Nassau diving optons?

[KneeDeep]

Hello all,
I am planning to be in Nassau (Paradise Island) around Oct for a total of 8 days, most of this won’t be for diving, but will be able to pull 3 days for diving. What are some options? Is the diving any good?

Driving down to the Keys (since I have to fly into Miami anyways) could be an option, but fly time would shorten dive time so was hoping to stay the whole time on Nassau.

Help me out… Ready, set… GO

 

[mockney]

i'm going to the Bahama's for my honeymoon in December so I am also keen to find out the best recommendations because I'm pretty sure my diving activities will be strictly limited .

 

[diversteve]

There's two options on Nassau (4 if you include private charters)

Closest to Paradise Island is Bahama Divers - they're on the Nassau side of the Paradise Island Bridge. And will pick up on Paradise Island and elsewhere in town. They do 2 tanks in the morning and one in the afternoon. Arguably the most interesting dive they do is the Lost Blue Hole. Bahama Divers

Stuart Coves is the other option. Since they're located on the south side, they have a free shuttle - takes about 45mins. They're the shark dive people and also dive quite a few wrecks nearby - both natural and added - plus some old movie sets (one of the 007 films, Into the Deep) Unless it's changed, Cove's does up to 4 dives/day. Stuart Cove's Dive Bahamas Shark Diving Bahamas Diving in Nassau Bahamas

 

[KneeDeep]

There's two options on Nassau (4 if you include private charters)

Thanks diversteve to the dive ops.

How is the diving though? Could the diving be better in the Keys?

 

[diversteve]

I don't know Keys diving to compare.

 

[speedjunkie]

I just stumbled upon this thread. I'm contemplating a dive trip to the Bahamas in September. Which dive op, Stuarts or Bahama divers, do you feel is a better run op and is more likely to provide a better experience? Stuarts seems like a much larger operator.

 

[KathyV]

It has been awhile since we went diving around Nassau, but my recollection is that the "Tongue of the Ocean" (as that area of the sea is called) offered nice wall dives, good sea life, and we saw sharks on many dives.

But there were also some "cruise ship customer boats" around so check carefully and make arrangements to get good dives on days that the cruise ships are not in port - or go out with an operator that doesn't service the cruise ship passengers.

I don't remember any diver-dedicated resorts but that may have changed. We reserved accommodations and then made arrangements for a dive operator to pick us up and drive us to the marina. The dive operator had a gear storage facility at the marina so we didn't have to drag our stuff around with us.

There's lots of fun things to do around Nassau so enjoy yourself! I do remember that it was quite expensive, but so are many of the places we like to visit! We stayed in an apartment or condo and cooked some of our meals to help control costs.

Another nice thing I like about Nassau is that it is so easy to travel there. You can go through both Bahamian and US customs and immigration right in the Nassau airport before departure, so you don't have to go through that mess again when you arrive in the US.

 

[drbill]

I enjoy diving almost anywhere I go because it is always a learning experience for me as a marine ecologist.

With that said, I spent some time in the Bahamas a few years back. I did a liveaboard with Blackbeard's which is out for you due to time constraints. My other dives were with Stuart Cove's operation. I enjoyed both. I didn't do any other diving though so I can't compare them with other operators there.