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My wife and I just returned from a five day getaway to Southampton Bermuda. Not knowing much in advance, I took the advice of a fellow diver on scubaboard (Miked) who suggested going with Dive Bermuda located at the Fairmont Southampton beach club as he has been doing for the past thirteen years.
I went out each morning with Dive Bermuda for a two tank boat dive aboard the Narcosis, their 42' Newton dive boat. The staff of Dive Bermuda goes out of their way to make your day as enjoyable and relaxing as possible. Their level of service is over and above what would normally be expected. Kevin greeted me each morning and asked if I had any dive site preferences. All of my gear was brought onboard by their staff. There were fresh towels and ice water on board along with center mounted camera tables and lots of room. There were several other divers on board, but never too many. Some of the divers came from other hotels and from the cruise ships anchored in Hamilton.
The divemasters, Roz, Fin, LuLu, (I'm forgetting the others) were knowledgeable, helpful, and patient for those needing a little extra attention. On the one day that I forgot to bring my fins, Roz dove off the boat and retrieved them out of my bag back in the shop.
The dive locations were very close to the shop which translates to very short boat rides to and from your dive site. The longest I can remember was ten minutes. Each day began with a safety briefing before heading out to the dive site. There were site briefings before each dive along with a weight check before the first divew of each day. Extra clip-on weights were on hand for anyone needing additional weight. Water temp was around 72F -bath tub water in my book. A 3Mil shorty was fine. Visability was about 80+.
After your dive, you are welcome to use the changing rooms, showers, and towels of the Fairmont Southampton Beach Club.
Getting to the shop is easy by bus or taxi. The number 8 bus runs to and from the hotel into Hamilton on a regular basis. The bus will cost you about $3 each way. The hotel runs a courtesy shuttle from the bus stop at Waterlot Inn up to the hotel lobby. You can catch another shuttle down to the beach club all at no cost.
I hope this helps someone that may be heading off to Berrmuda. write me if you need more info.
There were no snorkelers on any of the trips. There were new divers who were grouped together with an instructor/divemaster. I would suggest diving the Hermes for one of your dives. I also squeezed in a night dive and was able to see lobster, octopus, morey eels, and a lion fish. While lying on my back and kicking in to shore, looking up at the star filled sky was spectacular to this Jersey Boy.
Outside of diving, We had most of our meals on the go in the hotel. We did eat at Henry VIII and The Hog Penny. The Hog Penny was very good and worth going back to. Denny's Grand Slam would have been better than the Mixed Grill dinner I ordered at Henry VIII, although my wife said her steak was great. They did remove my dinner from the check.
Hi John,
Welcome back. It sounds like you had a good trip.
I'm glad that you enjoyed the people/service at DB as much as I have over the years.
I'd also second your recommendation regarding the Hermes.
When you get the chance, please post any pictures you were able to take.
I'll tryto talk the wife into squeezing in a night dive, but it's unlikely, as this is a family vacation and we'll only be in Bermuda for a couple of days.
If I'm on the computer, I'm approximately 100 meters from the ocean. Maybe a little less. It depends on tide.
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So glaad to hear that both of you enjoyed your visit.
Originally Posted by deeper thoughts
The water was 72f, seems a bit cold for this time of year
We've been having an uncharacteristic year so far. Lots of Northerly winds and a very long cool spring. Anytime it blows North instead of the more prevelent Southwesterlies the sea surface temp drops several degrees. But summer has finally arrived and todays temp is 82f and its only varied by about 4 degrees this week as we've had mostly southerlies.
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Originally Posted by deeper thoughts
