Msg1963
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Thinking about going Nov. 4 with my 17 year old sons. Any info would help Thanks
Bahamas recommendations
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miked
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Where in the Bahamas? Which island(s)? Are you looking for hotels, things to do, dive ops?
Some more detail might get more informed replies.
Some more detail might get more informed replies.
All I have to offer is I have done Nassau 3 times. Not because it was that great but because I was on the east coast anyway and added some vacation to a business trip.
Nassau was good basic diving. I think there are only two ops there. Stuart Cove's is who I used. Cattle boat diving but it was OK. Service was good, diving good, vis great all three times. Some simple basic reef dives, couple of wrecks and some movie sets from the Bond series.
Top side I stayed on Cable Beach which was very nice resort type, mass appeal kind of situation. Big resorts, pools, crowds (by my standards which means I was within ear shot of others
) but good food and good service.
All in all good trips, passable diving, but for sure resort type diving and not very adventurous. Gets you wet, very convenient if you are on the East Coast, reasonable travel. I look at Nassau like Cozumel. Always there, always adequate, mostly reasonable and great for a "break glass in case of emergency" type dive trip. Meaning that when life tells you you need salt water, STAT, you can get a trip together to either place and get the salt and sand balance back in line.
Others can opine on the rest of the Bahamas which I hear is more remote, adventurous, and probably better diving.
Hope that helps.
Nassau was good basic diving. I think there are only two ops there. Stuart Cove's is who I used. Cattle boat diving but it was OK. Service was good, diving good, vis great all three times. Some simple basic reef dives, couple of wrecks and some movie sets from the Bond series.
Top side I stayed on Cable Beach which was very nice resort type, mass appeal kind of situation. Big resorts, pools, crowds (by my standards which means I was within ear shot of others
) but good food and good service.All in all good trips, passable diving, but for sure resort type diving and not very adventurous. Gets you wet, very convenient if you are on the East Coast, reasonable travel. I look at Nassau like Cozumel. Always there, always adequate, mostly reasonable and great for a "break glass in case of emergency" type dive trip. Meaning that when life tells you you need salt water, STAT, you can get a trip together to either place and get the salt and sand balance back in line.
Others can opine on the rest of the Bahamas which I hear is more remote, adventurous, and probably better diving.
Hope that helps.
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The other ^ is Bahama Divers. They're in Nassau across from Paradise Island instead of a 45min. shuttle ride south to Cove's. Cove's is pretty much known for their shark feed dive also.
From Jersey one thing to check into is timing on connections to the Out Islands - often those flights are limited.
This is not a complete list but it gives you an idea of where to find dive operators - Bahamas Government Portal - Welcome to Bahamas Diving
Freeport/Grand Bahama also has many options. UNEXSO has shark dives - as well as dolphin dives. Grand Bahama Scuba is another good option. The Theo is a large wreck there in the 100' range.
From Jersey one thing to check into is timing on connections to the Out Islands - often those flights are limited.
This is not a complete list but it gives you an idea of where to find dive operators - Bahamas Government Portal - Welcome to Bahamas Diving
Freeport/Grand Bahama also has many options. UNEXSO has shark dives - as well as dolphin dives. Grand Bahama Scuba is another good option. The Theo is a large wreck there in the 100' range.
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drrich2
Contributor
If you're interested in live-aboards, Blackbeards is the cheapest, 'camping at sea' as it's often referred to, AquaCat, is a good deal more expensive but offers more dives for the week & a nicer experience from what others report (I haven't had the pleasure of either yet); somewhere in between are the Juliet and Lost Island Voyages, from others posts.
Here's a trip report from 2014 by TC on Blackbeard's.
Here's a trip report from 2012 by frog on the AquaCat.
Keep in mind that a live-aboard often provides you housing, transportation during the week, food & basically 'substitutes' for hotel, car rental & restaurant bills that you'd run up on a land-based option, and lets you get in a lot of diving. If you use a trip cost/# dives metric to gauge the value proposition of a trip, live-aboards look good (there's more to value than that, but it's a start).
Since you've got a # of people & very little lead time, you may find them booked up. But since you're looking at options, I thought I'd round it out a bit.
Richard.
Here's a trip report from 2014 by TC on Blackbeard's.
Here's a trip report from 2012 by frog on the AquaCat.
Keep in mind that a live-aboard often provides you housing, transportation during the week, food & basically 'substitutes' for hotel, car rental & restaurant bills that you'd run up on a land-based option, and lets you get in a lot of diving. If you use a trip cost/# dives metric to gauge the value proposition of a trip, live-aboards look good (there's more to value than that, but it's a start).
Since you've got a # of people & very little lead time, you may find them booked up. But since you're looking at options, I thought I'd round it out a bit.
Richard.
drrich2
Contributor
How did you decide on the Bahamas? I'm not anti-Bahamas; I'm hoping to give them a try on Blackbeard's sometime. I intended to try the AquaCat but due to a scheduling conflict did the Sun Dancer 2 out of Belize instead (& loved it). But as Kathy mentioned, the Bahamas water gets cold (as some of us judge such things) in winter. I did a sea lion encounter at Blue Lagoon out of Nassau last December (cruise ship stop) & standing in waist deep water for once was glad I wasn't diving! Chilly!
You've got a lot of options for diving in the Caribbean and some are warmer that time of year. Where water's concerned, even 4 or 5 degrees can make a big difference.
Richard.
You've got a lot of options for diving in the Caribbean and some are warmer that time of year. Where water's concerned, even 4 or 5 degrees can make a big difference.
Richard.
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You can't get to Nassau in 3 hrs. from Newark. Double that is possible on Delta or American connecting thru MIA or ATL. It is possible from JFK or LGA direct.
It's not hurricane season but there are winter storms and rougher water throughout the Caribbean.
Kathy's idea is a good one. Curacao is a direct flight from JFK - 4:40 non-stop on JetBlue. It gets you into warmer water, slightly cheaper prices on everything than the Bahamas, excellent shore diving and boat diving. It's very low current, easy diving as the reef parallels the shore line in most places - just slightly farther out. Lions Dive, the Marriott Emerald Resort, the older Hilton, and about 1/2 dozen other properties have an on-site dive operation as well as a shore dive. The best of the shore diving requires a car. One of the signature dives, the Tugboat, is 17' deep. The nearby pier around 40'. In a week of diving we only went deeper than 100' twice to see something - most of the time we cruised along the reef between 60-80'.
Curacao, a unique Caribbean island paradise. Official Curacao site
It's not hurricane season but there are winter storms and rougher water throughout the Caribbean.
Kathy's idea is a good one. Curacao is a direct flight from JFK - 4:40 non-stop on JetBlue. It gets you into warmer water, slightly cheaper prices on everything than the Bahamas, excellent shore diving and boat diving. It's very low current, easy diving as the reef parallels the shore line in most places - just slightly farther out. Lions Dive, the Marriott Emerald Resort, the older Hilton, and about 1/2 dozen other properties have an on-site dive operation as well as a shore dive. The best of the shore diving requires a car. One of the signature dives, the Tugboat, is 17' deep. The nearby pier around 40'. In a week of diving we only went deeper than 100' twice to see something - most of the time we cruised along the reef between 60-80'.
Curacao, a unique Caribbean island paradise. Official Curacao site
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