vacation including diving and horseback riding?
 

Hi,
My 21 year old son was certifired in diving at college this year, but has yet to do it outside of a pool.Looking for a cool place to experience his first dive.
My 14 year old daughter wants to go somewhere that she can ride horses on the beach, jet ski and swim with dolphins.
Any suggetsions where we can make every one happy?
Thanks.

Try Jamaica. In Negril you can dive & do horseback riding plus do a trip to the Falls & then see cliff divers at Rick's. Very laid back & a wonderful beach. Other parts of Jamaica are good too & there is a place (not in Negril) that offers dolphin swims but it is getting more & more frowned upon. Dolphins are intelligent creatures & it bothers many people to see them confined for "entertainment". Just thought I'd mention it in case you post elsewhere & meet up with some opposition.

When would you want to go, how long & what is your budget? All these things will help get suggestions that meet your needs.

We are going to Negril in 2 weeks with our 17 & 23 yr old. We are staying at Beaches Negril. It is an all inclusive resort with family activities & teen stuff too. Most watersports (diving & snorkeling)are included.

We have also booked an outside tour for sightseeing & shopping.

Have fun wherever you go!

My husband and I did both of these events in Cancun area. I know not the Caribbean but close. There are many nice family oriented AI's along Playa del Carmen. As for diving my husband took the ferry to Cozmel, which offers some wonderful diving experiences so I hear. Together we rode horses on the beach.

I do have one suggestion regarding scuba diving. If your son has not received his open water PADI certification, please be very careful as to what operation he dives with. Pool diving and open water are very different.

I was once left to my own devices in Alcapulco after having no training. Once I recieved my open water certification in the Caribbean, I realized just how dangerous of a situation I was put in. So, please be careful in your choices.

Good luck and I hope you have a great trip.

Hi,
Thank you for the safety tip. How do I find out which operations are okay and which are dangerous?

As for time, budget, etc. we will be flying out of Boston and I am thinking of going for about 4-5 days- about as along as my 21 year old son will want to send with his mother.

Because of that I am trying to find something fairly close.
As it is a relativley short vacation, the price is not so much an issue as it would be if we were going going for a week or 10 days.

I am thinking of going at the end of June. I imagine that is "off season" at many places?

Thanks for any advise!

I'm closer to South America than the US, so I can't offer suggestions closer to the mainland. There are many islands that offer both scuba and horseback riding, though.

I can offer that you check that any dive operation is PADI associated and has a dive instructor be with your son at all times. Another key factor is that they go thru the safety issues with him before going out.

I would suggest he do a "Discover Scuba" course since he's never been diving in open water. With that course, he goes thru a brief instruction process, then out with an instructor on an open water dive. It's like a resort course. If he's comfortable, most operations will allow him to continue diving for one week with a certified instructor. Otherwise, he would need to be open water certified.

Thanks !
I had assumed that after taking a whole semester at a (very expensive) college that he would be all set.
I appreciate the warnings.

Again, any ideas to make both of my kids happy? Scuba diving, horse back riding, jet skiing???

Go to Grand Cayman. It has the best diving! Check out the Ocean Frontiers website, they get consistently voted as the top dive operators for begineers and advanced divers, anywhere in the Caribbean. My teenagers have gone with them twice, and we have felt very safe and satisfied. Also, they have great horsebackriding. We took a 2 hour ride on the beach in January with our 3 kids (8, 16, 19) and had a fantastic time. We had the beach to ourselves. You will love it! Check out The Reef resort, they have a great beach and dive shop on site, with jetski's next door. However, they do not have "swimming with the dolphins" on the island. Apparently it was decided to be to hard on the dolphins.

I agree with the suggestion for Grand Cayman. I would not want my son's first diving experience to be in Mexico - I have just heard too many horrow stories about the lax standards there. I love Jamaica but would feel the same way there. I dove for the first time in GC - too long ago for me to remember the dive operator but he was great and I'm sure you'll get good recommendations here. As far as swimming with the dolphins goes, my 14 yr old was convinced she had to do that in Jamaica but after I directed her to a website or two that describes how tortuous it is on the dolphins and how so many of them die in captivity, she changed her mind and said she would never support such an operation. Here is one site that my daughter considered http://www.hsus.org/ace/11737 I would imaging your daughter will feel the same way.

As a long-time diver, I second the advice that you may not want your son's first open water experience to be in Cozumel. The diving is gorgeous there, and the island itself is FUN, but there is a lot of current, which can be much more dangerous and requires more experience than diving somewhere fairly calm.

Definitely look for a PADI dive shop, and encourage him to sign up for the open water referral training. This will involve a series of skill-related dives with an instructor and possibly a small group. It's a great way to get comfortable, and you get to go deeper than on a resort dive (which is limited to a shallow depth), which he will probably want since he's got a little experience.

Grand Cayman sounds like a great choice. There are many good diving operators there, and the diving is world-class.

Instead of a dolphin swim, your daughter might enjoy Stingray City, where she can interact with stingrays in a (sort of) natural environment. Snorkelling will also give her a real taste of the undersea world.

Have a great trip!

Agree with Blue Swimmer on the Stingragy City option. I just returned (reluctantly!) from a cruise last week where we had aday in GC. We went to Stingray City and it was GREAT. I think anyone would enjoy it, regardless of age. The guides will tell you exactly how to feed and pet the rays. It was amazing, interesting, and so much fun. The beautifully clear turquoise water doesn't hurt either. One last recommendation: check the weather or maybe aim for early mornings/late afternoons. We ran into heavy rainstorms around 11-noon. Was sunny and fine afterwards, but had already curtailed our snorkeling opportunity.

Hi,
Thanks for the input. Looks like Grand Cayman is a good choice
I have read that the East Side is more relaxing, away from the crowds, etc., which would appeal to me, but I think that the more choices of things to do is better for a 14 and 21 year old.
Can some one suggest a resort that might work for us? Under the circumstances, touristy is probably okay.
I don't care so much for a condo and cooking facilites, as we will only be there a few days, and I have no intention of cooking. More interested in "things to do".
I understand that seven mile beach can be one big tourist trap, but I imagine that it will be a little quiter in June?
Thanks for any ideas.

We also took a resort dive course with Ocean Frontiers and they were great. I was having quite a bit of trouble and one of the instructors stayed with me the whole time and helped me out. There was no way I could have done it without him.

I agree with the Stingray City trip - I think your daughter will love it. One of my best memories of GC was renting bikes and riding to Hell and back - we stopped at the turtle farm. It was a beautiful day in June and I don't remember the biking being particulary difficult. I know a lot of people think the turtle farm is a waste of time but I thought it was fascinating. Of course, I can spend hours watching ants so I may not be a good judge.

Hi,
Thanks again for those that replied.
Any other suggestions?

Considering the ages of your children, you may want to consider staying on 7MB. My suggestion is to rent a condo close to a resort, that offers watersport rentals. We stayed at the Villas of Galleon, next to the Westin and were very happy there. (except no washers and dryers in the room) Go to caymanvacations.com and check out your options.

Hi,
Thanks. I was thinking the same thing, that there might be more things to do at Seven Mile beach, though I have never been there, so I am happy to have your input.

I happened to catch part of a Dr. Phil show today - don't know why, but he sent a family to Grand Cayman and they went horseback riding at Pampered Ponies. Looked like a nice ride.

Thanks.
I need to finalize this soon.I assume that we will be off season and that prices will be less?
Please, any suggestions for a fun place to stay?

Hi,
Still looking for suggestions. Thanks!

Is Grand Cayman the best choice of islands?
If so, where would you stay?