San Salvador, Bahamas

[Randell Walker]

Looking into a trip to San Salvador, Bahamas.Is it a top notch dive destination? For those that have dove this area any input would be great. Underwater and on land. Thanks.

 

[Rescue Diver68]

send a pm to tstormdiver. I think she has been to San Salvador Island.

 

[rhwestfall]

It was spectacular 22 years ago.:depressed:....... would most certainly like to see it now..:help:..

 

[deepstops]

This trip report from the Riding Rock Inn is less than two years old and is pretty detailed:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/bahamas/291815-riding-rock-san-salvador-jun-09-trip-report.html

 

[frostfire]

We've been twice and loved it. Pristine wall divine with outstanding viz. We stayed at Club Med and it was surprisingly nice. Excellent food, too. Though you have to sit every meal at a big group of strangers at a table for 10. My husband loves that kind of thing more than I do. But the resort was nice, with good equipment and very nice rooms (this is one of the upscale Club Meds). Nice dive boats that offer something I think should be required on every dive boat. When you come up for your suface interval, there is a buffet spread of fresh fruit, all different cold cuts and fresh that morning french baguettes!

 

[lmorin]

Been to the Club Med there twice, too. As Frostfire said, good dive op, good diving and nice surface interval perks. Typically, Club Med boats have a number of small groups, each with its own DM/instructor, plus another group consisting of buddy divers. The buddies are given a briefing separate from the rest who are usually students or people who want a guide. The buddies are first in, last out (if you wish) and it is simple to get a full hour per dive.

 

[LivBlue]

Where you staying? We rented a house last year and just drove around the island and did shore snorkeling (just now getting OW this weekend). The whole island is small and can easily be navigated. On the south tip of the island there would be some great diving with nice coral heads and turtles. We wished for nothing more than to be able to dive out there as it was only 20-40 ft deep with so many things to wonder around and see. The divers mostly dove on the West side where there was a wall which was supposed to pretty nice with a chance of some larger animals coming by. Riding Rock is the dive group our there and the hotel rates right there were very reasonable. They also rent cares there too. Nice thing about the island is there is 1 gas station, 1 grocery store... you get the idea. It's nice and small and the locals are very very nice. Great place by all means write me if you want more info about anything.

 

[bobfmdc]

Wife and I are looking into San Salvador for this winter. For anyone who has been there, would you suggest buying an all-inclusive package, or are there plenty of good local restaurants that would be a better choice.

We have been looking at what is offered at Riding Rock so far.

 

[frostfire]

No, there are really few restaurants on the island outside of Riding Rock or Club Med. We stayed at Club Med twice and really enjoyed it, both dive shop and restaurant wise. I love the way that Club Med has a cold cut, french bread and fruit spread during the dive interval. One thing though, if you're travelling with children, there are very few activities at this resort for kids. Once they are 10 and junior certified, you are good to go!

 

[MoreSunLessRain]

Are Club Med and Riding Rock the only dive ops on San Salvador? I have a couple students that were planning to do a referral at Riding Rock, but it is closed this month so they're looking to find another op to work with. Any suggestions?