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The Sands at Grace Bay

The Sands at Grace Bay is a luxury resort located in the Turks & Caicos on Providenciales. More importantly, Grace Bay has 12 miles of white sandy beach and Scuba diving is just one of the many activities you may enjoy while staying here. So, the resort features six 3-story buildings with 114 suites. Junior suites have kitchenettes. 1-bedroom suites, two-bedroom suites, and 2-bedroom suites with den, have full kitchens. Air conditioning, fans, and in suite wifi are just some of the amenities. Enjoy our blog article on Turks & Caicos.

The Sands at Grace Bay Diving

Scuba Diving the walls of this destination is a must. In addition, the most experienced dive operator, Provo Turtle Divers, are just minutes east of Sands at Grace Bay. Moreover, you can typically do 2-3 dives a day in clear waters offering an abundance of sea life. Some popular dive sites you may wish to see include: The Amphitheater, Grand Canyon, Shark Hotel, and Coral Staircase. You can dive canyons, walls, pinnacles, and coral reefs. Some other popular dive sites you may wish to see while staying at The Sands at Grace Bay: Double D, Elephant Ear Canyon, Aquarium, Eagle Ray Pass, and The Crack.

Attraction and Activities

At Sands at Grace Bay, you are close to the Provo Golf club. Located in the Princess Alexandra National Park, you can ride jet skis, go windsurfing, parasailing, go on a catamaran trip take a submarine ride, or try kayaks and hobie cats. So, to relax, you can request an inhouse Spa treatment by Spa Tropique. More importantly, Hemingway’s Restaurant & bar is the onsite restaurant. Breakfast, lunch and diner is served overlooking the white sand beach. Moreover, there are several restaurants and shopping areas located nearby including those located at the Regent Village, Saltmills Plaza, and Ports of Call shopping plaza. The Casablanca Casino is not that far away either.

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Grand Park Royal Cozumel

Grand Park Royal is a scuba dive destination in Cozumel Mexico. They have 342 rooms and a private beachfront. This is an all-inclusive resort with Deluxe rooms with either a garden or ocean view. The rooms have wifi available, furnished balconies, mini-bars, and hairdryer. Flat screen TVs have cable channels. 24hr room service is also available. Enjoy our blog article on Cozumel Mexico, Always a Top Dive Destination.

Grand Park Royal Diving

Aqua World is the onsite scuba diving center. They also do snorkeling tours and may combine this tour with diving tours. Moreover, they do submarine rides and glass bottom boat tours. Finally, they also work with cruise ships and join them in with the snorkel and dive tours. They have their own jetty/dock and other charter boat operators pay to stop and pick up or drop off passengers. Snorkeling supplies may be limited by demand. It’s best to bring your own gear, as your own gear almost always fits best. Now, one street away, or a short walk away from Grand Park Royal there are more than half a dozen boutique dive shops.

For those dive shops rating between 5-4.8 stars out of 5, you might like to dive with Aldora Divers, Dive Boutique, Dive with Martin Dive Shop, Jungle Divers, Roberta’s Dive Shack, and Living Underwater. You might say, that depending on when and where you want to dive, there is a local dive boat ready to schedule and take you there. Above all, there are some 250 species of fish on or around Palancar Reef.

Attractions and Activities

At Grand Park Royal, they have 2 a la carte evening restaurants: El Mexicano and El Italiano. La Veranda is the onsite buffet restaurant serving breakfast lunch and dinner. El Carbeño is open for lunch and dinner. Café Solé offers pastries and coffee for breakfast. Grad Park Royal is also known for their tacos and other snacks by the poolside at the Bikini Bar, and El Marlín Azul bar. As for drinks, they have five bars including 2-swim up bars, sports bar, and lobby bar. Oh, and don’t forget the nightly entertainment at the open-air amphitheater. A private underpass leads you across the street to the private beach area and Paradise Reef. Here, you can rest in a lounger near two pools, enjoy a hot tub, snorkel, or play volley ball.

Finally, the Royal Village Shopping Center, Atlantis Submarines, and Hard Rock Café are a short walk away down the street.

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Papagayo Beach Resort

Papagayo Beach Resort is a scuba diving destination in Willemstad, Curacao. The resort has a large manmade swimming lagoon over at the Beach Club, and is a 3-minute walk to Jan Thiel Beach & Bay. They have 2-bedroom villas with garden rooms, 2-bedroom villas with ocean views, 3bedroom villas, and even a Royal Suite Villa. The luxury villas have AC flat screen tv’s and open plan kitchens. Enjoy our blog article: Curacao. Can We Say Choices?

Papagayo Beach Resort Diving

Dive Center Scuba Do is the local scuba diving place to go. They are a short walk away at Jan Thiel Beach near Zanzibar, the restaurant with amazing ribs. Dive Center Scuba Do offers multiple guided and non-guided shore dives. Depending on the day, they do drift dives from Barbara Beach to Directors Bay, and Directors Bay to Tugboat. You can do full day diving to West Point to Cas Abou. Moreover, they do boat diving over at East Point, Klein Curacao, and other west coast beaches. Finally, they do wreck diving on the 115ft deep, 400-ton Superior Producer or on the 15ft deep Tugboat. They also teach PADI courses including many specialty courses such as Lionfish Hunter, wreck diver, deep diver, drift diver, and night diver, to name a few. Expect to see turtles, stingrays, dolphins, eels, sponges, soft corals, hard corals, and a plethora of happy fish.

Attractions and Activities

Papagayo Beach Resort has its own restaurant.  Furthermore, 11 other restaurants are within a short stroll from most villas including the Beach Café near the Beach Plaza and Beach Club. The Beach Plaza is home of the Van Den Twerl Supermarket as well as several gift and clothing shops. Laman Spa and Wellness and Diamond Beach Casino are also located in this area. Thursday nights you can dine and dance, Friday nights are for live music and later DJs. Mojito’s and Bites is another hot place to dance and enjoy night clubbing. At adjacent Blue Coast Water Sports, you might like to try a hydro-flight or jet ski during the day or just become a lounger next to the lagoon at the Beach Club and vigorously work on a tan.

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Dreams Curacao Resort, Spa and Casino

Dreams Resort, Spa and Casino is a scuba diving destination in Willemstad Curacao. They have 197 rooms that range from Deluxe Island and Deluxe Pool rooms up to Junior or a Presidential suite. This is an all-inclusive resort with unlimited luxury with 5 onsite cafes and restaurants, plus 24/7 room service. The rooms also include free wifi, balcony, and flat screen tv. Enjoy our blog article: Curacao. Can We Say Choices?

Dreams Resort Diving

Caribbean Sea Sports is the local scuba diving center. They have been next to the beach here for more than 15 years. They have a Pro 42ft boat that takes up to 22 divers out at a time, they offer two tank boat dives followed by free unlimited shore diving. Dive sites include locations at Seldom Reef, Bullen Bay Wall, Bachelor Beach, Double Reef, and Directors Bay. While staying at Dreams Resort you can also do guided shore dives, night dives, or take one or more PADI dive courses. The beaches are small, but the home reef diving is great, you just have to look closely to spot the seahorses. Nitrox or Enriched air is also available. They also do half day snorkel trips, and fishing trips.

Attractions and Activities

Dreams Resort, Spa and Casino offers 3 ala carte restaurants including Portofina; Italian cuisine, Oceania; seaside restaurant, and Seaside Grill featuring steaks and other grilled items. World Café is buffet style and open for breakfast and lunch. Finally, you can get your fresh morning cup of coffee and pastry at Coco Café. For adult beverages, Dreams Resort has the Hideaway Beach Bar, and the Crafty Iguana Brew Pub. This brewery offers Tex-Mex as well as handcrafted local microbrews. Moreover, for those looking for one bar open from morning until after midnight, Rendezvous Bar is located next to the main lobby. As for exercise, they have tennis, volleyball, a pool, and whirlpool. Caribbean Sea Sports also rents kayaks, paddle boards, and dive lights for night time snorkeling adventures. They also have their own Spa. The resort is 15 minutes from the airport.

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Bird Rock Beach Hotel

Bird Rock Beach Hotel is a scuba diving resort in Basseterre in St. Kitts in the Caribbean Sea. They have 46 accommodations. The resort suites and rooms are in 7 2-story buildings and all with ocean views. The 2nd floor units each have a private balcony. Furthermore, all rooms have Cable TV, air conditioning, ceiling fans, and 110v & 220v outlets. So, after a day of diving, you can take a bath or shower in your private bathroom. The Bird Rock Beach Hotel also offers free WiFi. Enjoy our article on The Cuttlefish; The Undisputed Master of Camouflage.

Bird Rock Beach Hotel Diving

Dive St. Kitts is the onsite scuba diving center. They have a 32ft long mono hull fast boat that can reach most local dive sites within 10 minutes. The boat is based in a private harbor and has showers and stowage lockers onsite too. Their 5-day dive packages offer daily 2-tank morning dives and at least 1 night dive. From Bird Rock Beach Hotel, they even pick up divers from the cruise port and all the hotels in Frigate Bay. The house reef is full of life from octopus, turtles, and occasional sea horses. You can either do this dive from shore or go farther out by boat. Some other popular dive sites include Bloody Bay, Paradise Reef, White House Bay, MV Talata, Corinthian, and the River Taw. Nags Head is a wonderful drift dive. The Caves off Nevis Island is worth the excursion.
What you will see is remnants from 400 years of war such as cannon balls, musket balls and coral encrusted anchors. So, there are also wrecks within the last 100 years, coral gardens, and pelagic fish freeways. January-March humpback whales visit here and March-May 6ft long female leatherback turtles come to shore and nest.

Attractions and Activities

Sunburst Restaurant at Bird Rock Beach Hotel offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner. From European to American and even West Indian influences, you will not leave hungry. Moreover, the hotel has all inclusive packages as well as other meal plan arrangements. Rocky’s Beach Bar & Grill is the place to go from the pool, private beach, or after a day full of diving and snorkeling. Besides sitting at the pool bar, or lounge chairs, or on the black, white, or golden sand beaches. You can visit the tour desk near the front desk and discover deep sea fishing or shopping in Basseterre. Above all, you have to visit the 38 acre Brimstone Fortress. Finally, prepare to take plenty of pictures of Vervet monkeys that French soldiers left here some 200 years ago, and have adapted to the laid back life style remarkably well.
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Plaza Beach & Dive Resort Bonaire

Plaza Beach & Dive Resort Bonaire is located on the island of Bonaire in the Caribbean Seas just east of Aruba and Curacao, and north of Venezuela. So, this scuba diving resort is just north of the airport and a 15-minute walk to downtown Kralendijk. The all-inclusive resort has 126 spaciously large rooms that range from Junior Suite Laguna, Junior Suite Poolside, Grand Suite Laguna, and Grand Suite Ocean. Accommodations come with Air conditioning, free WiFi, flat screen TV, Bath and/or shower, hairdryer, and a small fridge. Enjoy our blog article on Destination Spotlight: Bonaire.

Plaza Beach & Dive Resort Bonaire Diving

Toucan Diving is the onsite scuba diving center. They sell equipment and dive related items, rent equipment and Nitrox, and teach scuba dive courses from discover scuba, open water, and specialty courses. They have 3 dive boats: Purple Rain, Blue Moon, and Green Flash. So, they may take up to 13 divers per boat. Usually, they do three dives a day; two dives in the morning, and one in the afternoon, but they also offer night dives.

At Plaza Beach & Dive Resort Bonaire they also offer day packages for unlimited shore diving. 18 Palm is the house reef and a popular dive site. So, there are over 60 shore dive sites around the island to check out if you are going by 4×4 truck. 86 dive sites are available if you are traveling by boat. While staying at Plaza Beach & Dive Resort Bonaire could see up to 350 species of fish and 57 species of soft and hard coral. Some other popular dive sites include Klein Bonaire, Alice in Wonderland, and the Hilma Hooker.

Attractions and Activities

The Tipsy Seagull is the house restaurant at Plaza Beach & Dive Resort Bonaire. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffet style. The Coconut Crush Beach Bar is the place to be after a day of diving. The resort has a casino if you are in to poker tournaments during the week or Bingo on Sunday. Drinks are free here too, as long as you are playing. They also have a movie night on the beach. Beverly Bio Aesthetics. Furthermore, they have multi-functional rooms for 2-350 of your guests. Snorkeling, Volleyball, and lounging by the ocean are also favorite activities.

Bonaire National Marine Park was established in 1979, as a result, you’ll see generations of local fish and marine life. A pod of dolphins seems to circle the island at least once a day.

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Delfins Beach Resort Bonaire

Delfins Beach Resort Bonaire is ideally located at Punt Vierkant in Bonaire. The scuba diving resort has 84 accommodations that range from studios, 1-2-bedroom apartments, 3-bedroom Penthouse, or 6-8 person Villas. The units may have kitchenettes or up to full kitchens and living rooms and may be one story or 2 story units. Each unit has TV, WiFi Available, and air conditioning. Enjoy our blog article on Destination Spotlight: Bonaire.

Delfins Beach Resort Bonaire Diving

Dive Friends Bonaire is the onsite scuba diving center. Dive Friends Bonaire has 8 locations around the island, which is great for tank drop offs and pickups. Above all, they dive from boats to some 50 sites around Bonaire and Klein Bonaire. While staying at Delfins Beach Resort Bonaire, keep in mind that on Wednesdays and Saturdays Dive Friends Bonaire dive trips go north. So, the rest of the time they go south or over to Klein Bonaire. Moreover, they have a fleet of boats available. So, they typically do 2 tank dives in the morning and one in the afternoon.

They also do night dives and UV night dives for groups of 4 or more divers. In addition, September and October, they do coral spawning dives. Nitrox is available. So, when they go north, they may be gone for a while when diving around Washington Slagbaai National Park. However, their boats can zip over to Klein Bonaire in minutes. While staying at Delfins Beach Resort Bonaire, popular dive sites include those sites around Klein Bonaire, Alice in Wonderland, and the Hilma Hooker. Bonaire National Marine Park was established in 1979, and as a result, you’ll see generations of local fish and marine life.

Attractions and Activities

The name of the restaurant at Delfins Beach Resort Bonaire is the Brass Boer. The restaurant is the creation of Dutch culinary geniuses, Jonnie and Thérèse Boer. They also exclusively import selected wines. Next to the restaurant is the beach bar, Club Tropicana, and the swimming pool. Did we mention that this is the largest pool on the island? Delfins Beach Resort Bonaire has two piers, one is for snorkeling around the house reef, and the other is for dive boats.

On certain days, cruise ship guests may have a day pass here, but are typically gone before you return from a day of diving. All those that are visiting, enjoy the fact that the steady breeze generally keeps mosquitoes away naturally. The word Delfin means dolphin in old English, Spanish, German, and Hungarian, but we don’t know if the word came from one of those languages or if it was because you are more likely to see dolphins swimming off shore here, as they make their almost daily circuit around the island. Perhaps the dolphins come here to view the weddings? It’s hard to say.

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Hotel Maitai Rangiroa

Hotel Maitai Rangiroa is a scuba diving resort in Rangiroa in French Polynesia. They have 34 guest accommodations. So, they have 18 Tapa Bungalows in the Gardens and 10 spacious Vini Bungalows with terraces. They also have 6 Lagoon Bungalows; a few steps away from the water’s edge. Furthermore, each room has AC, hair dryer, TV, and a mini-bar. Most rooms have a ceiling fan and desk and chair as well. Enjoy our article on Dive into Polynesia with Humpback Whales.

Hotel Maitai Rangiroa Diving

There are more than 4 scuba diving centers on the small 8-mile-long island of Avatoru. So, on the Tiputa Pass side, there is Rangiroa Diving Center, Tiputa Diving Center, and Rait Manta Club. On the other side of the islands is Avatoru Diving Center. Starting out, to know the dive sites here, is to know the lagoon. So, this area was a dormant volcano that sunk below the surface, but the surrounding fringing reef continued to grow. Slowly, deposits of sand turned into over 418 islets and 2 main inhabited islands and home to Hotel Maitai Rangiroa. Rangiroa is the largest Atoll in Polynesia, and the 2nd largest Atoll in the world. The ring of islands are somewhat shaped in the formation of a male Mahi Mahi fish.

The 2 largest passages between the large lagoon and the outer ocean are located near Hotel Maitai Rangiroa on the northern side of the atoll with Avatoru Pass on the west end of Avatoru Island, and Tiputa Pass on the eastern side of the island. These 2 passes comprise over 11 dive sites, depending on who is counting. Avatoru Pass is home to Avatoru Reef, The Little Pass, The Aquarium, and Makuta. Tiputa Pass includes The Windmill, The Corner, Shark’s Cave, The Big Blue, Hammerhead Mesa, The Canyons, & Motu Nuhi Nuhi.

You may see grey reef sharks, black tips, great hammerheads, silkies, manta rays, eagle rays, leopard rays, stingrays, trevally and turtles. Drift diving is big here, and depending on the tides you can drift dive into the aquamarine lagoon or out into the cobalt blue ocean.

Attractions and Activities

Hotel Maitai Rangiroa is home to the Blue Lagoon Restaurant & Bar, which serves Polynesian and French cuisine. The Mawake Bar is located in the tropical gardens. The resort has complimentary snorkeling and canoeing. Moreover, you can rent scooters, bicycles, electric cars, or regular cars to get around the small island. You can also go deep sea fishing, or lounge around the pool. So, you can also go kayaking or take a snorkeling drift tour. Finally, you have to visit the north west located blue lagoon and the south eastern pink sand beaches at least one time each.

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Hotel Kia Ora Resort & Spa

Hotel Kia Ora Resort & Spa is a scuba diving resort in Rangiroa in French Polynesia. They have 60 guest accommodations. So, they have Beach Bungalows to Villas with pools, family suites with pools, and Overwater Bungalows. Furthermore, each room has air conditioning, hair dryer, flat screen TV, a terrace with lounge chairs, and a mini-fridge. Enjoy our article on Dive into Polynesia with Humpback Whales.

Hotel Kia Ora Resort Diving

TopDive is the onsite scuba diving center. So, they typically do 1-2 tank dives in the morning and 1 tank dive in the afternoon. The use 3 semi-rigid boats to take you out to the dive sites. Above all, to know the dive sites here, is to know the lagoon. So, this area was a dormant volcano that sunk below the surface, but the surrounding fringing reef continued to grow. Slowly, deposits of sand turned into over 418 islets and 2 main inhabited islands, and home to Hotel Kia Ora Resort. Rangiroa is the largest Atoll in Polynesia, and the 2nd largest Atoll in the world. The ring of islands are somewhat shaped in the formation of a male Mahi Mali fish.

The 2 largest passages between the large lagoon and the outer ocean are located near Hotel Kia Ora Resort on the northern side of the atoll with Avatoru Pass on the west end of Avatoru Island, and Tiputa Pass on the eastern side of the island. These 2 passes comprise over 11 dive sites, depending on who is counting. Avatoru Pass is home to Avatoru Reef, The Little Pass, The Aquarium, and Makuta. Tiputa Pass includes The Windmill, The Corner, Shark’s Cave, The Big Blue, Hammerhead Mesa, The Canyons, & Motu Nuhi Nuhi.

You may see grey reef sharks, black tips, great hammerheads, silkies, manta rays, eagle rays, leopard rays, stingrays, trevally and turtles. Drift diving is big here, and depending on the tides you can drift dive into the aquamarine lagoon or out into the cobalt blue ocean.

Attractions and Activities

Hotel Kia Ora Resort & Spa is home to the Rairoa Restaurant which serves Polynesian and French cuisine. The Mikimiki bar overlooks the lagoon. This is also the home of the Poekura Spa and fitness center. Moreover, you can rent scooters, bicycles, electric cars, or regular cars to get around the small island. You can also jet ski or take a snorkeling drift tour. Finally, you have to visit the north west blue lagoon and the south eastern pink sand beaches at least one time each.

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West Plaza Hotels

Scuba diving in Palau? West Plaza Hotels is actually 4 separate hotels that make up the West Plaza Hotel Group in Palau. So, 3 of the hotels are on the island of Koror and 1 on the island of Malakal. All are close to the main street that connects the two islands. West Plaza Hotels By the Sea has 36 rooms that overlook the ocean and nearby islands. They have standard class to deluxe rooms with Kitchenettes, to a roof penthouse and large veranda. This is also the site of the Red Rooster Cafe where they offer serve casual Pacific Rim and western dishes. Red Rooster Draft is Palau’s only locally brewed beer and is served nightly during happy hour.

West Plaza Hotels Malakal has 34 1&2 bedroom suites with full kitchens, dining room, living room, and bay view window. On site is the Palm Bay Bistro Restaurant. On this island, Bars, discos, mini-marts, and dive shops are nearby. Back on Koror, West Plaza Hotels Desekel has 30 Standard to Deluxe rooms. West Plaza Hotels Downtown has 20 standard rooms and is even closer to all the shopping and restaurants hot spots. Enjoy our blog article on Palau, Historical World Class Diving.

West Plaza Hotels Diving

There are 1400 different species of fish, and 700 species of coral found on some 200 scuba diving islands. Coral formations, walls, caves, tunnels, and wrecks, just add to the scenic backdrops behind endless schools of fish. Besides sharks, Groupers, and Napoleon wrasse, expect to see enormously large Manta rays. West Plaza Hotels recommends Sam’s Tours for daily scuba diving trips. Sam’s Tours provides a maximum of three tanks a day on selected trips as well as night dives. German Channel is where the mantas routinely stop by the cleaner stations.

Wonder Channel is a wall dive for macro photographers. Ngedebus Coral Gardens and Ngerchong are also quite photogenic. Even better known is Blue Corner for its schools of gray sharks, eagle rays, turtles, and hammerhead sharks. While staying at West Plaza Hotels you might want to dive some wrecks from WWII like the Amatsu Maru, Buoy 6, and Helmet Wreck.

Attractions and Activities

Sam’s Tours offer a great selection of local land tours too. So, enjoy a rock island tour, big island sight-seeing tour, waterfall tour, cultural tour, or WWII History Peleliu tour. You may also select to visit Jellyfish Lake, which is a popular snorkeler destination. Sam’s also has a “around the town” shopping shuttle.

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