Dive Shops near Turtle Nest Inn.

[snhrph]

I'll be staying at Turtle Nest Inn at the end of November. I'm traveling with my wife and another couple and I'm the only diver in the party. As you can imagine, I will have to share my time between scuba and topside activities.

Therefore I'm looking for a dive shop that is close to TNI and that provides diver pick ups (we are sharing a jeep, and I do not wan to leave the rest of the group without the wheels).

I looked at TNI website, and they recommended 2 operations: Ocean Frontiers and Red Baron Divers. Any pros or cons comparing the two? Anyone else you would recommend?

Thank you in advance.

Stan.

 

[CJ's]

Hi Stan,
Unfortunately there are not really any dive shops nearby to the Turtle Nest Inn. You are located about halfway between the 2 main diving areas, the East End and the West side (which encompasses diving on the West, South and North sides of the Island.)
Nobody from the West side offers a pick-up service from that far out but you may be able to get a ride from Ocean Frontiers who dive on the East End. They do pick-ups along 7 Mile Beach for their morning trips and so drive right past the Turtle Nest on their way back to their shop. Email them for specifics.
Red Baron (now known as Deep Blue Divers) are a great outfit with small groups and personalised service who operate out of The Lobster Pot Dive Center on the West side. However, you would need to transport yourself to the shop.
There are many threads on the subject of East v's West diving but in a nutshell the East is good diving with sometimes rough seas , diviing on bigger boats with bigger groups. The diving on the West is also good and if the weather co-operates then the North wall diving is in my opinion as good as if not better than the East End and you will get calmer seas and dive in smaller groups.

Hope this helps.
CJ

 

[divesergeant]

snhrph,

Being out of the George Town / SMB area, you'd have an easy morning drive to the East End and OF. They consistantly get great reviews and I have had excellent experiences there.

Going into George Town in the morning is an inducement to profanity! Traffic is a nightmare. However, if you wanted to do afternoon dives along SMB you can get in much easier. There are many SMB area dive ops who will give great service. I have had good experiences with Neptune's Divers and Dive Tech, but there are many others that get good reviews from other divers.

I haven't had any experience with Red Baron / Deep Blue Divers, so I can't help you there.

Have a great trip...
DS

 

[Alex777]

It seems to me that Ocean Frontiers is your closest dive op, which just happens to be an ideal choice ... If you would prefer to dive the West side and North Wall, the Lobster Pot Guys can take care of you very well.

 

[EastEndDiver]

Owning a condo at Turtle Nest Condos I spend a lot of time there.I have dove with operations on the west side,east side and North bay area.Ocean frontiers is the closest and their diving is very good.I usually use Peter Milburn just because i prefer his small operation .The only problem for you using Peter or a west side operation is the traveling.The fact that you don't have transportation of your own sort of leaves you with the east end as your only option.

Also you should consider doing some shore dives at the turtle farm or Eden Rock,which your non divers can enjoy either Georgetown (Eden Rock)while you are diving or sit at the bar resturant at Cracked Conch (Turtle farm) while you are diving.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me through PM's or here.

John

 

[RICHinNC]

Please do a trip report. I am def interested on how TNI was like.

 

[EastEndDiver]

Rich if i can answer any questions about TNI feel free to ask.

John

 

[snhrph]

CJ, DS, Alex, and John, thank you for your input. I think I'll stick with Ocean Frontiers since they provide the pick up service. Although, renting a second car is also an option.

Based on your experience, do you recommend diving with one operation or trying few different ones? Personally, I usually stick with the same shop when traveling.

RICHinNC,

I will let you know how the trip goes.

 

[Alex777]

Based on your experience, do you recommend diving with one operation or trying few different ones? Personally, I usually stick with the same shop when traveling.

Well, IMHO, it's nice to see both the East End sites and a bit of the North Wall. Why not take one day, at least, to dive the N Wall? You will need to watch the weather and try to hit on a day when it's diveable. You could try SunDivers or the Lobster Pot group (Indigo, Wall to Wall & Off the Wall) for N Wall diving.

 

[RICHinNC]

Rich if i can answer any questions about TNI feel free to ask.

John

Thanks. I was just wondering what TNI was like. Rooms...what is within walking distance....all the typical questions.