Ripple in still water
Contributor
We completed three nice days of boat diving, for a total of five dives, in Eleuthera this past week. We did three dives with Valentine's Dive Center, http://bit.ly/NojMvk , on Harbour Island. VDC apparently developed a bad reputation before a family from Canada, the Gross' (with, per the website apparently another family, the Reise-Ward's) bought it about 8 months ago. The new owners are great. Francine Gross works the shop, and was extremely accommodating. We showed up for an afternoon dive/snorkel trip on which three others were scheduled to go, but canceled at the last minute. Francine said that, despite there being only two of us for the trip, the boat was ours. When Francine noted my wife, a new diver, toting her fins a bit awkwardly in a canvas bag with beach towels and the like, she went into the back, found a fin bag, and gave it to her, gratis.
Francine's son, Shane, led the dives. He stayed close by, but also took a lot of pictures during the dives. He offered to send us the pix gratis, a nice change after diving with Stuart Cove in Nassua which, while overall a good outfit, would only offer pix their folks' took during dives for sale, at a rather high cost. Shane also permitted fairly lengthy bottom times on all dives (unlike, say, Cozumel, we did not find any Bahamas ops, either in Nassau or Eleuthera, who allow divers to dive their air and computers). The three sites we visited were diverse and rewarding.
We also dived two tanks with Ocean Fox on the opposite (southern) tip of the island. Ocean Fox's divemaster was also attentive. Ocean Fox permitted shorter bottom times for roughly equivalent depths than Valentine's, however. Also, OF charges $20 more per trip than Valentine's, and only accepts cash (Valentine's takes credit cards).
I'd recommend either shop. The sites we visited in the South were different than the sites we visited in the North w. Valentine's, each of which was in turn distinctive. We stayed in Governor's Harbour, in the middle of the island, about an hour from either shop. If I were to choose to stay closer to one or the other end of the island to make diving easier, I think we'd stay near Valentine's, given that they provide at least the same quality of service for less and are a bit more flexible. On the other hand, the dive sites in the North and the South are different enough that, if you don't mind long drives, there's something to be said for staying in the middle of the island and doing dives on both ends with both ops.
Francine's son, Shane, led the dives. He stayed close by, but also took a lot of pictures during the dives. He offered to send us the pix gratis, a nice change after diving with Stuart Cove in Nassua which, while overall a good outfit, would only offer pix their folks' took during dives for sale, at a rather high cost. Shane also permitted fairly lengthy bottom times on all dives (unlike, say, Cozumel, we did not find any Bahamas ops, either in Nassau or Eleuthera, who allow divers to dive their air and computers). The three sites we visited were diverse and rewarding.
We also dived two tanks with Ocean Fox on the opposite (southern) tip of the island. Ocean Fox's divemaster was also attentive. Ocean Fox permitted shorter bottom times for roughly equivalent depths than Valentine's, however. Also, OF charges $20 more per trip than Valentine's, and only accepts cash (Valentine's takes credit cards).
I'd recommend either shop. The sites we visited in the South were different than the sites we visited in the North w. Valentine's, each of which was in turn distinctive. We stayed in Governor's Harbour, in the middle of the island, about an hour from either shop. If I were to choose to stay closer to one or the other end of the island to make diving easier, I think we'd stay near Valentine's, given that they provide at least the same quality of service for less and are a bit more flexible. On the other hand, the dive sites in the North and the South are different enough that, if you don't mind long drives, there's something to be said for staying in the middle of the island and doing dives on both ends with both ops.