RICHinNC
Contributor
Hey all,
This trip report will cover much more than just diving as some of you, like me, have a sig other that does not dive and it is also good to know information about other places regarding what they have to offer other than just the diving. At the end of the review is a link where you can check out some of the places we went.
THE FLIGHT DOWN ..AND BACK
At the beginning of all my planning and arranging, the airlines really threw us a few curves. I had booked months out with US Air and just a week or so before we were to leave they cancelled our flight out TWICE!! We ended up being booked on American Airlines and somehow on the long leg from Miami to Barbados .had gotten up graded to business class. Sweet !! The change turned out for the best because US Air had us flying first way North to catch a connecting flight to then fly back South to Barbados. With AA, we headed South to start with and that saved us a lot of flight time. The flight back was not crowded at all so we could stretch out in a three seater position.
I take my regs and bp/wing on board with me. I put a pony bottle in my check in. Needless to say I am usually stopped and searched with great detail. But, in both Raleigh going out and Charlotte coming in .when they asked do I have a movie camera, I said no, but I have a lot of dive gear. The person putting the gear through the little xray machine would say dive gear coming .and that was it. The worse baggage search I got was coming off the island of Barbados itself. They checked me like I was a top ten terrorist but were very polite about it.
THE ACCOMODATIONS .
This was my second trip to Barbados. With little differences it was much like my first trip. I had planned to stay at the Bougainvillea again but they refused to guarantee any kind of room and just said give us your credit card number and show up we will put you somewhere. I dont think so. After a good bit of further research, I decided we would stay at the Sea Foam Haciendas.
The SFH turned out actually to be a pretty good choice. For $110 a night off season we got a two bedroom (both with AC) apartment type set up with a full kitchen and living room. We were within walking distance from two grocery stores so once we got unpacked off we went to get some breakfast supplies and beer. There was a nice balcony facing the ocean which was less than a stones throw away. Apparently the SFH has a good sized repeat customer base. We met many people that come back to the SFH every year .a couple more than once a year. It was a very clean place and not far from the airport. The only down side to the SFH was either pulling out of the parking lot with the rental car or crossing the street right at the hotel. There was a blind curve and it got real exciting. We were almost hit one time. It was so close I can still feel the guys mirror as it creased my body.
THE DIVING ..
Ok so how was the diving? Disappointing actually. My original plan was to use a number of different dive ops so I could come back and have some good suggestions for all. However, I ended up diving with the same dive ops both trips out as I really liked the way he worked.
I called and set up a dive with JOHN MOORE. He and his wife Mary have been living in Barbados for the last 10 years and have a nice little dive ops there. They are from England originally.
The thing I liked most about John was he was a no nonsense guy. He would watch you a while and if you knew what you were doing he would leave you alone. Also, he filled the tanks up to the max. On my last trip, I was lucky to get 2800 psi in a tank. He did a great job pointing out things and making sure the overall dive was a good experience. John uses a small but fast 6 pack boat but there were never more than me and one other diver. Initially, I had called to see when I could arrange a dive and although I was the only one interested in a particular day ..he said come on down and he and I alone would go out and dive. Luckily, one more diver showed up so there were the two of us and John.
While I liked John and his dive ops, the diving to me was pretty blah. There was a lot of particulate in the water from the off shore storms. I had dove the PAMIR on my last trip and the viz then was really nice. This time .if you got more than 25 feet away from the ship it was hard to tell what it was. So after two trips out, I called it quits on the diving and just did surface stuff with my gf.
Other than the PAMIR (which I still recommend heartily) I also dove the White Gates, Merlin, and Haymans.
On one dive I had left my camera in the boat and John was pointing something out he thought I might like to photograph. When I signaled back I had screwed up and left the camera on the boat he took off .surfaced .and got my camera and brought it to me. Now that is service. If you ever go to Barbados I would highly recommend the John Moore dive ops. He can be reached at DIVE BARBADOS LTD.
Oh, I also got to try out my new spring fins straps. Nice.
THE LOCAL PEOPLE ..
The people of Barbados are probably one of the friendliest you will ever find. I had read on line that the drug sellers were much more pushy than in the past and would approach you right on the beach, but we never encountered anything like that at all. As with my last trip, walking vendors would come up and try to sell something but I took the approach of to thank them and just say my suitcase is already too full. Most of the time, I was wished a nice holiday and safe trip home. No one was ever rude about me not buying anything from them. My gf did get a couple of whistles and cat calls but she gets that in the states too so thats a wash with me.
THE BAJUN REVIEW ..
The Bajun Roots review is a stage show, supper, and dance outing. You arrive and right off the bat are given something to drink. All night certain drinks are included in the over all price and you can have as many as you can handle ..or until you fall over!!
There were steel drum bands dancers ..and a great meal. Then, when the formal stuff was over, another band came out and everyone could dance. Without a doubt this is one of the best attractions on the island. If you go def check it out.
This trip report will cover much more than just diving as some of you, like me, have a sig other that does not dive and it is also good to know information about other places regarding what they have to offer other than just the diving. At the end of the review is a link where you can check out some of the places we went.
THE FLIGHT DOWN ..AND BACK
At the beginning of all my planning and arranging, the airlines really threw us a few curves. I had booked months out with US Air and just a week or so before we were to leave they cancelled our flight out TWICE!! We ended up being booked on American Airlines and somehow on the long leg from Miami to Barbados .had gotten up graded to business class. Sweet !! The change turned out for the best because US Air had us flying first way North to catch a connecting flight to then fly back South to Barbados. With AA, we headed South to start with and that saved us a lot of flight time. The flight back was not crowded at all so we could stretch out in a three seater position.
I take my regs and bp/wing on board with me. I put a pony bottle in my check in. Needless to say I am usually stopped and searched with great detail. But, in both Raleigh going out and Charlotte coming in .when they asked do I have a movie camera, I said no, but I have a lot of dive gear. The person putting the gear through the little xray machine would say dive gear coming .and that was it. The worse baggage search I got was coming off the island of Barbados itself. They checked me like I was a top ten terrorist but were very polite about it.
THE ACCOMODATIONS .
This was my second trip to Barbados. With little differences it was much like my first trip. I had planned to stay at the Bougainvillea again but they refused to guarantee any kind of room and just said give us your credit card number and show up we will put you somewhere. I dont think so. After a good bit of further research, I decided we would stay at the Sea Foam Haciendas.
The SFH turned out actually to be a pretty good choice. For $110 a night off season we got a two bedroom (both with AC) apartment type set up with a full kitchen and living room. We were within walking distance from two grocery stores so once we got unpacked off we went to get some breakfast supplies and beer. There was a nice balcony facing the ocean which was less than a stones throw away. Apparently the SFH has a good sized repeat customer base. We met many people that come back to the SFH every year .a couple more than once a year. It was a very clean place and not far from the airport. The only down side to the SFH was either pulling out of the parking lot with the rental car or crossing the street right at the hotel. There was a blind curve and it got real exciting. We were almost hit one time. It was so close I can still feel the guys mirror as it creased my body.
THE DIVING ..
Ok so how was the diving? Disappointing actually. My original plan was to use a number of different dive ops so I could come back and have some good suggestions for all. However, I ended up diving with the same dive ops both trips out as I really liked the way he worked.
I called and set up a dive with JOHN MOORE. He and his wife Mary have been living in Barbados for the last 10 years and have a nice little dive ops there. They are from England originally.
The thing I liked most about John was he was a no nonsense guy. He would watch you a while and if you knew what you were doing he would leave you alone. Also, he filled the tanks up to the max. On my last trip, I was lucky to get 2800 psi in a tank. He did a great job pointing out things and making sure the overall dive was a good experience. John uses a small but fast 6 pack boat but there were never more than me and one other diver. Initially, I had called to see when I could arrange a dive and although I was the only one interested in a particular day ..he said come on down and he and I alone would go out and dive. Luckily, one more diver showed up so there were the two of us and John.
While I liked John and his dive ops, the diving to me was pretty blah. There was a lot of particulate in the water from the off shore storms. I had dove the PAMIR on my last trip and the viz then was really nice. This time .if you got more than 25 feet away from the ship it was hard to tell what it was. So after two trips out, I called it quits on the diving and just did surface stuff with my gf.
Other than the PAMIR (which I still recommend heartily) I also dove the White Gates, Merlin, and Haymans.
On one dive I had left my camera in the boat and John was pointing something out he thought I might like to photograph. When I signaled back I had screwed up and left the camera on the boat he took off .surfaced .and got my camera and brought it to me. Now that is service. If you ever go to Barbados I would highly recommend the John Moore dive ops. He can be reached at DIVE BARBADOS LTD.
Oh, I also got to try out my new spring fins straps. Nice.
THE LOCAL PEOPLE ..
The people of Barbados are probably one of the friendliest you will ever find. I had read on line that the drug sellers were much more pushy than in the past and would approach you right on the beach, but we never encountered anything like that at all. As with my last trip, walking vendors would come up and try to sell something but I took the approach of to thank them and just say my suitcase is already too full. Most of the time, I was wished a nice holiday and safe trip home. No one was ever rude about me not buying anything from them. My gf did get a couple of whistles and cat calls but she gets that in the states too so thats a wash with me.
THE BAJUN REVIEW ..
The Bajun Roots review is a stage show, supper, and dance outing. You arrive and right off the bat are given something to drink. All night certain drinks are included in the over all price and you can have as many as you can handle ..or until you fall over!!
There were steel drum bands dancers ..and a great meal. Then, when the formal stuff was over, another band came out and everyone could dance. Without a doubt this is one of the best attractions on the island. If you go def check it out.
