozumel and Bonaire. There are lots of kid friendly resorts in Cozumel.

 

[Scared Silly]

Try Salt Cay ... great and easy diving. Saw my fist slipper lobster there. Dive, rinse, and repeat.

 

[robint]

Hi. We were all set to begin planning a Turks and Caicos dive trip for the end of Jan. 2009 until a co-worker of mine informed me how disappointed she was with the diving there. Few fish she said...I wanted to get the opinions of others. We just got back from the Galapagos, so I know it won't be as good as that trip, but I am hoping for more fish than I saw in Negril. Is there an overfishing problem in T&C? My co-worker recommended Little Cayman over T&C. She was in Provo--so would that make a difference? We are thinking either Grand Turk or be somewhere in Provo where we can avoid Grace Bay if such a thing is possible. Any advice? Suggestions for other places (we are taking 2 small children ages 2&3, so recommendations need to be child-friendly). Thank you!

If you are taking the kids and looking for a child-friendly location - better than Negril (I think from what I have heard anyplace has more fish than that!) .... have you thought about maybe Belize, Ambergris Cay in particular? I bet you would like places like Ramon's. Or maybe going to Roatan and staying at Fantasy Island resort or Anthony's Key.

I have never heard that T&C were overfished, but I know the best diving for T&C is done from a liveaboard as the best dive sites are a long ride from Provo. The liveaboards are moored right at the dive sites so 4-5 dives per day with no long boat rides. Explorer Ventures: Adventures in Live-Aboard Diving or Aggressor Fleet | The ultimate in live-aboards since 1984 are the boats to look at. No children on liveaboards though.

Little Cayman has fabulous diving but nothing to do there but dive. I don't know if it is kid friendly or not. Grand Cayman is much more kid-friendly but more touristy and expensive. That might be better traveling with young kids though.

as kdl said, there are lots of kid-friendly resorts in Cozumel. A good place to get prices and ideas on resorts is to look at the websites of the major dive travel agencies - Caradonna, Bay Adventures, Ultimate dive travel, Trip-n-tour.
hope this gives you a start.

robin

 

[ronbeau]

Hi. We were all set to begin planning a Turks and Caicos dive trip for the end of Jan. 2009 until a co-worker of mine informed me how disappointed she was with the diving there. Few fish she said...I wanted to get the opinions of others. We just got back from the Galapagos, so I know it won't be as good as that trip, but I am hoping for more fish than I saw in Negril. Is there an overfishing problem in T&C? My co-worker recommended Little Cayman over T&C. She was in Provo--so would that make a difference? We are thinking either Grand Turk or be somewhere in Provo where we can avoid Grace Bay if such a thing is possible. Any advice? Suggestions for other places (we are taking 2 small children ages 2&3, so recommendations need to be child-friendly). Thank you!

If you decide to go to Curacao, Breezes Curacao is kid-friendly. They had a small kids programs program running both time my family stayed there. Our most recent visit was during July of 2007.

Breezes Curacao is an all-inclusive resort. You are allowed one free dive per day on their house reef (Oswaldo's Drop-off).

The Dive Bus operation is also located right next door to Breezes Curacao if you would like to do shore dive at other places on the island.

The Dive Bus - HOME

 

[oceancat]

Thanks for the replies--we have been to Belize twice and love it there, but want to go somewhere else. Bonaire is running almost $800/pp for airfare (we have also been to Bonaire and liked it there). Cozumel actually sounds like a good suggestion. We have been from Playa and south but not to Coz. Any recommendations for child-friendly places (doesn't have to be AI)? I think if we did the Caymans it would be Little Cayman--but is there any place you can bring kids there? I don't think you can at LCBR. I haven't heard of Salt Cay--where is that?

 

[robint]

Thanks for the replies--we have been to Belize twice and love it there, but want to go somewhere else. Bonaire is running almost $800/pp for airfare (we have also been to Bonaire and liked it there). Cozumel actually sounds like a good suggestion. We have been from Playa and south but not to Coz. Any recommendations for child-friendly places (doesn't have to be AI)? I think if we did the Caymans it would be Little Cayman--but is there any place you can bring kids there? I don't think you can at LCBR. I haven't heard of Salt Cay--where is that?

I might be wrong, but I think the AI's in Cozumel are the only one's with a kids club. Some hotels or dive shops can arrange for a babysitter (usually a local lady, wife of a DM, etc.) to watch kids while you are diving though. We have seen this done.

End of January could be okay anywhere in Caribbean, but it could also be windy (el norte fronts moving through). I have heard of people going to Coz in Dec-Jan timeframe and not getting to dive at all due to conditions. By end of Jan it could be better though. The farther south you go, the less likely it will be a factor.

Did you check out Roatan? I think that Fantasy Island Beach Resort has a kid's club. I think I saw a trip report from someone this past year who went there with small kids and loved it.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Having travelled with kids and a non-diving wife I can tell you the best overall "kid-friendly" detination we ever hit was Cozumel. Great diving. Strong dollar. Lots of stuff for the kids. Relatively inexpensive. The Presidente had the best kids club I have ever seen and they are not AI. We had to drag the kids out of there! BTW I have been to TCI many, many times, Little Cayman several times, Jamaica, Roatan. . . .

 

[oceancat]

We have been to Roatan and actually didn't care that much for the diving--we were in the West End. I loved Utila, but I know Grandma and the wee ones would get bored there.

Thank you Tim for the hotel recommendation in Coz. we will check it out. I am hoping by the end of Jan the weather issues will have cleared in Mexico. We experienced nasty weather and blown out dive days in Belize--really, it can happen anywhere. We are so used to 4-6 foot seas at times here, we were astounded when our dive ops cancelled diving with 3-4 ft seas. Oh well. Lots of hammock/margarita time!

 

[kdl]

Oceancat - in Cozumel, also try Hotel Cozumel and Resort, Park Royal and Reef Club, all are kid friendly and I think you can choose AI or not at all 3. Personally, I like Park Royal best of these 3, however we learned last weekend that they now charge $2/pp/day if you have another dive shop pick you up on their pier. That ticked us off a bit, so we just walked next door to another pier. The food isn't as good at Hotel Cozumel and Resort, but it's closer to town for easy dining options. Reef Club is furthest south. Good luck!