| One scuba diving vacation option for divers is with | | | | well as North America. |
| the Club Med resorts that offer intensive dive | | | | The Club Med dive boats are huge. These boats |
| programs. These particular Club Med locations have | | | | have rows along each side and another row in the |
| full service scuba diving centers staffed by PADI and | | | | center. They are 'cattle' boats for sure as there can |
| NAUI certified instructors as well as full equipment | | | | be as much as 40 divers for each trip. However, |
| rentals. Club Med has locations with dive intensive | | | | they are nice 'cattle' boats with two ladders in the |
| programs in the Caribbean and the South Pacific. One | | | | back platform and a large upper deck for the boat |
| such resort is the Club Med Turkoise in the Turks | | | | ride. A very nice feature of these boats is that there |
| and Caicos islands located southeast of the Bahamas. | | | | are two safety stop bars below the boat at the 15 |
| While these islands are not the lushest in the | | | | feet mark. These bars are excellent for beginner |
| Caribbean, they do have excellent coral reef systems | | | | scuba divers who still have problems remaining at a |
| making it a top scuba diving destination in the region. | | | | level 15 feet for their safety stops. All they have to |
| For those scuba divers who do not want to be | | | | do is hold on to the safety stop bar and wait for the |
| bothered with transit between hotels, restaurants | | | | 3 minutes. On each bar, there is also a regulator for |
| and dive boats, Club Meds are a wonderful option | | | | those who are low on air. Scuba divers can dive in |
| since everything is on site. Like other high end | | | | either guided groups led by a divemaster or in their |
| all-inclusive resorts, Club Meds have excellent dining, | | | | own buddy groups. Either way, there is an adequate |
| decent rooms plus great facilities for water and land | | | | briefing before each dive. The guided groups are |
| sports. A bonus feature of Club Meds is the inclusion | | | | particularly good for divers who do not want to |
| of instruction for many activities such as sailing and | | | | worry about navigation. |
| water skiing as well as the nightly entertainment on | | | | The diving at Turks and Caicos is wonderful with |
| stage. | | | | steep walls during the first part of each dive. The |
| As for the scuba diving programs which are offered | | | | return portion of each dive will generally be over a |
| at additional cost, they usually offer standard five | | | | reef system with lots of small to medium size marine |
| day packages which include a two tank trip every | | | | life. One resident barracuda nicknamed Charlie is often |
| morning plus a weekly night dive. There are optional | | | | seen and likes to hang out between the safety stop |
| single tank dives in the afternoon as well. In my | | | | bars checking out the divers. In general, the diving is |
| estimation, the Club Med Turkoise location I went to | | | | similar to that in the Bahamas but you won't find |
| had 50% divers and 50% non-divers. It was kind of | | | | crowds of dive boats out in the water here since |
| funny to see that the guests who go to bed the | | | | Turks and Caicos are not as saturated with dive |
| earliest in the evenings and show up in the dining | | | | operators and tourists yet. For an extra charge, it is |
| room first thing in the mornings are the scuba divers. | | | | possible for the resort to arrange a 3 tank day trip |
| Many divers I met were repeat guests. This proves | | | | with an outside scuba operator to dive some sites |
| that the Club Med is able to attract a loyal following | | | | further out that have larger marine life. Some divers |
| among some scuba divers. The resort is ideal for | | | | took this option and returned with very positive |
| couples where one spouse is a diver and the other is | | | | reviews of multiple shark sightings. |
| not. There are plenty of other activities on site for | | | | If scuba divers are interested in going to a Club Med, |
| the non-diving spouse to do while the other is out | | | | it is important to verify which locations currently |
| diving. Later in the afternoon, couples or friends could | | | | offer the intensive dive programs. Different Club |
| get back together to do other activities or simply | | | | Meds also have different atmospheres. Some are |
| relax. I went to this Club Med as a single traveler and | | | | livelier with a party scene and some are quieter. |
| had no problems fitting in. The dining room staff | | | | Consulting a travel agent familiar with Club Meds will |
| usually asks guests whether they would like to sit | | | | be useful. Club Med does have a good scuba diving |
| with a singles table or one with couples. The | | | | program with very professional staff and is an option |
| advantage of this Club Med setup is that it is very | | | | worth checking out if one doesn't mind being on dive |
| easy to meet other guests on a social level. I ended | | | | trips with relatively large numbers of divers. |
| up socializing and diving with people from Europe as | | | | |