Novice Diver

[kmantis]

Heading to GC in June and looking to book dives with either Living the Dreams or Divers Down; anyone have experience with them or other recommendations? Also wondering if there is any difference between morning and afternoon dives. Would the afternoon dives be better for videos? Thanks.

 

[Skeptic14]

We dove with living the dream in Dec. '15 as new divers (around 12 total dives) and would definitely recommend them. They cater to all skill levels and we never felt overwhelmed despite being very fresh, in fact those were our first boat dives.

What my wife really liked the about living the dream is how easy they made diving... they pick you up at your condo, handle all the gear and you literally take a boat ride, suit up on a bench at the back of the boat and take one step in with all the gear on. She's 115 lbs so having another 40 lbs of dive gear on is considerable and so spending as little time as possible standing around suited up was great.

As far as morning and afternoon dives, there are a couple things to consider. The personal preference of being a morning person and ready to get going or preferring to have leisurely mornings. The typical weather patterns, does it get windier throughout the day, what is the weather forecast? For the west side of GC, just check the seasonal averages, but it shouldn't matter quite as much morning to afternoon. And then visibility. The higher the sun in the sky the better the vis. So, the second morning dive and first afternoon dive will be the best visibility, typically.

We also used their gear, as new divers we hadn't bought anything beyond fins and masks at that point. There gear was good, it wasn't cheap or old stuff in need of replacing.

 

[Alex777]

<< What my wife really liked the about living the dream is how easy they made diving... they pick you up at your condo, handle all the gear and you literally take a boat ride, suit up on a bench at the back of the boat and take one step in with all the gear on. >>

Really, all the dive ops do that.

 

[Doctorfish]

Every operator on GC does that. Valet type service tends to be the standard in their competitive business environment.
Living the Dream IMO, is a very good operator. We have personally had very positive experiences with DNS and Wall to Wall. DNS is our favorite operator on GC at present.

No personal experience with Divers Down, but they tend to get good reviews from others.

I think in June, the amount of light on a clear day should not vary greatly AM vs PM diving. We always go boat diving in the AM, leaving the PM free for shallower shore diving. Suggest you stick with one operator for the whole trip to obtain discounted rates and so that they get to know you and vice versa.

June weather in GC should allow for plenty of North Wall diving. Great time of year for diving there.

Take advantage of the excellent shore diving at Lighthouse and Turtle Reef as well if you are staying on the west side of the island.

 

[howswedeofme]

I second DNS as a great full-service (i.e. valet) dive op that is fantastic for all skill levels, and especially beginners. We went in January with some friends that were newbies and they felt very comfortable. The boat we were on was very spacious, the dive groups aren't too big, and the dive instructors are very interactive underwater, especially Josh. I really liked that they jump off one end of the boat (Viewfinder), come back on from the other end. I don't believe they use this boat for north wall dives.

I have also used Ambassador and Dive Tech and also love both of those ops. Dive Tech isn't full valet, though, which is fine because I don't mind putting together my own rig. Both ops have very large, very nice, but very different boats.

 

[kmantis]

Thank you all. I will take a look at DNS as well. They all seem to be good operators; I was just trying to avoid operators largely catering to cruise divers. I may do a mix of AM and PM dives for this trip to get a feel for things. I like the idea of the shore dive in the PM at Turtle Reef as I will be staying on that side of the island.

 

[howswedeofme]

DNS leaves earlier than most of the dive ops (7:30a) so at least their morning dives wouldn't cater to cruise divers. It's also nice to get out early to not have to fight for a dive site.

There is a really great shore dive off of the Coconut Bay condo complex (Hepp's Pipeline) just up the road from Macabuca/Turtle Reef. If you swim to the left you end up at Turtle Reef but I enjoyed the swim to the right much more. The top of the mini wall is very, very healthy and really beautiful. We saw multiple turtles and a ray on all three dives at that site, as well as quite a few queen angelfish, which I love. I also saw my first sea cucumber! There is a gear-up and rinse station before the pathway down to the water and a ladder entry in front of the man-made beach. Hepp's Wall is the main wall dive and I believe the top of the wall starts at 60 feet. We didn't swim out to it because we liked the mini wall so much and didn't want to do all that work for a limited bottom-time dive. We stayed at Coconut Bay so I didn't ask if we needed permission to access the ladder on the property, but the guy that runs Stingray Watersports also manages at Coconut Bay so that's where I'd start if you're looking to get the OK to access/park on the property. He was the one who provided our tanks for the Hepp's Pipeline dives ($12.50 for air).

 

[Skeptic14]

Dive Tech isn't full valet, though, which is fine because I don't mind putting together my own rig. Both ops have very large, very nice, but very different boats.

I seemed to recall from my research that all ops on GC weren't full valet, but I'm sure LTD isn't the only one that does offer it. Considering all the talk on scubaboard by some that "no one every touches my gear" I figure there must be some ops that aren't the full valet style.

A lot of good choices probably for newer divers on GC.

 

[kmantis]

Guys I am going with LTD as their pick up point is close to where I am staying. I also just got someone locally to do couple of shore dives with me at Makabuca or Sunsethouse, depending on wind conditions. The mini wall idea sounds great.

 

[howswedeofme]

I seemed to recall from my research that all ops on GC weren't full valet, but I'm sure LTD isn't the only one that does offer it. Considering all the talk on scubaboard by some that "no one every touches my gear" I figure there must be some ops that aren't the full valet style.

A lot of good choices probably for newer divers on GC.

I think Dive Tech generally appeals/caters more to the "no one touches my gear" crowd. What they subtract from valet service they make up for in orange slices!