Just got an email from some friends that won a trip to New Providence.I've not heard of New Providence but they're under the impression that it's on Nassau? Can anyone give me any feedback on dive operations there? They believe that there's 4 to pick from and are leaning towards "Dive Dive Dive". Thanks, friendly board members, for any info you can pass my way. Happy Diving! Casey
New Providence (Nassau?)
- Thread starter caymancase
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New Providence is the island on which Nassau is located.
Rick
Rick
OP
My knowledge of geography is the pits! Casey
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Hi caymancase,
Here is my trip report from last April:
"This a general report on diving New Providence (Nassau) with a focus on Dive. Dive, Dive Ltd.
The Diving
The best dive ops are down in the S-SW sector of the island, largely around Coral Harbour. These include Stuart Cove's, Sunskiff, Nassau Scuba Center & Dive, Dive, Dive, Ltd. In fact, the latter 3 are within steps of each other. They are about 20+ minutes from the Cable Beach area & 40+ minutes from Paradise Island, depending of course on traffic & aggressiveness of driver. All offer free shuttle service, which is a blessing as cab fare would exceed
your diving costs if you weren't staying locally at such places as the Orange Hill, Clarion, Coral Harbour Beach House & Villas, etc. DDD has some accommodations on site with kitchens and utensils, which could prove quite convenient & economical. Do be aware that you're a long way from any apres scuba "action" if that is important.
Each op offers its own attractions. SC, the most vigorously entrepreneurial of the lot, is a PADI Gold Palm shop which offers Nitrox as well as rebreather & DPV experiences. DDD offers Nitrox and mixed gases training & availability, and is PADI, NAUI, SSI, ANDI, NASDS & TDI certified. NSC is a PADI 5 Star IDC facility which in addition to the usual shark feed offers a diver feed experience ala UNEXSO in Freeport. Sunskiff is a no frills op which can serve small groups & other than the usual local dives. While prices vary somewhat according the training, dives or packages involved, overall of the big ops DDD seems the least expensive and SC the most.
This trip I dove with DDD. Their van picked me up & returned me on time each day. The shop has some very limited gear for sale, a full line of seemingly well maintained rental gear, including Sherwood regs, a drying room for storing gear overnight, rinse tank, and cooler with drinks & some munchies for sale. They will also serve you a basic lunch from the grill. Orders are taken on the boat on the way in between AM & PM dives. They have two boats which appear well maintained, although the larger boat is quite slow. They have radio, O2, first aid kits, marine heads & bottled water.
Offered are 2 AM & 2PM dives, a night dive with a minimum number of divers (think it's 4), the Shark Alley/Shark Feed dive, and excursions to Exuma, AUTEC Buoy & Blue Hole by special arrangement.
Sounds okay so far, eh? Well, the op falls down badly in several areas, most notably in the mixing of experience levels of divers and the need to adhere to a tight schedule given its 2AM & 2PM dive program, and there are some personnel and communication problems as well.
The combo of mixing of divers & tight scheduling results in what I term the dreaded "least common denominator diving." Unless you can make special arrangements with your own DM, you go down together, stay together & come up together according to the weakest diver, no matter that you may have more experience than the DMs. Unfortunately, there were some grossly inexperienced divers on my boat, including a very nice woman from Texas who guzzled air faster than I thought was compatible with life. Despite doing only relatively shallow dives (bounces to maybe 70' & then cruising at about 50') in easy if any current, they had to find her 100s for the next day just to get her (and us) a modest amount of bottom time. The combo also resulted in much "mother henning" and u/w regimentation regarding profiles, etc. After a morning of two very ho-hum dives on Friday (a chap on the boat from Montreal called them "bland," which describes them well), I skipped the PM dives I was scheduled to do. The viz was poor, coral & sponges not especially colorful or healthy looking, and marine life sparse, although the first "wall" (started around 65' & plateaued at about 100', with the group not going below 70'; they would scoff at calling this a wall dive in San Salvador) dive yielded a nice school of mixed Creole Wrasse & Blue Runners, while the Bahama Mama wreck dive on a small sunken booze cruise craft produced a couple of massive Nassau Groupers, a good sized Rainbow Parrotfish & Crevalle Jack, a pair of Midnight Parrotfish, and some of the usual smaller tropicals like Blue Tang & French Grunt.
Disappointed, I was nonetheless buoyed by the thought of tomorrow's dives at Shark Alley & the Shark Feed. And indeed things were looking promising at the dawning: water was calm, took the fast boat, and arrived at the site to find a sweet current going the right way to drift Shark Alley. Gadzooks, my regulator runneth over. We hit the top of the wall and float along ala Coz, watching schools of fish swim on by in bright light which brought out their
colors to best effect. All is well. The first bummer, a minor one, was watching the DM, Alda, who was videoing the dive (this & Shark Feed on tape for $50), hit a heretofore extraordinarily healthy appearing pillar coral full on with her back while doing her camera work, and we're not talking a small bump here folks -- that coral was hurt. I could tell she felt badly because she hit herself on the forehead with her hand, but the damage was done. The fact that she was the one who always reminded everyone not to touch anything & was the most egregious "mother henner" made it sadly ironic.
Anyway, things quickly picked up when about a 6-7' Caribbean Reef Shark lazily passed by, lead by two tiny pilot fish finning their fannies off just inches in front of the shark's massive maw. While Remoras went about trying to find purchase for a meal, a school of silvery Black Jacks took turns darting to the shark's skin to pick parasites, while a merry coterie of juvenile Wrasse picked up their crumbs. It was one of those transcendent moments when the extended symbiotic chains which underlie all life on earth became so focussed I wanted to laugh out loud at the ineffable beauty of it all.
Unfortunately, my transcendence came to a jarring halt when one of the newbies swims up & signals Mother Hen that she is down to 1,000 lbs. It's like 20 minutes into the dive, we're at about 50', & Mother starts making the hand signal for "clucking" and we're frigging going to surface. I look at my SPG & have 2,000 lbs. left on a dive that is finally showing promise.
The next dive is the Shark Feed, which involves dropping to about 50' to a coral rubble bottom. Everyone overweights about 6 lbs. as given the sharks really crappy near vision it's not wise to be flailing appendages during the feed proper. We form a semicircle, after which the DM, on this dive Andy, swims down with a 5 gallon plastic bucket of frozen fish, which he brings out a piece at a time on a long metal rod. The sharks of course gather at the
sound of the boat, on this dive about 20 female Caribbean Reefs in the 4-7' range or thereabouts. This feeding apparently takes place nearly every day of the week, with different ops taking turns on different days. DDD has been doing it for 9 years. I do not agree with the severe reservations of some others on this board regarding this type of marine dog & pony show as they are not without value to both sharks & humans. Nevertheless, clearly this was
not natural and represented an alteration of behavior, and left me feeling a little guilty. In any event, it was interesting to see them shut their eyes & extend their teeth before striking, and to see the 70 pound grouper who hangs around out maneuver them in tight quarters. One shark had a large fishing hook slowly rusting away in its mouth. Mating season had just ended, and some females showed some wicked scarring & bite marks. Geez, these dewds
must have dyn-O-mite sex. Even though one shark did rake my head with a pectoral fin, I remained unfrightened, even though I sincerely wanted to be scared. When the food was gone, the players dispersed, and we spent some time looking for the teeth which they lose during the feed.
Fed up with the diving, I passed on the scheduled PM dives & diving the following day. I was planning on doing >$400 worth of diving with DDD, but they ended up getting $182.
As for personnel, Lindsey, a would be Rasta Man with great 'locks but a lousy Jamaican accent, who I also suspect is way below standard on the righteous herb index, was a true pleasure. Always smiling & easy going, he worked hard to see that everyone enjoyed themselves. Our Captain the first day, Tony, had an odd ball sense of humor & was a hoot once you got past the gruff. DM both days & shark feeder, Andy, was watchful and competent. If you want to
make him happy, buy him lunch -- he loves that stuff off the grill. Alda was covered above, and little more needs to be said. She is clearly a well meaning DM and if Romper Room ever initiates an u/w segment to the show, she's a shoe in.
The nasty award goes to Mike, an instructor who seems to be charge of tanks & rental equipment. I had two interactions with him. On the first, I asked him to demonstrate the use of their particular O2 analyzer so I could check the one Nitrox tank I used. He rapidly mumbled a series of instructions, and then turned and walked away. Another diver & I then figured it out. The second interaction was when I came out of the drying room with a nice big
hanger for my gear. Upon spying it, Mike said "Where did you get that?" I said it was in the drying, to which he responded, "I doesn't belong there," took it, and walked away.
The communication issue appears to be at the crux of my dissatisfaction with my DDD experience, and it seems hard to excuse. I told both Marcia & Steve, who are in the marketing & booking office stateside, on several occasions and by both phone & e-mail, that I was an experienced diver, didn't want "vacation diving" and to please not waste my time & money on lame dives. Both said they would contact Mark, the operations manager on site, and ask him to attempt to group divers & to get one of their all day special trips put together, but could make no guarantees. I said I understood that, just make a good faith effort. Well, it was painfully obvious that no such effort was made. When I mentioned it at the desk, everyone sort of stared at me quizzically. None of the DMs had heard anything about it. Even the two very experienced divers, Richard & Gary, who were staying right at DDD & diving with them for the week, and would have been logical candidates to ask, had heard nothing about it & moaned when they found out we might have been able to put something together.
A final communication problem with the stateside office seems to have to do with what they didn't hear/read when I mentioned my trip experiences would be widely disseminated. This report now appears on at least 3 major scuba boards & an abbreviated version has been submitted to "Undercurrent."
In conclusion, I would say that if you want serious diving, go elsewhere than Nassau. If you must do Nassau, give your selected op much advanced notice that you want to be grouped with experienced divers & get on one of the "adventure" dive trips -- and get confirmation in writing. Sunskiff is probably your best bet for small groups & unusual dive sites, although it is not a luxurious op. I would not return to Dive, Dive, Dive, Ltd. except under very unusual circumstances.
If you will be satisfied with least common denominator, bland, regimented, but safe & easy "vacation diving," you will adore DDD.
Some Places to Stay/Things to Do
Nassau seems to have become much more of a year 'round destination than in the past, probably largely due to marketing & an expansion of facilities/activities, including those for families/children and those who want some high quality gambling in the vacation mix. It is served by many major & minor air carriers, plus being a popular cruise ship destination. Flights from Miami & Ft. Lauderdale on AA or Bahamasair are frequent and take only 30-45" depending on point of departure & type of plane.
As testimony to this extended popularity, I tried to get a room near Cable Beach or Paradise Island over the period June 24-28, a "low season" time, with two weeks advanced notice and was only able to find those at the very high & very low ends, neither of which are my choice. I do not know about low season availability at the hotels around the Coral Harbour area where the better dive ops are located, such as the Orange Hill, Coral Harbour Beach House & Villas, Clarion Resort South Ocean, cottages at Dive, Dive, Dive, Ltd., etc. These digs are some way from the "action" of Cable Beach, downtown & Paradise Island, however, and cabs are not cheap. It's $12 from the airport to the Cable Beach area & $25 to Paradise Island. There are no shuttles except for those operated by a select few hotels.
I finally found a room at gamblers' rates at the Nassau Marriott & Crystal Palace Casino on Cable Beach with the help of a dive buddy who has a strong contact there. This is a nice property right on the beach which had been getting long in the tooth (built around 1955) but has undergone a recent refurbishing. My room was more than satisfactory, with a small balcony, bathroom sinks in one area & separate, tiled shower room next to it. It was quiet & spotlessly clean, with fresh towels several times a day. Place has both a very good Italian & steak house restaurant, both of which offer fresh souffles in a variety of flavors - I went with chocolate. Also have a full a service health spa, motorized water sports, and a neat water slide in the free form pool. Casino is of moderate size & very accommodating as far as comps go. For you blackjack players, the rules are very liberal. Across the street is a long, rectangular park you can walk through. This being the rainy season, things are green & flowering, and the reddish orange topped poinciana trees are quite lovely. Beyond that is a golf course. To get downtown, take the #10 bus which comes by about every 5-10" and lets you see a bit of the area, including the cricket green & fish fry grounds. From downtown, which is bustling and somewhat dirty & tacky, $3 gets you a water taxi over to
Paradise Island. Otherwise it is about a $14 dollar cab fare to PI. Probably the most outstanding aspect of the hotel was personnel. The staff were unbelievably pleasant and accommodating, and seemed devoted to your enjoying your vacation.
Be aware, however, that Nassau is not cheap, especially not the nicer resorts, and food is expensive. It is also pretty much customary to add a 15% service charge to food service. If you come here and want to do it on a shoestring, you'll need find small hotel or B&B with a kitchen and do your own cooking & cool your own drinks.
Where ever you stay, do make the trek out to PI to see the Atlantis Hotel & Casino, a Disneyesque fusion of Monte Alban in Mexico & Bellagio in Vegas, this is a Sun International megaresort ala Sun City in South Africa for those who have been there. Unrecognizable as Merv Griffin's old place, with 2,300 rooms including a $25,000 night suite, a marina with more million+ dollar boats than I've ever seen, 7 acre snorkeling lagoon, massive aquarium which
will show you more marine life than you'll see diving there, 40 bars/restaurants, 1,000 slot machines and 80 gaming tables & the world's gnarliest water slide. This baby starts from high atop a replica of a Maya temple, drops at a 90 degree angle open chute for about 40', and then courses through a Plexiglas tube through a tank full of nurse sharks. Actually very expensively & tastefully done if some sections, it's way too big & busy for me. Lots of
teens & younger.
Anyway, my pick if you want to stay on PI is the Comfort Suites, just a stones throw from the Atlantis & a super value. Have stayed there on a couple of overnights on my way to various out islands & like it lots."
This should get you started.
Stay golden.
DocVikingo
PS: Makes my feelings clear about Dive, Dive, Dive, no?
Here is my trip report from last April:
"This a general report on diving New Providence (Nassau) with a focus on Dive. Dive, Dive Ltd.
The Diving
The best dive ops are down in the S-SW sector of the island, largely around Coral Harbour. These include Stuart Cove's, Sunskiff, Nassau Scuba Center & Dive, Dive, Dive, Ltd. In fact, the latter 3 are within steps of each other. They are about 20+ minutes from the Cable Beach area & 40+ minutes from Paradise Island, depending of course on traffic & aggressiveness of driver. All offer free shuttle service, which is a blessing as cab fare would exceed
your diving costs if you weren't staying locally at such places as the Orange Hill, Clarion, Coral Harbour Beach House & Villas, etc. DDD has some accommodations on site with kitchens and utensils, which could prove quite convenient & economical. Do be aware that you're a long way from any apres scuba "action" if that is important.
Each op offers its own attractions. SC, the most vigorously entrepreneurial of the lot, is a PADI Gold Palm shop which offers Nitrox as well as rebreather & DPV experiences. DDD offers Nitrox and mixed gases training & availability, and is PADI, NAUI, SSI, ANDI, NASDS & TDI certified. NSC is a PADI 5 Star IDC facility which in addition to the usual shark feed offers a diver feed experience ala UNEXSO in Freeport. Sunskiff is a no frills op which can serve small groups & other than the usual local dives. While prices vary somewhat according the training, dives or packages involved, overall of the big ops DDD seems the least expensive and SC the most.
This trip I dove with DDD. Their van picked me up & returned me on time each day. The shop has some very limited gear for sale, a full line of seemingly well maintained rental gear, including Sherwood regs, a drying room for storing gear overnight, rinse tank, and cooler with drinks & some munchies for sale. They will also serve you a basic lunch from the grill. Orders are taken on the boat on the way in between AM & PM dives. They have two boats which appear well maintained, although the larger boat is quite slow. They have radio, O2, first aid kits, marine heads & bottled water.
Offered are 2 AM & 2PM dives, a night dive with a minimum number of divers (think it's 4), the Shark Alley/Shark Feed dive, and excursions to Exuma, AUTEC Buoy & Blue Hole by special arrangement.
Sounds okay so far, eh? Well, the op falls down badly in several areas, most notably in the mixing of experience levels of divers and the need to adhere to a tight schedule given its 2AM & 2PM dive program, and there are some personnel and communication problems as well.
The combo of mixing of divers & tight scheduling results in what I term the dreaded "least common denominator diving." Unless you can make special arrangements with your own DM, you go down together, stay together & come up together according to the weakest diver, no matter that you may have more experience than the DMs. Unfortunately, there were some grossly inexperienced divers on my boat, including a very nice woman from Texas who guzzled air faster than I thought was compatible with life. Despite doing only relatively shallow dives (bounces to maybe 70' & then cruising at about 50') in easy if any current, they had to find her 100s for the next day just to get her (and us) a modest amount of bottom time. The combo also resulted in much "mother henning" and u/w regimentation regarding profiles, etc. After a morning of two very ho-hum dives on Friday (a chap on the boat from Montreal called them "bland," which describes them well), I skipped the PM dives I was scheduled to do. The viz was poor, coral & sponges not especially colorful or healthy looking, and marine life sparse, although the first "wall" (started around 65' & plateaued at about 100', with the group not going below 70'; they would scoff at calling this a wall dive in San Salvador) dive yielded a nice school of mixed Creole Wrasse & Blue Runners, while the Bahama Mama wreck dive on a small sunken booze cruise craft produced a couple of massive Nassau Groupers, a good sized Rainbow Parrotfish & Crevalle Jack, a pair of Midnight Parrotfish, and some of the usual smaller tropicals like Blue Tang & French Grunt.
Disappointed, I was nonetheless buoyed by the thought of tomorrow's dives at Shark Alley & the Shark Feed. And indeed things were looking promising at the dawning: water was calm, took the fast boat, and arrived at the site to find a sweet current going the right way to drift Shark Alley. Gadzooks, my regulator runneth over. We hit the top of the wall and float along ala Coz, watching schools of fish swim on by in bright light which brought out their
colors to best effect. All is well. The first bummer, a minor one, was watching the DM, Alda, who was videoing the dive (this & Shark Feed on tape for $50), hit a heretofore extraordinarily healthy appearing pillar coral full on with her back while doing her camera work, and we're not talking a small bump here folks -- that coral was hurt. I could tell she felt badly because she hit herself on the forehead with her hand, but the damage was done. The fact that she was the one who always reminded everyone not to touch anything & was the most egregious "mother henner" made it sadly ironic.
Anyway, things quickly picked up when about a 6-7' Caribbean Reef Shark lazily passed by, lead by two tiny pilot fish finning their fannies off just inches in front of the shark's massive maw. While Remoras went about trying to find purchase for a meal, a school of silvery Black Jacks took turns darting to the shark's skin to pick parasites, while a merry coterie of juvenile Wrasse picked up their crumbs. It was one of those transcendent moments when the extended symbiotic chains which underlie all life on earth became so focussed I wanted to laugh out loud at the ineffable beauty of it all.
Unfortunately, my transcendence came to a jarring halt when one of the newbies swims up & signals Mother Hen that she is down to 1,000 lbs. It's like 20 minutes into the dive, we're at about 50', & Mother starts making the hand signal for "clucking" and we're frigging going to surface. I look at my SPG & have 2,000 lbs. left on a dive that is finally showing promise.
The next dive is the Shark Feed, which involves dropping to about 50' to a coral rubble bottom. Everyone overweights about 6 lbs. as given the sharks really crappy near vision it's not wise to be flailing appendages during the feed proper. We form a semicircle, after which the DM, on this dive Andy, swims down with a 5 gallon plastic bucket of frozen fish, which he brings out a piece at a time on a long metal rod. The sharks of course gather at the
sound of the boat, on this dive about 20 female Caribbean Reefs in the 4-7' range or thereabouts. This feeding apparently takes place nearly every day of the week, with different ops taking turns on different days. DDD has been doing it for 9 years. I do not agree with the severe reservations of some others on this board regarding this type of marine dog & pony show as they are not without value to both sharks & humans. Nevertheless, clearly this was
not natural and represented an alteration of behavior, and left me feeling a little guilty. In any event, it was interesting to see them shut their eyes & extend their teeth before striking, and to see the 70 pound grouper who hangs around out maneuver them in tight quarters. One shark had a large fishing hook slowly rusting away in its mouth. Mating season had just ended, and some females showed some wicked scarring & bite marks. Geez, these dewds
must have dyn-O-mite sex. Even though one shark did rake my head with a pectoral fin, I remained unfrightened, even though I sincerely wanted to be scared. When the food was gone, the players dispersed, and we spent some time looking for the teeth which they lose during the feed.
Fed up with the diving, I passed on the scheduled PM dives & diving the following day. I was planning on doing >$400 worth of diving with DDD, but they ended up getting $182.
As for personnel, Lindsey, a would be Rasta Man with great 'locks but a lousy Jamaican accent, who I also suspect is way below standard on the righteous herb index, was a true pleasure. Always smiling & easy going, he worked hard to see that everyone enjoyed themselves. Our Captain the first day, Tony, had an odd ball sense of humor & was a hoot once you got past the gruff. DM both days & shark feeder, Andy, was watchful and competent. If you want to
make him happy, buy him lunch -- he loves that stuff off the grill. Alda was covered above, and little more needs to be said. She is clearly a well meaning DM and if Romper Room ever initiates an u/w segment to the show, she's a shoe in.
The nasty award goes to Mike, an instructor who seems to be charge of tanks & rental equipment. I had two interactions with him. On the first, I asked him to demonstrate the use of their particular O2 analyzer so I could check the one Nitrox tank I used. He rapidly mumbled a series of instructions, and then turned and walked away. Another diver & I then figured it out. The second interaction was when I came out of the drying room with a nice big
hanger for my gear. Upon spying it, Mike said "Where did you get that?" I said it was in the drying, to which he responded, "I doesn't belong there," took it, and walked away.
The communication issue appears to be at the crux of my dissatisfaction with my DDD experience, and it seems hard to excuse. I told both Marcia & Steve, who are in the marketing & booking office stateside, on several occasions and by both phone & e-mail, that I was an experienced diver, didn't want "vacation diving" and to please not waste my time & money on lame dives. Both said they would contact Mark, the operations manager on site, and ask him to attempt to group divers & to get one of their all day special trips put together, but could make no guarantees. I said I understood that, just make a good faith effort. Well, it was painfully obvious that no such effort was made. When I mentioned it at the desk, everyone sort of stared at me quizzically. None of the DMs had heard anything about it. Even the two very experienced divers, Richard & Gary, who were staying right at DDD & diving with them for the week, and would have been logical candidates to ask, had heard nothing about it & moaned when they found out we might have been able to put something together.
A final communication problem with the stateside office seems to have to do with what they didn't hear/read when I mentioned my trip experiences would be widely disseminated. This report now appears on at least 3 major scuba boards & an abbreviated version has been submitted to "Undercurrent."
In conclusion, I would say that if you want serious diving, go elsewhere than Nassau. If you must do Nassau, give your selected op much advanced notice that you want to be grouped with experienced divers & get on one of the "adventure" dive trips -- and get confirmation in writing. Sunskiff is probably your best bet for small groups & unusual dive sites, although it is not a luxurious op. I would not return to Dive, Dive, Dive, Ltd. except under very unusual circumstances.
If you will be satisfied with least common denominator, bland, regimented, but safe & easy "vacation diving," you will adore DDD.
Some Places to Stay/Things to Do
Nassau seems to have become much more of a year 'round destination than in the past, probably largely due to marketing & an expansion of facilities/activities, including those for families/children and those who want some high quality gambling in the vacation mix. It is served by many major & minor air carriers, plus being a popular cruise ship destination. Flights from Miami & Ft. Lauderdale on AA or Bahamasair are frequent and take only 30-45" depending on point of departure & type of plane.
As testimony to this extended popularity, I tried to get a room near Cable Beach or Paradise Island over the period June 24-28, a "low season" time, with two weeks advanced notice and was only able to find those at the very high & very low ends, neither of which are my choice. I do not know about low season availability at the hotels around the Coral Harbour area where the better dive ops are located, such as the Orange Hill, Coral Harbour Beach House & Villas, Clarion Resort South Ocean, cottages at Dive, Dive, Dive, Ltd., etc. These digs are some way from the "action" of Cable Beach, downtown & Paradise Island, however, and cabs are not cheap. It's $12 from the airport to the Cable Beach area & $25 to Paradise Island. There are no shuttles except for those operated by a select few hotels.
I finally found a room at gamblers' rates at the Nassau Marriott & Crystal Palace Casino on Cable Beach with the help of a dive buddy who has a strong contact there. This is a nice property right on the beach which had been getting long in the tooth (built around 1955) but has undergone a recent refurbishing. My room was more than satisfactory, with a small balcony, bathroom sinks in one area & separate, tiled shower room next to it. It was quiet & spotlessly clean, with fresh towels several times a day. Place has both a very good Italian & steak house restaurant, both of which offer fresh souffles in a variety of flavors - I went with chocolate. Also have a full a service health spa, motorized water sports, and a neat water slide in the free form pool. Casino is of moderate size & very accommodating as far as comps go. For you blackjack players, the rules are very liberal. Across the street is a long, rectangular park you can walk through. This being the rainy season, things are green & flowering, and the reddish orange topped poinciana trees are quite lovely. Beyond that is a golf course. To get downtown, take the #10 bus which comes by about every 5-10" and lets you see a bit of the area, including the cricket green & fish fry grounds. From downtown, which is bustling and somewhat dirty & tacky, $3 gets you a water taxi over to
Paradise Island. Otherwise it is about a $14 dollar cab fare to PI. Probably the most outstanding aspect of the hotel was personnel. The staff were unbelievably pleasant and accommodating, and seemed devoted to your enjoying your vacation.
Be aware, however, that Nassau is not cheap, especially not the nicer resorts, and food is expensive. It is also pretty much customary to add a 15% service charge to food service. If you come here and want to do it on a shoestring, you'll need find small hotel or B&B with a kitchen and do your own cooking & cool your own drinks.
Where ever you stay, do make the trek out to PI to see the Atlantis Hotel & Casino, a Disneyesque fusion of Monte Alban in Mexico & Bellagio in Vegas, this is a Sun International megaresort ala Sun City in South Africa for those who have been there. Unrecognizable as Merv Griffin's old place, with 2,300 rooms including a $25,000 night suite, a marina with more million+ dollar boats than I've ever seen, 7 acre snorkeling lagoon, massive aquarium which
will show you more marine life than you'll see diving there, 40 bars/restaurants, 1,000 slot machines and 80 gaming tables & the world's gnarliest water slide. This baby starts from high atop a replica of a Maya temple, drops at a 90 degree angle open chute for about 40', and then courses through a Plexiglas tube through a tank full of nurse sharks. Actually very expensively & tastefully done if some sections, it's way too big & busy for me. Lots of
teens & younger.
Anyway, my pick if you want to stay on PI is the Comfort Suites, just a stones throw from the Atlantis & a super value. Have stayed there on a couple of overnights on my way to various out islands & like it lots."
This should get you started.
Stay golden.
DocVikingo
PS: Makes my feelings clear about Dive, Dive, Dive, no?
Great Zot, Doc...
Did you type all that???
Inquiring minds & all that.
Rick
Did you type all that???
Inquiring minds & all that.
Rick
OP
I'll pass on your trip report to my pals.
And if you ever decide you want to check out Cayman's West, South or North again (I know you're an East End lover..it is great!) look me up. It would be great to meet you and dive with you! Nick B. won't mind once...
Thanks again! Casey
And if you ever decide you want to check out Cayman's West, South or North again (I know you're an East End lover..it is great!) look me up. It would be great to meet you and dive with you! Nick B. won't mind once...
Thanks again! Casey
Iguana Don
Guest
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Doc,
That was a great review, but could you go into more detail?
Don #6
That was a great review, but could you go into more detail?
Don #6
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Thank you all for your kind words.
Yes, I typed it all--sort of obsessive about trip reports, ain't I?
caymancase, your offer is a most gracious one & I surely will touch base with you on my next trip.
Best to everyone.
DocVikingo
Yes, I typed it all--sort of obsessive about trip reports, ain't I?
caymancase, your offer is a most gracious one & I surely will touch base with you on my next trip.
Best to everyone.
DocVikingo
Great review of New Providence! Let me add a few thoughts--For a really great gyro, try the Athena on the main street in the downtown area. One of the best sandwiches on the isle! Also the ice cream at Jimmy's in the Atlantis is the only good ice cream on New Providence/Paradise Is. And if you are looking for a pricey, but memorable meal, try Chez Willy. Willy used to be the m'd at Grey Cliff and he started his own place. It is absolutely superb. Give the Beef Wellington a try!
Stuart Cove's! Great shark dive. Whatever your political leanings, you have got to try this dive. There is just something majestic about seeing 20+ sharks swimming around a DM in a feeding frenzy--they are beautiful animals and they are joy to watch. We have dived with SC and Bahama Divers and I will give both them passing ratings. SC is really into capitalism, so remember to bring your own drinks, etc. However, we heard some really good things about Walkers Cay Divers. You might ask around about them.
Have a blast--The Board's self-elected gourmet critic.
Joewr
Stuart Cove's! Great shark dive. Whatever your political leanings, you have got to try this dive. There is just something majestic about seeing 20+ sharks swimming around a DM in a feeding frenzy--they are beautiful animals and they are joy to watch. We have dived with SC and Bahama Divers and I will give both them passing ratings. SC is really into capitalism, so remember to bring your own drinks, etc. However, we heard some really good things about Walkers Cay Divers. You might ask around about them.
Have a blast--The Board's self-elected gourmet critic.
Joewr
OP
I passed on all the info to my friends. They were very grateful! Happy Diving All! Casey
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