Shore Diving

[Bullswan]

I am bringing 3 boys to Bermuda for April vacation on a Norwegian Spirit cruise. My son is age 14 and one of the boys is also 14 and the other is 12. They are all OW certified but only able to go to 60 feet (or is it 45 feet, I forget?). Anyway, that stops us from being able to use the cruise excursions (not that I wanted to use them anyway) but what I was hoping for is to be able to just shore dive with them rather than a boat dive. Ideally, I'd like to have a guide/DM with us just for comfort sake but that's not entirely necessary.

We would need to rent Tanks and weights for all of us and BC's for two of the boys.

We probably are talking one tank dives for all of us.

Our ship ties up at Kings Wharf.

Thoughts? (Really appreciate this!)

Greg

 

[NJdiver85]

For all the money you're paying for a cruise, it's crazy the excursion won't allow your certified kids to dive. All the operators in Bermuda should allow your 12 and 14 year olds to dive on their boats. Most of the wrecks and reefs in Bermuda are shallow, so the perfect diving locale for junior open water divers. Call directly to Blue Water Divers in Somerset, which is about 10 minutes cab ride, and make your arrangements directly with them.

 

[Bullswan]

Thanks for your quick reply.
Are there any "house reefs" accessible by shore or is everything done by boat diving?
Much current? I'm concerned about keeping track of 3 boys btw.

Another question.... My son is a huge history buff and also a medieval fort/castle enthusiast. I see quite a few forts still mapped out but with limited time on shore are there any that "shouldn't be missed"?

Thanks again,.
Greg

 

[idocsteve]

Thoughts? (Really appreciate this!)

Greg

Thoughts

Having an OW certification does not stop a diver from going past 60 feet. It's just a recommendation that (in my experience) most dive Ops do not enforce.

Book your dives with Ops at your destinations, not with the cruise ship. Cruise ship diving tends to be limited, have more constraints, and they can be canceled due to local conditions very easily due to liability concerns on the part of the cruise ship.

There are some great Ops in Bermuda, give them a call and discuss your concerns with them. I wouldn't say "My sons are OW certified so we can only go to 60 feet". Rather, "We'd like to do some diving, we're OW certified, what can you offer us".

I did a Bermuda cruise in 2006, and the ship made 3 ports. It left each port early in the morning. I was off the ship prior to the departure and on my rented moped, I'd ride to the dive Op with my gearbag balanced on my lap, do the dive, and then ride to the new cruise ship port after the dives to catch up with my nondiving family.

I was able to get a good sampling of dive sites all over the island.

 

[spectrum]

If you decide to stick with shore diving in Bermuda Blue Water divers had a location at the Elbow Beach resort that had public access. We did a few dives there and as long as the ocean is behaving it was nice novice diving.

They had a second south shore location at what was then the Wyndham (formerly Sonesta, now ???) adjacent to the Princess (?). While it did offer shore access it was really tucked into an awkward cove.

We were there in April of 06 and the seas were volatile. Many of the days they had to keep the boats docked.

Have a great trip!
Pete

 

[NJdiver85]

Fort Scaur is one of the best forts to visit and it is only a 5 minute drive from your cruise ship. You can also tour the Museum at Docyard which is really cool as well and right next to the cruise ship. The Museum can be done in about an hour, and Fort Scaur perhaps an additional hour of looking around, so it shouldn't eat into your day much.

South Shore can tend to be choppy so it is hit or miss trying to plan a dive there with - I would think that is far harder to track multiple kids on a shore dive with some waves and chop vs. doing a shallow wreck dive from a dive boat. If you are worried, simply ask the dive op to have a divemaster or instructor in the water with you for the dive. Shouldn't cost you anything additional, at least I know that is the case with Triangle. Not sure about BWD.

 

[idocsteve]

The other thought is that you'll have a much better dive going off a boat than from shore.

Why?

- The boat brings you right over the dive site, all you gotta do is listen to the briefing, jump in, follow the line down, and have a nice dive. As compared to working your way out from shore, avoiding sharp rocks, struggling with surf and possibly having to deal with the tide and currents.

- The boat will probably provide you with a divemaster, who more often than not will help you out with such things as weighting, giving you a personal tour of the site, and help you out with any difficulties you might have at depth, although realize this is not the responsibility of the DM.

- The best shore dive pales in comparison to the worst boat dive. Bermuda is known for it's wrecks, and most if not all are out too far to shore dive. If you only dive rarely, and this is a once a year opportunity, then do it right. Don't be intimidated by a boat dive.

- As far as the depth goes, most diving in Bermuda is on mostly shallow reefs..that's why there are so many shipwrecks..because the reefs are...um...shallow.

 

[BDAfreediver]

I have personally dove alot with Blue water divers and a few times with Fantasea which are both located in the west end. Blue Water Divers offers shore dives from their ELbow Beach location there other South shore location is no longer operational as the hotel (Sonesta) has been closed. Fantasea which is closer to Dockyard(Where your cruise is coming into) will do beach dives from that location as well.
here are the links to fantasea: Fantasea Bermuda - Professionally Operated Bermuda Chartered Boat Tours and Recreation
and Blue water Divers: Blue Water Divers & Watersports : Bermuda's longest running PADI Scuba diving & watersports centre
I would recommend the same in callin the dive locations directly to book.
Blue water divers specifically asks you whatyour comfort level is and if you tell them no more than 60ft they will take you to some shallow wreck or reef site.

DOckyard (Kings WHarf) Is a major place for History. The National Museum of Bermuda (Still called The Marititme Museum as well) Is a Huge fort at the very end of the Dockyard (you will see it from your ship) It has tons of Bermuda Maritime History. There are also many other smaller forts as well as if you can head to St. Georges this is another great history location. Fort Scaur which is mentioned above is amazing too, they've just installed the only working 'hiding' canon which would pop up fire and then hide behind wall so the enemy never knew where it came from.

I live in Dockyard so if you want anything else specific let me know and I can let you know or find out.

Take care
P.S. Look for whales on your Journey, the humpbacks are migrating past in April and a few whale watching boats do go out but you might see them from your cruise!

 

[tkaelin]

I dove Bermuda last summer with my wife and 12 year old son. We dove with Blue Water. I tend to agree that you would be better off on a boat dive vs. shore. I also may be wrong about this but I did inquire about renting tanks and was told that we could not - which seems odd as the operators list tank rentals and fills in their price list. Maybe I heard them wrong. We dove Blue Waters and they were fine. I did note that on the two days we dove with them our trip on the boat took as back along the West side of the island near where Dive Bermuda operates near the Southampton Princess. Our boat ride was about 30 minutes. I would have to guess the the boat ride from Dive Bermuda to the same sites was about 5 minutes. If boat travel time is a factor you may want to ask around. We dove Hermes, considered a deep dive that my 12 year did fine. You have to judge the skill level of your group. You can stay shallower on the the wreck and still take it in. We dove Southwest Breakers two times which has a nice swim thru that my 12 yr old really enjoyed. I dont think the depth exceeded 40ft. Nice shallow dive with areas of sand and reef. Have fun. Check the average water temps on Blue Water's website. Also, on depth restriction, at least on a PADI Jr cert, 10-11 ages limited to 40'. No depth limit on 12. Limit is that he has to dive with certified adult. TK

 

[idocsteve]

We dove Southwest Breakers two times which has a nice swim thru that my 12 yr old really enjoyed. I dont think the depth exceeded 40ft. Nice shallow dive with areas of sand and reef.

SW Breakers is one of the best dives in Bermuda, and like most of them, it's not all that deep. And it's a HUGE swim through, not at all tight like some of the others in the area.

I just checked my 2006 Bermuda folder, I don't have any of SW Breakers but here's one from a similar dive. You can see how shallow it is from the waves breaking above. Many reefs break the surface around Bermuda's shore.