Grenada Dive ops & hotels

[Robinella]

I've read reviews of Aquanauts dive op on Grenada, anyone dived with them? Opinions? Other dive ops recommended? What about hotels? True Blue looks good on their website and is right next to Aquanauts. Anyone stayed there? All help and advice welcome

 

[saholz]

I haven't been to Grenada, but did a lot of research on it this year as a possible dive destination for our group's 2008 dive trip. Although not rated very highly as a dive destination, almost everyone i spoke to ...who had actually been there ... had only positive comments.

The consensus was that there was good, if not spectacular, reef diving with some excellent wrecks to explore. Dive ops were highly rated, although most use smaller boats.

The few bigger resorts have nice beaches, restaurants, and on site dive ops. Some of the smaller hotels are not on the beach and may or may not have on site dive ops. Food was generally good everywhere, and the Grenadian people were considered very friendly and courteous. Also, virtually all the hurricane damage taken a few years back has been repaired and the island is operating normally at this point.

We wound up not going because the two hotels we had considered both have dinner dress codes that require long pants and shoes for the men, and dresses for the women. That was enough to put off a few members of our rather laid back group, so it's off to Ambergris Caye in February instead.

Good luck!

 

[fairfield59]

Stayed at True Blue with a big group and dove with Aquanauts. Both were great. Divemasters were awesome. Bottom until 750#. Aquanauts rinses and stores your gear for you, and brings it out to the boat in am. Rides all less than 25 minutes to sites. True Blue knew our names the second day. We had lunch and most dinners included in our trip, and the food was good too. Can walk to town. Don't rent a car, they are bad drivers. Rum factory tour not worth the length of time to get there. Fish Friday was incredible food, street bands, $1.25 beers. Lake Etang was anti climatic. Rainforest was good for pictures. lots of mountainous area.
Highly recommend both True Blue and Aquanauts.

Gerry

 

[MarkUK]

I just came back from Grenada on Monday after doing three days diving with Aquanauts and staying in True Blue, and a week on Peter Hughes Wind Dancer.

True Blue is a really nice resort, with good food, a decent bar, spacious, comfy rooms and, best of all, it is right next to Aquanauts.

Can't say enough good about Aquanauts. One of the most-professional, well-run dive centres in the Caribbean. Three boats, all a decent size and capable of taking 16-20 people (though they never cram that many on), excellent knowledge of the wrecks and reefs, and enough sense to treat experienced divers as experienced divers and let you dive your computer profiles.

Their specialty is the Atlantic wrecks, such as the King Mitch and the Hema 1, and they are awesome. Blue water, 35m plus depth, well over 40m vis, lots of marine life (cuda, nurse sharks, eagle rays, stingrays, etc). They also do great tours of the Bianca C, though she has degraded some since I was there four years ago.

Contrary to popular belief, I think the Grenada reefs are fair healthier in terms of fish population and coral/sponge growth than anything in the northern Caribbean. Tobago, Grenada and, to some extent, Dominica can also serve up sites with enough fish to make you think you were in the Indo-Pacific. On one dive last week, my buddy and I got into the middle of a massive shoal of 2,500-plus southern sennet and it reminded me of Ras Mohammed on breeding season!

Big thumbs up from me!

Mark

 

[Robinella]

The reviews seem to be consistently good of both the hotel and dive op. We are booked for 2 weeks to celebrate our 30th anniversary and my nephew's college grad, and are psyched! I'll post a report when we get back.

 

[Eau_Girl]

I dove in Grenada in October 2006. I stayed a True Blue for about a week and dover 3-4 days with Aquanats. I thought they were very professional and ran a good dive operation. The crew and dive guides were friendly and helpful.

I like True Blue as a hotel -- nice rooms, relaxing atmosphere. I would recommend going elsewhere to eat though. The restaurant was average and the service not great -- below average all week and then topped off by an unpleasant incident with the way they treated our liveaboard group during our last night dinner. It did not seem that they could have been run by the same friendly people as the hotel.

I dove for a week on the Wind Dancer in Grenada and the Grenadines. I enjoyed the diving and was surprised by the quality of some sites. Others were average -- we noted dead coral on a number of sites (it seemed to be species specific). I would summarize by saying the diving was good but not great. However, if I'm diving in warm water, I tend to be in a happy state!

The quality of the Aquanats operation far surpassed the Wind Dancer. I'd go back to Grenada for a land-based holiday with some diving, but for a liveaboard, I would pick another location and another boat.

 

[stevecou1]

Hi Mark,
How was the Wave Dancer Trip??
Steve