Freeport Bahamas....I'm goin, need info

[wetvet]

I am embarrassed to even have to ask, since I seem to be the only person in North America who hasn't dove in the Bahamas, but what advice can anyone give me on dive operaters, sites or anything else that may let me avoid any stupid mistakes. My wife and I are going to the Island Seas Resort, and are hoping to do 4-5 days of diving. Any advice on the area or topside activities would also be very welcome.



Wetvet (& the missus)

 

[Tavi]

I have dived with Grand Bahama Scuba. I like it there a lot!!!!!!!! They are located on site at Ocean Reef Yacht Club and Resort. It is the next resort up the road from Island Seas. You can E-mail Fred (the owner/operator) at Grand Bahama Scuba. or call to make arrangemants.

For pics check out my website. I also have a couple of trip reports in the Travel section. Try doing a search on Freeport, Grand Bahama.

Here is a link to their Website

Have a great trip!!

And don't forget to post a trip report when you get back!!

Oh yeah, Welcome to the boards!!

 

[blawler1]

Grand Bahama has a resident population of reef sharks that are accustomed to daily feedings. These feeding dives are a blast. I have gone with Xanadu, but GB Scuba has gotten alot of positive comments. A big plus is that the sharks hang around many of the dive sites close to the feeding sites, so you can get shark encounters on a number of dives.

As far as topside, there are two major tourist areas, the international bazaar/casino in Freeport and Port Lucaya. I personally prefer Port Lucaya because the marketplace has live entertainment nightly at an outdoor venue and there are lots of restraurants and bars within walking distance. Check both areas on your trip.

My fiance and I love GB because it is easy to get to, offers lots of topside attractions and good to outstanding diving with plenty of sharks. You will have a blast.

 

[wetvet]

I appreciate the help. Ive only dove blue water (as opposed to the frosty green stuff we have in Ontario) in Cozumel (twice). How does the Bahamas compare? Besides the shark population, that is.

 

[blawler1]

While it probably does not have the guaranteed 100'+ vis like Cozumel, GB has been very good to great (70' to over 100') every time I've been, with the exception of a couple of days before Hurricane Michelle blew through in November 2001. This July, it was outstanding, with the 50' deep dive sites being a brilliant electric blue color and crystal clear (over 100' vis). Water temps will be similar to Cozumel (mid 80's Summer), maybe a little cooler in Winter (low 70's).

It won't be drift diving like Cozumel. There are dive buoys at all the sites. Shallow sites include coral head formations and small wrecks and other structures (including the base of a long abandoned underwater research facility, SPID City) These are typically 30' to 50' dives. Lots to see besides the sharks, but they make it all worth while. I saw the biggest loggerhead turtle (it looked like a VW) in my life on one of the shallow wrecks

The deeper sites include some walls as well as a couple of good wrecks (Theo and Sea Starr) which are both in around 90' to 100' of water.

 

[VaJames]

My wife and myself dove with Caribbean Divers in January. We did two dives a day with them for 3 days in a row. It cost $360 for both my wife and myself. The divemaster and captain's name is Presley Knowles. They will pick you up and drop you off at your hotel for free and store your gear down there every night so you do not have to lug it back and forth. Most everyone in the richmond area uses them exclusively. I highly recommend them. They do shark/wreck/reef and night dives. Let me know if you want there number and I will be more than happy to get them for you. James

 

[Tavi]

VaJames once bubbled...
They will pick you up and drop you off at your hotel for free and store your gear down there every night so you do not have to lug it back and forth.

Grand Bahama Scuba will do the same

They also do Shark, Wreck, and Reef dives



PS My avatar pic was shot at Shark Junction there!

 

[blawler1]

I have dove with both Xanadu and Caribbean Divers and each have positives and negatives.

Xanadu, which is located at the Xanadu Resort is much closer to Freeport (Sea Island), and is a larger operation, offers more trips, shark feedings and nitrox. They have an experienced staff and offer a full range of training (I completed my nitrox cert with them) The down side is their boats are old and suspect. On my last trip with them, the boat broke down and we almost had to be towed back to port and they were without a working O2 analyzer, so did not offer nitrox fills. Most recently, we also heard from other divers that their boat broke down again during on our last trip while we were diving Caribbean Divers.

Caribbean Divers is a two man operation, Mr. Knowles and his nephew Jerry, who serves as divemaster/crew. They are located at the Bell Channel Inn across the boat channel from the Port Lucaya Market Place. Although they offer pick up at the Port Lucaya hotels, I don't know if they go all the way over to the Freeport area (I think about 10 to 12 miles). They do have a sturdy boat, so that is not a problem, but they don't always run multiple trips a day and they will cater to resort class divers in packing some trips with resort students and visiting the very shallow (20' to 25') reefs for a one tank dive rather than the scheduled two tank at the medium reefs. They don't do an actual shark feeding dive, but instead observe the UNEXSO shark feeding from near by. Also, male divers are enlisted to help with the loading and unloading of the air tanks (they don't handle nitrox) That said, I really had alot of fun diving with them and wouldn't hesitate diving with them again as they are quite reasonable on their package rates. When staying in Port Lucaya, I would recommend them over UNEXSO (too expensive).

I have not personally dove with Grand Bahama Scuba, but many people, including Tavi, speak highly of them, so I figure it is probably a good operation. They, like Xanadu, are located near Freeport (and your resort) and so would probably provide free transportation. I don't think you could go wrong with them.

 

[VaJames]

Just to expound on blawler1 post a little bit. We were staying @ The Royal Oasis Crowne Plaza which is on the other side of the Island from Caribbean Divers and they still picked us up. It is actuall Presley's wife that does the "taxi" service. Caribbean Divers runs 3 trips a day. Resort course early am (except on the two days of the week when they visit Theo's Wreck). Second trip is the medium reefs and the third trip is the deep reefs and wrecks. They will also you night but you need a total of 5 people to commit to the trip before it will be scheduled. Xanadu wasn't pumping nitrox when I was there in January either. There boats were friggin' LOADED with people though. CD was less crowded at least when I was there. I have heard good things about Unexso too. Hell just try them all and then let us know who you thought was best.