Blackbeard Question

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

dirkmy

Registered
Messages
32
Reaction score
11
Location
Kennesaw
# of dives
50 - 99
Looking to do my first live aboard. Thinking about Blackbeard in the Bahamas. I was wondering after disembarking from the boat if people stayed another day or got on a plane later in the day. I know you do your last dive at 2 pm the day before you get back so should wait until later the next day to fly. Does anyone have any recommendations on where to stay a day to just relax? I would more than likely be traveling solo so would like to keep costs down, but not stay at a dump. Thanks for your help.
 
You're clear to dive after 18 hours, so that would be 9:00 the next morning (if you got out at 3:00).
 
I have been on the Aquacat a few times, and since it is the same company as Blackbeard's, I would imagine that they have the same (or similar) policies.

On the Aquacat, we would have the option to do two (shallow) dives on Friday morning. The boat would then arrive in port Friday afternoon with a scheduled departure from the boat Saturday morning with most flights heading back around noon. In most cases, you will have approximately 24 hours from the time you get out of the water on your last dive until your flight takes off. If you want to give a little more "margin of safety", it is easier (and cheaper) to sit out the last dive or two than it would be to spend an extra day in Nassau. Sitting out those last couple dives also gives the benefit of ensuring that your gear is dry when you pack it.
 
When I did a trip on the Cat Ppalu (same company, docks next to Blackbeards) I stayed an extra day, but only because that was the best flight option for me. Some people flew in a day early for the same reason. Plenty of hotels on the island, low key to overly expensive. I stayed a the Hilton because I'm a cheapskate and I had HHonors points to burn back then but I would never pay their published rates.
 
I like to take some time to visit the local spots, and I also like to leave a little buffer space BEFORE getting on the boat in case there as issues with flight delays and lost baggage - and to give me a little time to relax after rushing to get out of town and the stress of traveling. So finding a decent hotel at a reasonable price and working out the transportation issues sounds like a good plan to me!
 
I'd catch the first plane back to Miami and stay there!:)
 
Looking to do my first live aboard. Thinking about Blackbeard in the Bahamas. I was wondering after disembarking from the boat if people stayed another day or got on a plane later in the day. I know you do your last dive at 2 pm the day before you get back so should wait until later the next day to fly. Does anyone have any recommendations on where to stay a day to just relax? I would more than likely be traveling solo so would like to keep costs down, but not stay at a dump. Thanks for your help.

Is your concern regarding the safety of flying after a week diving on a LA? It's definitely a valid concern and something to think about but as long as you give yourself 24 hours to fly after repetitive diving, you should be ok. Also keep in mind that Blackbeards only offers 4 dives a day, not the usual 5 as offered on the AC. Another thing to keep in mind is that none of the BB's boats offers Nitrox so you'll have to dive Air. Depending on the depth and the conservatism of your computer, this may be an issue. If you're diving anything Suunto(RGBM), then be especially mindful as your bottom time will really be limited :mad:
 
Heck, I enjoyed spending extra time in Nassau. Used part of it to do a few dives at Stuart Coves and the rest to explore the city and get topside video for my DVD on the trip
 
SC's is great-I usually use them as my check out dives prior to boarding either the AC or BB boats. Although using AL80s in the Caribbean is kind of a pain in my backside. Just wished more dive ops offered steel tanks.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom