Where Should We Go?

[cruzbound]

We would like to take a long weekend somewhere during Thansgiving 2019 and I wanted to get some input. We live in Michigan (US) but would like to go to a Caribbean island. Depending on flight times, we can either leave that Wednesday night before Thanksgiving Thursday or leave the morning of Thanksgiving. We will need to come home on Monday - so this will give us 3 days somewhere to dive.

I would love some suggestions. We have been to Mexico (Playa and Cozumel) so I know the hubby does not want to go back for a while (I will get back there sometime so we can dive in Cabo and Paz). We were thinking possibly St. Croix, Turks and Caicos, Grand Cayman (I don't think it would be worthwhile to go to Little Cayman or Cayman Brac as it seems the flights all go through Grand Cayman and there are some crazy layovers and we just wouldn't have any time there) or Bahamas. We have been diving once in the Bahamas and Grand Cayman via a cruise. Bahamas was nice diving - we actually were not very impressed with Grand Cayman. Maybe it was where the dive operator took us, I don't know. We are open to there if we can get to better dive sites (hopefully). We also thought about St. John and St. Kitts (not sure if St. Kitts will be too far of a flight to do a 5 day trip).

We are AOW and have over 120 dives.

Any thoughts and input would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[KathyV]

We would like to take a long weekend somewhere during Thansgiving 2019 and I wanted to get some input. We live in Michigan (US) but would like to go to a Caribbean island. Depending on flight times, we can either leave that Wednesday night before Thanksgiving Thursday or leave the morning of Thanksgiving. We will need to come home on Monday - so this will give us 3 days somewhere to dive.

I would love some suggestions. We have been to Mexico (Playa and Cozumel) so I know the hubby does not want to go back for a while (I will get back there sometime so we can dive in Cabo and Paz). We were thinking possibly St. Croix, Turks and Caicos, Grand Cayman (I don't think it would be worthwhile to go to Little Cayman or Cayman Brac as it seems the flights all go through Grand Cayman and there are some crazy layovers and we just wouldn't have any time there) or Bahamas. We have been diving once in the Bahamas and Grand Cayman via a cruise. Bahamas was nice diving - we actually were not very impressed with Grand Cayman. Maybe it was where the dive operator took us, I don't know. We are open to there if we can get to better dive sites (hopefully). We also thought about St. John and St. Kitts (not sure if St. Kitts will be too far of a flight to do a 5 day trip).

We are AOW and have over 120 dives.

Any thoughts and input would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Someplace with short flights that will be easy to get to because or your short timeframe - and that still has availability during the Thanksgiving weekend.

How do you feel about water temp? It is starting to get a little colder in the Bahamas (77 - 79 F) and T&Cs (79 F) in late November but that's not terribly cold.

St. Croix (81 - 82 F) is a great choice because shore diving the Fredricksted Pier (on days when no cruise ships are not in port) is a great experience. The island is still rebuilding from a hurricane last year but I believe that a lot of places are back in business.

When you dived Grand Cayman (82 F) did you use the dive op arranged by the cruise ship? Because GC is a tender port and cruisers have limited time onshore, they may have taken you to nearby spots that might not have been the best diving - I don't know but that is a possibility.

There are some dedicated dive resorts on GC that might work well for a couple looking for a short dive trip over the holiday, take a look at Sunset House (breakfast and transfers included), Cobalt Coast (all-inclusive, food and transfers included) and Compass Point (need to rent a car).

Cobalt Coast is offering an all-inclusive 25th Anniversary Package, for a 7-day trip but I believe that they would pro-rate it for a shorter stay:
25th Anniversary Special at Cobalt Coast Resort

Sunset House is also offering an anniversary special for their 60th - but the deal is better if you travel before the end of October, but you could ask about it:
25th Anniversary Special at Cobalt Coast Resort

You are more likely to see sharks near Compass Point, but it is about an hour drive from the airport and you will need to rent a car.
Compass Point Dive Resort in the Cayman Islands

If you prefer to be in the main tourist area and walk or cab to nearby restaurants, take a look at Comfort Suites on GC. Breakfast is included and Ambassador Divers has an onsite dive op there.
Comfort Suites Best Dive Package - Grand Cayman Comfort Suites & Resort

I have never stayed at the Holiday Inn on GC (renamed the Grand Caymanian) but I understand that they have remodeled recently and now have DiveTech as their onsite dive op, but you may need to rent a car:
https://www.divetech.com/grandcaymanian

 

[Damselfish]

That's a tough weekend for travel. Indeed, start looking for what is actually available, both accommodations and flights. That may help you make your choice at this point. A turnkey dive resort is a good idea for a short trip, and Compass Point or the other Cayman options Cathy mentioned would be good options if they have availability. And flying to Grand Cayman tends to be relatively painless. Of course it's not just about the distance, but your connections, and sometimes places a bit further can turn out to be easier than someplace that is closer, you just have to spend some quality time on a search site and work though it. I agree Little and Brac don't make sense under the circumstances. (You can get a direct flight from Miami to Brac, but I think only Saturdays, so that does you no good. Some places have more - or only - flights on Saturdays, so flying midweek both ways can make it harder too.)

St Kitts was a nice enough island to visit and chill, but I wasn't impressed with the diving and wouldn't go out of my way to get there if that was my primary interest. St Maarten is an interesting island, heavily developed in places, and has usually had pretty good airlift in the past (not sure right now as it's still recovering from a hurricane.) It had better diving then we expected, but I think we got lucky.

I'm not a huge St. Croix fan, but it's been a long time since we've been there and lots of people do like it. It could work for you.

Turks and Caicos also isn't too bad to get to distance wise. If you're land based the better diving involves longish boat trips and Provo isn't a shore diving place, so if you're trying to pack in the dives it might not work well.

What did you like about diving in the Bahamas, and not like about Grand Cayman? I would expect exactly the opposite - I was not impressed with the Bahamas at all, though it's a good place to go if you want to see sharks. And I love Cayman.

 

[KathyV]

We would like to take a long weekend somewhere during Thansgiving 2019 and I wanted to get some input. We live in Michigan (US) but would like to go to a Caribbean island. Depending on flight times, we can either leave that Wednesday night before Thanksgiving Thursday or leave the morning of Thanksgiving. We will need to come home on Monday - so this will give us 3 days somewhere to dive.

I would love some suggestions. We have been to Mexico (Playa and Cozumel) so I know the hubby does not want to go back for a while (I will get back there sometime so we can dive in Cabo and Paz). We were thinking possibly St. Croix, Turks and Caicos, Grand Cayman (I don't think it would be worthwhile to go to Little Cayman or Cayman Brac as it seems the flights all go through Grand Cayman and there are some crazy layovers and we just wouldn't have any time there) or Bahamas. We have been diving once in the Bahamas and Grand Cayman via a cruise. Bahamas was nice diving - we actually were not very impressed with Grand Cayman. Maybe it was where the dive operator took us, I don't know. We are open to there if we can get to better dive sites (hopefully). We also thought about St. John and St. Kitts (not sure if St. Kitts will be too far of a flight to do a 5 day trip).

We are AOW and have over 120 dives.

Any thoughts and input would be appreciated.

Thanks!

That's a tough weekend for travel. Indeed, start looking for what is actually available, both accommodations and flights. That may help you make your choice at this point. A turnkey dive resort is a good idea for a short trip, and Compass Point or the other Cayman options Cathy mentioned would be good options if they have availability. And flying to Grand Cayman tends to be relatively painless. Of course it's not just about the distance, but your connections, and sometimes places a bit further can turn out to be easier than someplace that is closer, you just have to spend some quality time on a search site and work though it. I agree Little and Brac don't make sense under the circumstances. (You can get a direct flight from Miami to Brac, but I think only Saturdays, so that does you no good. Some places have more - or only - flights on Saturdays, so flying midweek both ways can make it harder too.)

St Kitts was a nice enough island to visit and chill, but I wasn't impressed with the diving and wouldn't go out of my way to get there if that was my primary interest. St Maarten is an interesting island, heavily developed in places, and has usually had pretty good airlift in the past (not sure right now as it's still recovering from a hurricane.) It had better diving then we expected, but I think we got lucky.

I'm not a huge St. Croix fan, but it's been a long time since we've been there and lots of people do like it. It could work for you.

Turks and Caicos also isn't too bad to get to distance wise. If you're land based the better diving involves longish boat trips and Provo isn't a shore diving place, so if you're trying to pack in the dives it might not work well.

What did you like about diving in the Bahamas, and not like about Grand Cayman? I would expect exactly the opposite - I was not impressed with the Bahamas at all, though it's a good place to go if you want to see sharks. And I love Cayman.

Opps! I just caught on to the fact that you are asking about Thanksgiving 2019 - I thought that you meant this year when I said that it could be hard to find availability! So you've got some time but it is a busy week that books up fast so don't delay too long, but take the time to do some research, good luck!

 

[cruzbound]

Thanks for the input. I will check out the resorts in Grand Cayman. I think we will be okay for the Thanksgiving holiday as we are not going until 2019 (not 2018 but bummer as their anniversary rates are for 2018) so we can hopefully grab flights as soon as they come out (they are not even out yet for November 2019).

If we go to Cayman - what reefs/walls/wrecks are a must do? When we dived at GC we did not use the cruise ship excursion, I arranged our own. I don't have my dive log with me but I will check and see who we used and which spots we dived and post the information.

We do have 5mm wetsuits but I really don't like to wear them (too thich for me to feel comfortable), so I would like to go somewhere that I can be comfortable in my 3mm suit. We have beanie style caps for our head - I do not like to wear a full hood - I feel like I am dressing for snowmobile weather when I have to wear a full hood and living in Michigan we have a long enough winter (LOL).

I think part of the reason I was impressed with the Bahamas was because we saw on reef sharks and I love to see sharks, rays, turtles, etc. I also love to see seahorses (have only seen one ever so far) and frogfish.

Any more thoughts are welcomed.

Thanks!

 

[scubadada]

Hi @cruzbound

I'm with @KathyV, quick and easy to get to, good diving. I'd look at Grand Cayman, Compass Point/Ocean Frontiers on the east end or Cobalt Coast/Reef Divers in the northwest. Both are very good, been to each twice.

 

[cruzbound]

I was just trying to look up some of the places in GC to get an idea of cost for that timeframe and I don't think they are booking that far out because they say nothing is available and when I have tried to look at places too far in advance that is usually the kind of message I get. I guess I am too much of an advanced planner

 

[Doctorfish]

Grand Cayman East end for turtles +/- sharks. At Thanksgiving you should be fine in a 3 mm suit without a hood. You will not see frogfish, and seahorses very uncommon in Cayman Islands. Compass Point/Ocean Frontiers should have a competitive package available and the diving east end of Grand Cayman is the best that island has to offer. I would not generally stay at Cobalt that time of year as it is on north shore of the island and likely will have big wind and waves so that they will have bus you to West Bay yo dive the west side. If lucky, you might get in 1 day of diving north wall, maybe 0 days. Cobalt is great in the summer.

For a 4-5 day trip, I would stay on Grand rather than Brac or Little Cayman. Go to one of these when you have a full week.

 

[scubadada]

My last 2 visits to Grand Cayman have been to Compass Point/Ocean Frontiers. They have the luxury of diving north, east, or south, depending on conditions. Reef Sharks are pretty common at some of the southeast corner sites. Car is included in the package