Starwood Preferred Guest - Scuba and Starwood

Any experiences w/staying at Starwoods and either scuba diving w/the property or nearby?

I would imagine *ANY* Starwood that's in a beach resort area either has SCUBA onsite, or works with local operators. And, since there are many good Starwood resorts worldwide on or near beaches, you'd be best to check with the property directly. Here's a few gems:

Tahiti:
Moorea and Bora Bora have activity desks that will get you on a SCUBA dive with a local operator

Hawaii:
Sheraton Maui - you can rent the gear on site and walk right out onto the beach and explore black rock.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Sweet Willie:
Any experiences w/staying at Starwoods and either scuba diving w/the property or nearby?</font>

Lots.. More important would be choosing the location where you want to dive, and then going from there.. Some of my recommendations would be Hawaii (esp. Sheraton Maui at Black Rock), anywhere in the South Pacific, Grand Cayman, St. John, Great Barrier Reef.. Mostly depends on what type of diving you are seeking (beach vs. boat), your experience (certified vs. looking for resort cert), and your preferences for land activities... Sometimes I dive directly with the resort contracted operators, but more often look for a separate 5 star Padi facility nearby..

Where do you wish to travel??

Robin

well, its not Starwood, but the best hotel for great scuba and great luxury hotel I've seen in the world: Palau Pacific Resort. There is decent scuba at the Grand Cayman SPG property, though.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Fishbait:
Sometimes I dive directly with the resort contracted operators, but more often look for a separate 5 star Padi facility nearby.. </font>

Why not use the resort's facilities? cost? safety? too large groups?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Where do you wish to travel??
</font>

I’ve been fortunate to have dove many places, I’m looking for suggestions such as
PHL’s suggestion of “Hawaii: Sheraton Maui - you can rent the gear on site and walk right out onto the beach and explore black rock.”

Places where various FT’ers have dove while staying at a *wood. While I am not opposed to cold water diving, my wife will have none of it.

I usually appreciate resort diving facilities due to not having to drive somewhere.

Westin Grand Cayman is awesome!

http://www.starwood.com/interests/interest_detail.html?propertyID=1095§ion=RES&cat egory=RESD (http://www.starwood.com/interests/interest_detail.html?propertyID=1095§ion=RES&category=RESD)

[This message has been edited by chix (edited 09-26-2002).]

Kapalua Bay Hotel, Maui, HI

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AA Platinum, Delta Gold, Starwood Platinum, Fairmont President's Club, Hyatt Diamond

I usually use separate facilities for a variety of reasons. First and foremost is cost. Second is variety of dives (if you are looking for guided boat dives). The main reason I began doing this, though, was safety.. Early in my diving, I had a safety problem with a resort facility, and I was speaking to the guys at my dive shop, who told me this is common in some places. They sent me to a good dive operator on my next trip, and I discovered the dives were much better, hence reasons, 1 and 2 above. For example, I have dove in Kauai with a shop and resort operators. I was amazed at the quality and variety of dives through the shop vs. the resort. For boat dives, it is just as convenient to use a shop, as either will pick you up at the hotel anyway. And quite often, the resort operator is run by the shop I was planning to dive with anyway. On a side note, now that I have 2 Junior Certs with me, I do feel safer with a 5-Star.

Beach diving is a whole different issue. In that case, I would definitely recommend the Sheraton at Black Rock. Aside from the rock itself, just beyond it is another good dive at Airport Beach. There is spectacular sealife to be seen at both, thing I haven't seen before in 25+ other Hawaiian dives. Add to this the access to great boat dives as well, you have a beautiful hotel in a great destination.

BTW,I'm with your wife. We live at the beach, and I can count my dives here on one hand.. It's just far too cold!! LOL

Robin



[This message has been edited by Fishbait (edited 09-27-2002).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Fishbait:
Beach diving is a whole different issue. In that case, I would definitely recommend the Sheraton at Black Rock. Aside from the rock itself, just beyond it is another good dive at Airport Beach. There is spectacular sealife to be seen at both, thing I haven't seen before in 25+ other Hawaiian dives. Add to this the access to great boat dives as well, you have a beautiful hotel in a great destination. </font>

That is saying something as Molokini Craeter is supposed to be the most prolific coral life in the HI islands.

If you are coming to Kauai, you can dive with Mrs LIH Prem, who is a Dive Master with Dive Kauai, which is one of the better dive operations here.

-David

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LIH Prem:
If you are coming to Kauai, you can dive with Mrs LIH Prem, who is a Dive Master with Dive Kauai....</font>

We are in the spring, if you could email contact info (website or phone) I would appreciate.

Done via email, but the web site is http://www.divekauai.com/ in case anybody else is looking for a good dive company here.

-David

Just dove in Kauai. Too bad I did not know Mrs. LIH Prem is a dive master! Will drop by next time.

Thanks. Hope you had great dives and a great time in Kauai!

Teresa took a group out on Friday night for night diving under a clear sky and a very bright full moon at Koloa Landing.

-David