Diving Bermuda???

[ScottZeagle]

A good friend of mine is taking his wife to Bermuda, and would like to do some diving while there. Looking for some places that a husband and wife could do together and enjoy. I have never been to Bermuda, but I figured that the knowledgable ScubaBoard members would know of the best spots and dive shops...

Any thoughts??

Thanks!!

Scott

 

[Mantasscareme]

I've never been to Bermuda, but I've heard that the focus there is wreck diving, not so much on the marine life. Bermuda's not as popular as the Caribbean for some reason.

 

[Jamdiver]

I've personally never been there, but I vaguely remember an article about it and that the water's cooler as it is in the Atlantic and not the Caribbean.. 5mm country and they're a lot of historic wrecks there.

Did a little Google search for you Scott.
Didn't find anything authoritative but I thought it would be useful.
Click away....

http://www.divebermuda.com/
Trip report about diving in Bermuda on another board.. http://dive.scubadiving.com/members/tripreports.php?s=839

Word to the wise, things are expensive there.
Had a friend from Bermuda when I was younger and he'd always mention how much stuff costs up there.

 

[ScubaJW]

Been to Bermuda but didn't dive a few years back. I did snorkeled, the coral there is not as colorful as in the Caribbeans. Wish I did dive but I wasn't cerified then, bummer!

 

[large_diver]

Trip report about diving in Bermuda on another board.. http://dive.scubadiving.com/members/tripreports.php?s=839

Too funny..that's my report from a few years ago...:14:

Bermuda is definitely differerent than the Carribbean, but a nice place to visit nonetheless. Water temps in the summer are at or around 80. During the winter, they will be down in the 60s.

I was there in July 2001. Water temps were close to 80 -- most folks were wearing 3mm shorties or 3mm full suits. My brothers and I were wearing only bathing suits...generally comfortable, but there was a thermocline in the 70s at deeper depths....

We used Blue Water Divers for a couple of 2 tank charters, and were happy with them. Their charter boat operates out of the Somerset Bridge area on the west end of the island (this was very convenient to where we were staying). It was definitely more of a self service boat vs. Carribbean "resort diving" -- you set up and deal with your own gear. Getting around is via taxi (expensive), bus (great system, but not convenient for lugging dive gear), or scooter/moped (dangerous --everyone on the island seems to have a scooter crash story...). BWD will hold onto your gear for you if you are there for multiple days. They also have a full compliment of rental gear. I asked them many, many questions via e-mail before our trip and they were very responsive. They provide instruction and also offer resort courses where you dive a shallow site off their boat.

http://www.divebermuda.com

Hope this helps.

Chris

 

[Jamdiver]

Small world eh, large_diver .
Hope you didn't mind me referring your report like that hehe.
Does seem like an interesting island to visit or just dive.

 

[NJdiver85]

Scott,

I currently live in Bermuda and dive with Blue Water Divers as well as Dive Bermuda. Both are high quality operations and you can't go wrong with either.

Blue Water Divers operates in the three locations: Wyndam Hotel, Somerset Bridge Marina, and Elbow Beach Hotel. The Elbow location is just for shore diving, they have no boat there. The Wyndam location is a full service hotel, and they keep a boat there in summer months, although when there is less business, like now, you have to go to there Somerset location. The Somerset location is not a hotel, just simply a marina, so only accessible via taxi, but that is where most of their charters leave from.

Dive Bermuda operates out of the Hamiltion Princess and Southamption Princess, with boats at both locations. The Southamption Princess is more of a resort, with beach, tennis, pool, etc. The Hamilton Princess is located in town overlooking the harbor, and has more of a business feel to it.

Timing of your trip is important. After September, the tourist season winds down and sometimes charters won't go out during the week due to lack of interest. Certainly have your friend call down and see what there plans are during the time you are comming down. Check water temps as well at www.weather.bm . Click on the marine tab and scroll down to get the latest on marine conditions. Right now, a full 3ml is best.

The other major operation is Triangle Diving, which operates out of Grotto Bay Hotel on the opposite side of the island. No direct experience with them, but I've heard all good things about them from other.

 

[miked]

Hi Scott,
Just agreeing with what Large Diver (re:"getting around")and NJdiver85 (re: BWD and Dive Bermuda as good dive ops., and the changes in schedules as the Summer winds into Fall)
I'd also suggest that your friend signs up with whichever of thoses dive ops is closest to where they are staying-and they won't go wrong.
I have been going to Bermuda since '83-and I love the island, and the diving.

Mike

 

[Daylonious]

Hey Scott!

As luck would have it I just got back form Bermuda about 3 weeks ago. Here's my take on the diving situation.

1) No nitrox on the island, so don't worry about that one.

2) no one does night dives, it's too dangerous to get a boat out at night because of the manby reefs I am told. Most outfits run a two tank dive in the morning, and depending on how many people sign up, possibly an afternoon dive around 1pm.

3) I went with Blue Water Divers - Heidi over there runs the boat and there a nice outfit. You can typically get in 2 wrecks or 1 wreck / reef ber day. They give discounts for multi-day dives. I think for 3 days of 2 tank diving they charged me about $300 or so. The www site is "www.divebermuda.com".

4) Be sure to bring snacks and water along with you, as it's not typically provided.

I dove the Hermes, Constellation, Montana, Lartington and Darlington wrecks while I was there and didn't want to come back!

Most wrecks are 40 feet of water or less, so you're looking at 45-60 min of bottom time. I'd definately recommend a 3ml suit as you start to get a bit chilled after a while.

OH, depending on which side of the island you stay on affects which dive shop you would pic. Blue Water Divers is on the southwest side of the island, so mainly hits the wrecks on that side. Triangle Diving is on the north end of the island so mainly dives the wrecks up there. It's probably a good idea to see which wrecks you wanna hit, then select your dive operator.

p.s. Bermuda is EXPENSIVE! Lobster dinner will run you $60 and most beers are over $5.

Other than that, I had a great time diving! Trip report and pictures coming soon!

D.

 

[Natasha]

D.
I haven't had much luck with this. I am in Bermuda for only one day. I emailed Fantasea and they will not pick me up at the pier where my ship will dock. Blue water has an afternoon one tank that I wanted to do, but we wouldn't be able to get back in time before the ship sails at 4PM. We are docked at the Royal Navel Dockyard.
Any suggestions? I really want to dive there, and bring back a group, which is what I told them, but they don't seem to care.