Need reputable dive operator for Half Moon Cay/Nassau,Bahamas.......

[scubarn0203]

Hi,

Going on a cruise from Nov 6th-11th,ports of call include Half Moon Cay and Nassau,Bahamas.I am most interested in booking my own shore excursions,especially since, if you book them yourself its about half what the cruise company charges,and the best part is that its for the exact same excursion!!So if you have dived in either of these ports of call and had a good/bad experience please let me know............thanks

ScubaRN

 

[BurBunny]

Half Moon Cay is Holland America's private island (shared with its sister company Carnival and sounds like you're on a Carnival cruise). Therefore, you have no option in diving there other than their in-house operation.

For Nassau, the better diving is on the other side of the island. Many times your arrival time into port necessitates using the ship's vendor, which is the island's largest operator, Stuart Coves. Not a ton of choice on Nassau anymore, unfortunately.

 

[diveborg]

Also, the price difference in most ports of call isn't nearly as large as half price, only at island where there aren't a lot of local dive operations to choose from.

 

[Jcsgt]

Just be sure the dive operator can guarantee he'll get you back to your ship before she sails. Water taxis can be very expensive, as can the flight to your next port.

 

[scubarn0203]

Well,it looks like its going to be $$$$$$$$$ well spent.Can't even begin to take a chance on missing the boat,even though I'll be in paradise.Thanks alot to everyone for the much needed advice.

srn





Remember.........bubbles up!!

 

[diversteve]

Last I read, the only other option besides Stuart Cove's still in business is Bahama Divers. http://www.bahamadivers.com/

DiveDiveDive and Nassau Scuba Centre are both gone. afaik.

 

[tstormdiver]

I dove at Half Moon Cay Last Nov. while on a cruise aboard the ms Zaandam. It was about a 40' dive around a small reef. There was lots of marine life about and there were several swim throughs, nooks & crannies to explore. The dive itself was very good. The only negative thing about the dive was the attitude of the dive masters that lead the dive before we left shore. There was supposed to be another diver on the excursion time I was on & they didn't show. The dive masters kind of had an air that it(the dive) or I was a waste of their time because it was just myself. I over heard a couple of negative comments that they made to each other about the satisfaction of their job that made me a little uncomfortable. It seemed a little unproffessional for them to have been behaving like that in front of a customer, in my opinion. :confused4 However, I was there to have a fun & I didn't let their comments keep me from having a wonderful time. Hopefully the dive masters were just having a bad day (we all do occaisionally) and that no others were made to feel this way. Once in the water the dive masters showed me a great time for photogaphing the critters around and how to navigate through the swim throughs (being a relatively new diver). The one most notable things about Half Moon Cay, I will say is that the beaches are so increadibely soft (almost like walking on powder) & beautiful that it will stay in memory for a long time to come. Overall it was a very good experience and would do it again if given the chance.