RICHinNC
Contributor
Ok, this is a rather lengthy report on my two week trip to the West Indies, specifically, Barbados. I intend to cover not just the good things, but the irritants as well. Certainly, some things I find irritating you might not. The idea is to ensure I dont paint a wonderful picture and someone head to Barbados and not find it the same place I did. I will say, there is no doubt I would return again and have every intention of doing so.
THE DIVING
Since this board is about diving .lets just start there and save some of you a lot of reading. I dont intend to mention the dive operation I went out with because I am not sure if I would dive with them again. Let me just simply state what went on and you make your own decision. If you wish to message me, I will let you know who they are.
Long before flying to Barbados I got on the board here and asked for recommendations and got a couple. One stood out and they had a web site so I sent off a few messages whereby they replied and I set up a 6 dive package at a very reasonable price. (under $300 US) Plus, since their operation was on the other side of the island, they said they would send a driver to my hotel and pick me up each day I was to dive. Not bad ..but come to find out .almost every attraction sends out drivers to the hotels to get people. If they didnt their businesses would probably crumble in one season. But it was still a nice gesture.
So the first day of diving came around and I was out front of my hotel waiting for my ride. Like clock work a car pulled up and said are you Rich R. and in I got and off we went to the dive shop. We pulled into the dive shop and I had to fill out a bit of paperwork, plus I had to show my AOW card for the dive we were going on .the Stav. I surprised the shop because I had all my gear, to include weights and a pony bottle. There was the first small rub. I had email and a phone call indicating filling a pony bottle was no problem, but when I got to the shop neither of the two dive masters had a clue on how to fill the bottle. After a bit of hubbub one guy from the boat showed one of the dive masters how to fill the bottle. Then we all headed for the boat.
Now, I am used to a small 12 person boat bouncing on the waves off the coast of North Carolina. The boat we got up on was one of those pontoon type boats with a nice roof on it. There was me, a wife and hubby, and the two dive masters. That was it. And, that was typical for my two weeks of diving. I had dang near a small country in square feet to get my gear together. It was wonderful. The boat was powered by two 50 hp Johnsons. Therefore, we couldnt go very far very fast, but for that day it wasnt a requirement. It turned out the main fast boat was in for repair and wouldnt be running the whole time I was there, so my dives would be limited location wise. No big deal to me. I loved all the room.
We finally get underway and the two dive masters start setting up the other divers gear. I set my own up. They indicated if I would wait they would be happy to set up mine for me too. I thanked them, but its my gear, my dive, my life . I set up my own. I am kinda weird that way. Everyone is all set up and ready to go by the time we get to our first dive site .the Stav .an old Russian ship in deep water. Ok, deep for me. The bottom sits at about 135 fsw. We get a good dive briefing, but as I notice on most boats, no one checks anyone elses gear. And, the couple is using rented gear so neither were familiar with it. One item covered in the dive briefing was that we would probably encounter a current .especially considering all the storms off shore. In we go and down we go. We had been told to hold on to the rope as we descended because of the current. Now I know what it feels like to be a flag in a hurricane. The current was ripping!!!! And, when I say ripping I mean ripping!!! I saw like zip of the wreck because I was working so hard to stay in control. I was trying to move to a protected area of the deck when I saw one of the other divers go flying by like a piece of paper in a high wind. This is where the second rub came into play. When I opened the tank valve I was using it had only 2400 psi. In fact, one tank on the boat had only 1100 psi in it and couldnt be used at all. I wasnt too bothered as I have pretty good air control. But, needless to say I was sucking air at this point like an arc welder. No one was seeing much of the wreck and at about 18min the dive was called. I was really glad I wear kevlar gloves. The ropes were so barnacle encrusted that those that didnt have on gloves got cut some.
We finally made it up from the ship, did our deco, and headed for the boat ladder. Ahhhhhhh that dang boat ladder. I found out later that this boat had once been one of the glass bottom boats you see in the area, but the guys business failed and he sold the boat to the dive shop. They refitted the boat to make it a dive boat. But, one thing they didnt do was change the ladder. So, when you approached the ladder it hit you chest-throat area and getting up on it was a female dog if you know what I mean. Plus, it had rounded not flat steps. Man that was one chore for this tubby old fart !!! The DMs said they got a lot of complaints about the ladder. No surprise there.
Everyone finally made it up the torture ladder and off we went to the next site which was to be a reef drift dive. As tired as I was fighting the current at 114 fsw and climbing up that ladder, a drift dive was just perfect. New tank .full this time .and off we go. The first thing I notice that is odd is I am finning against the current like crazy trying to keep up with the dive master and barely moving. Particulate is flying past me at about warp 2.5. Didnt the dive master say this was going to be a drift dive??? We fought the current for about 65% of the dive. I hit 1000 psi and gave the hand sign that was requested in the briefing. I got an OK sign back. I hit 750 and gave the hand sign I was told to give in the dive briefing and got another OK sign. I hit 500 psi and gave the hand sign I was told to give and got yet another OK sign and the drift dive went on with us at about 78 fsw. I am thinking to myself .myself this is where we get real popular . I got one of the dive masters attention, signaled I was going up and didnt wait for any OK sign .I was well into the red now. I squeaked in a four minute deco at 20 fsw and kept my hand on my pony reg. One of the dive masters came over and stayed with me while the other dive master went off to find the other two divers. (Yep, read that again realllll slow.) When I broke the surface I had enough air in my tank to get off two 2 second blasts on my dive alert device to get the boats attention that was about 100 meters away. The third blast was nothing as my tank went dry. I had tried to warn the dive master I was going to use the dive alert. The answer I got back was .so? I indicated it might be a good idea to cover the ears or stick head under water. Why? I thought, screw it, and blasted away. Back on the boat, yep, after negotiating that dang ladder again, the dive master said that was one loud signal device. First time they had ever seen or heard of the Dive Alert.
That ended the first days dive and back to the hotel.
The next time I went out was something neat. There were two marine biologist on the boat and todays mission was to capture and tag turtles. We were briefed it would be best if the biologist actually caught the turtle since they know how to handle one, but if it was getting away, grab the dang thing!! Today there was me, two other divers, the two biologists and one dive master. All on that big boat. So down we go and not much is going on for the first 15 or 20 min. We dont see squat in the way of sea life. Then, I catch a movement off my right side and low and behold there is a sea turtle. I get the biologists attention and point to the turtle and off they go. I have a neat pic of her holding the turtle and ascending. We finish the dive and join the biologist and turtle on the boat. My girlfriend and another lady were on the boat as observers. We all got to watch as they tagged the turtle; got a skin sample; engraved its back and did some other things to it. And, we all got our picture taken with it. Then it was time to release it back to the sea. Off it went.
The next dive was another reef drift dive where again we fought the current. After about 15 minutes of watching particulate fly by and trying to outdo the current, I said the heck with it, I was going to do a drift dive like the briefing said and just stopped finning. I looked over at the other divers and they too had had enough and also quit finning. The dive master decided to follow the crowd. Back on the boat we had a discussion on what a drift dive was and more importantly, what it was not.
My last trip out was about the best .not counting the turtle. It was announced that the first dive would be another drift dive. There were two of us on the boat from the last few days and we just groaned. The dive master promised it would be. And, it was truly a drift dive.
The second dive that day was probably the best of the bunch. We did a wreck dive on the Pamir. If you ever go to Barbados ask to do this dive. It is in just 55 fsw and has some really great swim throughs. This wreck was a blast. We all had a real ball even the dive master. Plus lots of life around. Just be sure you get there in the morning.
Whether or not I would use this dive shop again is still up in the air. There are two or three more on the island and they are significantly more expensive. There were too many times where the dive masters were more into the dive than into knowing where all the divers were. It just supported my feeling that every dive is a solo dive whether you are with a buddy or professional guide.
One other item might be useful. A few weeks before we flew I called TSA .airport security .and had a conversation about dive gear. Specifically, my pony bottle. I ended up finding out each airport has a TSA customer rep. So I got hold of the one at the airport we were flying out of in the states. He was very helpful and admitted he didnt know squat about dive gear and he would call me back in a couple of days. Yea right. Well, surprise..surprise surprise .he did call me back. He suggested I put the bottle in my suit case instead of my rolling carryon bag and he would be real happy. I did, I had no problems, all went well. They didnt even check my reg bag. Coming back into the states I had both my duffles sealed with those plastic wire thingies and they were not cut. I did get my reg bag checked on the return trip but no problem. The TSA lady in opening it asked if it was dive gear and said she just had to be sure. No problems, I have been in 3 airplane crashes already and do not want to participate in number 4.
THE RESORT ..
We made all our reservations through US Air. It was a package deal. The hotel we decided on was the Bougainvillea Beach Resort. In my research I found a number of complaints on boards that they would make reservations for the main hotel, but when people got there they were shuffling them off to another hotel they own much less quality .and claiming over booking problems. So I called down three days before we flew to ensure we were either in the main resort or we were finding another one period. We got the main hotel, but we didnt get the king size bed we paid for .we got a double. Oh well. One other thing that kinda bugged me was the large glass sliding doors. They did not have any curtains to close to keep out the sun light. So if you were planning on sleeping in .forget it. You got up at sunrise whether you wanted to or not. Other than the bed and that, the resort was pretty much ok. It had its own nice beach that was one of the best we saw there. The food served was pretty good too. There was a pool bar and in that particular pool kids were not suppose to be allowed, but there were lots of them. So if you were trying to down a couple of good beers at happy hour, you could expect to have screaming kids within arms reach.
The resort had all kinds of things you could rent like sail boats, ski doos and even had some free things like bogey boards and kayaks. But come 5 pm it locks up and rolls up the side walks.
I would stay there again with little reservation about the place. Although we did scope out some hotels closer to St. Lawrence.
THE OSTINS FISH FRY ..
Every Friday and Saturday night the little town of Ostins has a fish fry. It cranks up about 8 pm and you can order just about any kind of fish you can think of to eat. Do not I stress do not ..get any Ostins tickets from the resorts or your travel agent. Our agent was selling tickets you turn in for a meal for $30 US> each per person. Me and my lady both ate a big meal and had four beers and it was just at $20 US> for both on site. But the fish fry is cool and around 10 pm things start hopping. You can dance and have a good old time.
THE ROOTS REVIEW ..
This was a blast. It is a cultural slash music show. Plus it has a great meal and all you can drink. It started off with the 55 gallon drum music band. Then the show with dancers and guys on stilts and scantily clad ladies .yada yada. Once the show was over the curtain reopened and another band was on stage and the dancing started. I would highly recommend this little item. Oh, and dont think that rum punch wont do you a job!!! I was a dancing fool!!!
CAR RENTAL AND THE PEOPLE ..
We rented a car for a week .small car with air conditioning. Man it was hot there. They have cars called Mooks that are totally open. And, about twice as expensive because they are a novelty. We got a small Daihatsu and was tickled pink with it. We drove all over that island no problems. It is a good idea to get a car you can lock up we were told. I am sure if we had exposed cameras or dive gear it might have been lifted when we left the car but we had no problems at all.
The people there are either pretty wealthy or not. More nots. But we never felt uncomfortable. Every single day we were approached by someone selling art or carvings or beads ..and I would just say, No thank you but I appreciate you asking. And, I would say 90% of the time I got a .ok enjoy your vacation .back. No hassles no hard sells no threats. It was pretty nice.
MALIBU RUM TOUR .
Malibu rum is the nectar of the Gods .right after Irish whiskey. We did a tour of the Malibu distillery and man was that an eye opener. No doubt OSHA does not visit Barbados. The vats are open on top to the air. If it rains .it rains in the vats if a bird poops overhead .it falls in the vats. My lady loves Malibu and diet coke .but it took her a couple of days to start drinking it again. I figure it is alcohol .what the heck. But it is a great tour and they have a great beach not to mention the cheapest and best food bar on the island!!!!
HORSE BACK RIDING ..
All I am going to say here is dont do it. That is the most irresponsible company I have ever seen. Stay away.
WHAT TO TAKE ..
Not much. We over packed like we normally do. We were there for two weeks and could have gotten by with half of what we took. All you need is a couple pair of shorts a few shirts .a couple of pair of swim trunks and you are good. If you wish to go to a fancy restaurant like The Cliff (we spent $205 US on a meal and got sick) then you will need slacks dress appropriate attire. I wore by dive booties most of the time. There were rocks and all kinds of sharp things where we explored and they came in real handy. Didnt care if they got wet duh!!
There is a lot more I could put in here. Barbados is a cool place to go and I would definitely go back again. I wouldnt rave about the diving but I had a good time.
Hope this was of some use.
THE DIVING
Since this board is about diving .lets just start there and save some of you a lot of reading. I dont intend to mention the dive operation I went out with because I am not sure if I would dive with them again. Let me just simply state what went on and you make your own decision. If you wish to message me, I will let you know who they are.
Long before flying to Barbados I got on the board here and asked for recommendations and got a couple. One stood out and they had a web site so I sent off a few messages whereby they replied and I set up a 6 dive package at a very reasonable price. (under $300 US) Plus, since their operation was on the other side of the island, they said they would send a driver to my hotel and pick me up each day I was to dive. Not bad ..but come to find out .almost every attraction sends out drivers to the hotels to get people. If they didnt their businesses would probably crumble in one season. But it was still a nice gesture.
So the first day of diving came around and I was out front of my hotel waiting for my ride. Like clock work a car pulled up and said are you Rich R. and in I got and off we went to the dive shop. We pulled into the dive shop and I had to fill out a bit of paperwork, plus I had to show my AOW card for the dive we were going on .the Stav. I surprised the shop because I had all my gear, to include weights and a pony bottle. There was the first small rub. I had email and a phone call indicating filling a pony bottle was no problem, but when I got to the shop neither of the two dive masters had a clue on how to fill the bottle. After a bit of hubbub one guy from the boat showed one of the dive masters how to fill the bottle. Then we all headed for the boat.
Now, I am used to a small 12 person boat bouncing on the waves off the coast of North Carolina. The boat we got up on was one of those pontoon type boats with a nice roof on it. There was me, a wife and hubby, and the two dive masters. That was it. And, that was typical for my two weeks of diving. I had dang near a small country in square feet to get my gear together. It was wonderful. The boat was powered by two 50 hp Johnsons. Therefore, we couldnt go very far very fast, but for that day it wasnt a requirement. It turned out the main fast boat was in for repair and wouldnt be running the whole time I was there, so my dives would be limited location wise. No big deal to me. I loved all the room.
We finally get underway and the two dive masters start setting up the other divers gear. I set my own up. They indicated if I would wait they would be happy to set up mine for me too. I thanked them, but its my gear, my dive, my life . I set up my own. I am kinda weird that way. Everyone is all set up and ready to go by the time we get to our first dive site .the Stav .an old Russian ship in deep water. Ok, deep for me. The bottom sits at about 135 fsw. We get a good dive briefing, but as I notice on most boats, no one checks anyone elses gear. And, the couple is using rented gear so neither were familiar with it. One item covered in the dive briefing was that we would probably encounter a current .especially considering all the storms off shore. In we go and down we go. We had been told to hold on to the rope as we descended because of the current. Now I know what it feels like to be a flag in a hurricane. The current was ripping!!!! And, when I say ripping I mean ripping!!! I saw like zip of the wreck because I was working so hard to stay in control. I was trying to move to a protected area of the deck when I saw one of the other divers go flying by like a piece of paper in a high wind. This is where the second rub came into play. When I opened the tank valve I was using it had only 2400 psi. In fact, one tank on the boat had only 1100 psi in it and couldnt be used at all. I wasnt too bothered as I have pretty good air control. But, needless to say I was sucking air at this point like an arc welder. No one was seeing much of the wreck and at about 18min the dive was called. I was really glad I wear kevlar gloves. The ropes were so barnacle encrusted that those that didnt have on gloves got cut some.
We finally made it up from the ship, did our deco, and headed for the boat ladder. Ahhhhhhh that dang boat ladder. I found out later that this boat had once been one of the glass bottom boats you see in the area, but the guys business failed and he sold the boat to the dive shop. They refitted the boat to make it a dive boat. But, one thing they didnt do was change the ladder. So, when you approached the ladder it hit you chest-throat area and getting up on it was a female dog if you know what I mean. Plus, it had rounded not flat steps. Man that was one chore for this tubby old fart !!! The DMs said they got a lot of complaints about the ladder. No surprise there.
Everyone finally made it up the torture ladder and off we went to the next site which was to be a reef drift dive. As tired as I was fighting the current at 114 fsw and climbing up that ladder, a drift dive was just perfect. New tank .full this time .and off we go. The first thing I notice that is odd is I am finning against the current like crazy trying to keep up with the dive master and barely moving. Particulate is flying past me at about warp 2.5. Didnt the dive master say this was going to be a drift dive??? We fought the current for about 65% of the dive. I hit 1000 psi and gave the hand sign that was requested in the briefing. I got an OK sign back. I hit 750 and gave the hand sign I was told to give in the dive briefing and got another OK sign. I hit 500 psi and gave the hand sign I was told to give and got yet another OK sign and the drift dive went on with us at about 78 fsw. I am thinking to myself .myself this is where we get real popular . I got one of the dive masters attention, signaled I was going up and didnt wait for any OK sign .I was well into the red now. I squeaked in a four minute deco at 20 fsw and kept my hand on my pony reg. One of the dive masters came over and stayed with me while the other dive master went off to find the other two divers. (Yep, read that again realllll slow.) When I broke the surface I had enough air in my tank to get off two 2 second blasts on my dive alert device to get the boats attention that was about 100 meters away. The third blast was nothing as my tank went dry. I had tried to warn the dive master I was going to use the dive alert. The answer I got back was .so? I indicated it might be a good idea to cover the ears or stick head under water. Why? I thought, screw it, and blasted away. Back on the boat, yep, after negotiating that dang ladder again, the dive master said that was one loud signal device. First time they had ever seen or heard of the Dive Alert.
That ended the first days dive and back to the hotel.
The next time I went out was something neat. There were two marine biologist on the boat and todays mission was to capture and tag turtles. We were briefed it would be best if the biologist actually caught the turtle since they know how to handle one, but if it was getting away, grab the dang thing!! Today there was me, two other divers, the two biologists and one dive master. All on that big boat. So down we go and not much is going on for the first 15 or 20 min. We dont see squat in the way of sea life. Then, I catch a movement off my right side and low and behold there is a sea turtle. I get the biologists attention and point to the turtle and off they go. I have a neat pic of her holding the turtle and ascending. We finish the dive and join the biologist and turtle on the boat. My girlfriend and another lady were on the boat as observers. We all got to watch as they tagged the turtle; got a skin sample; engraved its back and did some other things to it. And, we all got our picture taken with it. Then it was time to release it back to the sea. Off it went.
The next dive was another reef drift dive where again we fought the current. After about 15 minutes of watching particulate fly by and trying to outdo the current, I said the heck with it, I was going to do a drift dive like the briefing said and just stopped finning. I looked over at the other divers and they too had had enough and also quit finning. The dive master decided to follow the crowd. Back on the boat we had a discussion on what a drift dive was and more importantly, what it was not.
My last trip out was about the best .not counting the turtle. It was announced that the first dive would be another drift dive. There were two of us on the boat from the last few days and we just groaned. The dive master promised it would be. And, it was truly a drift dive.
The second dive that day was probably the best of the bunch. We did a wreck dive on the Pamir. If you ever go to Barbados ask to do this dive. It is in just 55 fsw and has some really great swim throughs. This wreck was a blast. We all had a real ball even the dive master. Plus lots of life around. Just be sure you get there in the morning.
Whether or not I would use this dive shop again is still up in the air. There are two or three more on the island and they are significantly more expensive. There were too many times where the dive masters were more into the dive than into knowing where all the divers were. It just supported my feeling that every dive is a solo dive whether you are with a buddy or professional guide.
One other item might be useful. A few weeks before we flew I called TSA .airport security .and had a conversation about dive gear. Specifically, my pony bottle. I ended up finding out each airport has a TSA customer rep. So I got hold of the one at the airport we were flying out of in the states. He was very helpful and admitted he didnt know squat about dive gear and he would call me back in a couple of days. Yea right. Well, surprise..surprise surprise .he did call me back. He suggested I put the bottle in my suit case instead of my rolling carryon bag and he would be real happy. I did, I had no problems, all went well. They didnt even check my reg bag. Coming back into the states I had both my duffles sealed with those plastic wire thingies and they were not cut. I did get my reg bag checked on the return trip but no problem. The TSA lady in opening it asked if it was dive gear and said she just had to be sure. No problems, I have been in 3 airplane crashes already and do not want to participate in number 4.
THE RESORT ..
We made all our reservations through US Air. It was a package deal. The hotel we decided on was the Bougainvillea Beach Resort. In my research I found a number of complaints on boards that they would make reservations for the main hotel, but when people got there they were shuffling them off to another hotel they own much less quality .and claiming over booking problems. So I called down three days before we flew to ensure we were either in the main resort or we were finding another one period. We got the main hotel, but we didnt get the king size bed we paid for .we got a double. Oh well. One other thing that kinda bugged me was the large glass sliding doors. They did not have any curtains to close to keep out the sun light. So if you were planning on sleeping in .forget it. You got up at sunrise whether you wanted to or not. Other than the bed and that, the resort was pretty much ok. It had its own nice beach that was one of the best we saw there. The food served was pretty good too. There was a pool bar and in that particular pool kids were not suppose to be allowed, but there were lots of them. So if you were trying to down a couple of good beers at happy hour, you could expect to have screaming kids within arms reach.
The resort had all kinds of things you could rent like sail boats, ski doos and even had some free things like bogey boards and kayaks. But come 5 pm it locks up and rolls up the side walks.
I would stay there again with little reservation about the place. Although we did scope out some hotels closer to St. Lawrence.
THE OSTINS FISH FRY ..
Every Friday and Saturday night the little town of Ostins has a fish fry. It cranks up about 8 pm and you can order just about any kind of fish you can think of to eat. Do not I stress do not ..get any Ostins tickets from the resorts or your travel agent. Our agent was selling tickets you turn in for a meal for $30 US> each per person. Me and my lady both ate a big meal and had four beers and it was just at $20 US> for both on site. But the fish fry is cool and around 10 pm things start hopping. You can dance and have a good old time.
THE ROOTS REVIEW ..
This was a blast. It is a cultural slash music show. Plus it has a great meal and all you can drink. It started off with the 55 gallon drum music band. Then the show with dancers and guys on stilts and scantily clad ladies .yada yada. Once the show was over the curtain reopened and another band was on stage and the dancing started. I would highly recommend this little item. Oh, and dont think that rum punch wont do you a job!!! I was a dancing fool!!!
CAR RENTAL AND THE PEOPLE ..
We rented a car for a week .small car with air conditioning. Man it was hot there. They have cars called Mooks that are totally open. And, about twice as expensive because they are a novelty. We got a small Daihatsu and was tickled pink with it. We drove all over that island no problems. It is a good idea to get a car you can lock up we were told. I am sure if we had exposed cameras or dive gear it might have been lifted when we left the car but we had no problems at all.
The people there are either pretty wealthy or not. More nots. But we never felt uncomfortable. Every single day we were approached by someone selling art or carvings or beads ..and I would just say, No thank you but I appreciate you asking. And, I would say 90% of the time I got a .ok enjoy your vacation .back. No hassles no hard sells no threats. It was pretty nice.
MALIBU RUM TOUR .
Malibu rum is the nectar of the Gods .right after Irish whiskey. We did a tour of the Malibu distillery and man was that an eye opener. No doubt OSHA does not visit Barbados. The vats are open on top to the air. If it rains .it rains in the vats if a bird poops overhead .it falls in the vats. My lady loves Malibu and diet coke .but it took her a couple of days to start drinking it again. I figure it is alcohol .what the heck. But it is a great tour and they have a great beach not to mention the cheapest and best food bar on the island!!!!
HORSE BACK RIDING ..
All I am going to say here is dont do it. That is the most irresponsible company I have ever seen. Stay away.
WHAT TO TAKE ..
Not much. We over packed like we normally do. We were there for two weeks and could have gotten by with half of what we took. All you need is a couple pair of shorts a few shirts .a couple of pair of swim trunks and you are good. If you wish to go to a fancy restaurant like The Cliff (we spent $205 US on a meal and got sick) then you will need slacks dress appropriate attire. I wore by dive booties most of the time. There were rocks and all kinds of sharp things where we explored and they came in real handy. Didnt care if they got wet duh!!
There is a lot more I could put in here. Barbados is a cool place to go and I would definitely go back again. I wouldnt rave about the diving but I had a good time.
Hope this was of some use.
