Need dive op from Paradise Island, Nassau

[Barracuda2]

The wife and I were headed for Coz in Feb. for a stay at the Iberostar. The Hurricane did that idea in. We are now planning a stay at the Rui Paradise Island Resort, Nassau. It's been years since I've been there and I need a good dive op that will pick me up at the resort. I want to do 5 half days-2 tank dives. The tourist desk at the resort said they would make arrangements for me, but I would rather make my own arrangements. Most dive ops that the resorts work with just don't cut it. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[LindaBluedolphin]

The wife and I were headed for Coz in Feb. for a stay at the Iberostar. The Hurricane did that idea in. We are now planning a stay at the Rui Paradise Island Resort, Nassau. It's been years since I've been there and I need a good dive op that will pick me up at the resort. I want to do 5 half days-2 tank dives. The tourist desk at the resort said they would make arrangements for me, but I would rather make my own arrangements. Most dive ops that the resorts work with just don't cut it. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I am headed to Nassau on Thursday. There are really only 2 operators remaining on the island (Nassau Scuba closed earlier this year) Stuart Cove and on other (can't recall name). I found a list of independents via a web search and either the URL was bad or the email bounced back (not very reassuring). I talked to both of the operators I was able to locate and settled with Stuart Cove.

From what I could gather both operators will pick you up at your hotel and deliver you back to your hotel, and store your gear if you want. They also both control your bottom time. I can post a report when I return.

Once there you may be able to ask around and find a small independent.

 

[ski-diveSteve]

I just returned from a week in the Bahamas. There are two dive operations on New Providence, I think the others have gone out of businesss. I dove two days with each operator and I think either is a fine choice. I hope to post reviews of each operation, as I had a hard time getting good info myself prior to the trip. Here's a few comments on each one.

Bahama Divers

Good location just across the bridge from Paradise Island. If you are staying on Paradise Island this is a nice advantage, short bus ride from the hotel. You can reserve your dive days with them directly or through your hotel. Small, very efficient operation. One boat which is a bit old but works just fine. Crew and divemasters are great. At least one of them will be in the water with you, along with a video guy. They really push the video, but it is a nice video. Boat left precisely on time each day. Upon return they give you plenty of time (too much for me) to preview the video and browse the shop before the bus leaves back to the hotel. I was rushed for time my last day with them and actually caught a cab back.

Dive Sites: Bahama Divers dives the NE end of the island. It seems that the dive sites on this end generally aren't quite as good, but are still decent. If the predominant NE winds are blowing it can be a bit rough. They advertise the Lost Ocean Blue Hole trips for Mon, Wed, and Sat. I went out with them Monday but they changed it to Trinity Caves due to weather. Other divers on the boat said they've dived several times with Bahama Divers and have never made it out there. It's further from shore and takes more time. I sensed a possible bait and switch. When I dove with them Saturday, the seas weren't as high and I almost insisted that we go there or I wasn't diving with them. Amazingly, we made it out there and it was an incredible dive. The nearby Barracuda reef was very good as well.

Stuart Coves South Ocean

I had read some bad things about this place so went there a bit biased. It turned out to be OK. It is a long bus ride to the SW side of the island, longest from Paradise Island. But being on this side protects them more from NE winds. If they are busy, you'll have a long wait at check in. The first day with them was a busy day and I ended up on a combined snorkel/dive trip. Avoid this situation if you can. The first dive was too deep for the snorkelers but they made up for it by chumming for sharks. This was cool as we had plenty of finned company on our dive. Dive 2 that day was just offshore and good for snorkelers but poor for divers. On my second day for them, one lady insisted we go to Playground after she had a bad experience (the boat had a scuba class the prior day). This turned out to an awesome wall dive, the captain agreed to go out there and SW Reef was Dive 2 and also good. I think the further from shore you go the better it gets (as far as condition of the reef). We only had seven divers that day, all experienced, and it was great. I think the Stuart Cove experience varies based on who's diving on a particular day. Avoid afternoons as they seem to get more cruise ship snorkelers and beginners. More serious divers seem to do the morning dives. SC does have awesome t-shirts, I picked up three of them.

Hope this helps. I was comfortable with both operations, it was good to get wet. I'd even suggest trying both (as I did) to go to different locations. Definitely try for the Blue Hole with Bahama Divers if you can get them to go out there.

 

[idocsteve]

I dove Stuart Cove's a few months ago. It is a large operation, with at least 6 diveboats, and at least 20 staff members. They offer shark dives, DPV wall flying, mini 1 person submarines, and a nice assortment of wrecks and reefs. I spent 3 days with them and I found them to be friendly and efficient. Don't expect the reefs to be teaming with life or you will be disappointed. Lots of dead coral, areas devoid of life, presumably due to recent hurricaine activity. Sure, there's some fish, but it's not Mexico! Bahama Divers offers one unique site, and that is the Lost Blue Hole. It sounds worth doing, if you can get them to take you there. The bus ride to Stuart's Cove from Paradise Island will be at least 45 minutes, and to Bahama Divers about 5-10 minutes.

 

[Barracuda2]

Thanks for the replies, but this doesn't sound very promising if I want to do some "good" diving for 5 days. I hate cattle boats, especially if there are snorklers aboard. I gave those up back in the 80's. It sounds like I might as well leave all my video equipment at home if the reefs are "well used" and devoid of lots of life. My experiences in the Bahamas were always good in the past; Andros, bimini, Long Island, Habour Island, Spainish Wells, and I thought that diving out of Nassau would be OK. Why the lack of dive ops around Paradice Island?? I was hoping to hook up with a 4-6 pack boat operation that might bunch divers according to experience and hit some good sights. My wife is not a diver, thus the reason for the Rui resort on Paradice Island and all that goes with it while I'm out diving. If I had the total call, I would be heading for Stella Maris on Long Island for a week, but the one boutique they have won't cut it with my wife. If anyone knows of any small private ops in the area, please give me some names, websites, emails, phone numbers. Anyway, thanks for the info provided.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

I wasn't impressed too much with the Blue Hole although it's still a good dive. Usually the vis is bad. We went into the little cave at 75 feet. We also saw a huge turtle and a lionfish which was obviously released from an aquarium. A good dive but not one I'd worry about if I didn't do.

 

[LindaBluedolphin]

I just got back from the Bahamas yeserday. I dove with Stuart Coves, for a cattle boat operator they are very good. I will get a report posted hopefully this weekend. On the 4 days I dove we did not have a full boat any of the days. I could recommend this operator, and I am a very picky diver.

 

[sidwise]

Glad to hear y'all had a good time.