Thank you, Nov11 and miuk - I can dive in the Caribbean over the summer instead.

Which would then lead to the question - if I did not dive, then traveling from Kota Kinabalu and to Singapore (from which we will fly from back to New York), what would be the most luxurious beach resort to spend a few days at the end of our trip?

We would swim, eat, snorkle, etc. but also explore the area.

The St. Regis Langkawi looks beautiful and I have heard great thing about the service, and the price is good for a beachfront pool suite.

The resorts near Kota look nice, but not to the level we would want. The One and Only Desaru looks awesome but is close to double the St. Regis price, and the Anantara is kind of in between. The St. Regis sounds like the sweet spot, or am I wrong?