megieblue:
Small Hope in Bahamas? Has anyone been there? We're thinking of taking our family (kids ages 2 and 4) to this resort but wanted anyone's thoughts on it. We're hoping for a comfortable but relaxed place. Cleanliness is important. So is good diving. We went to Cousteau in Fiji last year and are looking for something similar.
I haven't been there in years, but did enjoy my stays there in '93, '94, '95, and '97. It's a quiet, laid back place on a beautiful beach. Food was good to excellent and the other guests good company. The conch fritters served during happy hour are to die for. Accomodations are plain, but clean. At that time, no AC, but I was always comfortable with the sea breezes and ceiling fans. Baby sitters were available.
Diving was good - quite varied. There's a wall that runs along the shore and drops to 6000 feet or so. Inside of that are shallows with 15 to 30 feet of water. There are also several isolated reefs nearby, a couple of small wrecks, and a "blue hole" which are dived. While the first few times I went I saw ample numbers of grouper (one huge one) and a few sharks, the last time there I saw nothing but small fish. I've heard the same thing from someone else who was there more recently.
The daily dive routine is two in the morning - the first deep (90-100 feet) and the second quite shallow (<30 feet) - and one in the afternoon. I always enjoyed the second morning dive; it was a great opportunity to go looking for little stuff in the sand and coral.
Unless things have changed, Small Hope will require you, as first-time divers with them, to take an "entrance exam": put your gear together, dress, jump into 4 or 5 feet of water, remove your mask and reg and hold them out at arms length, then put them back in/on and clear them. If you can do this, you can dive with them; if not they'll give you lessons until you can.