DiveSergeant's Grenada Trip Report- Part 1

[divesergeant]

Grenada Trip Report

April 2009

Here is a review of our two-week dive trip to Grenada. We had a wonderful time and Grenada is on our very short list of islands to which we really want to return. We hope that you enjoy reading it and that you will feel free to post any questions you have.

Also, there still exists the possibility that I might get inspired and post some of our pictures, both underwater and land-based. We'Íl see about that!



Getting There

Two and a half hours from DTW to MIA on Northwest, two hours layover and three hours from MIA to GND and we arrived without incident. All in all, a relatively easy trip, and shorter than we had anticipated.


A Note on Names

I have tried to remember as best as I can the names of those we met. Please forgive me when I either remember a name wrong or completely butcher the spelling of one!


Arrival

As we taxied to the terminal, we saw the twin tails of about a dozen United States F15 fighters, apparently stationed there as security for the Summit of the Americas which had just convened in Trinidad. I like aircraft, so I looked forward to some good airplane viewing. And I got it; at 0130, 0530, etc! No sweat, each time we were awoken I smiled and reminded myself that the roar of the twin jets was the sound of freedom.

We cleared immigration and customs quickly and walked outside. We were assured that there would be someone to pick us up, and were operating on faith here. Apparently, signals got crossed; there were not one, but two taxis there awaiting us. We loaded up and were whisked to True Blue Bay Resort. An easy check-in and we were in our room. We grabbed a quick dinner at the True Blue restaurant unpacked and were ready for bed shortly after midnight.


Diving

We scheduled our first dive for the afternoon after our arrival figuring, quite rightly, that we'd be more interested in sleeping in than diving that morning. So, we checked in at the dive shop in mid-morning and showed up at the boat at the appointed time. I would ride along but not dive since my head was still a bit congested from a recently-gotten-over cold. It turns out that the diving would be done only by Mrs DiveSergeant and Paul, the dive master. Boat Captain Glenroy and I would remain on the boat. Now, some shops would have scrubbed the dive with only one diver, but Aquanauts did not. In fact, they happily did several more trips out with small numbers of divers. And no, they didn't charge me for the ride-along when I didn't dive.

We chose Aquanauts for two reasons; 1) their boats looked to be the largest available and they had good shade available and 2) they had an ad on Scubaboard about free nitrox. Their dive prices were comparable to other places on the island and each dive we had an average of 2800psi indicated on our computers and an average analysis of 29-30% O2.

Aquanauts dive briefings are accomplished with visual aid of pre-printed, laminated drawings of the dive sites and are thorough; including depth, time, things to see, procedures if you get separated, etc. Prominently posted on each boat is a placard with instructions about respecting the sea and reef. I always like to hear the dive briefing contain this explicitly, but the prominent placard is a good second choice.

On the first dive, at Shark Reef, Mrs. DS and Paul spotted an eagle ray that returned for a close pass, several sharks and lots of stingray.

Sites dived included;
Lighthouse Reef
Shark Reef
Shakem
Purple Rain (looked for the "Artist Formerly Known as Prince"- no sightings)
Windmill Shallows (wasn't shallow, and we saw no windmills!)
Black Forest
Kohani
¼ wreck
Marine Park- we did several dives there, all were great, sculptures were under-whelming
Sherwood Forest
Moonscape
Bianca C / Whibbley's Reef
Japanese Gardens
Spott's Reef
Glover's Reef

Throughout the diving, we were pleased to see the abundance of marine life. The number and variety of critters to see was exciting.

Some random thoughts on the diving and some of the things that we noted were;

A large population of drum. We saw and photographed numerous specimens, including a couple groups of two to five juvenile drum.

A couple of firsts for us were sightings of a juvenile jack knife fish, a pipefish, two slipper lobsters and a highhat.

We saw a gazillion spotted morays, but only one Green Moray.

The sculptures at the marine park were alright. We checked them out the first time there and then, for the rest of our dives at the park we checked out the critters. We dive more to see the marine life, but the sculptures do attract much interest from other divers.

Speaking of wrecks, we dived the Bianca C. It is huge and would need several dives to take it all in. Descending through the gloom and seeing the ship materialize is haunting. The dive was neat, and is a must-do for wreck diving fans. (Note to Kay: If you read this, glad your ears cleared up in time for this dive.)

We also dived the wreck Shakem. It was a freighter carrying bags of concrete. It got into bad weather and started taking on water, so the captain headed right toward the lee (west) side of Grenada. Would've made it, too, if the boat hadn't plowed into the reef! You can see on the railing, deck plates and sides where the force of hitting the reef buckled the ship like an accordion. There is great growth on it, and we saw some fire worms for some good picture taking. There also was no current on this dive.

We hadn't done very much drift diving before, so the first few dives we spent getting used to the program and getting comfortable. The dive master tows a float w/ a diver down flag and divers all carry sausages. You place trust in the boat crew to see you when you pop up. The boat captains, Glenroy and Buggsy were great. Pickup was within minutes of breaking the surface; no easy feat since pairs of divers would pop up all over the place as each pair got low on air.

Here's a note to folks with ear clearing problems; try a product called Clear-Ease from Hydromed.com. It works. And no, I have no financial stake in the company! A relative who finds it painful to fly uses it and is able to travel with much less discomfort. Mrs DS and I typically have no problems clearing, but use it as an extra measure of comfort. Normally, I sink feet first and clear every so often. This trip, for the first time, I was able to jump in, point my body down and swim to the bottom.

The visibility was reduced from what we expected. Apparently there was a significant bloom of algae or whatever in the Amazon and as it flowed into the Atlantic it flowed up past the eastern Caribbean islands and even impacted visibility as far as the Virgin Islands.

I always like finding the giant anemones and looking in them for hiding critters. We saw no Giant Anemone this trip. Perhaps they aren't as common that far south.


Lodging

We stayed at True Blue Bay Resort. Choosing TBBR was a matter of guess work, and the deciding factor was their proximity to Aquanauts. We were pleased. Our room (one of their Bayview rooms) was clean, had a working air conditioner and had everything needed for us to do our usual practice of fixing our own breakfasts and lunches. There was no oven, but there were four surface burners and a small fridge. There was a walk-in shower. Perhaps best, we had a nice patio with a great breeze and a killer view. Just off the patio was a Governor's Plum tree that kept a steady flow of birds visiting to feast on the ripening fruit.

We looked at some of the other rooms and found them all to be clean and pleasant. I heartily recommend this resort, both for their rooms and the associated dive operation.

The people at TBBR need special mention. Everyone there was supremely friendly. While we dived, our room magically got cleaned and spruced up by the every-smiling team of (and I hope my memory is good here, I can't find where I wrote the names down) Sylvia, Sheryl and Susan.






Sculptured Slipper Lobster



Highhat who wouldn't stay still long enough for a good shot- Damn him!



Juvenile Jackknife Fish

DS

[divesergeant]

Dining

As noted, we ate breakfast and lunch in our room. Dinners we did out.

Much of the time we got lazy and ate at the Dodgy Dock. We found the Dodgy Dock to have good food for a reasonable (island) price. Service, as it was anywhere we ate, was on island time. Everyone there was very pleasant and polite. A special Hello to Salisha, the hostess. Every day she was there chatting with guests and making sure there was nothing we needed. (Also, congratulations again on graduation!)

Dodgy Dock often had live entertainment which we thoroughly enjoyed. The band on 25 April, for instance, had a guy on electric keyboard, a guy alternating between steel drum and saxophone and a woman on vocals with a rich, strong, smooth and versatile voice reminiscent of Donna Summer. (I should have requested Macarthur Park!) Their selection of music was eclectic and tastefully performed.

We walked to De Big Fish once. For its name, it didnŽÃŽÕ seem to have a great selection of seafood. My blackened fish burger was good; Mrs DSŽÃŽÔ hamburger was fair. The mudslides were very good. Service was fair.

We walked several times to the Banana Restaurant. They have killer pizza and great mudslides. Most of the times we ate there we were served by Ateba who was very polite and remembered us when we came in the second time.


Mandoo Island Tour- North Route

I'ŽÍl make this easy; you gotta do this.

Mandoo is a walking history lesson on the island, and is able to relate island history to the development of the rest of the world. I don't know what formal schooling he has had, but he is knowledgeable, articulate and passionate about a great many topics. The scenery was breathtaking, the history fascinating and his enthusiasm infectious. He is passionate about the planet, his island, its people and, especially, the future of its children.

I had read reports of feeding the monkeys at the National Park while on his tours but Mrs DS had not. I didn't tell her so she wouldn't be disappointed if they did not show. When one of the little guys came trotting out and sat the railing to be fed and petted, Mrs DS thought it was too cool.

We toured a nutmeg, mace, chocolate and cinnamon plantation (thanks, Bridgman, for the lesson on how it is handled there).

We toured the nutmeg coop where they sort and process the harvest (Frankie walked us through and explained the process at the plant).

We visited the River Rum distillery and sampled the white rum (75%, 150 proof) that you could probably run a car on and the spiced rum that was too smooth and delicious!

Again, even with a packed dive schedule, it is worth taking a day to do a tour with Mandoo.


Transport

It is an easy walk toward town to pick up one of the buses. 2.50EC each got us to the Spice Island mall to load up on groceries at the IGA store. It was well stocked each time we were there except for the last visit on Monday afternoon. Getting back was 2.50EC if they dropped us at the split where one road goes to the airport and the other to True Blue Bay. To get all the way to TBB was an extra 2.50ECeach; still a good deal.

When we wanted a cab ride, we rode with Terry Abraham. He was usually easily found around TBBR, or easily called by the front desk. He also provided the ride to the airport when we left.


Shopping

Grenada doesn't have the up-scale shopping of Grand Cayman, but seems more geared toward local crafts. Terry drove us into Grand Anse and pointed out the local craft mall on the beach. We browsed through once and returned later to pick up spices and souvenirs. Elsa (taking a break from singing Gospel songs with her other vendor friends, which was soothing to hear and pleasant in its own right) demonstrated how she weaved plants to make hats (Mrs DS bought one!) and we stocked up on spices and other items from her.


Friends We Made

First, we made friends with the entire island of Grenada. The people there are some of the overall friendliest people we have met. Virtually everyone we met answered our looks and greetings with a smile and hello. We are used to the very friendly people of Grand Cayman, but I think Grenada may have edged even them out! We never felt the sense of being unsafe or in a dangerous area that we have felt in other islands

A hearty Michigan hello to fellow vacationers; Peter and Janet from the UK, Steve and Kay from Maryland, Rebecca and Dale from TN, Happy birthday again to Amy from MN who was celebrating with friends at the Dodgy Dock on Sunday, 19 April, and greetings to the entire dive group from CA.

The entire Aquanauts crew was fantastic; Divemaster Jane (happy cooking!), the always organized and friendly Giselle in the dive shop; Boat Captains Buggsy and Glenroy; Divemasters Paul, Larry, Bruce (thanks for the fills!)and Reece and owners Gerlinde and Peter.


Conclusion

To wrap up, we had a fabulous time and heartily recommend the island of Grenada, Aquanauts Divers and True Blue Bay Resort.

[Rescue Diver68]

Thanks for sharing. More pictures would be great! Grenada sounds like Dominica as far as the marine life. We may give Greanada a try next year.

[divesergeant]

Here goes an attempt at several pictures....





























Hmmm, next time I'll have to try tp upload them at a higher resolution. But at least it is a start. Hope you enjoy...
DS

[Rescue Diver68]

Thanks for posting the photos. Looks like nice critters there!

[divesergeant]

Thanks for posting the photos. Looks like nice critters there!

You are welcome! As for the critters, we think that the variety and quantity of marine life in Grenada was the best we have experienced in our caribbean travels.

DS

[High Plains Drifter]

What a great report! The wife and I currently have Grenada, particularly TBBR and Aquanauts, on our short list of destinations for our trip this coming winter (I know...long ways off). Information like this is incredibly helpful in giving one a sense of what a location is truly like. Thanks!

[terrable]

Thanks! I hope to travel there in September.

[divesergeant]

HPD and terrable,

Sorry to be away from SB for so long. Life got busy!

Glad the report was helpful. If you need more info, or are curious about anything, feel free to ask in a post or PM me. With just two weeks spent on Grenada we are far from experts, but we'll pass on any info or thoughts we can.

DS

[jaymal]

DS,

I am heading to Grenada in August. Which dives are the must dives?

Thanks!