Barbados Diving at West Side SCUBA Centre during Cruise visit

[henrywl]

We just got back from cruising Carnival Destiny; San Juan, St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, Aruba, and back to San Juan.

Diving while cruising has become very popular and to date we have made four such trips. The cruise lines' shore excursions often do not offer two tank dives and if they do they are expensive or their dives are not first thing in the morning. This was the case when I arrived in Barbados. Thankfully we had searched out a good dive operator and they were there to pick me up as promised; gate one at the cruise terminal.

We chose West Side SCUBA (PADI shop); the shop is small but more than adequate for our needs. The dive boat is good sized and safely outfitted. The interesting thing is that the beaches are all public so you have to wade out to the dive boat but that is no big deal.

Dive one was a wreck at 130 feet. Experienced divers hit the prop at 130 feet while those not so experienced stay at about 85 feet. Overall a nice dive. The surface interval was spent anchored next to where the cruise ship snorkel trips go to feed six giant but lazy turtles. What a spectacle! Dive two was a reef dive at 50 feet or so. Diving was good. BTW this is NOT a cattle boat operation but is instead a responsive dive operator.

The folks drove me back to the cruise ship and I was there by 2:00. I really do recommend these folks. They are friendly, inexpensive, and certainly know all the dive spots.

Here is some contact info should you need to find a good dive operation in Barbados!

West Side Scuba Centre 19279 www.westsidescuba.com
Peter Grannum 67147 peterg@sunbeach.net
Holetown St. James, Barbados W.I.
(246)432-2558 PHONE/FAX
(246)262-1029 CELL

 

[kelbat]

We just got back from cruising Carnival Destiny; San Juan, St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, Aruba, and back to San Juan.

Diving while cruising has become very popular and to date we have made four such trips. The cruise lines' shore excursions often do not offer two tank dives and if they do they are expensive or their dives are not first thing in the morning. This was the case when I arrived in Barbados. Thankfully we had searched out a good dive operator and they were there to pick me up as promised; gate one at the cruise terminal.

We chose West Side SCUBA (PADI shop); the shop is small but more than adequate for our needs. The dive boat is good sized and safely outfitted. The interesting thing is that the beaches are all public so you have to wade out to the dive boat but that is no big deal.

Dive one was a wreck at 130 feet. Experienced divers hit the prop at 130 feet while those not so experienced stay at about 85 feet. Overall a nice dive. The surface interval was spent anchored next to where the cruise ship snorkel trips go to feed six giant but lazy turtles. What a spectacle! Dive two was a reef dive at 50 feet or so. Diving was good. BTW this is NOT a cattle boat operation but is instead a responsive dive operator.

The folks drove me back to the cruise ship and I was there by 2:00. I really do recommend these folks. They are friendly, inexpensive, and certainly know all the dive spots.

Here is some contact info should you need to find a good dive operation in Barbados!

West Side Scuba Centre 19279 www.westsidescuba.com
Peter Grannum 67147 peterg@sunbeach.net
Holetown St. James, Barbados W.I.
(246)432-2558 PHONE/FAX
(246)262-1029 CELL

Henry, Many thanks for this. We wil be cruising in March, and other friends of ours also recommended West Side scuba. I will be doing two of my OW dives with Peter....at a very reasonable price too! I can hardly wait. Cheers, Kel

 

[Bosun]

We have dived with West Side and they are a good operation.

 

[tvictory]

We went on Carnival to Barbados in 1998 and booked the ship's shore excursion dive trip, and the operator was......West Side Scuba! I think we paid about $100 for a one-tank dive (on the Stavronikita) and the dive shop charged us an additional $70 to do a second dive, which seemed like a lot back then. It was fun, though, and a well-run operation.

 

[scubawife]

Was the diving good enough to consider Barbados for a 5-7 day dive trip? I'm always seeing good hotel deals and can get reasonable flights. Anyone I know who's gone there has liked the island, but they don't dive.

 

[RICHinNC]

You can get two tanks with John Moore of Dive Barbados Ltd for about $90 US. Small boat...no more than 6 divers ever.

 

[Mooring Inspector]

Was the diving good enough to consider Barbados for a 5-7 day dive trip? I'm always seeing good hotel deals and can get reasonable flights. Anyone I know who's gone there has liked the island, but they don't dive.

Dear Scubawife
There are enough divesites to dive twice every day of your 5-7 day vacation, and not go to the same site twice, unless you want to.
Hightide Watersports have some great multi-dive packages, where the more you dive the less you pay. They do a 10 dive package, which would be great for 5 days of diving, two single tank morning dives, and the last day to do one of the many excursions, which can also be organized by Hightide. They operate a 37ft Pontoon boat called the Ali-Cat, which can carry everyone without being crowded. It has a full length roof for shade from the sun. Light refreshments on board.
Victor the skipper is the most knowledgeable on the island.
Their DM,s will set up your gear for you on the boat, and wash it down for you after the dive.
What a great operation.
They can be contacted at hightide@sunbeach.net
Tel 1 246 432 0931
www.divehightide.com has a secure online booking system and some dive site info.