Single Diving in Bahamas or Caymans

[Shammey]

I have a pet peeve about "double occupancy". I'd like to dive some of the top sites of the Caribbean, but I keep finding that there is no accommodation for single travelers. And when they do, they charge huge fees up to a HUNDRED dollars a night, for not being 2 people. It's kinda making me mad.

So are there any other solo divers - who have good places to stay and dive in the Bahamas - without doing a liveaboard - and staying off of nassau.

any advice would be welcomed!

Thanks!

 

[morpheus14]

Good morning,

I've been dealing with the same issue since the divorce. Liveaboards request sometimes as much as 50% of the total cost for single occupancy.

Well, I can tell you that I went to Coral Caverns on Andros in August of this year, and the price even for single occupancy was very good. I reserved through Neal Watson's undersea adventures in Fort-Lauderdale.

So not only was I setup as single occupancy without a hefty premium, I was the sole guest at the resort for the entire week!

 

[osprey]

Most liveaboards don't charge extra as long as you don't mind sharing your cabin with someone of the same sex.

 

[Shammey]

morpheus14! Thank you so much that was a great lead! I know I looked at every place I could and thought - I'm going back to Roatan (it's just so cheap and the diving is sooo good) - but I still want to try someplace I haven't been - and considering how close the bahamas are - it's too weird to have dived (dove?) in Malaysia and Indonesia and never there! I'll check it out. thx.

osprey - thank you also for your reply, I can do a liveaboard for maybe 3 nights, after that I want land, a hammock and to lie still for rmany hours (until its time to dive again). I did see that blackbeard has a weekend trip they do, but it's still too long at 5days. I'm complicated - I have weird food requirements, I chain smoke and snore.

Thank you for the replies - much appreciated!

 

[NigerHadiza]

I'm going on the Aqua Cat in December and I don't have to pay a single supplement and I have an "ocean view" room. But of course, if there is another single lady on the boat, we will have to share which is fine by me as long as I don't have to pay for her share too! I understand completely.

 

[DV8ED]

I'm also looking into this for 2009. Was hoping to find something non live-aboard for single occ that was at a dive resort. I'm recently certified and was hoping to find something required a little less planning across several different companies, etc.

Nice to have the dive accommodations right there but I'm noticing the same dbl occ for these types of places.

 

[wkellett]

I seem to keep pushing this but......In April I was in the same situation. I was going on vacation by myself and kept running into that Dbl occupancy stuff. I finally looked up Stuart Cove. They deal with Orange Hill Inn in Nassau. I emailed them and advised what days I would be in Nassau, how many days I wanted to dive, and said I would be by myself. They promptly returned my email with a price quote. It was only 120 per night at the motel. My total was approx 1360.00 for 8 nights, 5 days of 2-tank dives, and 1 day for the 2-tank shark dive.
My vacation was a blast. They are very professional and friendly. The motel is very simple but it is clean and away from all the hubbub of the resorts. The beach is so quiet that all I saw were a few couples and locals there. The most people I shared the beach with were 5 people 1 day. The motel is so kick back that the bar is on an honor system. Grab a drink and put a check mark next to your room. There is also a great little restraurant about a mile walk down the beach with good food and reasonable prices. It's called Traveller's Rest.
If you want to go into town, the local bus stops right in front of the hotel. You just stand there, get on, and pay 1.50 for the ride into downtown. It runs til around 7pm and you can get on/off at numerous stops. It is also very easy to get a taxi if needed.
I enjoyed myself so much that I am going back in Feb. This time I have 3 other people going. With 4 of us splitting a room, it came out to 322.00 a piece for 8 nights!

Orange Hill Beach Inn - Our family welcomes you to our hotel and Nassau Bahamas
Stuart Cove's, Nassau Bahamas diving, snorkeling, and subs

Brian

 

[tvictory]

Many places will only charge the single supplement if the resort or liveaboard is fully booked during your stay. They'll often let singles have the ppdo rate as long as they're not losing revenue they would otherwise get.

Check out Riding Rock Inn on San Salvador. I bet you could book in for a week when they don't have any big groups and you'd have a good chance of getting the lower rate. The diving is fantastic too!

 

[crunch35]

I also am a single diver, I would love to have a buddy but i know very few people in missouri that dive so i have to get by solo. When i go to coz i stay at cozumel inn its a small mami y papi place and is only about 25 dollars a nite. so i look for little cheap places off of the beaten path.. Also youth hostels are great, ussual only cost about 10 to 15 a nite and you get a contenental breakfast sometime..In short i say screw the big all intusive hotels and look for deals,, good luck.

 

[Shammey]

Crunch35 - well that is the best answer so far - I have friends in PDC and Tulum, but it's hard to dive coz from across - rather stayon coz - there is a new hostel in coz which is pretty good, but it's all the way on the other side of town - a 20 min walk to the first possible place a boat might do a pickup and I never stay anywhere where its over $40 a night. The idea that someone would think that $120 a night is cheap!!