Tobago - Give the good and the bad

[Scuba Duner]

All,

We are considering diving in Tobago. There are 4 of us and we usually rent a 2 bedroom condo and find a local dive shop close enough to walk to so we do not need a car. Any ideas for a place to stay and a good LDS? Is there any night life on the island?

Thanks,

Martin
(Scuba Duner)

 

[Doc]

Nightlife occurs on the South end near airport and cruise ship turf. Diving may be had which is within the better group of any typical Caribbean experience.

Diving that is unique in the Caribbean found on Tobago is best out of the North end's Speyside area, a much more rural zone. Look at Manta and Blue Waters. These are truly some of the most extreme currents in the Caribbean, makes Cozumel seem like a gentle breeze.

African Express. That's one dive's name. Think about it

 

[Scuba Duner]

Thanks for the reply. It appears that Tobago does not get a lot of divers based on only one reply. Have you been there? Did you have to stay in Trinidad prior to Tabago? I am looking into the B&B in Trinidad that is recommend for the quick layover until we catch the commuter plane to Tobago. Does the south end have grocery stores? Any info will help. We are considering Grenada now due to the lack of replies for Tobago. Grenada appears to be much easier to plan.

Martin
(Scuba Duner)

 

[Damselfish]

I haven't been there, but in case you haven't found them, here are the more recent threads on the subject (not that many and not that recent)-
Tobago Diving?
Tobago?
Tobago

It can be hard to judge if a place gets little diver attention because it's all-around not worth the trouble of getting there for most people, or is just somewhat undiscovered/unpromoted.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I was in Speyside last spring. I'm not able to tell you about anywhere else on the island. I dove with Manta but stayed elsewhere as Manta's reeort has been closed down.

Thank heaven's I'd just been in Maldives! The currents at Speyside were almost unbelievable and unfortunately the visibility was poor during my stay too. That said, it was exciting. On my last day, viz cleared right up and current moved to a leisurely drift. Amazing truly amazing for Caribbean diving. I loved it . . .until we surfaced!! OMG!! After such a lovely peaceful dive, we surfaced in the confluence of two opposing surface currents. for a few minutes there, I thought it was going to be an ironic way to die.

There was absolutely zilch for nightlife, nada!! However, that's at Speyside. I'm told that down south there's lots of restaurants and partying to be had.

I have stayed in Trinidad between flights 4 times and always stay at the Holiday Inn Express. It's not near much though apparently there's some kind of mall not too far away. The rooms are great!! I've been happy there each time with my only complaint being no restaurant/bar on site, only a breakfast room.

I may not be going through Trinidad to get to Grenada anymore so not sure I'll be back. As for Speyside itself, it was a once and done for me.

Grenada is a beautiful island. I'm definitely going to be there again and probably again and then again.

 

[phoenix31tt]

If you want both nightlife and diving you will have to stay in the Crown Point area (close to the airport)... you can have both there.

I would recommend www.underseatobago.com as a LDS (website is giving some issue right now if it's not back up soon i can send you some additional details). You can also experience speyside with this dive op as they can organize to drive you up there do some dives for a day and drive you back down.

I don't usually pay to stay in Tobago so i cant speak first hand about accommodations, i did use www.johnstonapartments.com once. They are close to the nightlife and two dive shops.

There are many grocery stores in that same area, some may be a long walk depending on how much you like to walk.

Grenada is Good for wreck diving but not much in the way of reefs (or so i've heard)

 

[chillyinCanada]

I enjoy the diving in Grenada and highly recommend Aquanauts. They are one of the best operations I've ever been diving with. That said, my experience diving with them (3 separate trips) has been whilst staying at True Blue Bay Resort and Aquanauts main operation location, which gave the points for a "handiness" factor.