Lucaya Bahamas Diving

[BigBill]

I'm heading to Freeport on Friday and then heading on a live-aboard with Lost Island Voyages. Does anyone know the conditions down there now?

 

[Walt1957]

I had a bad experience with Xanadu over the 4th of July weekend. We were taken out with a combination boat captain, dive master and instructor, all the same person. He taught his class and ignored us, so we had to explore on our own, find what we could, and navigate our way back unassisted. Luckily I know land navigation and managed to get through underwater navigation acceptably. But it would have been nice to have a guide to show us the highlights since it was our first dive at that site.

I have heard conflicting opinions on this, but I was also concerned that there was nobody on the surface to assist in the event of an emergency.

We had several great experiences with Unexso. Great group of very attentive dive masters and boat captains. I highly recommend their dolphin dive.

 

[BigBill]

I had a bad experience with Xanadu over the 4th of July weekend. We were taken out with a combination boat captain, dive master and instructor, all the same person. He taught his class and ignored us, so we had to explore on our own, find what we could, and navigate our way back unassisted. Luckily I know land navigation and managed to get through underwater navigation acceptably. But it would have been nice to have a guide to show us the highlights since it was our first dive at that site.

I have heard conflicting opinions on this, but I was also concerned that there was nobody on the surface to assist in the event of an emergency.

We had several great experiences with Unexso. Great group of very attentive dive masters and boat captains. I highly recommend their dolphin dive.

That's too bad! Did you have a good time otherwise? How was the weather?

My "cruise" will be with a private operator that my LDS uses solely. I will be with the LDS owner (Instructor, Master Scuba), DM, and several other divers. From what I understand, we are pretty much on our own, which is good, and bad!

 

[Walt1957]

The weather was generally good. But there were afternoon thundertorms several times, and unfortunately we had dives cancelled because of the timing. Overall, it was nice weather though.

GB has still not recovered from the hurricanes to a large extent. But the dives were good even on the unacompanied one, and the others were great. We saw several types of sharks, an octopus, rays, dolphins (on the dolphin dive), several types of eels, and a wide variety of tropical fish etc.

The water temp was 84 degrees at the surface and 79 degrees at 80' during my dives.

 

[cleung]

You are within walking distance of Unexso so that would be the most convenient. They also have the dolphin dive.

 

[hebrewdiver]

My son and I did the dive with Xanadu that same weekend and day. We did not dive the with the training boat on that day but remember it well. I can understand your concern and your dive experience should have been considered before taking you on that trip. As you progress in the diving community and do trip throughout the Carribean you will find that a lot of your dives will be without a guide. When there is a guide you will also find that they will leave the boat unattended while on the dive with you. As you progress you may not even want a guide. You have had an experience that some never had and came through with flying colors. Kudos to you now you have a notch for your weight belt . All in all I think Xanadu was a pretty good dive charter and would reccommend them to anyone looking for a few good dives. Just wait until you do Blackbeard

 

[Walt1957]

My son and I did the dive with Xanadu that same weekend and day. We did not dive the with the training boat on that day but remember it well. I can understand your concern and your dive experience should have been considered before taking you on that trip. As you progress in the diving community and do trip throughout the Carribean you will find that a lot of your dives will be without a guide. When there is a guide you will also find that they will leave the boat unattended while on the dive with you. As you progress you may not even want a guide. You have had an experience that some never had and came through with flying colors. Kudos to you now you have a notch for your weight belt . All in all I think Xanadu was a pretty good dive charter and would reccommend them to anyone looking for a few good dives. Just wait until you do Blackbeard

I would not have had a problem with it had we not been told we would have a guide. I did not consider it an absolute necessity, but considering my daughter and I were both at about 10 dives I felt it would be best to have someone more experienced with us.

It was not either part alone that was an issue, but having nobody on the boat, AND nobody with us is what concerned me. They knew our experience level and promised a (DM) guide when the trip was booked. I know how to use a compass and was only slightly uncomfortable with not having a guide from that point of view. But I did not want to put undue pressure on my 11 y/o daughter. From her previous dives I had no doubt about her ability. She lost her regulator on her very first dive (scuba explorer, not even certified yet) and very calmly reached down and did a sweep, put it back in, and had the composure to give an OK sign before asked. She is very mature, but I never intended subjecting her to the pressure of having to be THE buddy on a dive this early. When it came down to the question of cancelling or not, though, I knew I would rather trust her than many adults I knew, so why let her even doubt my confidence in her. Not having a guide when we know it in advance will not be a problem. I would just schedule dives when my wife could be with us too. It was the change in plans announced as the boat left that bothered me.

Also - for the same money, it was nice having an experienced guide the first time at a site to show us what there was to see, along with the knowledge that there was a DM in the water AND on the boat if needed in an emergency.

 

[ScubaMike14]

Grand Bahama Scuba always has at least 1, if not 2 guides (who are also instructors) in the water on every dive. You choose to be led, or to do your own thing. They will be more than happy to pick you up and drop you off at your hotel.

Great shark and wreck dives, with nice shallow stuff for the new people or those who want to "dust off" before doing the deeper stuff.

They are minutes from most of the major hotels and Port Lucaya.

Big Bill....as for current conditions: Today the water was 84-86F with a slight East wind of about 5mph . Seas were about 1 foot. Visibility was 80-100ft. Afternoon thunderstorms are common on the island usually around 11:30 or so, but they generally occur over land. You can watch them from the reef (where it is sunny).

 

[del_mo]

Just got back from diving with Xanadu. Had a guide in the water for each dive, if you wanted one.

As a side note, we got to dive the latest wreck there....La Rosa. A tugboat in about 90 feet. It wasn't as neat as other wrecks there, especially the Theo. It's a small tug, and if you are of a larger size, you'll not fit into the bridge. In fact, I saw no one other than my wife and me even try. Five minutes and you've pretty much seen it.

 

[hebrewdiver]

Did you do the shark feed? i would really recommend the Theo and the shark feed to anyone that dives with xanadu.

Hey could everyone just soundoff for me on their favorite locations and dive charter in the Caribbean. I got one more trip in me for this summer before my son goes back to school.