Bahamas Help me

[DirtyFrank]

Hello everyone,

Some friends and I are looking to take a dive trip to the bahamas, preferrabley Garnd Bahama, Abacos, or Walkers Cay leaving from Ft. Lauderdale. Does anyone have any sort of advice on where to go, any packages, the less expensive the better. All advice is welcome.

If you can help i'd be grateful if you could post or e-mail me-
fillip1215@hotmail.com

Thanks,
Phil

 

[Tavi]

Grand Bahama Scuba

I dive with them for 2 weeks each year. I love it there!!

PS. Welcome to the boards!!!

 

[Bluefish]

I'm a big fan of the Abacos. Quiet, great beaches, great patch reefs, nice people. A little trickier to get to than Grand Bahama. And as far as price goes, Grand Bahama is going to be the cheapest of your choices.

 

[JMD123]

I dove in the grand bahamas 2 weeks ago it was great. Althought the seas were very choppy. Choppy to the point that many of the dives were canceld and on the ones that did go a few people per trip got sick. Grand bahama scuba is a great dive shop. the owner thinks outside of the box. On days that the other dive operators were canceling there trips he elected to do a 1 take dive at a deep wreck (were you could avoid the serge) that was just out side the harbor. When the seas calm down I did do the dolphine dive with Unexco its kind of cheesy but very cool. I also did the shark dive with the other dive operator on GBI. That was very cool. To see pictures goto

http://homepage.mac.com/dolkart

note there are 3 different pages. goto the top to navigate. Let me know what you think.

 

[louisianadiver]

Hello everyone,

Some friends and I are looking to take a dive trip to the bahamas, preferrabley Garnd Bahama, Abacos, or Walkers Cay leaving from Ft. Lauderdale. Does anyone have any sort of advice on where to go, any packages, the less expensive the better. All advice is welcome.

If you can help i'd be grateful if you could post or e-mail me-
fillip1215@hotmail.com

Thanks,
Phil

Helo Phil. Walker's Cay has the best shark dive in the Bahamas (see http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id96.htm ), but the reef diving was poor 2 years ago when I was there. I've had some good dives off Bimini from a live-aboard. I don't know any operators there, but it's the closest to Ft. Lauderdale. -Clay

 

[ibnygator]

I dove for many years out of Port Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island. I haven't been there in two years, but the diving was always awesome there. Beautiful reefs with lots of life including eagle rays and sea turtles. Plenty of sharks, if that is what you want to see, or you can avoid them and just do the reefs. There are a couple of really nice wrecks as well, the Theo (about 95 fsw max) and the Sea Star (about 90 fsw max.). UNEXSO is the local dive shop, but I was always diving off of private boats, so I can't speak to their service. I recommend the sites though...

 

[MyDiveLog]

A group of us did a week at Stuart Cove's this year and I can tell you that, despite all the slick marketing, NOT to dive with them. They boat crew are great and the diving was also, but everything on land was a total bust. No access to a decent lunch, which is critical if you are doing more than 2 dives a day. Can't tell you how sick I got of cold turkey sandwiches! All of us were Nitrox divers and, despite ordering in advance and checking the day we arrived ... the Nitrox wasn't ready our first morning. We waited an extra hour and a half. Everybody makes mistakes ... but it happened the SECOND day also! They had us stay at an adjacent hotel that was in bankruptcy; a poorly maintained, eeerily empty hotel experience. Given the other posts in this thread, it sounds like other dive operations have their act together much better than Stuart.

 

[txscubagirl]

I just returned from Grand Bahama today. We dove with Sunn Odyssey divers, and I would highly recommend them. They were so personal, and I really enjoyed getting to know them. It is run by a husband and wife (from Oklahoma), and their children. They are very professional, and very fun to dive with. We did 6 dives over 3 days, and saw everything from beautiful coral to 7 ft. reef sharks.

FYI: When we were coming in from our last dive of the trip, we ran across some stranded divers who were lost from their group, and I will just say they weren't diving with Sunn Odyssey. We never had a chance of getting lost. There was always at least two DM's on each dive, and on each dive there was no more than 5 people.

IT WAS AWESOME!

 

[Yazmeen]

Tavi: Hubby and I decided against UNEXSO and Pelican Bay and opted to book at the Ocean Reef/Grand Bahama Scuba for an eight night stay next month. I was impressed with the reviews for Ocean Reef at Trip Advisor and Suzuki at GBS got back to us right away after I e-mailed. Hubby had a slightly disappointing experience in St. Thomas in April at Bolongo Bay (St. Thomas Dive Club) in the respect of dives being cancelled when he was the only one that wanted to go out. Suzuki was emphatic in stating that GBS will go out even with one diver on board. She sounds like a class act. I hope you don't mind, I mentioned your "board name" in my e-mail as recommending them. We're looking forward to the trip. Any suggestions?

 

[Tavi]

I'm sure you'll enjoy Ocean Reef. Be sure to go to the orientation on Sunday morning. They'll let you know about all the trips and opportunities throughout the week. You'll get to meet the Staff for GBS and Ocean Reef Yacht Club too. They offer Grocery runs (1st one is Saturday night) and beach runs a couple times each week. Monday night is the members party, Yes, this is your 1 chance for a free meal and all you can drink .

Once you get your gear down to the Dive shop, you won't have to haul it again until you're ready to leave. They have a place you can store your gear that is just feet away from the Dive Boat (NICE!).

Be sure to check out Willy Broadleaf's it's a buffet slyle restaurant on the grounds at Our Lucaya. It's VERY pricey, but very good. I hear that the new Casino is now open if that interests you.

If it's your first time to Grand Bahama take an afternoon to wander around Port Lucaya, and another for The International Bazaar, There is plenty of time after the morning dives.

Friday or Saturday night check out Count Basie's Square. Open Air Bars, Live entertainment and Dancing.

If you like the Idea of a romatic deserted island for just you and hubby, check out AJ's trips. If you don't see him Sunday morning, ask Fred or Suzuki about him.

Fred and Suzuki go out of their way to make sure you enjoy your diving. The Ocean Reef Staff is just as freindly and helpful with everything else.

Ocean Reef is away from the busy parts of the island, But getting around is easy. Buses are $1. They'll pick you up at the road outside of Ocean Reef and take you anywhere you want to go. Cabs cost more!!!

Have a great trip!!!! I'm looking forward to hearing about it on your return!!

no problem mentioning my board name.

(We just booked our trip for this year)