Antigua Dive shop suggestions please?

[Kbach]

I'd be intersted in a review of the Sandal Resort (and the dive OP) as I think we'll be going there over Thanksgiving week. Since they include diving, it'll be good to know if I should look at anything else.

 

[master_diver_UJ]

Hey Kbach:

I'll post a review of my time at Antigua Sandals, along with a dive report sometime in April.

John

 

[Kbach]

Thanks John.....looking forward to your report. My wife doesn't dive, so the resort review is welcome.

Dave

 

[master_diver_UJ]

Hey Dave:

No problem. We're both pretty excited - we fly out this Saturday morning. My wife doesn't dive either, and I'm hoping that the goings on at the Sandals will keep her engaged enough so that I can get a couple dives in daily.

I will post a dive / resort report when we get back.

John

 

[Dave1981]

Sandals won't have any good diving unless they travel across the island, and tbh I've never seen a sandals boat at any of the southern sites. Cades reef is hit or miss depending on the conditions. Indigo divers out of jolly harbour will dive there (not sure they still exist?), also jolly dive would I'd say.

The best sites on the island are south so go with Aquanauts, Soul immersions or seawolf divers all located within 2 mins of each other in english harbour. I've never spoken with the guys at seawolf and only heard good things. John at aquanauts and Shaun at soul immersions are really good guys. I doubt any would pick you up from the resort though free of charge, it's a good long way. If the conditions were right they'd also take you to Cades so you'd get the best of both worlds from those guys I'd say.

 

[master_diver_UJ]

Hey Dave1981:

Thanks for your note.

I've heard similar stories of limited diving from the Sandals boats. If that's the case, I'm prepared to check out other vendors on the island for good dive sites. Thanks for the heads up on Jolly Dive, Aquanauts, Soul Immersions, & Seawolf. I've got their info in my Blackberry now - should I need it.

Again, I'm hoping that the Sandals resort can keep my wife's interests engaged so that I can get get my daily diving in.

Leaving tomorrow...... we cannot wait !

John

 

[shuiqlazam]

Hi,

Now that you've been there....

how was Sandals? how was antigua? how was the dive? no report = no good.

Shui

 

[zinfin]

We dove several sites w/ sea wolf. They were professional , timely , and fun. I think you should conatct them directly for a synopsis of dive locations. I would also ask how to get to their shop- either you drive or pickup .

 

[master_diver_UJ]

Hi,

Now that you've been there....

how was Sandals? how was antigua? how was the dive? no report = no good.

Shui

Hey Shui:

Thanks for your nudge on my dive report. After my wife and I returned from Sandals Antigua, we've just been up to our eyeballs in work. Here is a bit of detail, but I have pledged to complete a dive report soon - and I will. Overall both my wife and I were underwhelmed by the resort and the diving.

On a scale of 1 - 10, 1 being lowest and 10 being highest:

The Resort room. 5. Very unimpressed. Unless you've spent significant money to be in the new side of the resort, the Mediterranean side, I don't think you'll be happy. The Mediterranean side of the resort is relatively new - built in 2006 - and it's featured in every photo of this resort. The other half of the resort, the Carribean side, appears to be atleast 30 years old, and it's age is reflected in every aspect of the room - small rooms, small bathrooms, only a few electrical outlets, insufficient air conditioning, unreliabile plumbing, very minimal water pressure, dirty cracked tiles - ugghh - terrible. WE complained heavily to management and were upgraded mid-week, but overall we were unhappy with the room.

Weather. 10. The weather was fantastic - mid to high 80's all week.

Food. 5. Again, underwhelmed. Breakfasts and lunches were ok - buffet style breakfasts with omlet stations, and order off menu lunches that were ok. The dinners were all substandard as were the wait staff. Neither my wife or I had a single memorable dinner. We ate at every restaurant hoping to find a good meal. I think the best dinner we had there was the sushi appetizers we had every night at Kimono's - the on-site Japanese steakhouse.

Pools. 9. The big pool on the Mediterranean side is very nice - and is featured in almost every picture of the resort. The Carribean side has multiple small pools that are forgettable.

Bar Service. 9. Top shelf liquor and the bar staff is everywhere.

Wine. 4. If you're wine drinkers, prepare to be dissappointed..... and to pull out your credit card. Their house wine in a 2007 Berringer - which is not good. They have premium wines available for purchase - which we did almost every night - but I felt we shouldn't have had to.

Beach. 6. While it was nice enough, it was very minimal - the tides has taken the beach down to less that 20 feet in depth in some areas. Just sad.

Staff. 9. Everyone was nice enough, and worked hard with what they had.

Scuba Diving. 5. We had been told not to expect much, and that's what we got. Water temperatures were in the low 80's - even and 90 feet !!! I dove 5 times & had fun, but there just wasn't much to see. Spotty reefs with minimal big fish, only a handful of lobsters, no sharks or rays.... The Dive shop staff was easy to get along with and everyone was genuinely concerned with your safety. The resort short-fills their tanks (most tanks were around 2800 psi) proibably on purpose to keep the dives short - which I HATE !!!

One thing on their rules. They will not let you dive before you do a checkout with one of their dive masters in the dive shop pool. I learned this the hard way. When you get to the resort, get to the watersports hut (on the Mediterranean side), and sign up for the orientation - get that out of the way first thing. I spent about 10 minutes getting quizzed on basic scuba theory and hand signals, and then about 15 minutes in the pool demonstrating basic skills - then I was on my way.

Again, I'll file a proper dive report as soon as I can.

Antuigua was nice, but you go there for the weather....... not for the diving

John

 

[zaf88]

john, i take it you only dove the north side? anyone dive the south and if so what was ur impression?