DiveSergeant's Grenada Trip Report- Part 1

[BiancaC]

Hey Sarge,
it was great having you here in Grenada.
We've just done our Rebreather certifications for Inspiration/ Evolution.
This adds a new dimension!
We hope to see you again some time, there's still a couple of spots you have not seen.
All the best,
Peter

 

[divesergeant]

Jaymal,

We really loved the Marine Park dives. We weren't too much the sculptures, but the sea life around there was phenomenal. We'd have gladly done a bunch more dives at the park. Next, as long as you're on Grenada, dive the wreck Bianca C. Heck, dive it two or three times. It is big so you can't really cover it in one dive. Other than that, most all of the dives resulted in seeing cool critters. Be prepared for drift diving (we weren't!) and bring a surface marker buoy on a reel.

And, take a day and book a tour with Mandoo. It is an experience you'll not soon forget



Peter,

Good to hear from you! We hope you, Gerlinde, and the whole darn gang are doing great.

We absolutely plan to return. Our favorite island has always been Grand Cayman, but we really fell for Grenada and for the True Blue Bay / Aquanauts operations. Grenada is truly a beautigul island with beautiful people.

We're doing Grand Cayman this February for our 25th anniversary (yeah, hard to believe she's kept me around that long) because we honeymooned there. After that, who knows, maybe Grenada again!

Say hello to the whole staff. They were like diving with family.

DS

 

[DiveBarbadosBlue]

Some of us were in Grenada in June/July dove with EcoDive at Coyaba Beach resort in Grande Anse. Fantastic diving, lovely hotel and great people. We would definitely recommend this outfit on all accounts.

From a biologists point of view diving in Grenada reflecting Barbados diving in a lot of ways in terms of biodiversity of corals, fish and critters. Some lovely variations in coral and sponge colours and lokely because of the proximity to the rich waters from South America a higher frequency of the big pelagics like sharks, big eagle rays and schools of Barracuda. I was most impressed with Grenada (I love my reefs in Bdos, I am bias) with respect to the options with wreck diving. BiancaC impressive in size and history, the cement boat that sunk still with cargo, a nice ease/beginner view of the Veronica L but by far my favorite the advanced dive on HEMA. What an amazing dive! Sharks, schools of barracuda, crystal clear Bdos style water, big eagle rays. a real highlight.
If you make it to EcoDive say hello to Nicole and Marvin from us here in Barbados. We look forward to going back.
Good luck and let us know if you make it to Barbados on your way.

Chris

 

[SAPIUS]

Informative write up... Ellen and I will be in Grenada/St. Vincent starting Sept 23... staying at someplace called La Luna and then Young Island. Look forward to critter diving (macro digital imaging). My BIG concern is the weight restrictions for baggage... diving equipment+imaging equipment+clothes = a hell lot more than 40lbs + 15 lbs carry on. Will be interesting what final weight will be and fully expect to get nailed on extra charges. Also appears that St. Vincent diver operations do not have Nitrox...anyone know if this is correct?
Ah...the burden we bear to be in this sport

Michael

 

[tarheeldiver]

Hey Sarge,
I have really loved reading about your trip. My wife and I are going to be in Grenada Sept. 21-28 and your review is really getting me excited to dive there. We are staying at True Blue and diving with Aquanauts also. From your review sounds like it's going to be a great trip. By the way did you see any sharks while there? My wife loves the small stuff but I'm partial to sharks and rays. But I do like to hunt frogfish. Thanks again for the report.

Greg

 

[divesergeant]

Hey Greg,

You're gonna have a great time. TBBR and Aquanauts both inpressed us.

If you don't already have surface markers, you might want to look into getting some. I'd get the ones on a reel where you can put in a puff of air at depth and then just let 'em go up. The diving is mostly drift diving and the markers tell the boat captains where and when to come get you. It was a bit disconcerting at first since we've not done any serious drift diving before, but once we iunderstood the drill we were fine with it.

Mrs DS saw sharks, and an eagle ray, on the first dive; I was sitting that dive out with some congestion so I missed them. There were some other shark sightings along the way. Rays were fairly plentiful also, so you should get some good sightings. We saw tons of spotted morays, but oddly only one green moray.

For your wife, she'll have a ball with small stuff. We saw a boatload of drum, many as juveniles in small groups. Other small critters were quite plentiful also. She should really like diving the marine park. I think I noted that the sculptures left me totally under-whelmed, but the critters were great there.

Be sure to take time and do a Mandoo tour. It is as enrichening as the diving. It'd be a great activity for your non-diving day before departure.

Tell the folks "Hi" from Mrs DS and I. If you meet divemaster Jane, ask her how the pan is working out!

DS

 

[tarheeldiver]

Thanks Sarge,
Did you book Mandoo tour through the resort? Which tour did you do? Also we need to get a taxi from the airport to the resort did you use any cabs and how much where they? The agency we booked with wanted 70.00 for transfers seems a little high. I usually like to just grab a cab to the resort so I don't have to wait for a group. We have done a lot of drift dives but we usually just used 1 surface marker for the whole group, does everyone need one down there?

thanks,
Greg

 

[divesergeant]

Hi Greg,

We used Terry Abraham for most of our taxi transport. Check with TBBR they can arrange pickup and return to the airport. We booked our diving and lodging direct and didn't use an agency, so it might be different since the agency doesn't need to get a share! If we remember correctly, for both of us to be picked up upon arrival and then returned for departure was a total of $60US. We paid separately for this, but it was arranged by TBBR. Check with TBBR and ask if they can arrange it, they should be able to.

We booked Mandoo through his website; Grenada Tours with Mandoo's Tour and Taxi Service in Grenada. We did the north route. He's kind of casual about emails so be patient with him. But, he'll give you a hell of a tour / civics lesson / history lesson! His life experiences and education give him a worldly perspective rooted in a traditional native Grenada frame of mind. He was fascinating.

On the dives, each person, or at least each buddy team, had a marker. As each buddy pair got low on air they would surface and get picked up, so the air hogs like me wouldn't force air misers to come up early. I strongly recommend each person has a marker for safety. If for no other reason, it makes you more comfortable to have one.

I hope this helps. Please don't hesitate to ask any more questions. Mrs DS and I truly enjoy passing on what we found out and learned if it can help someone else have as great of a time as we did!

DS

 

[High Plains Drifter]

My BIG concern is the weight restrictions for baggage... diving equipment+imaging equipment+clothes = a hell lot more than 40lbs + 15 lbs carry on.

Michael

Are you talking the flight between Grenada and St. Vincent? Yikes, I hope so. My wife and I are planning a trip to Grenada (only) in February and I thought AA flew AT7's there from Puerto Rico. I don't recall AT7's having that limitation.

 

[SAPIUS]

Yes... LIAT airlines from Grenada to St. Vincent... big baggage restrictions. We even purchased new light weight duffel bags trying to save weight for equipment etc. I guess many just rent equipment...I am very particular about my diving equipment so not an option for me (except of course weights and tanks).
Michael