Anyone have recommendations for Eleuthera Bahamas please?

[daniel1948]

Thanks for the report on Cape Eleuthera Resort. A dive shop here has recommended it and it's high on my possibles list for an upcoming trip.

If anyone else has been there it would be good to get additional reports.

Daniel

 

[hammerhead man]

My son and I just returned from Cape Eleuthera a few weeks ago. Here are my thoughts:

1. Getting to the island made for a long day. Even though the Bahamas are very close it took us all day to get there. What contributed to our travel time was the cost and delays. The cost forced us to fly to Orlando, then to Nassau, and then hop a flight to Eleuthera. If you have a direct flight to Nassau you will save several hours. The delay came on the connection between Nassau and Eleuthera. The plane we were to take had "mechanical trouble" and our flight was delayed about 2 hours. From what I was told, the Bahamasair planes that make the island hops are always late or delayed.

2. The accommodations were outstanding. You stay in condos that are first rate. The views from the condos overlooked the harbor and were outstanding.

3. If you are looking for night life, this is not the place to go. There is none where we stayed. If you want a quiet, relaxing vacation this may be the perfect place for you.

4. The food is very good. Our trip included all meals and drinks. The breakfast selection was very limited but what was served was very good. although there were some strange interpretations of what was included. For example, one member of our group wanted a bagel for breakfast which they had not problems with, but when he asked for a particular bagel they said it wasn't on the meal list. Go figure. I think they are new to having large dive groups and are still learning how to cater to large groups.
5. The staff was very friendly and helpful.

6. The dive boat is okay but not particularly roomy. There were 12 in our dive group and were comfortable. If we had more than that it would have been very crowded. The boat had some shade and had a rinse bucket for cameras.

7. The diving was good. The reefs are in pristine condition and there were several nice swim throughs. We dove with Neal as the dive master and he could not have been more accommodating. The dives were for the most part relatively shallow in that, you stayed above the 60 foot depth. The visibility was very good with the exception of one dive. The only thing that I felt was somewhat lacking was the fish life. For sure there are reef fish and all the other critters you will find at other places; however, there did not seem to be an abundance of life.

Would I go again, probably because I enjoy quiet, secluded dive destinations.

If you click on my "photos" link you will see my Eleuthera photo gallery that contains some of the pics I took on the trip.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Bill

 

[daniel1948]

Thanks for that, Bill. (Regarding the bagel, they have warned me that being so far out, special food requests can be difficult to accommodate. I'm resigned to the fact that since I don't eat meat, my food selection will be limited.)

Daniel

 

[Dantheengineer]

Hey Dan,
My 2 PSI for what it's worth.....

I returned to Powell Point, Cape Eleuthera about three months ago for a days diving. It was entirely terrific. The diving was equal to any i've yet enjoyed here in the Bahamas. (To qualify that.....about 700 dives off, NP, Andros, Eleuthera, Exumas, Abaco and San Salvadore)

Try to get to the Cobia nets if you get the chance (and i'm sure you will). It looks like a huge sunken UFO as you approach from the wall side. Anchored in about 80' of water the top of the net is buoyed at the top and has a huge metal frame giving it it's volume in the middle. it's roughly kite shaped in elevation and, i believe i recall, octagonal in plan view. It's FULL of Cobia! dont put yer fingers through the net!
FYI There was appreciable current near the surface at this site.

Our second dive was a fairly shallow coral head/reef approx 300' dia and about 45' deepest. I spent around 100 minutes here and no one so much as batted an eye lid or tapped an impatient foot!
There was LOTS of macro life here. If you dont already own a sub aqua camera i'd SERIOUSLY consider the aquisition of one for your trip!

The only draw back for us as visitors was the expense of the outer islands. It was difficult to pick fault with anything else.

Good luck!

 

[daniel1948]

Sounds great! I'll be there the first week in February, after spending the last week in January on the Aqua Cat. I'll have 5 1/2 days of diving. It sounds like afternoon diving is iffy: their schedule doesn't leave time for lunch between morning and afternoon trips unless there's a group consensus to delay the afternoon departure. But two dives a day is likely to be enough for me.

On cameras: I have a little Cannon Powershot that gives me nice pictures on land, and an underwater case for it. On my second dive trip (Cozumel) I took a lot of worthless pictures with it, but one day the DM took it, and when he gave it back, there were a lot of really nice pics.

I'm going to wait until I have some more diving experience under my belt, and my buoyancy control is better, and then I'll take some lessons in underwater photography. Meanwhile, the camera will stay home, and wherever there's a professional, I'll buy the CD. The BEST pictures I brought home from Cozumel were the ones I bought. The photographer took several of me, and snapped everything I pointed at.

 

[daniel1948]

I'm just back from my trip. A week on the Aqua Cat and a week at Cape Eleuthera Resort.

I rate the dive operation at Cape Eleuthera UNACCEPTABLE. See my report here.

In brief, very friendly but very unprofessional.

 

[eleutheradiver]

Just a note about getting here, several airlines fly direct to Eleuthera from Florida (e.g., American Eagle flies out of Miami, and is offering introductory rates through March -- I paid $175 for a round-trip ticket last month, whereas most airlines charge close to $300-$350 for a direct round trip). Also, Contintental and others fly direct from FLL (although at the higher rate). Going through Nassau is generally much slower since their customs process takes longer than Eleuthera's, and oftentimes you're stuck in a 1/2 day or overnight layover in both directions which eats up your vacation time in a very uninteresting airport.

 

[hammerhead man]

I hope that the direct flights continue. One of the big headaches is transfering planes in Nassau. We traveled Bahama Air from Nassau and it is always a crap shoot as to whether they will fly. Our original flight got canceled because of equipment failure and the second flight was delayed. Our flight from Washington DC to Eleuthera ended up being around 7 hours with layovers! It was so brutal that I'm not sure I would go back when you can get to so many other islands with very good diving a lot easier.

Regards,

Bill