Tobago???

[bcdannymalone]

Hi Guys,

Does anyone know anything about diving in Trinidad and Tobago? I'm a dive instructor in Thailand (Koh Tao) and an ex-student is now working there and has asked my girlfriend and I to go out for a visit. She claims that the diving is really great, but I'm not sure that she's been to too many places. I know that the diving on Koh Tao is hardly world class and if that's all she can compare it to, T&T could be pretty average and still be better. It's a long way to go to find out.

Also curious to know what the seasons are like, when's best for diving and whether anyone thinks it's ultimately good value for money. Any help is much appreciated. Cheers.

 

[Damselfish]

well I haven't been to Tobago, so I can't compare it to other places. But there is supposed to be pretty good diving and it sounds somewhat different than most places in the Caribbean. It's not nearly as popular as many other dive places in the Caribbean, though sometimes popularity is more related to things like good marketing, ease and cost of getting there, and level of dive/tourism infrastructure.

HOWEVER, I don't think I would fly anyplace in the Caribbean specifically to dive if I were so much closer to Indonesia, Phillipines, Maldives, and various Pacific destinations. A bit of trivia - the magazine Undercurrent gives places star ratings and specifically states whether they are using "Caribbean scale" or "Worldwide scale." There's a reason for that distinction.

 

[Doc]

Tobago is a fun time, I rate it in the top 5 of the Caribbean... but not for abundant critters and lush reefs~ certainly nowhere near the kind of stuff you'll see in the South Pacific.

Lots of British, visiting and working. Most come for the wild birding. Normally I do not recommend driving a car or even much in terms of terrestrial tourism~ Tobago is the exception. Great sightseeing, waterfalls, 4WD adventures possible that are so good you could wreck a jeep (such roads are well posted and warned).

Trinidad, the other island in this two island nation, is absolutely different in every way. it is on a different continental plate, for starters. Trinidad is flat, low, overcrowded, rowdy, tacky, a bit dodgy for safety, and is the leading exporter of what we Yanks call "blacktop". the stuff bubbles out of the ground there. Tobago has been treated as it's virginal cousin, a bit of a museum piece, undeveloped. Trinidad supplies electrical power to tobago via underwater extension cord.

Tobago SOUTH END: Longtime visited near the cruise ship landing at Pigeon Point. Pretty well a monorail tour for the Pod People. Your basic caribbean reef, some trashed, some are better. Huge hotel complexes being built on that South side, but the Atlantic side.

Tobago NORTH END: Comparatively rustic and primitive. Not for the insecure diver. Kind of marginal dive infrastructure and insane currents. Excellent training for the Galapagos. Makes Cozumel look like Sunday in the park.

Best resource? the "MyTobago" Website

 

[petermichelle]

Hi there, we were in Tobago in December and had lots of good diving with the crew at World of Watersports. We've been to Roatan, Great Barrier Reef, Hawaii and Cozumel. We loved Tobago -- partly because the staff made it a very personal experience for us (we had the dive boat to ourselves for a week) and partly because there was a good variety of dive sites. Some beautiful sloping reefs, a wreck or two, ocean shelves, just a good mix. I thought it was great diving. But then I love any day that includes diving.

 

[Bosun]

From the research we did before our trip we noted comments about the viz in Trinidad being impacted by the Orinico river in Venezuela, this is less so in Tobago. This is worse in the wet season so the best time to go would be November to April/May. The drift diving in Speyside in Tobago is very good with massive currents which makes for a wild dive. The Sisters north of Speyside is famed for Mantas and Hammerheads. We saw plenty of Nurse Sharks and a single Manta in Speyside. Tobago has a lot of tropical rainforest and plenty of wildlife and plenty of rain in the wet season, but it is a great place to go.

 

[Doc]

the viz in Trinidad being impacted by the Orinico river in Venezuela, this is less so in Tobago.

It has never impacted critter sightings and adds a bizarre effect to the diving. I have seen it a few times during Aug~Oct. The Orinoco's outflow of tannic acid from the roots of trees dyes the water root beer brown. In that it is cooler, fresh water, it descends in bands across the ocean at the upper level. It's (comparatively) cold to jump in and descend through, but once below it you perceive warmth.

Even though it's one, maybe two degrees different, the Mantas seem to utilize it to connect to a food source. The bulk of my big Manta encounters have been during the outflow during night dives. I have never been diving off of Trinidad and have not read much to recommend it.

 

[DiveBarbadosBlue]

Trinidad has no diving. Nice diving in Tobago...highlighted by the hammer head migration, and the sometimes wicked current diving. Email the Tobago dive centers and ask about the best time to see the hammerheads, has a great reputation for being an amazing experience. I have not been lucky enough to see it yet but many instructor-friends here in Bdos have travelled there for the migration specifically. They get the sharks, we get the turtles.
Happy diving
Chris

 

[kime]

For one thing it isn't like diving in Thailand... but for a very small island in the Caribbean it does have a lot to offer. We can boast of dives that range from easy picturesque, languid conditions, to dives that suddenly pick up on you and you only have time to register that "it was blue....., maybe " That doesn't mean to say there aren't the occassional rough day or low vis, but even when it is like that there is still a lot to see. (Low vis for us is normally between 10 - 12 metres anyway)

I suggest you chat with some of the guys on the myTobago - Tobago Tourist Information Guide website. Try this site too! Hell's1stdaughter I've got my own pics there, and Underwater Photography - Fish Database is a friend of mines, they come here year just to take pictures.