Bequia and/or Carriacou in August or September

[divenski]

Does anyone have advice or insight about diving Bequia or Carriacou? I'm specifically interested in reef health, diversity and abundance of marine life, and opportunities to dive at least some relaxed, stop-and-watch kinds of sites. Coral and muck/sand are both great.

Thanks!

 

[Kay Wilson]

What is you are hoping to see? I can speak specifically to St. Vincent and the Grenadines (I have lived here for over 10 years and have over 2000 dives in SVG).

 

[divenski]

Nothing more specific than what I posted, I think. The big deal is abundant/healthy coral and fish/critters. I don't particularly care about wrecks (except as homes for critters/fish). Drift diving is fine, but not all the time. I like places that aren't crowded or damaged.... low key shore life - eat-sleep-dive. Shore diving is nice. Is that helpful? I'm willing to go someplace a little harder to get to, in order to have the dive experiences I prefer (described above.) Lodging just needs to be comfortable and convenient, not fancy. I like the idea of being able to cook some meals in, or having inexpensive/convenient eating options. But really it's mostly about the diving.

 

[Kay Wilson]

OK - Bequia offers a broader selection of rental apts that are within walking distance of the dive shops than on the main land of St. Vincent.

Bequia shore diving is very limited, but you will find uncrowded boats (especially if you avoid peak season between Dec and April - most of the diving is undertaken by cruisers / yachties).

St. Vincent diving is aquarium like, no currents as a rule, and Dive St. Vincent tends to choose sites that are very still so you can get in some very long dives. A package with Rosewood Apts and DSV will pretty much give you everything that you are looking for - and you can do a few days in St. Vincent followed by a few days in Bequia very easily.

Rent a car, and you have access to a bunch of very easy shore dives too such as Questelles, Bottle and Glass, Buccament Bay and Troumaka to name but a few. (You can 'rent' a local dive guide by the day if you don't have a buddy that wants to shore dive).

My operation is based at Buccament Bay Resort on the leeward coast, the diving is great, but the resort setting is not to everyones taste.

I'm sorry that I can't help you with your Carriacou questions, but I hope that I have been able to whet your appetite for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Regards,

K

 

[Joe P]

Hi Kay,
My Husband and I are also interested in going to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Do you know any dive packages for St. Vincent and also Bequia. We have been diving for over 30 years and never been to St. Vincent & the Grenadines and would love to travel there. We have been to Grenada which was not a good experience with True Blue Bay Resort and also Tobago in that area of the carribean. Also, do you know the best available flight to get there from USA? Thank you for any suggestions you may have.

 

[numerator]

Hi Divenski..

What can I say about diving the Grenadines? I've been here a fair few times and now have over 250 dives up and down the chain. I have also bought into a dive centre in Carriacou as I love it so much (so please excuse the bias).

St Vincent - Not famed for its diving. There is some coral in the south-west corner, but it is totally over-fished and somewhat dissapointing. If you're looking for diving with the large island appeal try Dominica (good reef and diverse marine life) or Grenada (so so reef, but great wrecks).

The Grenadines is a completely different proposition though!

Bequia - A very pretty island, but the diving close by is so-so. The dive centres will try to bring you down to the Tobago Cays marine park or petite tabac as the reef there is in much better condition. There is some good diving around Sail Rock, but its right out in the middle of the Atlantic and can be a tough dive. It is also very expensive (IMHO)

Union/Petite St Vincent/Petite Dominica - I've added these one's in as they are the resort islands that surround the Tobago Cays Marine Park. Very popular with snorkellers and divers alike. Its famous in the area and Cousteau made Horseshoe Reef famous, and Pirates of the Caribbean shot many scenes in Petite Tabac. I like the reefs there, and with the turtle sanctuary in the middle, you're likely to see some swimming around as they feel safe. My main observation when diving with the Marine Park manager was 'where are the fish?' as there is an overall low fish-biomass in the area with local fishermen supporting the tourism industries in Barbados and St Vincent with a lot of fish despite the 'no take' rules in the park.

Carriacou - My home now, but I made the decision the base myself here because of the diving. Its a quiet island that is not too fussed about tourism. Most of the locals are not employed in the tourism sector and don't see tourists a cash cows - as a result they don't hassle you the same way as you can get hassled on other islands. Many (including me) find this refreshing and really quite nice. Tourism isn't big, so there are not too many divers coming here - great if you love diving, but not so great when you've just invested in the dive centre! However, the Marine Park Manager was at pains to point out that the fish diversity and biomass in the Carriacou Marine Park is much higher than that in Tobago Cays (or anywhere in the St Vincent Grenadines) and this is all down to the respect of the park from the majority of fishermen. In Carriacou we have some pristine reefs, with forests of black coral growing. We see an abundance of juvenile schooling fish, lobsters and our fair share of sharks (particularly Nurse). It still blows me away when we drop into some of the sites. We have about 30 different sites all within about 15 minutes of the dive centre, which cater to all levels and desires. From May I will be adding about another 20 as we will have a new 30' dive catamaran coming on stream. I got a new camera 2 months ago and have created a video of what we can see around the island and put it on Youtube (Underwater Carriacou with Deefer Diving - YouTube), check it out if you like and see for yourself.

I am always interested in other people's opinions of diving in the region, what was good, what was bad and how did it work for you - helps me to work out what we should do to improve customer service and entice people to come back.

Let me know if you've got any other questions or want to know a bit more about the region.

Kind regards

Gary.

 

[Oliviamay]

Numerator, Where on earth did you get that information?? Are you sure you've dived in St Vincent and it's Grenadines?! Granted, each person has their own dive taste but St Vincent cannot be described as fished out and as DivenSki mentions critters St Vincent is hard to beat.

The information that the dive centres in Bequia take their divers to the Tobago Cays is complete rubbish. I have owned and operated Dive Bequia for over twenty years and I can count the amount of times I've run a boat to the Cays to dive on one hand. I don't recall Bequia Dive Adventures, the other dive centre on Bequia, ever heading to the Cays.

I first dived in Carriacou in 1996 and I remember it as very good Caribbean diving with the added plus of being a totally unique island but, each to their own, Bequia has a very nice balance of low key tourism without it being too remote and St Vincent's Villa area offers great hotels with easy access to the dive shop. All offer super diving but if you're a critter hunter visit between May and November to get the dive boat to yourself.

In our attempts to promote our beloved areas let's try not to trash talk others!

 

[Damselfish]

uh, yeah.

None of the Grenadines (or St. Vincent itself for that matter) are particularly famous for diving, largely because they're not mass market or easy to get to - nothing to do with the actual diving at any of them. But of all of them, certainly St Vincent has the most "fame." In any event St Vincent is a great place to dive, one of my favorites and we've returned several times. (Actually dove a bunch of places between Grenada and St Vincent by liveaboard, and we wound up spending extra time at St Vincent by unanimous vote of the passengers.)

I've only done one (land) trip to Bequia, but they were certainly not diving the Tobago Cays. That would be one heck of a haul.

As far as customer service, maybe start by avoiding the appearance of spreading biased misinformation? Not a way to make me use an op the first time, never mind return...

 

[chillyinCanada]

I loved my dives at Bequia! While there weren't a lot a big fish around the juvies could not be be compared to anywhere I've ever been. And everything was out. The lobsters weren't hiding and would physically challenge you just for looking. Fabulous! Eels laying in large shallow sponges, juvie spotted drum dancing all over the place also right out in the open. Secretary blennies poking out of coralheads and on and on. I found it to be very sweet diving. Sail Rock was only a tougher dive in comparison to those close in. Compared to most of my dives elsewhere it was no big deal. However, we didn't see the sharks we'd hoped for at that site. No biggie. We did go to Tobago Cayes but that was our choice. We took the Friendship Rose sail day trip. Quite a lovely way to spend the day. Not sure we were dropped at the best dive sites, shallow and absolutely ripping current. For us, as to the diving portion only, we'd have been more happy to dive back at Bequia. Will caveat by saying there are one or two sites in the bay that have damage but again, juvie spotted drums, little crabs and I don't remember what all still served to make the dives enjoyable. Night dives at those sites reflected back beautiful color from the corals.

I'd have been back any number of times if it wasn't so difficult to get there from my place here at home.

Sweet sweet sweet diving.