open water dives for certification in Bahamas

[nspear]

my girlfriend finished her pool and classroom sessions. We are looking to go to the Bahamas in late May. For me diving, for her the 4 open water dives. Looking for good dive shops (PADI) and hotels in Nassau or
Paradise Island. Any other information will be helpful.
Neil

 

[diversteve]

On/near Paradise Island consider Bahama Divers (they're PADI)

Courses range from Open Water Completions...

The (only?) other option on the island is Stuart Cove's but they're a 45min. shuttle ride from that area.

Atlantis is pretty nice...

 

[rickthompson]

haha yeah Atlantis is really nice if you have the money. I personally think they nickel and dime you too much on top of the enormous amounts of money you spend to begin with and wouldn't recommend spending more than a few days there (you've got to at least check it out). Stuart Cove's is great but it is approx 45 min from Paradise Island. I'm the type of person who sits on the bus and falls right asleep until we reach our destination so I didn't mind the ride but some do but I would say it's worth it for SC's. They do PADI referrals.

 

[mommy2brady]

Neil,
Have you gone to the Bahamas yet? I am going next week and trying to decide between Bahama Divers or Stuart's Cove. Staying at Atlantis, so not really up for the long ride to Stuart's cove but the dive sites look great on that side. Did girlfriend get certified? If so, congrats!

Thanks. Heather

 

[mnscuber]

I did my open water referral with Stuart Coves a few years back. They were professional, organized and courteous. The instructor they set me up with was great -- patient, knowledgeable and authoritative. So, I would certainly recommend going that route.

The diving there is pretty easy, so that's another plus. For the training dives we descended to a nice sandy bottom with good visibility and performed the drills. Then we were free to visit nearby reefs and wrecks. Also, I wish I would have signed up for one of their shark dives.