Considering Stuart Cove's in Nassau

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Not to talk you out of anything, but the US has a travel warning as of January 26, due to high crime. They specifically mention New Providence and Grand Bahama. Something to think about. Be careful.
 
Not to talk you out of anything, but the US has a travel warning as of January 26, due to high crime. They specifically mention New Providence and Grand Bahama. Something to think about. Be careful.
It's mostly gang violence, stay out of downtown and other sketchy areas after dark. Use common sense don't flash cash and jewelry. You will be fine.

From State Department:

Country Summary: The majority of crime occurs on New Providence (Nassau) and Grand Bahama (Freeport) islands. In Nassau, practice increased vigilance in the “Over the Hill” area (south of Shirley Street) where gang-on-gang violence has resulted in a high homicide rate primarily affecting the local population. Violent crime, such as burglaries, armed robberies, and sexual assaults, occur in both tourist and non-tourist areas. Be vigilant when staying at short-term vacation rental properties where private security companies do not have a presence. 
 
I’ve been diving with Stuart Cove’s for over twenty years. They have a fair amount of well maintained rental gear , but honestly, I prefer my own mask, fins and snorkel regardless of where I go. If I’m diving for more than a single day, I also prefer my own BCD (now BP/W) and reg… that’s what I’m breathing through! When I was there in June I noticed a couple of people were using DIN regulators, but far and away the majority of the folks rent or bring regs with yoke type fittings. Of course they do include tanks for your dive and provide hard weights (only) in 3, 5, & 7 lb sizes only IIRC.

As for exposure protection, when I started diving in the Bahamas many years ago, I settled on a tri-laminate dive skin year round, it’s the equivalent of about 1-2 mm of neoprene and only rarely have I felt cold, and never too hot. In June I saw folks in 3mm shorties and some in just their swim suits, but I like a little thermal (and other exposure) protection. YMMV.

🐸
 
If I was going to go to the bahamas for a dive vacation, as opposed to a vacation with 2 or 3 dive days, I would probably look at the out islands, maybe Riding Rock Inn on San Salvador. But that would be a total unplug chill and dive vacation.
 
"The Riding Rock Inn is my idea of Heaven on Earth. My first serious ocean snorkeling and scuba diving was on San Sal. That said, the RR is not doing diving like they used to... you have to have a certain number of divers as guests in order to do any diving. I’ve never been able to get a straight answer on how many people have to be diving , but its mot like years past when I went out and there was just a dive master and myself or maybe one or two others.

That being said, if you have a group there diving, your experiences are guaranteed to be great. There aren’t wrecks to dive, but the reefs must be seen to be believed and the walls are advertised to be some of the best in the Bahamas. This was the only place I’ve seen Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks, and I could go on and on about all the great sea life you’d see,

Of course if you want to go on a cruise and dive, you might consider a Blackbeard’s Cruise. You’ll get about 18 dives, maybe more, in a week of cruising and diving. If that’s too much of a good thing for you, Stuart Cove’s still offers packages with three or more days of diving along with hotel packages from basic to ultra deluxe at various Nassau hotels. If you want to really get into the deluxe vacation in the out islands, you can also look into Club Med. Their place on San Sal is called Columbus Isle. I’ve dived there with them, but they are a little too posh for me.

Depending on your tastes and the size of your group, there’s something to please any kind of diver in the Bahamas... I’ve been going back for over 30 years now.

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https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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