Vacation Ideas with nondiving family

[trapper1981]

I dive a couple times a year not had a lot of dives. I've done Jupiter and may just go back. Cruise ship diving in Cozumel and grand Cayman which I was told you can do much better dives if you're staying there. So what I'm asking is where are some good budget minded trips with non diving wife and 15 and 11 year old daughters. Thought about playa del Carmen resort or another cruise possibly back to Jupiter I don't know. The trip will be next summer and I love to see sharks. Thanks in advance.

 

[drrich2]

What do they want to do?

Do you want to cram a lot of diving into, oh, say, 3 days of 2 2-tank boat trips (morning and afternoon), spend the rest of the week with them, or 5 days of 1 2-tank boat trips spending afternoons with them?

Do they self-entertain, or must you be with them a lot?

Do they need on-site delights, like at an all-inclusive resorts, or are they fine with loading up in the car & driving an hour or two to go adventure while you dive?

Is a sandy beach a big deal? The answer could impact Key Largo suitability.

How far are you willing to drive? Knocking out airfare, maybe baggage fees (if you don't fly Southwest) and a week's auto rental can be a money saver, but a round trip drive to southeastern Florida could be pretty miserable.

Richard.

 

[trapper1981]

I'm open to either on diving hard a few days or all morning dives. They need me with them a lot. They are driving nowhere alone so all inclusive or walking distance distractions a must. Sandy beach only wife is a big reader and could lay on beach and read while kids play in water shed be happy. We drove to se Florida once about 17 hours each way and she said not again. 12 hours drive max from central MO. We looking at a cruise out of new Orleans 10-11 hours from us. They have never been on a cruise I have bureally like to get some top notch diving in. And I hear your not getting it off cruise ships.t

 

[KathyV]

St. Croix is a nice location, nice beaches and topside activities and good diving - and shore diving the Fredricksted pier is very special. Some cruise ships stop at St. Croix but you can't dive the pier on days when cruise ships are in port.

In general I suggest avoiding places with long trips to the reef because that will limit the time you can spend diving and with family.

Whenever this subject comes up, Grand Cayman is always mentioned as a good choice for divers with non-diving spouses and family, but Cayman is expensive. But there are options for controlling the costs and still having a great trip - so if you are interested, let us know and we can offer some suggestions.

 

[drrich2]

More an option for when you've got AOW and some more dives, but if you liked Jupiter, diving with sharks and being near sandy beaches, there's a lot to be said for diving the off-shore wrecks out of Morehead City, North Carolina. Close up shark action without even having to bait or feed them. Trip report.

St. Croix could be a fine choice; from what I've read, reef shark sightings are common off the wall diving along the north coast (probably Cane Bay Wall and Davis Bay for shore diving, for example). You could base in Christiansted, say at Hotel Caravelle, and S.C.U.B.A.'s dive boat would be an easy walk, while your family messes around town to takes a professional tour waiting for you to get back. That hotel's by boardwalk, not beach. St. Croix has substantial beaches, though.

Cruising doesn't lend itself to the best diving; the staff have to deal with a load of strangers every day, don't know what kind of divers they are, and so the first reef might be chosen with an eye toward taking them somewhere not too challenging and where they aren't likely to do too much damage. It can be good; I've dove from a cruise ship at Grand Cayman, St. Thomas (Admiralty Dive Center), Cozumel (Living Underwater), Costa Maya (can't recall dive shop name off the top of my head; booked via the ship), St. Lucia (Scuba Steve's) and St. Croix (St. Croix Ultimate Blue Water Adventure).

Richard.

 

[scubadada]

Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. Your family can hang out on Grace Bay, essentially the equal of Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman. You can do day trips to West Caicos and French Cay and enjoy the beautiful walls and the Reef Sharks. Fits your needs very well. I dived with Caicos Adventures, they were very good in 2009. Best of luck

 

[KathyV]

Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. Your family can hang out on Grace Bay, essentially the equal of Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman. You can do day trips to West Caicos and French Cay and enjoy the beautiful walls and the Reef Sharks. Fits your needs very well. I dived with Caicos Adventures, they were very good in 2009. Best of luck

I love T&C diving and I love Grace Bay Beach! But my T&C diving experiences have been on liveaboards, not shore based because I understand that the day boat trips to the best reefs (like French Cay and West Caicos) are long boat rides, is that correct?

If the OP wants to spend as much time as possible with his non-diving family, I think it would be better to look for a good location with shorter boat rides, so he can leave in the morning and get back by lunchtime, like Grand Cayman - and Provo is just as expensive as GC in my experience.

 

[scubadada]

Yes , the boat rides are pretty long, but, he said he wanted sharks, you won't see any off Grand Cayman, with the possible exception of the East End, not the place for non-divers. You can't have everything, life is a compromise

Boat Cove, T&C

 

[drrich2]

May be helpful to cross reference places where seeing at least a few sharks is fairly likely.

Jupiter (deep drift diving), Florida Keys (Key Largo was not a beach place), North Carolina (deep), Bahamas (haven't dove it), Turks & Caicos (reputation for long boat rides & being an expensive destination; he wanted budget), St. Croix, those are the places that leap to my mind. People who go to Roatan sometimes pay to participate in a baited shark encounter.

I haven't dove West Palm Beach or Boynton Beach; I would guess some reef shark sightings are likely? He liked Jupiter; perhaps that'd offer a proper mix of 'something different' with what they know & like?

Richard.

 

[KathyV]

Yes , the boat rides are pretty long, but, he said he wanted sharks, you won't see any off Grand Cayman, with the possible exception of the East End, not the place for non-divers. You can't have everything, life is a compromise. Boat Cove, T&C

True, the T&Cs are definitely a sharky place. In the Caymans we usually see a few nurse and reef sharks during a trip but not many and not guaranteed. And both the T&Cs and the Caymans are not budget destinations. I think it is going to be difficult to find everything that the OP is looking for.

I was thinking of Curacao as a possible option, but it's not a shark destination.

I'm back to recommending St. Croix, it's not cheap but I think it fits all the parameters.