Inexpensive Barbados Trip

[Zero]

Greetings,

We conduct our aquatic research near Holetown on the westcoast for the past three years. There is an excellent dive shop called West Side Scuba Centre which is run by Peter. The gear was well maintained, the prices were reasonable and the staff was excellent! We are looking forward to hitting the beaches again this January.

Have a great series of dives! The people are extremely friendly and layed back. You'll get use to the phrase, "Don't hurt your head man!"

 

[rpodos]

Generally good reviews of the Dive Shop, Blue Reef Divers, and West Side Scuba on Undercurrent.org. They are all small shops with a lot of personal attention.

Dive Shop - Oldest on island. From what I can tell they are running a 42' cat with room for 10 divers. Good set-up for photo bugs.

Blue Reef - Smaller boat, good for six divers.

West Side - Service the cruise ships a lot (bleh), but give extra attention to experienced, repeat divers.

If it were just me, I'd prolly go with Blue Reef, but my wife would like The Dive Shop's cat, I am sure. Tobagoman, are you or your wife into photography?

 

[Tobagoman]

Generally good reviews of the Dive Shop, Blue Reef Divers, and West Side Scuba on Undercurrent.org. They are all small shops with a lot of personal attention.

Dive Shop - Oldest on island. From what I can tell they are running a 42' cat with room for 10 divers. Good set-up for photo bugs.

Blue Reef - Smaller boat, good for six divers.

West Side - Service the cruise ships a lot (bleh), but give extra attention to experienced, repeat divers.

If it were just me, I'd prolly go with Blue Reef, but my wife would like The Dive Shop's cat, I am sure. Tobagoman, are you or your wife into photography?

Rpodos,
That is great that the two of you are going, $ucks that you had to get the ocean view suite, I am sure you will suffer through it somehow! Yes, I do underwater photography, but on the amateur side. Look up some of my pictures here on ScubaBoard.
I've been looking at Carib Ocean Divers as a shop to go with. I usually like giving my business to locally owned shops and have never been disapointed yet. Their prices are excellent and they only take a maximum of 6 people out. Check out their website at:
Carib Ocean Divers. If you hear about any information on this operator in UnderCurrents, let me know.
Thanks!
Oh, by the way, you can email me directly atTobagoman (Paul)

 

[rpodos]

Carib Ocean Divers looks great!!

We should just rent the boat while we're there... have you been in contact with them yet?

 

[coconutgirl]

I was thinking of going to Coz, but this is a great deal. Anyone dove in Barbados? I know nothing about it, but I am now getting curious.

 

[Tobagoman]

bump

 

[diving momma]

Hey diving momma - how was the diving in Barbados? I've never considered it, but with deals like I've just learned about, I'll have to! How does it compare with other places that you've been in the Caribbean?

Sorry I did not get back sooner. The diving was good overall. The wreck diving is phenomenal. I had not been diving for a couple of years because of the addition of our diving baby so I have to admit that it felt good just to get back in. Visibility was about 70 feet because of Emily and there were a lot of turtles and the usual fish. Ivan had clened off some of the coral but there was plenty to see. None of the divesights were very crowded which makes a huge difference.
It may have been slightly less spectacular than a cozumel or grand cayman but you were not fighting 50 others to look at things. Let me know if you have any other questions!

divingmomma

 

[Brown Mermaid]

I and others (a lot of people actually) will be gracing Barbados' shores starting November 4th until the 13th. I get there on the 5th and am staying at the Bougainvilla will friends who have a condo. Some of us caught the Best of Barbados before it became poplular. I will look up these dive shops that the Board suggested as me and my crowd don't want to do the cattle call when the majority of our dive buddies get there on November 9th.

Thanks! I will let you know how things went.

I just booked a 7 nights stay in Barbados, including lodging with breakfasts at a 4-star beach front resort and round-trip airfare from Reagan National in DC for $499.00 each for my wife and I. We are leaving on December 3rd and returning on the 10th.

If anyone else is interested go to this website:
Best of Barbados
We upgraded to the Amaryllis resort instead of the Coconut Beach Resort, so it was a $100.00 more than the advertised $399.00 per person. Incredably cheap price for a trip like this.
We will probably be diving with "Carib Ocean Divers" while there.
Hard to pass up a deal like that!

 

[rpodos]

Another bump... anybody want to join Tobagoman and me and our wives? Two more divers, and we can take over a six-pack. As far as I can see, this sale is still going... try CheapCaribbean.

 

[fishoutawater]

Nuther bump.
This thread has me seriously thinking maybe Barbados instead of Cozumel.
What I'm looking for is decent diving (if not spectacular), and at the same time, fun for my non diving wife. I do like wrecks. Any drift diving? Big critters?
Anybody know about the nightlife, dining and shopping?
And, do any of the resorts have their own beach with a reef nearby so I can snorkel? Not a prerequisite but would be nice.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to some reports when you all get back. I wish I could go ahead and join ya'll. I'm ready right now, but my wallet ain't.