David Benz
David Benz
David Benz
David Benz
Quality time with our families is more important that ever. With a near-constant barrage of distractions, from electronic to social, stealing away with your clan is one of the best ways to connect. And getting the entire crew underwater to share intense and lasting experiences is the perfect way to form lasting bonds. Here are five of our favorite dive destinations for that totally awesome family dive trip.
Grand Cayman
Some of this dive paradise’s best-known sites are also its most family friendly, like Stingray City, Sandbar, Mermaid and the very accessible wreck of the Oro Verde. Only an hour from Miami, the island has plenty of shallow dives in clear, current-free water, and plenty of kid-ready topside activities too: Boatswain’s Beach, an iguana-filled botanical park, the world’s largest skate and surf park, and even a pirate’s cave in Bodden Town.
DESTINATION PRIMER
Average water temp 78°F to 85°F
What to wear 3/2 mm in winter, skin or shorty in summer
Average viz 100-plus feet
When to go year-round
Bahamas
The Bahamas covers thousands of square miles, with a different shade of blue for every one of them. These islands offer plenty of shallow, sunny diving, plus an array of accessible wrecks and reefs, many with movie-star pedigree. Topside you’ll find offerings like Pirates of Nassau, an interactive museum with a replica pirate ship; Atlantis resorts Aquaventure water park and animal encounters; or island Segway tours on rugged, all-terrain versions of the easy-to-manage two-wheel-drive vehicles.
DESTINATION PRIMER
Average water temp Low 70s in winter, mid-80s in summer
Average viz 90 feet
What to wear 1 mm dive skin in summer, 3 mm wetsuit in winter
When to go year-round
Bonaire
All the reefs around this island were designated a protected marine park in 1978 — and the marine life seems to know it. The island’s signature shore-diving buffet is open 24/7, when and where you want, making it a super-easy place to dive on your family’s schedule; many resorts have excellent house reefs, so it’s as simple as walking down to the beach. Topside Bonaire is kid heaven, with its famed Blokarting — a wind-driven go-cart — donkey sanctuary, and wind-surfing and swimming beaches.
DESTINATION PRIMER
Average water temperature mid-70s in winter, low 80s in summer
Average viz 100 feet
What to wear 3 mm wetsuit
When to go year-round
Palau
A lake filled with non-stinging jellyfish. Local dancers performing a fantasy of color and movement. Reef pass dives where big animals parade like an underwater circus. Sound like a good place to take your family on a dive trip? Well, you’re right. The Micronesian paradise of Palau offers cultural immersions, topside diversions and ocean submersions to please travelers of all ages and and divers of all skill levels.
DESTINATION PRIMER
Average water temp Mid-80s year-round
Average viz 100-plus feet
What to wear shorty or dive skin
When to go year-round
Roatán
Kids love critters, and anything that swims, slithers, hides or hunts can be found in the waters off Roatán, one of the Bay Islands of Honduras. You’ll find major marine diversity here, surrounded by the longest barrier reef in the hemisphere. Most dives begin along a gentle slope — good for beginners — before dropping off into a trench or wall that will captivate your teenager or young adult. Topside, sandy beaches like Half Moon Bay offer entertainment from horseback riding to snorkeling; elsewhere on the island you’ll find a zip line, iguana park, crab racing, glass-bottom boat tours and the Roatán Marine Institute and Dolphin Scuba Camp at Anthony’s Key Resort.
DESTINATION PRIMER
Average water temp high 70s in winter, mid-80s in summer
Average viz 100 feet
What to wear 3 mm wetsuit
When to go year-round
