We have free air to...where should we go?

[Perrier]

We have free air to:
Barbados, Grenada, Bonaire, Curacao, Nassau, Grand Cayman, St. Lucia, or Jamaica.

We are new to diving (I'm not even certified yet. Husband has 20 dives (?).) We won't dive every day. We like to do things topside, too. We don't care much about nightlife, but we do like to eat!

None of these places are easy to get to (w/our free tickets) nor are they cheap (we have to pay for one leg of our journey, due to where we live).

Any preferences among the more experienced divers? We want great diving & great landscape & options for excursions other than diving.

Thanks for any comments!

 

[Willar]

My dive experience includes Jamaica, Bimini (Bahamas), and Bonaire.

If you want mostly a diving vacation then go to Bonaire. The wholel island is about diving. The diving is great and you can have a great time at 20-40fsw for a week. You can shore dive or boat dive, but I suggest sticking with shore dives.

We love Jamaica and return there evey year, but my wife doesn't dive. We love the island, the beaches, and the people of Negril, Jamaica. It's a good but not great diver destination.

 

[BurBunny]

For the places you've listed, I'd say St. Lucia offers the best mix of topside and diving balance. Excellent diving, beautiful island. Lots to keep you occupied. Most "exotic" of the locations, also tends to be very expensive to fly to, so you'd be getting good use out of the free flights.

Jamaica would be the bottom of my list if dive quality is at all important. Although you're not yet certified, it's just not where I'd use free air miles. But topside it can be great.

Bonaire has some great restaurants, but most of the island's focus is on diving, diving, diving.

Grand Cayman has lots of shopping and great beaches along with good diving, so that might not be a bad idea. Day's worth of good sightseeing, too. But be forewarned, hotels and restaurants are *expensive* here.

Of the others, Barbados is okay diving, I like the topside. Grenada is really good both top and underwater, but still recovering from Ivan in 2004 (which also means they could use the $$$), Curacao is wonderful diving, good topside if you stay at the resorts like the Marriott, neat town. Nassau also is more resort-y with good beaches at the resorts, decent diving, especially for newer divers.

Think that covers it. Only one I'd totally reject is Jamaica. Check out the topside costs of the other islands and what value you'd get from the free air and make your decision.

 

[herman]

Welcome to the board.

If it were me, I think Curacao would be my choice. It's fairly easy to get to, loads of good places to eat, great diving and plenty to do topside. A large part of the diving can be done from shore. These dives are good but at the same time very easy. IMO, for beginners, for a first trip shore diving in a place like Bonaire or Curacao is ideal. You can go at your own pace, dive as deep or shallow as you like and not have to deal with boat or others schedules. If it takes you 30 minutes to gear up and get comfortable, so what.

Aruba may also be another place to consider, if you can get to Bonaire and Curacao I would think you can get there as well. The one thing about the ABC islands that may not (or may) appeal to you is the landscape of the islands. They are arid desert islands with lots of cactus and thorn trees, not lush tropical gardens like you might expect. That was the biggest shock I had the first time I visited Bonaire. Since then I have grown to like the desert feel. Some like it, others don't. Being a desert, your not likely to have your vacation rained out.
Where ever you go, let us give us a report when you return.
Dive safe.