jonhall
Contributor
Stayed in Freeport, Grand Bahama at the Ocean Reef Yacht Club for 2 weeks using our timeshare. Stayed at the same place 4 years ago but in mid-April.
Preparing to travel there and back: Bahamas requires a travel health visa and a negative Covid test (can be rapid test) taken within 72 hours of arrival. After uploading passport info, negative test result, and paying $40 (covers Covid insurance), you receive a QR code required to enter The Bahamas. There are different options of what you can do once you have the QR code but if you are flying AA, you can use the Verifly app. In Indianapolis, we showed our Verifly "ready to travel" checkmarks when checking in/checking our luggage and never again needed the QR code/any documentation other than our passports, boarding passes, and the Immigration Arrival/Departure Cards that we received on the flight to The Bahamas. On the way home, we simply told the agents at the Grand Bahama International Airport that we had Verifly and they put us in a line where, behind the counter agents, checked us in. I assume the Verifly app info was in their system as we never had to show the app or proof of a negative Covid test (which is uploaded into Verifly) for returning to the U.S. The agent also took our Immigration Departure Cards. All requirements that were in place for Covid - such as daily health reporting and Covid testing on 5th day - were dropped. We made appointments online for a drive through Covid test at a Medical Pavilion - $16.50 (more if you have to consider taxi costs.) Test was a breeze and results were emailed to us in less than an hour.
* Another SB member was flying in the day after us and AA (I believe) didn't make their scheduled flight from Ft. Lauderdale to GB. They stayed in FL. On the way back, people on a Bahamas Air flight leaving from the same gate we were , but going to Ft Lauderdale was delayed ~6 hours!!
The island: Tourism has taken a hit. With hurricane Dorian near the end of 2019 followed by the pandemic, things have become pretty bad. Strictly in terms of tourism, there just weren't as many people out (in hotel, restaurants, on the beach, etc..) as compared to our visit in 2018. The International Bazaar, an eyesore in 2018, is even worse now as fire, due to arson, burned much of it out. Prince William and Kate Middleton visited and, according to a couple I talked to that happen to be there said there were only about 20 people out to see them. The Lucaya Marketplace, usually a busy spot (cruise ship tours stop there) had hardly any tourists. Driving is on the left and the roads are pretty well labeled.The island is pretty dead right now but great for relaxing and taking it easy.
Restaurants: The restaurants at the Lucaya Marketplace are good. Ate at a few beach bars that also had good food. The meal I least liked was the Smith's Point fish fry on Wednesday, which we enjoyed so much in 2018 we went twice - not this time.
Ocean Reef Yacht Club: Timeshare rooms and townhouses - not in bad shape - maybe 2-3 star rating. There are many boaters who dock at this resort - they are a nice community of people. The restaurant, Ocean's Blue, has really good food - as good as any of the restaurants we ate at. Another plus was that Grand Bahama Scuba is onsite.
Weather: Weather was great with only 2 nights with rain. Sunny and 78º - 84ºF. It was windy though and that was a problem for diving.
Grand Bahama Scuba: The first week we were there was a bust for diving as the wind - more so the waves - prevented the op from going out. There are only a couple of ops that seem to be going out in GB. Since we were in a canal and the water was calm, my buddy and I decided to do a dive just to get wet. My first canal dive - water was murky and the depth was max of 17 feet. Followed some poles outside the boats one direction and stayed near the wall under the boats on the way back. Saw a lot of upside down jellyfish, conch shells, and a barracuda.
We were able to get 3 days of boat dives in the next week. Only did one site different from what I'd done in the past. Shark Junction still has quite a few sharks that swim around - mostly reef and some nurse. There are wrecks (we only dove one of them twice), sites with lots of coral heads to explore and sites with fingers of coral and small cavelike features. As dive days were limited, when we could go out, divers showed up (13, 12, and 11.) The day we left was a good dive day and as I watched the boat go out, there were only 3 divers on it - figures! GBS will set your gear up for you. You put mask and fins on at back of boat and they bring your BC to you. Giant stride in and you can go down. You have the option of following the DM or diving on your own. The boat is buoyed at the dive site. Dives last a maximum of 1 hour. Water temps were around 78ºF with pretty good visibility. One day could have been a drift dive at both sites we dove - not as strong as some in Coz, but enough to relax and ride.
**On my last day of diving, there was someone on the boat that I thought looked familiar - maybe someone I dove with before. It was Cristina Zenato, the Shark Whisperer, who I saw on a shark week program last year. She is in the Women Divers Hall of Fame.
Not sure I'll return to this particular island (maybe a different Bahaman island.) Have seen the few on land sites and although the beaches are nice, we tend to hang out more at a pool. This trip was one of the more expensive trips we have taken recently with airfare accounting for almost 50% of the total cost (we didn't have enough miles to use.) Although the restaurant food we had was good, it can be pricey. Still have many other places we want to get to.
Preparing to travel there and back: Bahamas requires a travel health visa and a negative Covid test (can be rapid test) taken within 72 hours of arrival. After uploading passport info, negative test result, and paying $40 (covers Covid insurance), you receive a QR code required to enter The Bahamas. There are different options of what you can do once you have the QR code but if you are flying AA, you can use the Verifly app. In Indianapolis, we showed our Verifly "ready to travel" checkmarks when checking in/checking our luggage and never again needed the QR code/any documentation other than our passports, boarding passes, and the Immigration Arrival/Departure Cards that we received on the flight to The Bahamas. On the way home, we simply told the agents at the Grand Bahama International Airport that we had Verifly and they put us in a line where, behind the counter agents, checked us in. I assume the Verifly app info was in their system as we never had to show the app or proof of a negative Covid test (which is uploaded into Verifly) for returning to the U.S. The agent also took our Immigration Departure Cards. All requirements that were in place for Covid - such as daily health reporting and Covid testing on 5th day - were dropped. We made appointments online for a drive through Covid test at a Medical Pavilion - $16.50 (more if you have to consider taxi costs.) Test was a breeze and results were emailed to us in less than an hour.
* Another SB member was flying in the day after us and AA (I believe) didn't make their scheduled flight from Ft. Lauderdale to GB. They stayed in FL. On the way back, people on a Bahamas Air flight leaving from the same gate we were , but going to Ft Lauderdale was delayed ~6 hours!!
The island: Tourism has taken a hit. With hurricane Dorian near the end of 2019 followed by the pandemic, things have become pretty bad. Strictly in terms of tourism, there just weren't as many people out (in hotel, restaurants, on the beach, etc..) as compared to our visit in 2018. The International Bazaar, an eyesore in 2018, is even worse now as fire, due to arson, burned much of it out. Prince William and Kate Middleton visited and, according to a couple I talked to that happen to be there said there were only about 20 people out to see them. The Lucaya Marketplace, usually a busy spot (cruise ship tours stop there) had hardly any tourists. Driving is on the left and the roads are pretty well labeled.The island is pretty dead right now but great for relaxing and taking it easy.
Restaurants: The restaurants at the Lucaya Marketplace are good. Ate at a few beach bars that also had good food. The meal I least liked was the Smith's Point fish fry on Wednesday, which we enjoyed so much in 2018 we went twice - not this time.
Ocean Reef Yacht Club: Timeshare rooms and townhouses - not in bad shape - maybe 2-3 star rating. There are many boaters who dock at this resort - they are a nice community of people. The restaurant, Ocean's Blue, has really good food - as good as any of the restaurants we ate at. Another plus was that Grand Bahama Scuba is onsite.
Weather: Weather was great with only 2 nights with rain. Sunny and 78º - 84ºF. It was windy though and that was a problem for diving.
Grand Bahama Scuba: The first week we were there was a bust for diving as the wind - more so the waves - prevented the op from going out. There are only a couple of ops that seem to be going out in GB. Since we were in a canal and the water was calm, my buddy and I decided to do a dive just to get wet. My first canal dive - water was murky and the depth was max of 17 feet. Followed some poles outside the boats one direction and stayed near the wall under the boats on the way back. Saw a lot of upside down jellyfish, conch shells, and a barracuda.
We were able to get 3 days of boat dives in the next week. Only did one site different from what I'd done in the past. Shark Junction still has quite a few sharks that swim around - mostly reef and some nurse. There are wrecks (we only dove one of them twice), sites with lots of coral heads to explore and sites with fingers of coral and small cavelike features. As dive days were limited, when we could go out, divers showed up (13, 12, and 11.) The day we left was a good dive day and as I watched the boat go out, there were only 3 divers on it - figures! GBS will set your gear up for you. You put mask and fins on at back of boat and they bring your BC to you. Giant stride in and you can go down. You have the option of following the DM or diving on your own. The boat is buoyed at the dive site. Dives last a maximum of 1 hour. Water temps were around 78ºF with pretty good visibility. One day could have been a drift dive at both sites we dove - not as strong as some in Coz, but enough to relax and ride.
**On my last day of diving, there was someone on the boat that I thought looked familiar - maybe someone I dove with before. It was Cristina Zenato, the Shark Whisperer, who I saw on a shark week program last year. She is in the Women Divers Hall of Fame.
Not sure I'll return to this particular island (maybe a different Bahaman island.) Have seen the few on land sites and although the beaches are nice, we tend to hang out more at a pool. This trip was one of the more expensive trips we have taken recently with airfare accounting for almost 50% of the total cost (we didn't have enough miles to use.) Although the restaurant food we had was good, it can be pricey. Still have many other places we want to get to.
