Question Diving from The Atlantis Resort? Shop recs

[burl3yb0y]

Hey there.

We are doing a corporate event at the Atlantis in January 2024. Several of the people going on this trip, myself included, are divers. I would like to try to schedule at least 1 day of diving 4-6 dives ideally, maybe a night dive as well. Maybe 2 early mornings and 1 night.

Trying to look for options here. The Atlantis website has a quick little page about diving but doesn't mention many details, is it through the result, do they have a partner dive shop, etc.

Stuart's cove is one that I've seen come up fairly often, but it has mixed reviews as apparently thats also where the cruise ships partner with.

on Padi's website I found that Sandals Nassau has diving, but I don't think we could dive there without staying there. Also had a liveaboard, dont think we can do that either. SSI website just had a liveaboard.

Is there any other options or is it just Stuart's Cove / The Atlantis (which is probably just a markup on Stuart's Cove anyway?)?

Cheers.

Oh PS. I know I at least would need full equipment rentals, prob 50/50 on everyone else. I also like to dive Nitrox if that's an option available.

 

[hilljo88]

I have used Stuart Cove many times and always enjoyed it. Can be busy but always seemed under control. (I was there when they had Shaquille O’Neal on site for Discovery Channel “Shaq” Week filming.). Also if you have time to get offsite you should have dinner at Greycliffe, regularly voted best Restaurant in the Caribbean, and one of the restaurants collectively known as “Fish Fry” (despite the name it’s not all fried!) both are close to Atlantis. By the way, Stuart Cove is the name of the owner of the dive op. Long history of film stunts and training. Resembles Richard Branson.

 

[burl3yb0y]

I have used Stuart Cove many times and always enjoyed it. Can be busy but always seemed under control. (I was there when they had Shaquille O’Neal on site for Discovery Channel “Shaq” Week filming.). Also if you have time to get offsite you should have dinner at Greycliffe, regularly voted best Restaurant in the Caribbean, and one of the restaurants collectively known as “Fish Fry” (despite the name it’s not all fried!) both are close to Atlantis. By the way, Stuart Cove is the name of the owner of the dive op. Long history of film stunts and training. Resembles Richard Branson.

That is good to hear! Also thank you for the restaurant recommendation, we loove to eat good food! I've heard to check cruise ship schedules and try to schedule around thoughs, so I think we will try to do that!

 

[Hoag]

The options for diving in Nassau are fairly limited (To clarify, lots of great diving, relatively limited number of operators.) with Stuart Cove being perhaps the biggest and most widely known. The other thing to consider is that they will pick you up at the hotel and take you to their shop and then drop you off again at the end of the day.

Have you contacted the Atlantis to see who they recommend? They might have an inside line on a less known local op.

Having said that, I have dove with Stuart Cove several times in the past both for extended trips (a whole week with the same Captain & DM) and also just going into Nassau a day early to "knock the rust off" with a couple dives before going on the Aquacat, and I have always had a good time. The big issue many people have with them is that they tend to cater to the cruise ship "Boat People" and so they are VERY strict about their dive times. If you can get enough people that are not on a cruise ship and don't have a hard timeline to fill a dive boat, then you might find that they are a bit more lenient on the dive times.

IMHO, a couple dive sites worth hitting near Nassau are the Ray of Hope (healthy local Caribbean Reef Shark population) and the James Bond Wrecks (a full size mock-up from "Thunderball" of an RAF Vulcan Bomber that has nothing left but the ABS tubing that made up its "skeleton" and the ship the "Tears of Allah" from "Never say Never").

 

[Green Frog]

I see old references to UNEXSO in the Bahamas. Is/was that in Nassau? Is it still in operation?
I’ve gone out several times with SC and been pleased each time, even when I came back exhausted!

PS Mea culpa, I just looked it up and U is at Freeport. (Insert face palm here!)