San Salvador Bahamas?
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caymaniac
Contributor
kokopeli:
Riding Rock Inn or Club Med?
I had an awesome time in Sept. '05 diving with Captain Bruce and DM Jean-Paul from Riding Rock Inn. I thought I put my notes in my computer log but I must have in a file somewhere. Found it...sorta long report but you'll get the idea:
Some PICS HERE:
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=1197
San Salvador trip report 9/17/05
Saturday Morning. Got up at 4:00 AM. Ughhh. Flight was at 7:30 AM. Ruth drove me to LaGuardia with the kids. They were up for a bit in the car. I rode in the back with them on the way down and we munched on one of the large square cookies Ruth gets from the Blue Colony diner. Breezed through checkin and security. Nice flight to Ft. Lauderdale at about 500 miles an hour at 38,000 feet. Flew with Jet Blue. Had about 2.5 hours 'till my 1:00 PM flight with Spirit Air. Met George and Becki at the gate as they were on the same flight to the island. Spirit seemed like a decent airline. In about an hour we landed in San Salvador. Really nice view from the aircraft of the blue-green water. Even saw a cool rainbow just before we landed. Very nice folks on the island and the crew at Riding Rock is pretty cool. We got upgraded to deluxe rooms on George's behalf. What a view! Right on the water. We went over to the bar later on around 6:00 PM for our dive orientation and filled out the necessary paperwork. Jean-Paul is our Divemaster for the week.
Very neat little bar with "stuff" all over the place. They have this little ring on a string that you swing and try to land on a hook. Got a week to see if I can get it. Excellent food at the Inn. I had a steak, was pretty good. Was pretty beat. Went back to the room and got my gear ready for the mornings dives at 8:30 AM. No hot water, kinda sucked. Just like my recent trip to Cayman in that respect LOL!
9/18/05- This is it! 1st dive day! Went over to breakfast at 7:30 AM. Had the 'ole ham and cheese omelette. Several good choices for food. We headed back to our rooms and grabbed our gear. After a short walk we were at the pier. Nice well maintained dive boats. We had Jean-Paul leading the dives today (3). We had Patrick the epidemiologist on board with us. He not only helps on the boat but also serves as a "waitress" from time to time. Jack of all trades I guess
There were also a few of the locals diving too and lending a hand. I gotta say the diving here is pretty spectacular. Very nice wall dives. 1st dive was pretty agressive. Swam down through a cut in the wall to about 132 Fsw. My deepest dive to date. A little narcosis We came up to around 70 fsw and then dropped into another cut back to 120+ for a bit before proceeding up along the wall. Saw some grouper, a nice size turtle. The usual suspects. Saw a whole "forest" of finger eels. Jean-Paul was showing off and playing with them. We did 2 dives then the midday break is 12:00 - 2:30 PM. Had the chicken for lunch. Went back and took a little nap.Then back out for out 3rd dive. Came back and took another short nap and messed around with my camera to fix the auto shutdown. Can't figure out how to shut it off again. Met at the bar at 6:00 PM. Sucked down a Kalik beer and then went over to dinner. Had the pork chops and watched the news. There is a tropical storm, Rita, South of us but it looks like it's going to swing West and miss us.Thank God! It's impacing Turks and Caicos about now. Very active hurricane season as there are 2 or 3 more storms brewing and headed our way. Hopefully we'll be gone before they impact the area, if at all. Well it's off to bed soon. Zzzzzzzzz.
1st site- Great Cut - Awesome wall dive
2nd site- Stew Pot - Garden Eels
3rd site- Cathedral
9/19/05- Well by the looks of the seas at 5:30 AM we won't be diving today. Oh well. By 7:30 AM you can see the weather going downhill. Went to breakfast. Luckily the storm that was headed somewhat our way hooked to the West so it should be outta here soon. Did a little beach combing and took some video/shots of the storm. Met some folks that have family on the island and hung out with them for a bit. They were supposed to have flown out of here but are stuck until the storm passes. Still cannot figure out how to turn off the auto shutdown on my camera. So annoying! Had some Conch chowder and a Chef's salad for lunch followed by a long nap. Now just killing time until cocktails at 6:00 PM and dinner around 6-6:30. I'm so sick of the weather channel about now Hopefully the seas will die down quick tomorrow so we can dive this island! Had lamb chops for dinner. Very good.
9/20/05- Woke up at 3:30 AM. Took a look outside. Some pretty neat lightning shows going on and the seas are still churned up .
Watched some TV for awhile then fell back asleep. Got up at 7:00 and by breakfast time at 7:30 AM the seas calmed down considerably. We got back out and did some awesome diving. The ride out was a little bumpy but things soon calmed down even more. We dove the North Pole Cave for our first dive. This was awesome! You just drop through this tight crevass. Then swim horizontal and then back up this fairly tight swimthrough. Awesome wall. Neat wire coral etc. Gotta watch your depth here. I hit 142 fsw on this dive. We saw a few sharks. A nice hammerhead off in the distance. For the second dive we headed back to Riding Rock Reef. Easy dive. Just traverse the top edge of the wall at 60-80 fsw until you come to an anchor. Then a nice cruise in the current on the return trip. My reg seems to want to freeflow easier now. Dialed it down a bit. My HP spool o-rings are leaking. Jean-Paul pointed it out on the dive. He's going to replace the o-rings. It'd 4:16 PM now. Just got done with a 2 hour tour of the island. We drove all the way to the end, about 12 miles. Saw a neat lighthouse that runs on pressurized kerosene. Saw all the local stores, condos, building lots, beaches etc. abnd went through town on the way back. We meet at the dock at 7:00 PM for what should be a fantastic night dive. Well the night dive at Riding Rock Reef was awesome. See cucumbers, arrow crabs etc. We cruised along at the top of the wall at around 60 fsw peering into cracks and crevices finding all kinds of neat stuff. Went back for an excellent prime rib dinner.
The tropical storm that passed through is now hurricane Rita and up to a category 2 storm. Heading towards Texas. Ruth called and left a message but I have no way to call back until tomorrow. Hope all is well at home.
1st site: North Pole Cave
2nd site: Riding Rock Reef
3rd site: Riding Rock Reef - night dive
9/21/05-
1st dive- Shades of Blue- Another awesome deep wall dive. Seas were fairly rough as this site is pretty far out from the sheltered area. We did the return portion of the dive as a drift dive and shot a line at our safety stop. 130 fsw + on this dive.
2nd dive- Runway10 - Nice shallower reef dive. Saw some skates, one pregnant. Big grouper would not leave us alone. Interacted with all of us. Got some good shots I think of a Trumpetfish on the shallower section of the reef 35-40 fsw.
3rd dive- Telephone Pole-
9-22-05-
We have 2 more divers today, Scott and Tracey from Minnesota. They own a dive shop out there and are checking out Riding Rock for a dive group. We met a local woman Sandy that is diving with us this morning. Her husband works on the island as a Marine Biologist or something. Hurricane Rite has dropped to a Cat4 storm but is getting ready to whack the coast just as we fly out tomorrow.
1st dive- Double Caves - Saw a nice hawksbill turlte on the start of this dive.
2nd dive- Pillar Reef- Another drift dive
3rd dive- Hole in the wall - Strong current on the last part of the dive. So we did the second half as a drift dive back to the boat.
9-23-05-
Very nice, calm day today. Water looks crystal clear close to shore however vis is still down a bit farther out.
First dive was at Sandy Point Caves. We had the couple from Minnesota and Sandy with us again on this dive.
2nd dive- Cable Crossing. Nice reef dive. Came up on NDL's toward the end of the dive so I spent some time around 25 fsw. just checking things out. Got a few good shots of a very large Barracuda under the boat at around 10 fsw.
3rd and last dive- Bull Run Cut / Frasgate Wreck. Fun stuff. Looks like the surface of Mars. Strange stepped rock formations leading up to shallow sandy area. A boat flew overhead while we were diving in about 10 fsw over the Frasgate.
Some PICS HERE:
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=1197
San Salvador trip report 9/17/05
Saturday Morning. Got up at 4:00 AM. Ughhh. Flight was at 7:30 AM. Ruth drove me to LaGuardia with the kids. They were up for a bit in the car. I rode in the back with them on the way down and we munched on one of the large square cookies Ruth gets from the Blue Colony diner. Breezed through checkin and security. Nice flight to Ft. Lauderdale at about 500 miles an hour at 38,000 feet. Flew with Jet Blue. Had about 2.5 hours 'till my 1:00 PM flight with Spirit Air. Met George and Becki at the gate as they were on the same flight to the island. Spirit seemed like a decent airline. In about an hour we landed in San Salvador. Really nice view from the aircraft of the blue-green water. Even saw a cool rainbow just before we landed. Very nice folks on the island and the crew at Riding Rock is pretty cool. We got upgraded to deluxe rooms on George's behalf. What a view! Right on the water. We went over to the bar later on around 6:00 PM for our dive orientation and filled out the necessary paperwork. Jean-Paul is our Divemaster for the week.
Very neat little bar with "stuff" all over the place. They have this little ring on a string that you swing and try to land on a hook. Got a week to see if I can get it. Excellent food at the Inn. I had a steak, was pretty good. Was pretty beat. Went back to the room and got my gear ready for the mornings dives at 8:30 AM. No hot water, kinda sucked. Just like my recent trip to Cayman in that respect LOL!
9/18/05- This is it! 1st dive day! Went over to breakfast at 7:30 AM. Had the 'ole ham and cheese omelette. Several good choices for food. We headed back to our rooms and grabbed our gear. After a short walk we were at the pier. Nice well maintained dive boats. We had Jean-Paul leading the dives today (3). We had Patrick the epidemiologist on board with us. He not only helps on the boat but also serves as a "waitress" from time to time. Jack of all trades I guess
There were also a few of the locals diving too and lending a hand. I gotta say the diving here is pretty spectacular. Very nice wall dives. 1st dive was pretty agressive. Swam down through a cut in the wall to about 132 Fsw. My deepest dive to date. A little narcosis We came up to around 70 fsw and then dropped into another cut back to 120+ for a bit before proceeding up along the wall. Saw some grouper, a nice size turtle. The usual suspects. Saw a whole "forest" of finger eels. Jean-Paul was showing off and playing with them. We did 2 dives then the midday break is 12:00 - 2:30 PM. Had the chicken for lunch. Went back and took a little nap.Then back out for out 3rd dive. Came back and took another short nap and messed around with my camera to fix the auto shutdown. Can't figure out how to shut it off again. Met at the bar at 6:00 PM. Sucked down a Kalik beer and then went over to dinner. Had the pork chops and watched the news. There is a tropical storm, Rita, South of us but it looks like it's going to swing West and miss us.Thank God! It's impacing Turks and Caicos about now. Very active hurricane season as there are 2 or 3 more storms brewing and headed our way. Hopefully we'll be gone before they impact the area, if at all. Well it's off to bed soon. Zzzzzzzzz.1st site- Great Cut - Awesome wall dive
2nd site- Stew Pot - Garden Eels
3rd site- Cathedral
9/19/05- Well by the looks of the seas at 5:30 AM we won't be diving today. Oh well. By 7:30 AM you can see the weather going downhill. Went to breakfast. Luckily the storm that was headed somewhat our way hooked to the West so it should be outta here soon. Did a little beach combing and took some video/shots of the storm. Met some folks that have family on the island and hung out with them for a bit. They were supposed to have flown out of here but are stuck until the storm passes. Still cannot figure out how to turn off the auto shutdown on my camera. So annoying! Had some Conch chowder and a Chef's salad for lunch followed by a long nap. Now just killing time until cocktails at 6:00 PM and dinner around 6-6:30. I'm so sick of the weather channel about now
Hopefully the seas will die down quick tomorrow so we can dive this island! Had lamb chops for dinner. Very good. 9/20/05- Woke up at 3:30 AM. Took a look outside. Some pretty neat lightning shows going on and the seas are still churned up .
Watched some TV for awhile then fell back asleep. Got up at 7:00 and by breakfast time at 7:30 AM the seas calmed down considerably. We got back out and did some awesome diving. The ride out was a little bumpy but things soon calmed down even more. We dove the North Pole Cave for our first dive. This was awesome! You just drop through this tight crevass. Then swim horizontal and then back up this fairly tight swimthrough. Awesome wall. Neat wire coral etc. Gotta watch your depth here. I hit 142 fsw on this dive. We saw a few sharks. A nice hammerhead off in the distance. For the second dive we headed back to Riding Rock Reef. Easy dive. Just traverse the top edge of the wall at 60-80 fsw until you come to an anchor. Then a nice cruise in the current on the return trip. My reg seems to want to freeflow easier now. Dialed it down a bit. My HP spool o-rings are leaking. Jean-Paul pointed it out on the dive. He's going to replace the o-rings. It'd 4:16 PM now. Just got done with a 2 hour tour of the island. We drove all the way to the end, about 12 miles. Saw a neat lighthouse that runs on pressurized kerosene. Saw all the local stores, condos, building lots, beaches etc. abnd went through town on the way back. We meet at the dock at 7:00 PM for what should be a fantastic night dive. Well the night dive at Riding Rock Reef was awesome. See cucumbers, arrow crabs etc. We cruised along at the top of the wall at around 60 fsw peering into cracks and crevices finding all kinds of neat stuff. Went back for an excellent prime rib dinner.
The tropical storm that passed through is now hurricane Rita and up to a category 2 storm. Heading towards Texas. Ruth called and left a message but I have no way to call back until tomorrow. Hope all is well at home.
1st site: North Pole Cave
2nd site: Riding Rock Reef
3rd site: Riding Rock Reef - night dive
9/21/05-
1st dive- Shades of Blue- Another awesome deep wall dive. Seas were fairly rough as this site is pretty far out from the sheltered area. We did the return portion of the dive as a drift dive and shot a line at our safety stop. 130 fsw + on this dive.
2nd dive- Runway10 - Nice shallower reef dive. Saw some skates, one pregnant. Big grouper would not leave us alone. Interacted with all of us. Got some good shots I think of a Trumpetfish on the shallower section of the reef 35-40 fsw.
3rd dive- Telephone Pole-
9-22-05-
We have 2 more divers today, Scott and Tracey from Minnesota. They own a dive shop out there and are checking out Riding Rock for a dive group. We met a local woman Sandy that is diving with us this morning. Her husband works on the island as a Marine Biologist or something. Hurricane Rite has dropped to a Cat4 storm but is getting ready to whack the coast just as we fly out tomorrow.
1st dive- Double Caves - Saw a nice hawksbill turlte on the start of this dive.
2nd dive- Pillar Reef- Another drift dive
3rd dive- Hole in the wall - Strong current on the last part of the dive. So we did the second half as a drift dive back to the boat.
9-23-05-
Very nice, calm day today. Water looks crystal clear close to shore however vis is still down a bit farther out.
First dive was at Sandy Point Caves. We had the couple from Minnesota and Sandy with us again on this dive.
2nd dive- Cable Crossing. Nice reef dive. Came up on NDL's toward the end of the dive so I spent some time around 25 fsw. just checking things out. Got a few good shots of a very large Barracuda under the boat at around 10 fsw.
3rd and last dive- Bull Run Cut / Frasgate Wreck. Fun stuff. Looks like the surface of Mars. Strange stepped rock formations leading up to shallow sandy area. A boat flew overhead while we were diving in about 10 fsw over the Frasgate.
Sounds like it was a fantastic trip and fortunately you didn't get hit by the storm. We are staying at the Club Med. They have two boats that each go to two different dive sites each, every morning, so I want to ensure I go with the boat to the "Must See" dive locations....although I'm sure any location will be beautiful. I've been told to dive the "Telephone Pole", and "Deep Pole Dive" sounds like the type of diving I like most with a swimthrough. I also love drift diving so I will put in my request when I arrive. I can't wait!
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On the windward side was "Labrynth" (?)
Lots of canyons and deep cut sand bottom channels around elongated coral heads. A great place for hide and go seek. Rather sparse of critters, occasional large animals including sharks.
San Sal is worth the trip. The diving afforded by Club Med is always tempered by the lowest common denominator of divers that they deal with. It is a resort that offers diving. The diving resort is called Riding Rock, but you gotta know the RR people head over to Club Med when they want a parasol in their drink.
This Club Med was shut down the week after 9-11. This had a tremendous impact on the little island. Club Med had built the airport on this little rock to accomodate 747 aircraft from Europe. That's the volume and character of guests that they attract. European divers do not look at vacations like Americans do. We want dive-dive-dive... they want brekfast and a dive at 11 am. There is a difference.
San Sal is a little travelled treasure.
Lots of canyons and deep cut sand bottom channels around elongated coral heads. A great place for hide and go seek. Rather sparse of critters, occasional large animals including sharks.
San Sal is worth the trip. The diving afforded by Club Med is always tempered by the lowest common denominator of divers that they deal with. It is a resort that offers diving. The diving resort is called Riding Rock, but you gotta know the RR people head over to Club Med when they want a parasol in their drink.
This Club Med was shut down the week after 9-11. This had a tremendous impact on the little island. Club Med had built the airport on this little rock to accomodate 747 aircraft from Europe. That's the volume and character of guests that they attract. European divers do not look at vacations like Americans do. We want dive-dive-dive... they want brekfast and a dive at 11 am. There is a difference.
San Sal is a little travelled treasure.
kokopeli:
So far in my 3 years of diving it's probably the best I've done yet. I do agree that the sea life isn't as abundant as I've seen in other places. This could also be seasonal too, not sure, I've still got a lot to learn. But I did manage to get some decent shots of what I did see! Most of the swimthroughs are really vertical chimneys then a horizontal exit. At least at the sites I was at. And sometimes we'd start a dive with no current and then end up in a strong current. I have to say the Divemaster we had did a fantastic job of planning and executing the dives. He knew just where we'd hit current and planned for a return drift dive. This was my first real drift diving so I was learning on the fly so to speak. Fun stuff. From what I saw the Club Med boat didn't seem to want to travel as far out of the sheltered area as we did. Probably based on the experience of the group. You may want to call ahead and discuss that. Or maybe think about a day with RRI if you can to get to some other sites. But like you said, it's all pretty decent out there.
RoatanMan:
Not all of us! That's why I booked with RRI. 3 dives a day, good food!
Unless I'm with non-divers, kids etc. on vaca then I gotta break it up.
Nope, no CM wrist bands on our group
NAIBdiver1
Contributor
We were on the Caribbean Explorer and dove a number of sites around San Salvador. I especially remember "Great Cut" it was a great dive + we saw greater hammerheads there.
NAIBDiver1
NAIBDiver1
We are planning 6 days of diving, two dives a day and 1 night dive. We have heard good things about the diving with Riding Rock so if we can handle more dives, we may pop by there for a more personal experience. It really depends on how we feel. We just returned from Anthony's Key Resort in Roatan where we were doing 3 dives a day, every day, and two night dives throughout the week. It seemed a bit much for my sinuses at the end of the trip and I encountered reverse block on my two last days. It may have been something else who knows, but we didn't want to book more than the 13 dives before departure and not be able to complete them...and then not get our money back.
1 more question: #1. Full 3 mm wetsuit in April in San Salvador...or will I need a 5 mm?
1 more question: #1. Full 3 mm wetsuit in April in San Salvador...or will I need a 5 mm?
From RR's website:
Month °F °C Month °F °C
January 74 23.3 July 84 28.8
February 73 22.7 August 85 29.4
March 74 23.3 September 85 29.4
April 76 24.4 October 84 28.8
May 77 25 November 82 27.7
June 80 26.6 December 80 26.6
Looks like 10 degrees colder than when I was there. I would think, depending on your cold tolerance, at least a 3mm full if not 5mm. Or add a layer, a vest under the 3mm.
Month °F °C Month °F °C
January 74 23.3 July 84 28.8
February 73 22.7 August 85 29.4
March 74 23.3 September 85 29.4
April 76 24.4 October 84 28.8
May 77 25 November 82 27.7
June 80 26.6 December 80 26.6
Looks like 10 degrees colder than when I was there. I would think, depending on your cold tolerance, at least a 3mm full if not 5mm. Or add a layer, a vest under the 3mm.
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