Help! Which dive op to use in Tortola, BVI

[Scubagal]

We're headed to Tortola in September. Staying at Long Bay Beach Resort. I did some research and we were leaning towards Dive Tortola, as they advertised as being onsite at the resort. However, after emailing them I discovered that we still have to either take a cab or rent a car to get to the dive boat.

Since we have to arrange our own transportation, regardless of who we dive with, any thoughts on these three dive ops? AquaVenture , Blue Water Divers or Dive Tortola

Already praying to the weather gods that hurricane season is kind to the BVI prior to and during our stay. Thanks in advance!

 

[alashas]

Hi Scubagal,

I do not know anything about those 3 dive shops; however, we did our OW dives with http://www.divebvi.com while we were on VG and really enjoyed them. They have a shop at Marina Cay on Tortola.

Also, you'll get a lot of helpful advice about Tortola, including scuba, at this message board:
http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=bvi

Cheers, alashas

 

[Scubagal]

Hi Scubagal,

I do not know anything about those 3 dive shops; however, we did our OW dives with http://www.divebvi.com while we were on VG and really enjoyed them. They have a shop at Marina Cay on Tortola.

Also, you'll get a lot of helpful advice about Tortola, including scuba, at this message board:
http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=bvi

Cheers, alashas

Thanks! I think I will post my question over on Travel Talk Online.

 

[zboss]

I dive extensively throughout the BVI several times a year, you can't go wrong with any of those operators. Be sure to tell them exactly the type of diving you like to do, and they will try and find a way to get you on the dives you want.

 

[Sean C]

Hi Scubagal, I just got back from the BVI's yesterday and have been there several times. What kind of diving are you looking for ?

p.s. Dive Tortola does have an office at Long Day but there boat is about a 15min drive away and is located at Prospect Reef. They may have a free transfer. You may want to consider renting a car if you like to move around alot, Long Bay is a bit isolated but there are tons of good places that are an easy drive.

 

[Scubagal]

Hi Scubagal, I just got back from the BVI's yesterday and have been there several times. What kind of diving are you looking for ?

p.s. Dive Tortola does have an office at Long Day but there boat is about a 15min drive away and is located at Prospect Reef. They may have a free transfer. You may want to consider renting a car if you like to move around alot, Long Bay is a bit isolated but there are tons of good places that are an easy drive.

According to Dive Tortola, they will arrange transportation at a cost. We're looking to avoid cattle boats (20+ divers on one boat), and want a dive op that will let us dive our profile (no surfacing with a 1/2 tank of air). Also would like an op that will store our gear for us so we don't have to lug it back and forth to the hotel. I understand Blue Water Divers picks up at Nanny Cay, which isn't too far from Long Bay Beach Resort.

Just curious, who did you dive with? Any recommendations?

 

[Sean C]

Scubagal, we did 8 dives with a shop called UBS Dive Center. (Underwater Boat Services) They are a little further away from Long Bay, they are in Fat Hogs Bay, but they did pick us up at Prospect Reef one day and they may have a transportation option. UBS is a smaller operation, they have three smaller boats and when you go with them, you are actually booking the whole boat for your party. It's a bit pricey for two but very competitive for three or four divers. Your day starts at 9:30am and you can keep the boat until 4pm for $300 or you can try to come back earlier for a reduced rate. You may want to contact them as I'm sure they would try to accommodate you. We were given the option of doing three dives a day with them on two of our outing and if you start your day in the afternoon, you can do a night dive.

If you need more info, just ask. I will do my best to give you an honest answer.

Sean

 

[Scubagal]

Scubagal, we did 8 dives with a shop called UBS Dive Center. (Underwater Boat Services) They are a little further away from Long Bay, they are in Fat Hogs Bay, but they did pick us up at Prospect Reef one day and they may have a transportation option. UBS is a smaller operation, they have three smaller boats and when you go with them, you are actually booking the whole boat for your party. It's a bit pricey for two but very competitive for three or four divers. Your day starts at 9:30am and you can keep the boat until 4pm for $300 or you can try to come back earlier for a reduced rate. You may want to contact them as I'm sure they would try to accommodate you. We were given the option of doing three dives a day with them on two of our outing and if you start your day in the afternoon, you can do a night dive.

If you need more info, just ask. I will do my best to give you an honest answer.

Sean

Thanks Sean. UBS sounds good, however since there are only 2 of us diving, probably not very cost effective. We can get a 3 day package of 2 tank diving each day for $220-225 per person, so UBS would be almost double. Although the thought of having a boat to ourselves and doing 3 tanks a day is tempting!

 

[Sean C]

Connie, take a look at www.scubabvi.com, that is the UBS site, they have a rate of $125.00 PER PERSON for a two tank dive with no lunch break. That is pretty close to your rate. The $150.00 per Person rate is for two dives, maybe three, and a lunch break on one of the island beaches. It can be a good way to see some of the other islands. We stored our gear at their shop and the nice thing was that we chose when we went out in the morning, none of this 8am crap. Note: our first scheduled dive with them was a rainy overcast day and they actually suggested we postpone the dive to the next day.

Aside from the which shop to dive with stuff (they are probably all pretty good) we had some very good dives. Rays, Turtles, Barracudas, Nurse Shark, Hog Fish, Eels, Shrimp, Huge coral formations, Wreaks and a variety of fish. Our average dive time was around 45min and depth ranged from 40-77 ft. 84 degree max. Always surfaced with 400 - 500 psi, our shortest dive was because my wife got cold.

Some good resturants, The Sugar Mill (close to L.Bay), The Last Resort on Friday or Saturday, C&F for Lobster.

Some other stuff that is nice to check out, Peter Island Resort (take a ferry from Roadtown), a day sail to some other islands (we used Aristocat), Cane Garden Bay and if you are up for it get to The Willy T (Naked diving and swimming off a floating resturant and bar)

Sean