San Salvador Bahamas anyone?

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

So I have not been able to find any reviews / discussion on diving in San Salvador Bahamas. No one seems to know it exists! Even though there are good diving facilities including a dive resort (www.ridingrock.com) few have gone that way. Is it because diving is not that great? If anyone has been to San Salvador then I would love to know how diving compares to the rest of Bahamas and other places in the Caribbean. Thanks.

 

[rhwestfall]

My history there is quite dated as I was there in 1989, likely it's hey-day. Stephen Frink and Paul Tsamoulous (sp) frequented there then, with many covers of Skin Diver Magazine being shot on the walls. The Riding Rock was the only game in town, the accommodations were modest, the food was good, the ownership was friendly, and the diving was spectacular. Some of the bad hurricanes have impacted all of this. From what I have read of posts about it now, it is sharks, sharks, sharks, and little else. The ecology changed quite a bit. The RR has rebuilt, but now with ClubMed there, it is often overlooked.

There have been a few posts here over the years.

I'd like to go back to see it again.....

 

[Wookie]

I took the Spree there in 2013 and it was still fantastic. I love that part of the world because the big ocean is right on the other side of the island, and it's damn deep on all sides, so big fish and mammals are frequently seen. We dived 98% on the ocean side, where no one else goes, specifically researching coral health, but made a few dives on the inside looking at the walls. Our protocols required we start the dive on coral in 9 meters or less. The coral does not come that shallow in the inside.

Anyway, San Salvador was one of the healthiest places we saw, along with South Caicos and French Cay. I can't tell you about Riding Rock, and I stayed at the club med in 1998, and although I dove, I wasn't there for the diving. (wink wink) I know a couple of dive instructors from back in the day, one is a park ranger at Dry Tortugas.

Hope I helped. Now that the new boat is on the way, stopping by the mechanic for some <gulp> expensive engine work, I hope to spend a summer there some day in the not too distant future.

 

[rhwestfall]

@Wookie: nice to hear! reports here on SB have been not so favorable.

 

[Sam Miller III]

I was there 40 years ago when divers were few and resorts were even fewer and diving travel had not been fully established. I was a golden goose free guest of the then publisher of Skin Diver Magazine, (SDM) the late Paul Tzmoulis.

I was impressed by the physical facility of Riding Rock Inn, the food and especially the always calm clear warm water.

One area that should not be missed is "Snap Shot reef" named aptly named by Paul -- It was correctly named-- crystal clear shallow reef, full a huge variety of marine life all seemingly wanting to pose for the camera. Paul's wife Gerry Murphy who always accompanied him on theses trips photographed many of the SDM covers on Snap Shot reef. (Yep! they were married and Yep ! she holds the record for the most SDM covers)

There was the remains of a ship wreck also in very shallow crystal clear water.. The anchor had just been salvaged and was a fixture at the inn

Several of us dove some exploratory dives which were rather deep holes only thing I recall was the sharks we encountered on those dives

At that time so many good and great years ago the entire island shut down on Saturday night and converged at the only watering hole on the island in Cogburn Town to mingle and make new friends out of strangers --A must do event

That was then -- I cannot comment on NOW

If you would like to contact Gerry Murphy for additional details PM me

SDM​

 

[rhwestfall]

@Sam Miller III , thanks for the correct spelling of my butchering of Paul's name (we just called him Tzam). A bunch of us went "in to Town" one night, guided by Paul and the then dive operations head Collin Tozier (probably again spelled wrong). Fun times!

 

[Ghetto Diver]

No first hand experience, but my daughter just got back from there (a month or so at Gerace).
The shore diving looks excellent...walls, sharks and dolphins.
The Club Med boat was hitting the same spots they were shore diving.

 

[Wookie]

The Club Med boat was hitting the same spots they were shore diving.

Yes, but the young folks on the Club Med boat were lugging all the gear, filling the tanks, and providing other services. At some point in a life, driving along a beach and lugging gear becomes more work than the reward.

I'm spoiled by thousands of liveaboard dives. I've never desired to go to Bonaire.

 

[Ghetto Diver]

^maybe for some.

I'm 52 and enjoy it more and more.
See my screen name

 

[Sam Miller III]

I just viewed the Riding Rock promotional Video-- Certainly changed from the small cluster of cabins and a modest reception / dining area of the past.

And the modern boats !

Tomas Wolfe was so correct when he wrote his book "You can't go home again." And you can't go back to a dive resort again -- too many years ... too many changes... and so many wonderful memories

But you have a sampling of "Then and Now" When if first opened and how it is now

I never returned to San Salvador and the Riding rock inn -- too many other places my wife and I had to explore before they became popular with the dive tribe

Hope in some way was helpful --

SDM