We are hoping to travel to the Caribbean this winter. My husband likes beach time, gourmet dining, & golf, both sons love nature/eco- adventures & photography (previous trips to Panama, Hawaii, British Columbia), and my younger son and I want to snorkel and scuba dive (we are certified). I hope to travel as directly as possible from Raleigh or Charlotte, NC. So far, I am considering Grand Cayman. Any suggestions regarding resorts/hotels/condos or other islands?

on grand cayman the two resorts on the east end, which has best diving opportunities are the reef or morritts tortuga. reef is associated with ocean frontiers which i can recommend as a good outfit. small boats, nice crew.f the resorts are right next to each other on good beach but not near much of anything else.
both golf courses are 45 mins away on seven mile beach where most of the resorts are. also most dining is on seven mile. i'm told it's nice on the beach and pics look lovely (we stayed 2 wks in a villa near rum point) but immediately behind the resorts is a busy street. driving can be interesting when ships are in.
great photo ops in the botanical garden, mastic trail and at rum point early in the morning. they have brightly painted tables and shade tarps that i got some great shots of. not mine: http://www.flickr.com/photos/franziedee/3220138302/
tons of snorkeling all over the island.
consider the dive at stingray city - it's worth it.

i have been looking at the reef and my only concern was dining. i know we won't want to drive 45 min to dinner. are there any good restaurants closer? Cruises are not our thing so "cruise crowds" might be annoying...

We took our teen daughters to Grand Cayman and they loved it. It is a very safe island with good food and wonderful beaches and snorkeling. My husband and daughter went scuba diving. We stayed at the Marriott on 7 mile beach. It had a small beach, but was a nice hotel. I believe the Westin is much larger. The Ritz was beautiful looking and had a wonderful steak restaurant called 7Prime Cuts. I like the 7 mile beach area because there are lots of restaurants to choose from and we would taxi to the restaurant and walk home on the beach. We found the island very friendly and safe and lots of good watersports.

there are 1/2 dozen places to eat without going all the way to seven mile. obviously reef and morritts restaurants. rum point is an easy (no traffic) 20 mins drive and has 2 nice restaurants. one is kaibo yacht club upstairs - not as fancy as it sounds - food ok. or the 'real restaurant' at rum point, which i think is named rum point club. only open for dinner - we liked it very much - both food and atmosphere. both of these locations also have beach bars offering food during the day.
(be careful not to have a 'rum point sunset' at rum point wreck bar if you are the driver)

about 15 mins towards rum point is a very casual almost shack looking place called over the edge. built over the water, more a locals place, but we liked it. they have a few locals dishes like fish (ackee?) with eggs for breakfast. food is good. bar is fun.

towards georgetown going around the east side is portofino: http://caymanislandsdiscounts.com/Po...DinnerMenu.htm
also the lighthouse for fine dining: http://www.lighthouse.ky/home.html
nearby is rolands. extremely unusual & casual. reservation required. cash only. no menu as rolands cooks what he'd like to. byob. i can't find his web page but reef ppl will know about it.

2 tiny places near gun bay named for the local ladies who operate them out of their homes. arlain's and vivine's. did not eat there but both supposed to be quite good.

in georgetown we had a fantastic meal at guy harvey's in georgetown. the fish was sublime and don't forget to check out his store just across the alley.

you could go over to seven mile area to snorkel, shop, do dolphin thing/turtle farm while hubby plays golf and then have late lunch/early dinner. thus no driving after dark and you still could enjoy a couple of seven mile area dining options.

if you choose the reef you will need a car. we had an excellent experience with andy's: http://www.andys.ky/
when you walk out of the airport terminal it is just across the street looking to your right. they'll give you good instructions on how to get out of town and to the reef.
we even started with an suv to haul all our stuff and ret'd it the next day for a sebring convterible with no problem.

girlonthego & Virginia- Thanks so much. I am in the process of booking everything now. DH says he doesn't care about golf but it's a nice option. Mostly, we want family time after our older son's first semester in college.