hooneymoon with a reef?

[somethingphishy]

can anyone share their experience during a vacation in the caribbean for snorkling/where is the best places to go? in particular i have narrowed my destination choices down to jamaica, caymen islands, or punta cana...but feedback on other places would be helpful.. thanks

 

[somethingphishy]

mod...please delete...topic covered in this forum

 

[roblack]

Cayman Islands would be the best from your list. I like St. Lucia (Soufriere), although it is not on your list. The reefs in Jamaica are not good these days from what I hear.

 

[redox]

Rotan Bay Islands in Honduras would be my choice. You should look into it

 

[Paul B]

Eliminate Jamaica. St Lucia does look like a mini Hawaii but the water is often turbit, not to clear. Diving near the Pitons is a great wall dive though. The Caymans, are good but they are better for SCUBA. Aruba has some great snorkling, not too much on the Island unless you like tacky cassinos.

 

[tankdvr]

I just got back from a week in st. lucia, the water was great. Stayed at one of the sandals and went on dive trips 4 of the 7 days we were down there. For a honeymoon it's tough to beat a sandals, and if you're looking to snorkel and not dive, then st. lucia is your only real choice. If you were looking to dive then you could look at the sandals in turks & caicos as well, but I'm not sure how the snorkeling is there.

We had 40-60 feet of visibility on most dives, but at the pitons I'd say we got closer to 80 feet of visibility. All the snorkeling and diving is included in the price of the room. If you want to try diving, they offer a resort course, not sure of the cost though. Once you finish that, they'll take you out on the single tank trips in the afternoon.

 

[Paul B]

It is hard to say how snorkling will be at any Caribbean Island. I have been to most of them and if you get off the road and talk to the locals you can find some really nice places on any Island.
I did find nice places on St Lucia and I liked the Pitons. I have been to two Sandals, nice places but a little crowded. THey do have some night life though.
Turks and Caicos offers many more dive trips but again some of them are too crowded, some people like crowds and then it is fine. The diving there is some of the best on the Islands.
I prefer to hire a guide and go off to a quieter place away from the crowds but again, it is what you like.
The only really bad place to dive is Jamaica. Everything is dead, there are no large animals and most of the smaller ones were eaten by the people or sold to tourists.

 

[roblack]

I had the best snorkeling experience of my life in St. Lucia. What we thought was a school of fish turned out to be a swarm of Caribbean reef squid. If approached slowly, we could get close to them and see them change colors and patterns. They even seem to be watching us. Saw these right off the beach. Way cool!

 

[Paul B]

St Lucia also has a lot of lookdowns. They sell them on the beach for 50 cents a pound. They sell in my LFS for $100.00 each.
THe best thing about St Lucia is that there are almost no natural beaches. The place is a series of sheer cliffs leading down to the sea. To sail around the island is really beautiful. Just about all the other Caribbean Islands are very flat, they are basically large Atolls but St Lucia is a steep mountain.
The best diving anywhere is off the beaten path, where few divers know about. You can only find these places if you talk to the locals.
If you want to talk about the best diving, there is no comparism to the South Pacific. None what so ever.

 

[drewfish]

My fiance and I are going to Roatan island off of Honduras for our Honeymoon. We are either staying at Anthony's Key Resort or Paya Bay. From what I have seen and heard, the diving there is amazing and we booked it for May of next year. Can't wait. Good luck and congrats on the upcomming wedding.

 

[bchbum189]

just booked a honeymoon trip to sandals turks & caicos last night. Never been to the Caribbean before so hope theres more than just dead reefs to dive

 

[Paul B]

I have been to Sandals Turks and Caicos, no problem

 

[bchbum189]

didnt it just open? Says we get 2 dive trips a day max, are their versions of dive trips worth it or shouldnt even bother with them.

 

[Paul B]

I am pretty sure I was there three years ago. I know I did a lot of diving there and i am fairly sure it was Sandles but I have been to many Caribbean Islands and when I want to be sure where we stayed I would have to ask my wife. She can always put the Island with the resort. I usually don't know where the hell I am but as long as I am diving, I am happy

 

[bchbum189]

oops correction, im going to Beaches turks caicos... Sorry to make you second guess yourself haha.

as for the dont care unless im diving, exactly!

 

[jimbo78]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13073337#post13073337 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drewfish
My fiance and I are going to Roatan island off of Honduras for our Honeymoon. We are either staying at Anthony's Key Resort or Paya Bay. From what I have seen and heard, the diving there is amazing and we booked it for May of next year. Can't wait. Good luck and congrats on the upcomming wedding.

we are doing the same thing, but we are staying at barefoot cay. it seemed to get the best reviews, at least thats what the fiancee says.

 

[dcombs44]

My wife and I stayed at the Cozumel Palace (in Cozumel of course). We had a small man made reef right off the back of the hotel, and there was some pretty decent snorkelling elsewhere on the island.

We only got to go on one dive, but it was worth it. Good diving to be had there.

 

[Paul B]

OK I just found out from my wife that we stayed in Breezes on Turks and Caicos. Breezes is a part of Sandles.

 

[drewfish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13084459#post13084459 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jimbo78
we are doing the same thing, but we are staying at barefoot cay. it seemed to get the best reviews, at least thats what the fiancee says.

I will have to check barefoot cay out then. Thanks for the heads up and have a great time.

 

[Sloeber1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13058691#post13058691 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paul B
The only really bad place to dive is Jamaica. Everything is dead, there are no large animals and most of the smaller ones were eaten by the people or sold to tourists.

I diagree. First, for a true die hard, there simply is no bad diving Second, big animals are gone, yes, but the small critters are what a lot of people love to hunt for, and Jamaica has a lot of them.

With that said, snorkeling and even shallow water diving in Jamiaca isn't like going to Bonaire, I'll grant you that. But for the advance types, once down to 100 feet in Jamiaca you will hardly be able to tell where you are at int he Caribbean. Too many tourists and rookie divers destroy the shallows, but the depths are nice. Some of my most memorable dives are off the coast of Jamaica (this includes Bonaire, Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, Utila, the Keys, etc).

And like you've already noted several times in this thread, talk to the locals to find the best places. If you are taking the Sandals cattle boat out for dives, you aren't seeing the best of what the island, any island, has to offer.