Sandals Barbados in November...

[KG Diver]

So the wife and I got hooked up with a free trip to Sandals All Inclusive in Barbados this November. We each have just over 20 since our open water cert and this will be our first time diving out in the big blue.

I've looked around, but I'm not finding a ton of information as it seems that Barbados isn't exactly a go-to diving destination. I wanted to see if anyone here has ever stayed at the Sandals resort there and are familiar with their dive op. We are there for a week and I doubt we will be able to hit all of the 17 offered "novice" dive sites, as we're going to have to spend some time doing non-diving related activities (plus the no flight time). So I wanted to prioritize the "better" dives. Should we also be looking at any other "outside" dive op on the island or dive locations? We're planning on diving mostly in our own gear, at least our own BCDs (BP/W), mask, and regs...not too sure if I want to bring our fins and wetsuit (3mm) due to extra packing weight.

Just looking for any and all input on Sandals/3rd-party dive op(s): comments, suggestions, complaints. Also, as first time dive-travelers....is there anything we should know or do before we leave?

~cheers

 

[ColoDale]

I cannot tell you about Sandals Barbados but having been to Sandals Bahamas (Nassau and Exuma) and St. Lucia 2x, I can tell you about how they run the dive operation as they have been consistenly the same.
We brought our own gear though their gear at the time was in decent shape and no one complained that I know of (assuming they knew better). They will have standard sizes. You could use their fins and suits (and gear) if you want. You won't be doing any daredevil diving.

Lately when staying there we have gone with outside dive ops as the structured diving is too restictive for us (or at least me with camera).
The outside op in Exuma was $180 USD/2 tanks but I wanted better diving so I paid. If you consider outside ops, do your homework before you go including directions to their shop and phone number. We had a taxi driver in Exuma that couldn't find the dive op.

Generally you will play follow the leader with Sandals, stay above the DM, have shorter dives due to group surfacing when the first person gets to 1000 psi, and have to sign up daily for dives. Our dives were 35-45 minutes max and a few less. Some my wife could have done 2 dives on the same tank (AL 80). November may be less crowded so you may not have to compete for seats. Generally they run novice trips afer the "expert" trips but also fit in snorkeler's trips in a day. Hopefully they have more than one boat.
The captain is responsible for maintaining the schedule.

Beware of the medical form. If you take anything regulary, even if it's OTC aspirin or heartburn meds, and mark yes on the form, you better have a doctor's release or you won't dive with them (at all).

On the plus side the boats are in good shape, the staff generally friendly, and transportation provided if no onsite pier is available.

Some of their boats may have fresh water showers mid deck but if you are unlucky enough to the seat next to them, you may have clods trying to stand on your gear to rinse off.

I have used a camera bucket but it ends up with masks in it on Sandals boats.

If you search on Sandals on SB, you will find the posts about the various islands and how they do things from other posters. Basically Sandals is a vacation with some diving. It's not horrible but there is better diving and will cost you. It depends on what you want out of it.

 

[KG Diver]

I cannot tell you about Sandals Barbados but having been to Sandals Bahamas (Nassau and Exuma) and St. Lucia 2x, I can tell you about how they run the dive operation as they have been consistenly the same.
We brought our own gear though their gear at the time was in decent shape and no one complained that I know of (assuming they knew better). They will have standard sizes. You could use their fins and suits (and gear) if you want. You won't be doing any daredevil diving.

Lately when staying there we have gone with outside dive ops as the structured diving is too restictive for us (or at least me with camera).
The outside op in Exuma was $180 USD/2 tanks but I wanted better diving so I paid. If you consider outside ops, do your homework before you go including directions to their shop and phone number. We had a taxi driver in Exuma that couldn't find the dive op.

Generally you will play follow the leader with Sandals, stay above the DM, have shorter dives due to group surfacing when the first person gets to 1000 psi, and have to sign up daily for dives. Our dives were 35-45 minutes max and a few less. Some my wife could have done 2 dives on the same tank (AL 80). November may be less crowded so you may not have to compete for seats. Generally they run novice trips afer the "expert" trips but also fit in snorkeler's trips in a day. Hopefully they have more than one boat.
The captain is responsible for maintaining the schedule.

Beware of the medical form. If you take anything regulary, even if it's OTC aspirin or heartburn meds, and mark yes on the form, you better have a doctor's release or you won't dive with them (at all).

On the plus side the boats are in good shape, the staff generally friendly, and transportation provided if no onsite pier is available.

Some of their boats may have fresh water showers mid deck but if you are unlucky enough to the seat next to them, you may have clods trying to stand on your gear to rinse off.

I have used a camera bucket but it ends up with masks in it on Sandals boats.

If you search on Sandals on SB, you will find the posts about the various islands and how they do things from other posters. Basically Sandals is a vacation with some diving. It's not horrible but there is better diving and will cost you. It depends on what you want out of it.

Thanks for the feedback! I figured that the Sandals' focus isn't going to be on diving. I think what we may end up doing is taking one day for ourselves, away from our friends, and do a dive with one of the local dive ops instead of sandals. Also, as I unfortunately expected, the dives are going to be very "structured" kind of dives where you just follow the DM like ducks-in-a-row; and having to cut a dive short because one person is burning through air kind of sucks (unless that is how it's typically done on a boat dive...I've never been). However, from a liability side of things, I can see where they are coming from; having to adjust everything to the lowest common denominator.

I suppose I still have some time to dig around for a local dive op...along with some neat things to do on land, other than the mandatory tour of the rum factories haha.

 

[ColoDale]

The other dive ops should be boat dives as well. I don't know the dive culture on Barbados but other places they send divers up as they get low on air so the group can stay down. They also won't likely start at 1000 psi. That procedure question is one you should ask the outside dive op. Sandals generally has many newer divers so there will be someone who gets low on air quickly. It is also a safety/liability issue. They try to spearate the novice from more experienced divers but that doesn't always work.

There is not alot on Barbados on SB but you could try Tripadvisor or Undercurrent.org. The latter has current reviews but may require a subscription. Good info there tho. You might try an SB post in the Lesser Antilles section also. I am sure someone here has dived Barbados.