Nassau / Paradise Island - Lots of questions

[JohnDough]

I will be staying at Atlantis the end of August and after reading many of the messages here I have a few questions..

1) I see many responses to wetsuit vs Skin, but what should the water temp be (late august)

2) Is there any Beach diving ( and equipment available) at/near Atlantis?

3) I am leaning toward Stuart Cove or DiveDiveDive, for 3 morning dives and a Shark dive, However I will also have my 12yr old newely certified daughter with me on 2 of the morning dives ( no.. not the shark dive)- which of these shops would be better for her, Max depth fo her JR Cert is 40' and I THINK I saw Stuart Cove has free Jr dives w/adult purchase? anyone know about that and are there any 'fine print' items that go with it?

4) I read a few messages here about short dives since they are guided, are all the dives guided or are most ' hook you up with a buddy and see you when you get back"

5) Airport to Hotel transportation- there are 7 of us and according to Atlantis they dont provide transportation but it can be purchased for $40 each person, This seems quite high to me ($280 to get to the hotel and back??) I saw a limo Price of $75ea so forget that, what are the other options? are there car rentals? Should something be purchaed before the trip, or are there Cheap taxi's at the airport?

6) Hows the theft rate? is it safe to leave a laptop or dive computer in the rooms? I know there is always a risk but is this area worse/avg/better that normal?

Thanks

 

[TropicalDiver]

I JUST got back yesterday from Nassau/Paradise Island....read the previous info I got from board members here - http://www.scubaboard.com/t63289.html

I'd SKIP diving here if I were you. Didn't really see or hear of any good sites and even locals didn't think we missed anything by not diving. We SNORKELED at ROSE Island - a nice side island that you can do a side trip to - it was pretty nice there and a good change. Facilities, chairs, beautiful beach, and lunch available for the day.

Paradise Island is VERY SAFE. You'll probably have a safe in your room, but wouldn't worry AT ALL about the locals bothering you there. I saw plenty of people wearing jewelry that I wouldn't want to risk bringing there and there's plenty of high-priced yachts there.

If I were you, I'd definitely leave the jewelry at home and walk over the bridge to the main island and hit the little huts that sell conch salad and conch fritters that is under the bridge though! Well worth doing! We went there about every day and while we ran into a couple of odd local characters, most everyone was SUPER GENEROUS, FRIENDLY, AND NICE. We met a guy there that not only gave us a ride in his truck to the local supermarket, but also extended it and gave us a roughly $30-$40 tour of the coastal side of the island....and wouldn't take a penny for his time or gas - wow!

Water temp at the beaches is about perfect - 85 degrees, I'd guess. You'll be amazed at how pretty the beaches are!

Taxis are generally the way to go from the airport to hotel - $27 purchases rides for two in a taxi, with additional fees for additional persons. Taxis from PI to town are around $8 to $10 for two. There is also a water taxi that will take you to town for $3 pp each way...

Have fun!

 

[LimitedVIZ]

I will be staying at Atlantis the end of August and after reading many of the messages here I have a few questions..

1) I see many responses to wetsuit vs Skin, but what should the water temp be (late august)

2) Is there any Beach diving ( and equipment available) at/near Atlantis?

3) I am leaning toward Stuart Cove or DiveDiveDive, for 3 morning dives and a Shark dive, However I will also have my 12yr old newely certified daughter with me on 2 of the morning dives ( no.. not the shark dive)- which of these shops would be better for her, Max depth fo her JR Cert is 40' and I THINK I saw Stuart Cove has free Jr dives w/adult purchase? anyone know about that and are there any 'fine print' items that go with it?

4) I read a few messages here about short dives since they are guided, are all the dives guided or are most ' hook you up with a buddy and see you when you get back"

5) Airport to Hotel transportation- there are 7 of us and according to Atlantis they dont provide transportation but it can be purchased for $40 each person, This seems quite high to me ($280 to get to the hotel and back??) I saw a limo Price of $75ea so forget that, what are the other options? are there car rentals? Should something be purchaed before the trip, or are there Cheap taxi's at the airport?

6) Hows the theft rate? is it safe to leave a laptop or dive computer in the rooms? I know there is always a risk but is this area worse/avg/better that normal?

Thanks

Just returned from 2 weeks in Nassau. The diving was good (not great, but good). Definitely worth the effort. The water temp was between 82 – 86 degrees. Very warm. We dove with Stuart Cove’s and were pleased with them. A bit of the cattle-boat syndrome, but nothing that we’d consider unacceptable. The DM’s oversight of the divers in the water was a bit on the skimpy side, not a problem with us, but this may be an issue with you and your daughter. Most of the dives were guided. The first dive of the day was always guided and the second dive was normally NOT guided. The second dive was usually a much shallower dive and very easy to navigate. For a beginner, try Southwest Reef. Maximum depth 25-30 feet and LOTS to look at. Most of the local dive ops have “free” shuttles to and from your hotel, so no problem there, but other forms of transportation can be spendy. The bus service on the island is very good and $1.00 will get you a long ways. No buses over to PI though. Taxis are expensive and prices are somewhat negotiable with each driver. We didn’t have any concerns with our safety on the island and wouldn’t worry about leaving stuff back in your room.

 

[RockyTop]

When are you going to be there JohnDough?

I am heading over there August 26-31. I plan on doing the shark dive with Stuart Cove myself. Cant wait to get there.

 

[kramynot2000]

I'm headed over in about a week and a half. Will probably dive with Stuart's cove based on what I've read here. It should be interesting because I dive deco, my wife is a warm water recreational-tourist diver and my sister will be coming along after just being certified. The prices do seem very reasonable though and compared to up here in Northern California, any viz greater than 10-20' is worth a trip across the country!

Any tips on what non-divers can do besides gamble? We're staying at the Atlantis and I just want to keep my parents busy.

Tony

 

[JohnDough]

Thanks for responses, although I dont think I'll skip the diving- I am use to local lakes upper 50degree and 2'-10' vis, so regardless of how bad it is there, it has to alot nicer than here.
I was able to find a couple car rental's so I'm not sure which way I'll go Rental VS Taxi's - The rental is obviously more than minimal taxi rides, but since I dont know how much traveling I'll do when down there, it may still be smarter for the rental.

since it seems that at least the 1st dives are guided and deeper, does anyone know of another shop that would do 2 shallow dives just for 1 day? ( and I would use Stuart cove for the other days if necessary)

Rocky- I wont be arriving untill the afternoon on the 30th.

Kramy- could you let me know how you make out with the non-divers? out of the 7 in my party only my daughter and myself dive and she will dive prob only 1 day out of 7 there, so if you find any fun/interesting things to do there, please let me know

 

[329`max]

Don`t get your hopes up on doing any DECO there ! Any Responsible Recreational Dive operator would never permit it..

I'm headed over in about a week and a half. Will probably dive with Stuart's cove based on what I've read here. It should be interesting because I dive deco, my wife is a warm water recreational-tourist diver and my sister will be coming along after just being certified. The prices do seem very reasonable though and compared to up here in Northern California, any viz greater than 10-20' is worth a trip across the country!

Any tips on what non-divers can do besides gamble? We're staying at the Atlantis and I just want to keep my parents busy.

Tony

 

[kramynot2000]

Don`t get your hopes up on doing any DECO there ! Any Responsible Recreational Dive operator would never permit it..

Yeah, I'm not planning any but it would be nice to do some tech stuff in warm water. I don't think I'll ever forget that 10' stop up in BC in 40 deg water and me with my 3 mil gloves on.

 

[LimitedVIZ]

Thanks for responses, although I dont think I'll skip the diving- I am use to local lakes upper 50degree and 2'-10' vis, so regardless of how bad it is there, it has to alot nicer than here.
I was able to find a couple car rental's so I'm not sure which way I'll go Rental VS Taxi's - The rental is obviously more than minimal taxi rides, but since I dont know how much traveling I'll do when down there, it may still be smarter for the rental.

since it seems that at least the 1st dives are guided and deeper, does anyone know of another shop that would do 2 shallow dives just for 1 day? ( and I would use Stuart cove for the other days if necessary)

Rocky- I wont be arriving untill the afternoon on the 30th.

Kramy- could you let me know how you make out with the non-divers? out of the 7 in my party only my daughter and myself dive and she will dive prob only 1 day out of 7 there, so if you find any fun/interesting things to do there, please let me know

Regarding the car rental - be careful. They drive on the wrong side of the road down there!

 

[JohnDough]

Thats another reason I wanted one.. gotta try that wrong side thing