Anytime I can visit my happy place, I do. And If I can enjoy SCUBA diving at Beaches Resorts, you know I take as much advantage as I can.
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Outside the fantastic location, food, and staff, Beaches Resorts has far more included in their all inclusive definition than many similar resorts.
That means if you want to go SCUBA diving, that’s part of the all inclusive package. While there are a few caveats, you basically dive for free while at Beaches Resorts.
Considering that a one tank dive can easily run $90 or more, and a two tank dive is generally $150 plus, that makes a Beaches vacation so much more affordable if you dive.
Do you have other questions on Beaches Resorts? Check out more tips in the articles at the bottom of this page.
Who Dives for free at Beaches Resorts?
The short answer is that if you have your C Card, you can dive at no cost at Beaches. If you aren’t a certified diver, you can take a course to SCUBA dive. Once you complete the course, your dives are free.
Of course, there is a longer answer, too.
If you’re a certified diver, you have to have been SCUBA diving within the past 18 months. If it’s been that long, Beaches Resorts requires that you take a refresher course for $140. The refresher course is a quick afternoon with classroom work and pool checks.
If it’s been over 6 months but not 18 months, Beaches dive shop will ask you to do a pool check of your skills before you dive. There’s no cost to this check, but you have to do it.
You also have to have medical clearance to dive. Check out the medical waiver online before you go. You can print out the waiver and fill it out in advance. More on this below.
Pro Tip: Check in at the dive shop the afternoon you arrive. You can get yourself all set up and ensure you have everything arranged for the remainder of your trip. The dive shop closes at 5pm daily.
How does the Beaches Resorts SCUBA diving medical questionnaire work?
While Beaches Resorts encourages you to fill out the medical form and liability waiver, you can fill it out at the resort dive shop if you forget.
I’d suggest you fill it out before you go or at least take a look at it. If you can successfully answer “no” to all the questions, you’re set. Ignore the part about getting a doctor to sign off.
If you have any “yes” answers, make sure you visit your doctor at home and get your doctor to sign off on the medical questionnaire. Ensure you bring the form with you when you travel.
Note that the questionnaire now includes a question about whether you have been diagnosed with covid. If you have, you will need a medical doctor’s signoff.
My recommendation? Take a photo of your completed form so even if you forget it, you have it with you on your phone!
If you have any yes answers and fill out the medical questionnaire onsite at Beaches Resorts, you will have to see the Beaches Resorts nurse on site and possibly visit a local doctor. This adds time and potentially expense to your trip.
In the end, the Beaches Resorts dive shop has final call over who can and cannot dive, so the more you take care of ahead of time, the better off you are.
What if I want to learn to SCUBA dive?
Beaches Resorts offers certification classes at a variety of levels. You can do a resort course for $100 or do full PADI SCUBA certification courses from the open water all the way up to DAN specialty courses from the advanced open water course I’ve done there to rescue diver and more.
If you are already an experienced diver and plan to visit Beaches or Sandals Resorts in the future, look into their Elite Diver program, as well.
Kids can even get in on the fun. Though they have to be a minimum of 12 years old for SCUBA certification, Beaches Resorts offers some specialty courses for kids as young as 10 that give them a taste of underwater adventures.
The resort course is generally a three or so hour course, and you can dive immediately after you complete it. This lets you do a one tank dive in the afternoon for the duration of your stay, but you have to start over if you want to dive again on another trip.
With the resort course, you are limited to shallow dives of 40 feet maximum depth. Beaches Resorts doesn’t pair certified divers with resort divers, so consider this if you are hanging with someone who already has their C card.
If you think you want to dive beyond this trip or are traveling with someone who’s already certified, consider getting your PADI open water certification. You can do the classroom work before you arrive via PADI eLearning.
That means you just have to do the practical exam on site at Beaches Resorts, then you do the pool and checkout dives, and you’re set to go from that point forward.
What do I need to bring for Beaches Resorts SCUBA diving?
The only things you truly need to bring to enjoy SCUBA diving at Beaches Resorts is your C card and log book so the dive masters can check your last dive. If you have the digital C Card or a printoff, that works.
Anything else is up to you. While you’re free to bring your own items, Beaches Resorts provides everything else required to dive.
I do not bring my BCD or fins for space reasons. The one item I do always bring, however, is my dive computer. If you plan to dive as a hobby, I highly recommend purchasing one and using it on every trip.
No surprise, Beaches Resorts provides filled tanks for all dives. If you’re Nitrox certified, you can dive with it, but there is an added fee.
When you check in for your dive, you also provide your BCD size and fin size. The dive shop provides those if you don’t have your own, as well as a regulator. Once you try them on to ensure they fit, you bring them aboard the boat.
If you wish to wear a shortie, you have the option to rent one, but the water at Turks and Caicos tends to be warm enough to not require one. In Jamaica, the water is a touch cooler, but it still doesn’t require one.
Once on the boat, they have masks with snorkels in a bucket for you to use, as well as defogger once you get to the dive site.
If you have your own regulator or BCD but not both, be sure to test the fit before the boat leaves the dock. On one dive, we had a gentleman who’s regulator didn’t attach to the BCD, so had he not verified, he would have been unable to dive.
You’re welcome to use a computer and compass, but Beaches Resorts does not rent them. The same goes for underwater cameras.
What dive options does Beaches Resorts offer?
Beaches Resorts provides dives seven days a week. Each resort has a slightly different schedule, but you can almost always get two tanks in every day.
Please be considerate of those diving with you and check in fifteen minutes prior to the dive time. It takes time to check in and get all your equipment, so don’t make everyone wait on you!
In Turks and Caicos, the dive shop offers a two tank dive at 8am Monday through Saturday. Depending on where the dive masters take you, you may return anywhere from 11:30am to close to 1pm.
With 21 dive site options in Turks and Caicos, the dive masters do their best to find the best dive spot for that day’s conditions and also ensure you don’t dive the same spot every day.
The dive shop also offers a one tank dive at 2pm each day. This dive is the shallow dive, so know that going in.
On Sundays, rather than a two tank dive at 8am, Beaches Resorts dive shop offers a one tank dive at 9:30am so you have one morning to sleep in. If you do this dive, you can also do the 2pm dive that day.
Beaches Resorts also offers night dives, but they are limited. They require a minimum of five people to sign up, and it costs $100 per person.
If you’ve never gone night diving, however, talk to your dive buddies and book it! Heck, even if you went night diving last week, arrange a group while there and book it.
Remember that you can’t dive within 24 hours of your flight. That alone is worth taking the latest flight out so you can either do the morning two tank dive or the afternoon one tank dive the day before you leave!
What should I expect to see while diving in Turks and Caicos?
The marine life in Turks and Caicos is fantastic. Each dive site is unique, but expect to see all your favorite tropical fish plus some extra treats.
The coral still retains color, which is fun to see. You can also find unique creatures on the sea fans and other growths like Christmas snails and more.
The most fun is when one of the boat captains, Rick, finds dolphins after a dive and plays with them. He’ll make a giant circle around them to create waves they enjoy jumping through. It’s truly a unique experience you don’t want to miss.
On many dives, you’ll spot reef or nurse sharks. They tend to hang around and swim, but they don’t bother anyone.
If you’re extra lucky, you may spot a sea turtle. If you head to the grassy snorkeling area down the beach from the resort, you’re even more likely to spot a turtle, however.
And of course you have the lobsters, eels, barracuda, puffer fish, parrot fish, squirrel fish, trumpet fish, and more. You may even get to see a stingray or three while there.
You’ll see so many that you’ll lose count of them all, which makes for a fantastic dive!
What other questions do you have about Beaches Resorts SCUBA diving?
More Beaches Resorts Tips:
- 10 things to know before you go
- 13 foods you cannot miss
- Beaches Resorts SNUBA experience
- Club Mobay to make your Jamaican experience better
- How to get passports for your kids
- Why you want TSA precheck
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We will be travelling during a sold out week. Do the dives get so busy that we will not be able to get in on any day?
I have not run into this, but I also have not traveled in a sold out week. It really depends on what those traveling want to do that week. They may or may not be divers. The good news is that they do have multiple boats, which allows for more people to go. I would suggest visiting the dive shop as soon as you arrive to sign up for the dives you want to do. And if it DOES fill up, they will make a wait list, and the likelihood of someone not showing up so you can take their place is not tiny.
Will you rank the quality of diving at the various Beaches resorts.
Thank You,
Geoff
Hands down, Turks has the best diving of any of the three resorts. There is zero question about that, and the other two aren’t close. Between Negril and Ocho Rios, Negril has better diving. That said, there is a wreck at Ocho Rios you can pay extra to dive at (currently $100 per person, I believe) that is a great dive there. The dive staff is great – it’s just the overall diving in Jamaica that isn’t as good with overfishing, etc. I hope that helps!
Thank you so much for your article! I dove with Beaches Jamaica and was underwhelmed as all dives were led by their divemasters who required “follow the leader” diving rather than letting us pair up and explore. Also required the whole group to surface together. Is it the same way at Beaches Turks and Caicos? Thank you so much!
I’ve dove with Beaches Negril, and it’s a similar type operation. Honestly, just about EVERYwhere I’ve dove across the world in the past 20 plus years that has been a dive shop excursion has been led by a dive master with follow the leader and not exploring. The exploring is a totally different setup, and you will be hard pressed to find that. BTC will be the same, including the whole group surfacing together for safety. And yes, that means that I surface with 1800+ psi remaining in my tank. That said, the diving at BTC is AMAZING (way better than Negril), and the dive shop staff are great. It helps that they generally divide you between OW and AOW+ so that you can dive more to your skill level. They do also offer private dives, pending availability of staff and space, that may provide you with more of what you’re looking for on that front.
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