Bahamas-Blackbeard's

[FishDiver]

Has anyone dived with Blackbeard's in The Bahamas? I have heard them run down as a low budget operation and described as camping at sea. Are they significantly different than the liveaboards in Ventura and Santa Barbara? I would hardly call those luxury accomadations although perfectly adequate for divers.

 

[odtill]

I have been on Blackbeards several times and you will have fun. I leave on another trip this Saturday 1-15-11. The food is great the diving is good it is not a luxury liveaboard but then they don't charge the luxury prices. I believe you have as much fun as you out into it i have always had great crew mates that made for a great trip.

 

[tstormdiver]

Can't compare it to the liveaboards in your area, never been on them. I have been on Blackbeard's twice. Don't expect much, if any, privacy. All's you have is a curtain across your bunk. It can be crowded, if the boat is full. I have been on with only 8 people- was very nice & I have been there when full- very crowded. There's really nowhere, except your bunk to go to get away from people, so if you have issues with close quarters, it may be a problem. Like the others said, the diving is good & the food better. The crew is very knowledgeable & helpful. A good trip!.

 

[ScubaVideo]

Can't compare it to the liveaboards in your area, never been on them. I have been on Blackbeard's twice. Don't expect much, if any, privacy. All's you have is a curtain across your bunk. It can be crowded, if the boat is full. I have been on with only 8 people- was very nice & I have been there when full- very crowded. There's really nowhere, except your bunk to go to get away from people, so if you have issues with close quarters, it may be a problem. Like the others said, the diving is good & the food better. The crew is very knowledgeable & helpful. A good trip!.

That's a description that could apply to the Channel Is/SoCal liveaboards too. How are the showers/bathroom(s)?

 

[FishDiver]

That's a description that could apply to the Channel Is/SoCal liveaboards too.

My thoughts exactly. That's why I wasn't discouraged by the "camping at sea" description.

 

[tstormdiver]

That's a description that could apply to the Channel Is/SoCal liveaboards too. How are the showers/bathroom(s)?

Kind of tiny. Just enough room to turn around. The toilets are manual flush (hand pump). The shower is about the same with unlimited salt water & a 30 sec. Freshwater rinse.

 

[herbdb]

Questions for those of you who have done the cruise.

I have been looking at these trips and it appears that you only get four and 1/2 days diving. Leave dock after 3:00 PM Saturday - Back at dock Thursday night (1/2 day diving on Thurs). Is this correct or am I missing something?

Do you dive off of the 65' boat? If not how do you get to and from dive sites?

How many dive opportunities per day. The phrase "up to" in the advertising is not very informative.

Scuba toys is running a trip in June that is advertised as a week, but when I checked they were doing a Sat Afternoon departure. Then you had to be off the boat by 9:30 Friday morning. Not a week in my book.

Thanks in advance for the info.

 

[tstormdiver]

Questions for those of you who have done the cruise.

I have been looking at these trips and it appears that you only get four and 1/2 days diving. Leave dock after 3:00 PM Saturday - Back at dock Thursday night (1/2 day diving on Thurs). Is this correct or am I missing something?

Do you dive off of the 65' boat? If not how do you get to and from dive sites?

How many dive opportunities per day. The phrase "up to" in the advertising is not very informative.

Scuba toys is running a trip in June that is advertised as a week, but when I checked they were doing a Sat Afternoon departure. Then you had to be off the boat by 9:30 Friday morning. Not a week in my book.

Thanks in advance for the info.

The 2 times I have gone, the boats were leaving out of Grand Bahama, now they leave out of Nassau. I'm not sure if it has changed the itinerary or not. If memory serves me correctly, we did 1 dive on the first day. Sun.- Wed. there are 3- 4 dives/ day (4th dive is a night dive- usually 3 night dives during the trip) & 2 dives on the last day (Fri.) Roughly 18 dives or so. I think it used to be Sat.- to Sat, but looks like they've changed their itinerary.

Yes, the diving is done off the sailboat itself. You jump off the sides (about a 5 ft drop to the water). The sailboat has ladders to get out & some small dinghies to pick you up, if you get blown off by currents or have problems.

 

[DIVINGDAMSEL]

Been on Blackbeard's a few times and the diving out of Nassau is a little different than Freeport departures. Not much though, same great experience in a different area. More wall diving and swift drifts that we didn't go in Bimini area. You get a dive in on Saturday evening and then dive Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed 4 dives (3 day and 1 night) then on Thursday, we did 3 dives before we headed back to Nassau for port night. Friday morning we all departed. I had 19 dives in my logbook and skipped one! Very close quarters on board but much like a summer camp experience in a cabin with bunk beds lining the walls. If this is too tight for you, they also have the Aqua Cat but she is like 3 times the price. You want good diving and don't need a lot of cushion, then the Blackbeard's trip is more fun anyway! i found that folks who can live in sparser conditions tend to be more tolerant and easy going to hang out with for a full week which made it easy to get to know everyone on board. Still keep in touch with a few.

 

[diversteve]

For a mid-range compromise, Cat Ppalu sometimes has extra space if someone doesn't fill a charter. They're the other BlackBeards Inc. boat. It works out to about $1600+ with fees. You still have to be off the boat on Friday though. Cat Ppalu Bahamas Liveaboard Yacht Charter Boat