Vacation Decision Dilemma

[sedona12]

My husband and I are planning an anniversary trip for the last week of September. We normally go diving somewhere, but this year is a bit different. We are trying to find a place in the Caribbean that has great snorkeling as well as diving, because we may not be diving after all (possible pregnancy).

We need to book our trip later this week and we won't know for sure about being pregnant until late next week. I think we have it narrowed down to either Grand Cayman or Cozumel. We don't care about night life, but prefer good food (although we've given that up for good diving). After reading through some of the posts this morning, I'm wondering if Little Cayman might not be a better choice. How is the snorkeling there in case I can't dive?

Any "useful" suggestions are appreciated! Thanks.

 

[RICHinNC]

Well...have you thought about Barbados? They have some great deals and the snorkeling is great....the night life is too and there is a ton of stuff to do above the water.

Im headin there on the 8th Sept

 

[herman]

Curacao is another option. Fairly easy to get to, lots of good diving and snorkling at the same sites and some really great places to eat.

 

[ippy01]

My husband and I are planning an anniversary trip for the last week of September. We normally go diving somewhere, but this year is a bit different. We are trying to find a place in the Caribbean that has great snorkeling as well as diving, because we may not be diving after all (possible pregnancy).

We need to book our trip later this week and we won't know for sure about being pregnant until late next week. I think we have it narrowed down to either Grand Cayman or Cozumel. We don't care about night life, but prefer good food (although we've given that up for good diving). After reading through some of the posts this morning, I'm wondering if Little Cayman might not be a better choice. How is the snorkeling there in case I can't dive?

Any "useful" suggestions are appreciated! Thanks.

If the choice is truly Grand Cayman or Cozumel -- and good food is an important consideration then I say Grand Cayman hands-down. I was very impressed with the restaurants there -- both the quality and the number of very good places. In fact, in my opinion, Grand Cayman has the best restaurant situation in the Caribbean in terms of number, diversity, quality, etc. By the way, I base my opinion on a trip there in April of this year -- so it was post-Ivan.

 

[menemsha43]

Check out Anse Chastanet on St. Lucia. A beautiful resort with a nice reef just off of the beach. Snorkeling and scuba. I stayed at the Ladera resort which was up on top of the mountains off of the beach but went to Anse Chastanet every day for the beach. It was really very nice.

 

[sedona12]

Thanks for the input! We are currently pricing out packages for both Barbados and Curacao. Sunset Waters in Curacao sounds just like our type of place. Does anyone have any recomendations for hotels on Barbados? Good snorkeling from shore is always a plus.

 

[scubabrandon]

I second Barbados. Thats where my wife and I went for our honeymoon. We stayed at Turtle Beach. Great resort, very well kept, good security on the beach at night, great food and good choices of dining. We had fun a the Shipwreck Inn, its a bar and resturant down the street. They had some GREAT music.

 

[zf2nt]

My husband and I are planning an anniversary trip for the last week of September. We normally go diving somewhere, but this year is a bit different. We are trying to find a place in the Caribbean that has great snorkeling as well as diving, because we may not be diving after all (possible pregnancy).

We need to book our trip later this week and we won't know for sure about being pregnant until late next week. I think we have it narrowed down to either Grand Cayman or Cozumel. We don't care about night life, but prefer good food (although we've given that up for good diving). After reading through some of the posts this morning, I'm wondering if Little Cayman might not be a better choice. How is the snorkeling there in case I can't dive?

Any "useful" suggestions are appreciated! Thanks.

Late September is the peak of hurricane season in the western Caribbean. All other things being equal, I would head south towards the ABC's (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao) rather than go to Grand Cayman or Cozumel. I have spent the past 7 winters on Little Cayman starting about the first of October and I think last year was about the only time out of those 7 years when we had nice weather in October.

Snorkeling on Little Cayman is OK, though I'm sure there are better destinations if snorkeling is the goal. There is no doubt in my mind that Little Cayman has the best diving anywhere in the Caribbean, but most of the interesting stuff is a little too deep to see while snorkeling.

Bruce

 

[herman]

Late September is the peak of hurricane season in the western Caribbean. All other things being equal, I would head south towards the ABC's (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao) rather than go to Grand Cayman or Cozumel. ......

Bruce

Excellent point, we just missed a hurricane on our trip in July.

 

[sedona12]

Well - decision made and we finally got the trip booked. Heading to Sunset Waters on Curacao in less than 3 weeks!

Happy Diving/Snorkeling!