Cruising in May - Key West, Freeport, Nassau - HELP

[TinmanJones]

We are Carnival cruising in May to Key West, Freeport, and Nassau. We are hoping to dive a wreck in Freeport. But as of now, we aren't having much luck.
Our cruise doesn't offer a dive excursion. So, we must go outside the cruise ship to book a dive.
We port in Freeport at 8am and depart at 5pm.

Grand Bahamas Scuba doesn't have a dive that will works with our port schedule.

Unexso has a 9am dive, but we will have to be at their facility by 8:30. Talking to the lady on the phone today, she's not sure we can make it to the facility by the 8:30 meeting. They do not offer transportation from the cruise port.

If you have dove with another dive op in the Bahamas, or have any other info that might help us, please, we'd love to hear from you.

 

[diversteve]

Caribbean Divers does some wrecks on their 1PM dives. I think they're about the same distance away as UNEXSO - never been there but drove by once. Caribbean Divers Scuba Diving - Freeport, Port Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island

I think your schedule is going to be a problem with Sunn Odyssey also but you might check. Introducing Grand Bahamas personalized dive operator Sunn Odyssey Divers

If "a wreck" is Theo's note that it's 100' deep. There's quite a few shallower wrecks near Stuart Cove's on Nassau.

Most of your options: http://www.bahamasdiving.com/memberdirectory.aspx

 

[TinmanJones]

DiverSteve, thanks for the info. As I kept searching last night, I can across Stuart Cove's. Looking through their site, this might be our best bet.
We port in Nassau at 7am & depart at 5. We would need to be at the Stuart Cove's facility by 8:30, but docking at 7, may give us enough time to catch a cab & get there.

Stuart Cove's has a bus pick up at 7:45, but not sure we'll get off the ship to catch it. So we are thinking a taxi might be a better plan.

Any help we can get on this plan is appreciated!

 

[Lorenzoid]

Stuart Cove's has an operation in Freeport? I thought they were in Nassau?

 

[diversteve]

Stuart Cove's has a bus pick up at 7:45, but not sure we'll get off the ship to catch it. So we are thinking a taxi might be a better plan.

Any help we can get on this plan is appreciated!

It's hard to say, the one time we docked there (also on Carnival) we weren't diving so stayed on the ship till after 8. By then there was no crowd thru customs/immigration. With an early arrival time like that, you might look at Bahama Divers also. They also want you to be there at 8:30 but it's a 10min. cab ride away. See the bridge to Paradise Island on the map? Their dock is on the Nassau side right there. Plus after your dives you could likely get someone to shuttle you over to Atlantis for lunch and to look around Bahama Divers - Diving

IDK about Nassau but in some ports ships time is not the same as local time. So you might check before making plans. Bahama Divers also does a single tank dive at 2PM - check-in is 1:30.



---------- Post added January 30th, 2013 at 06:37 PM ----------

Stuart Cove's has an operation in Freeport? I thought they were in Nassau?

They have a facility at Old Bahama Bay in the West End now also. Doing three times per week day trips to Tiger Beach - and I assume local dives at other times. I didn't mention it to the OP since it's an hour drive away so even worse for their schedule. Welcome to Stuart Cove's Newest Dive Operation at Old Bahama Bay Resort, West End, Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas

 

[Bryan Cunningham]

Stuart Cove is well set up in Nassau for arranging dives for cruise ships. Their bus will pick you up and return you. Taxi is NOT a viable option as it is quite a long way and will cost you a fortune. There are loads of wrecks near Stuarts Cove, most of their dive sites have wrecks in around 40 - 60 feet close to the edge of the wall "Tongue of the Ocean". Many were set up for various underwater movies. Even the dive shop is actually the old movie set from "Flipper" Contact them directly (or I can book it for you) as it works out about $30 cheaper than booking on the ship.

PS: Good dive close to Stuart Cove is Bahama Mama. It is a wreck and shark feeding site. You'll see at least 10 sharks even if they are not doing a feed. The wreck sits on the edge of a wall. Great dive.

Ask if you want more info on diving Nassau, I worked there for over 4 years as an instructor.

Cheers
Bryan
SCUBA DESTINATION DEALS - HOME

 

[TinmanJones]

Their bus will pick you up and return you.

Bryan, first let me say thank you for your helpful information and willingness to help.
Out of all the sites and stuff I've looked at and found online, the bus thing is what keeps me coming back to thinking that booking Stuart Cove's is our best choice. BUT, I do have a few questions about the pick up time.

The Stuart Cove's site says:
"7:45am - Meet the Stuart Cove bus in front of the Tourist Information Center. (We ask that you are at the pick-up area :15 minutes early as it is on a public one-way street. As such, our bus can not sit and wait for guests who are not there when the bus pulls up.)".

Now, my ship docks at 7am. This will be 7am SHIP TIME, NOT actual Bahama's time, correct? I'm guessing the SHIP TIME is central time, since we are porting out of NOLA. Is this correct?

Even if the 7:45 time is SHIP TIME for the bus, will we be able to get off ship, through customs, and to the Tourist Information Center in 30mins (because they suggest being there 15mins early)?

From other things I've read, it's going to be tight to get off the ship and to that bus in our given time.

So, I'm looking for help with this.

My thought is that if we don't get to the bus, we could catch a cab and make it there by 8:30. When you say it would cost me a fortune to do that, how much (ball park) are you thinking?

Any and all information is good here.
My cruise is in early May, but I'd really like to get this planned out as soon as possible.
Thanks again guys.

 

[Bryan Cunningham]

30 minutes is plenty. The tourist information is at the entrance to the dock, and the bus stops right there. The taxi will seriously cost you almost as much as your diving. Its a 30-40 minute ride.

 

[TinmanJones]

Booked our dive with Stuart Coves. Will do a 2 tank morning dive on May 9th.
Looking forward to it.
Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[Rascalsmom]

Our family did a cruise earlier this month, and I was quite stressed worrying about "ships time" vs "local time" and whether we could make our connections for dives. When we got on the boat (Norwegian) we found out the ship automatically switches to local times of your cruise stops. Then I had to email from the ship to un-do all the arrangements I had made. Frustrating.

My advice is to call your cruise line clarify their policy on ships time vs local time.