Two days out of Nassau

[jennlange]

I'm going to be in Nassau for a week with the entire family, so my best guess is that I'll be able to get in 1.5-2 days of diving (with the rest of the time celebrating Christmas and chasing kids around). With such a short time, what should I not miss? I've heard good things about the shark dives . . .

I'd appreciate any advice/suggestions!

 

[Meinhardt S]

I would be interested in any info you receive about places that you are going to stay at - as I am booking a cruise with "Blackbeards" over the Christmas holidays. I would like to arrive on the 18th, stay somewhere for the first two days and explore, then get on the live-a-board (on the 20th)for the next seven days and then get off the boat on the 27th, stay a couple of more days and leave to come back home the 29th or 30th. I'm looking for clean but reasonable places to stay. I too would appreciate any idea's................

 

[potato cod]

Hi Jennlange,

My husband and I went to Nassau a few months ago. We stayed at Orange Hill Inn (Orange Hill Beach Inn - Our family welcomes you to our hotel and Nassau Bahamas), which we found to be charming. The rooms are nothing special, but the grounds are nice with a pool, landscaping, and right across the street from the ocean and a beach with very few people on it. There's a tiny shallow patch reef you can snorkel on (look for the dead log underwater and go out from there maybe 10'). There was an eel, lobster, scorpion fish, caribbean reef squid, and lots of small fry around there. The hotel is one of the least expensive and caters to families and divers. If you dive with Stuart Coves, then you will get picked up last and dropped off first, so you'll spend less time on the bus. But, if luxury is your thing, you might look into one of the resorts. Also, its a little ways from the main downtown area, but you can take the bus for $1.

My husband and I are ecologists and while we love seeing sharks, we prefer to watch their natural behavior rather than a feeding, so we chose not to do the shark dive. We did see a couple reef sharks on the regular dives anyway. The people we talked to who did the shark dive thought it was a hoot, so it's just up to you. Stuart Coves was the biggest operation we've every dived with and a bit of a dive factory, yet it seemed to be a well run operation and if you dive with them for more than one day you get to know the staff anyway. A couple of the DM were really excellent, too.

For topside entertainment, we were just relaxing on the beach or snorkeling much of the time on the little patch reef. We did enjoy the Ardastra Gardens and Zoo. Quaint, but well done and quiet. If you have kids, this might be nice. (Well, we don't have kids, but enjoyed it anyway). The flamingo parade was hilarious. We didn't really like downtown Nassau, but there is shopping, etc. there.

Feel free to PM me if you want more info on any of this.

Meinhardt,S - doesn't Blackbeards leave from Freeport on Grand Bahama rather than Nassau?

 

[Dantheengineer]

Stuart Coves Shark dive is pretty cool. I've enjoyed it five or six time now. Currently (with the low number of guests at this time of year) if there's six or fewer people, they'll do the feed on the bow of the Ray of Hope! too cool! (RoH is a 200' long container ship wreck)
My favorite dives include: The Port Nelson, Steel Forest, Pumpkin Patch and South West Reef.
ANY of the wall dive impress. Sand Shoot or Heiniken Wall are pretty neat. (Blue Plunder is also supposed to be very good but i've yet to have the pleasure)
The very best would be the Ray of Hope. If you get to feed the Sharks there AND there's good viz you'd better get down to the Casino that evening! Coz your luck is RIGHT in!

FYI, Land Shark Hotel would have fullfilled needs regarding cheap accomodation. Sadly it shut down. Orange Hill's only ever very highly recommended. Many friends have stayed there and found it entirely suitable.
A little more exclusive is A Stones Throw Away. Paste in:- " Unsupported Browser "
Looks a little pricey but very nice.

Good Luck!
Dan