Grenada

[Gary_Ward]

Hey Tamas, I run one of the dive centres on Carriacou and have been following this thread closely. I can not fault anything Todd has mentioned about Grenada, being that it is an incredibly warm, vibrant and safe place to come and stay. The diving between Carriacou and Grenada is like chalk and cheese though!

Grenada has some good reef and some amazing wrecks. Where the reef is best there tends to be a little current too. In Carriacou, which is Arawak Indian for the 'Land of (many) reefs', the diving is all about the reefs. We have a couple of wrecks which are great, but we're not a wreck destination. Some of our reefs are in excellent condition for the region and we have really high levels of marine life diversity and biomass, this is helped by having small a island which does not attract too much fishing or tourism. I have a video which I put together earlier this year from a couple of tge dives we did which is on YouTube (Underwater Carriacou with Deefer Diving - YouTube).

The island itself is a little rustic. There is no resort based tourism and no international hotels - its kinda like how the Caribbean used to be. The beaches are quiet and public (no private beaches at all) and there are a myriad of small cays and islands just waiting to be explored. Food is basic, but plentiful. In my humble opinion, the diving is better in Carriacou, but the facilities are more modern in Grenada.

Tobago Cays - I get to dive there quite often. I like it a lot, but always feel that something is missing. There can be quite a bit of current, particularly around horseshoe reef, but the reefs there, around Petite Tabac and Mayreau Gardens are quite spectacular. When I say I feel there is something missing.... the old manager of the TCMP (Tobago Cays Marine Park) described diving there perfectly, he suggested it was like "diving in one of the worlds most lavish theatres, where the stage sets were perfect, the colours amazing and the experience ethereal. But you find yourself constantly wishing for the missing actors". Tobago Cays has an amazing turtle sanctuary and is home to quite a few rays too, but has been blighted with over-fishing. This is something the authorities is trying to address.

I hope you do manage to convince your family to come down here and give Grenada a chance, and come and try out the Diving in Carriacou too - you will not regret it.

Gary

How about Carriacou and Tobago Cays? How do they compare in terms of reef health, fish diversity, visibility, currents etc. to the "regular destinations" (Bonaire, Coz, Roatan)?

 

[mikeycanuk]

Hi Gary, How is the marine park helping the health of the reefs and are the locals respecting it's boundaries? Found it curious that a small-off the beaten path island would institute something so forward looking. Barbados for instance has nothing and I mean that in regards to everything, NO fish! Great place for our OPW checkout dives but we will never be back.

 

[toddthecat]

The island itself is a little rustic. There is no resort based tourism and no international hotels - its kinda like how the Caribbean used to be.

I really miss how the Caribbean used to be. I love how laid back everything was and still relatively untouched by all the big name resorts. And yes, this is true of Carriacou. Very much the way the Caribbean was/should be.

True about the wrecks too. Lots of wrecks in Grenada and personally I prefer wreck diving. The Bianca C is the love of my life!

 

[Hawkwood]

Hey Tamas, I run one of the dive centres on Carriacou and have been following this thread closely.

Gary

Gary,

I just had to jump in here. My wife and I will be down diving with you folks in November with Judy and Jim. We are all looking forward to it.

Bill

 

[Gary_Ward]

Hi Gary, How is the marine park helping the health of the reefs and are the locals respecting it's boundaries? Found it curious that a small-off the beaten path island would institute something so forward looking. Barbados for instance has nothing and I mean that in regards to everything, NO fish! Great place for our OPW checkout dives but we will never be back.

The respecting of the marine park is a little hit and miss. The idea of protecting key elements of the habitat (both onshore and offshore) is something that Grenada appears to be really keen on - there are 7 national parks within Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique, including 3 marine protected areas. The parks are patrolled regularly, but the enforcement legislation means its really difficult to enforce the rules and a small section of the local fishing population knows this. That said, we do have really good levels of fish bio-mass both inside the marine park and outside, but the diversity within the park is greater. There are not the large fish or palegiacs that you would hope for after 3 years of the park, but we're working with the fishing community to address this.

---------- Post added August 3rd, 2013 at 11:39 AM ----------

Gary,

I just had to jump in here. My wife and I will be down diving with you folks in November with Judy and Jim. We are all looking forward to it.

Bill

Hey Bill, Judy mentioned that she'd be coming down with some friends - will be good to meet you and show you what we've got. Its a great time to dive here too!

Let me know if there is anything you guys need before you come down too.

Gary

 

[ccxx]

This thread is really an eye opener and I'm glad I found it. My dive club is planning on going to Grenada July of 2015 and I'm in charge of hotel/dive reservations. After reading all the comments on this thread, I think I'll do a bit more shopping. American Airlines Vacations was promoting the Flamboyant/Dive Grenada package but I think there are better options now. Thanks for all the great information.
Back to the drawing board.

 

[divesergeant]

ccxx, definitely check with True Blue Bay and Aquanaut divers. We stayed at TB and dived with Aquanauts and loved it. We could walk to town and shop (took our backpacks and a towel to wrap the cold stuff in to keep it cold) and also walked to dining even when not eating at Dodgy Dock there at TB. Locals were absolutely wonderful; we looked like visitors obviously and people we passed on the street would smile and ask how we were enjoying their island just to be friendly.

If you go, be sure and book a tour with Mandoo on a dry day. He's a wealth of info.

Here's a link to my trip report... http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/le...vesergeants-grenada-trip-report-part-1-a.html

Have a great trip.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Where does one stay on Carriaccou and what does rustic mean to you?

 

[Hawkwood]

A few pictures of Hillsborough, including Deefer Diving's boat and location.

Green Roof Inn is a nice place to stay and to eat.

The "hotels" are small, clean, nothing too fancy, some have "basic" AC, some have no AC.

There are a few restaurants, menu choices are usually limit to only a few choices, depending on what is available that day.

There are a fair number of "villas" for rent. You really don't need to rent a vehicle. The taxis and "buses" are plentiful and convenient.

The picture with the tree in the courtyard? That's the hospital. It's a small island.

 

[Gary_Ward]

How about Carriacou and Tobago Cays? How do they compare in terms of reef health, fish diversity, visibility, currents etc. to the "regular destinations" (Bonaire, Coz, Roatan)?

Hi Tamas,

I used to work in Roatan and now own a dive ship on Carriacou. I've also dived quite a bit down in Grenada too. I love Grenada's diving as I'm a bit of a wreck head with a depth wish (apparently), but I had a buddy from Utila over recently and we were doing the 'Carriacou vs the Bay Islands' debate. The key difference here is the relative lack of large sharks and Manta's - the water is a lot shallower and they don't appear to be around much. However you have much healthier reefs with a greater diversity of fish and marine life. Carriacou was described for me this weekend as "like Grenada, only bigger and brighter", which I think sums it up well. We have predominately reef diving here, with some 'world class' dive sites. Many are teeming with a rich array of marine life and we often have to try to push the fish out of the way to see each other. For the macro lovers, there is also plenty of rich variety which will keep you coming back for more.