Need suggestions for alternate dive shop to Grand Bahama Scuba

[ron_dodge]

Hi everyone,

The wife and I scored an invite to spend a week on Grand Bahama with some friends at their time share this May. We'll be staying at the Island Seas Resort and will have a rental car.

I've already contacted Fred and Melinda at Grand Bahama Scuba and plan to dive with them. First off let me say that Melinda has been an absolute delight to deal with. However, the problem I have is that we will arrive on the island one Friday and leave the next Friday. According to Melinda they are off on Saturday and spend Sunday doing training and therefore don't take divers out.

So, we'll dive with GBS Monday-Thursday. But, I don't want to miss two dive days on Saturday and Sunday.

I've looked into UNEXSO and it seems like opinions are polarized with little middle ground.

I realized that this is a subjective question but are there any other dive operations that are recommended?

Thanks in advance.

 

[diversteve]

About Us - Caribbean Divers - Bell Channel Inn - no personally experience just an option to check out.

See if Cove's is going out to Tiger Beach on either day - they do 3X/wk. if there's demand. Welcome to Stuart Cove's Newest Dive Operation at Old Bahama Bay Resort, West End, Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas

 

[montyb]

Hi, Just got back from Grand Bahamas on Friday. Dove with Unexso. Have to say they were very professional, accomodating and did an overall good job. Nice boat We were on Explorer 1. Had total of 6 divers so lots of room. I'm writting a review on the dives. (See Grand Bahamas last week)

 

[ron_dodge]

I just wanted to follow up on this thread...

During our week we ended up using 3 different dive shops. Stuart's Cove, Unexso, and Grand Bahama Scuba.

Comapring Unexso and Grand Bahama Scuba (GBS) to each other we preferred GBS and it's really a matter of personal preference.

The trips with Unexso were fine and I wouldn't tell anyone not to dive with them. The staff was polite and helpful. They use bigger boats capable of 20-ish divers. Their trips where typical of those you'll find in most Caribbean operations. You're assigned to a DM, you get in the water, swim around a bit, and get back on the boat with ~1000-800 PSI in your tank. Not terrible but nothing that separates them from anyone else.

Diving with GBS was a delight. The owners are generally on each trip. There boat (singular) is a decent size and setup to accommodate 8-10 divers comfortably. Diving with them I can best describe as shore diving from a boat. We'd get to a site, they'd do a briefing of where we were, what to look for underwater, and where not to venture. Every briefing was ended with a strong recommendation for a very diligent surfacing procedure that included several safety stops. They take DCS very seriously. Once you were in the water you could follow one of the DM's, who would then keep an eye on you and give you the guided tour. Or, you could venture off with your buddy. If you chose the non-guided tour, the second dive master says near the anchor line to keep an eye on you. The dive was done when the divers were out of the water. There wasn't a time or PSI limit. You could surface with 1500 PSI or 5 PSI. It's the diver's responsibility to monitor their gas and non-deco time. GBS's ask was that each diver enjoy themselves to the fullest but to always return to the boat safely. Again, this is personal preference if you like this approach or not. Some may, others won't.

It's not fair to compare Stuart's Cove with either GBS or Unexso. We did the Tiger Beach trip with Stuart's Cove. I'm not sure we could have had a better set of circumstances to go on that trip. The weather was great. 10 other customers had to canceled so there ended up being just three of us on the trip. We ended up having 40+ sharks at any one time plus 4 Tigers. It was just an epic experience.

 

[divertimmy]

Thanks for posting this Ron, and sorry to dig it up from the past. My wife and I are considering heading out to Grand Bahama for a trip with our two kids (5 years old and 2 years old) and my mother-in-law. I appreciate the feedback on the various dive outfits very much. I was wondering what your experience with Island Seas Resort was. It is an option we are considering, and I've seen very mixed reviews on it. Also, my 5 year old just learned to snorkel. Know if any areas I could take her snorkeling that would be good for a little one? Thanks!

 

[ron_dodge]

Thanks for posting this Ron, and sorry to dig it up from the past. My wife and I are considering heading out to Grand Bahama for a trip with our two kids (5 years old and 2 years old) and my mother-in-law. I appreciate the feedback on the various dive outfits very much. I was wondering what your experience with Island Seas Resort was. It is an option we are considering, and I've seen very mixed reviews on it. Also, my 5 year old just learned to snorkel. Know if any areas I could take her snorkeling that would be good for a little one? Thanks!

Hi Timmy,

We made our trip to Grand Bahama with another couple and we ended up at Island Seas because they had a timeshare they could transfer there for a very small fee. So the accommodations were nearly free. I'm not sure how to describe the resort other than "it was OK". We were on the island to go diving so we spent very little time in the rooms. Island Seas is a little older resort and it shows at times. There are the occasional water spots on the ceilings or peeling paint from the salt water isn't out of the question either. Like I said though we were there to dive and spent next to nothing to say there so none of that bothered us. The air conditioner and kitchen appliances (fridge, micro, dishwasher and all important coffee machine) worked so we could eat breakfast and lunch in the room with no worries.

Island Seas did seem very much like a timeshare facility. For example, they do offer wifi but it isn't free. They charge you by the day or week per device and were willing to comp us one device for the week if the 4 of us sat through one of their presentations. We passed on the offer. There is a large pool for everyone onsite. From what I saw it was generally empty except during happy hour in the afternoons. There is a small kids pool too but it's very basic. None of the fancy waterfalls or fountains for the kids you see at other resorts or water parks.

Another thing to note is that Island Seas isn't close to any shopping. Both regular "tourist" shopping and the grocery store are a drive. Island Seas does run a shuttle every few days (not everyday) to the grocery store or to Port Lucaya. We rented a car while we were there. It was expensive but we were glad we had it. It let us drive out to one of the local fish fries on Wednesday and to Pier 1 to have dinner while they were feeding the sharks.

The one nice thing that Island Seas has going for it was it is right on the beach. I was a little surprised to see that wasn't the case with all resorts. Also, Island Seas was in the middle of a remodeling project while we were there in May 2014. I"m not sure how far they got with it or how much it helped.

As far as snorkeling, you could probably snorkel right off of Island Seas' beach. There were some fish in the water at the beach but I don't think you'll get close to the reef at all. You'll probably be watching silver fish swim over a white sand bottom. Grand Bahama Scuba does do specific snorkeling trips in the afternoons if you want to go out by boat.

Hopefully that helps your decision. I'm fairly certain if my wife and I went back to Grand Bahama we wouldn't stay at Island Seas, or any resort really. We'd be there to dive and not resort people. We prefer cheap hotels so we have more budget to go out and try more things while we're visiting.


... on a totally unrelated note, it's nice to run into someone from Denver. I lived in Denver a few different times growing up and am George Washington HS alumni.

 

[fire_diver]

Since this was brought back to life, I would like to chime in. In Dec of 2012, my son and I also used GBS. My son was a brand new Junior OW diver. The shop was great at communications and making the reservations. When we got there they were more than helpful. They took us to great sites that held within the depth limits of my son. Sea conditions weren't great but you can't control the ocean. It was a great time diving and I would DEFINITELY use them on my next trip the island!

I'm glad to see you had a similar experience and know that they are always a great dive op.