Bahamas in November-2 divers/2 land lubbers

[chibracdiver]

Hey gang,
I need to get some unbiased info for a family trip to the Bahamas. We are looking at diving with Stuart Cove for the shark dive. My question is...should we dive the rest of the time with this outfit? If not, can I get some recommendations? I would rather be on a smaller boat and would pay for that type of service.

Also, does anyone have any info on the Melia Beach Resort? This property use to be the Sheraton. The beach looks great and I need that for the two land lubbers on the trip. Is this resort close to shopping?

Any additional info you might have would be helpful. Thank you in advance.

 

[diversteve]

No comment on Stuart Cove's - IDK them well enough to do so. Another option in town is Bahama Divers - they're located at the Nassau side of the Paradise Island bridge. Bahama Divers Personally from the Melia I would find the Coves daily shuttle tiring quickly - that's still a 1/2 hr.+ each way. Bahama Divers is a smaller operation than Coves. But Coves has a second dive most afternoons - BD only does one.

For Private full-boat charters there's Explore Scuba or Dive Custom Aquatics.
Explore Scuba - Custom Dive Charters in The Bahamas | Explore Scuba Bahamas is the only dive operator located right on Paradise Island The Bahamas, we offer that one of a kind experience.
Bahamas Diving - Custom Dive Charters in Exuma and Nassau Bahamas

IDK much about either of them. I believe this is all the Nassau dive operations. You may hear of one more but they just book Coves or Bahama Divers. No secret, they list it on their website.

Is this resort close to shopping?

There is some on Cable Beach itself. Cable Beach Shops - or: http://www.nassauparadiseisland.com/what-to-do/shopping/ The Straw Market downtown is the famous one and there's shops around it on Bay Street - my G/F dragged me into a bunch of them. This should get them to it:

There are many jitney buses traveling around Nassau and into the suburban areas of Nassau. The #10 is the most popular, and will take you from downtown Nassau to Cable Beach. The jitney will take you along the Western Esplanade, passing Fort Charlotte, Ardastra Gardens entry road, Arawak Cay's Fish Fry as well as the Cable Beach Resorts area passing hotels such as Wyndham, Sheraton (Melia?) and Sandals. You can ask the driver to stop anywhere along the way. Pay as you leave the jitney, exact change only, $1.25 for adults and $.75 cents for children. To return to downtown, just flag down the jitney from in front of your hotel or restaurant. They run every few minutes from 6am - 6:30pm.

There's also an hourly Atlantis Resort shuttle that goes to Cable Beach. Everything is there...

This shuttle is also a free service and runs every hour from 6am to 2 am from the casino past all the major hotels on Cable Beach.

 

[chibracdiver]

Diversteve, thank you for the info. I have contacted Bahama Divers and will wait to hear from them. I appreciate your quick response.

 

[Johnmpcny]

Dove with three times big group with lots of cruise ship passengers so many groups have less experienced dives mixed in. I did enjoy it everything we'll run and dm's were fun


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[sharkbaitDAN]

I used to work at SC, and if you're going before Thanksgiving, it is unlikely to be very busy. Busy seasons are Thanksgiving through New Years, mid-March to mid-April, and all summer. I know some people don't like the bigger boats, and it can be risky in terms of diver quality and quantity. That being said, the best reefs are on the SW side of the Island, 5 minutes out from Stuart Cove's. Bahama Divers (along with the Atlantis boats) don't go to those reefs, they're too far away.

Can't speak to the resorts, all the names have changed since I was there and the main road was re-routed. Even looks like the golf course I played on by days off is gone.