St. Vincent diving expensive ?

[ronrosa]

Been emailing with Dive St. Vincent about a 4 day dive weekend this coming October. Package pricing for 4 nights double occupancy hotel and 3 days of 2 tank dives is coming out pretty expensive. When I backout the hotel rack rate cost, the diving is coming out at $115 for 2 tanks.

If you have been to St. Vincent, was the diving expensive ?

 

[peterjmaerz]

Hi Ron!

How are you?! for my 2001 trip to SV, I took advantage of the 7-day package deal. Stayed at the Sunset Shores Hotel, which was very clean, with lots of storage space, and a nice desk on which to use my laptop. The food there was just fine for lunch and it's walking distance to a nice restaurant. It's just down the beach, within easy walking distance of Bill's shop. Paying the single supplement price, I still came out at about $1300 for the week.

Here's the link to Bill's site, which I'm sure you've seen. You can scroll down to the Sunset Shores to find out more.

http://www.divestvincent.com/Packages.html


By the way, I'm sailing with Deb Fugitt for her photo-friendly Raja Ampat trip on the Ondina in November. She used to work with Bill Tewes. I have to alert you to the fact that she has very strong negative feelings about him about which she does not want to go into detail. She has her own, longer photo trip to SV skedded for this summer:

http://www.scubasvg.com/


As for me, my experience with Bill was fantastic. I found him to be very funny, knowledgeable and committed to being the best guide possible. His staff, while somewhat shy, was also top-notch. And St Vincent is, especially for critter freaks, the best in the Caribbean, IMHO.

Hope you and the family are well!

Best,

 

[ronrosa]

Hey Peter.

When you told me St. Vincent was your favorite diving in the Caribbean, I added it to my wish list. I've been looking to see something diffferent than the typical Caribbean stuff and St. Vincent sounds like it should fit the bill, although I wasn't expecting the diving to be so expensive.

We ended up reserving a room at Paradise Inn. It will save us about $130 each over staying at Sunset or Mariners. Jackie at Dive St. Vincent said Paradise is about 50 yards down the beach from their dock. Do remember seeing Paradise Inn when you were down there ? Any recommendations on where to eat dinner ?

 

[Damselfish]

yes, it's expensive unfortunately. No competition most of the time, and not large volume (which of course has it's advantages.)

 

[peterjmaerz]

...Boy, the SB server's a bit sluggish today. Anyway, Ron,

I don't remember seeing the Paradise, but that probably just means it's southeast of the dive shop. The Sunset Shores is Northwest along the shore and the beach at that stretch ended right past it.

As for dinner, as long as you're shelling out the bucks, you may want to take the minute and a half ferry ride to Young Island and dine in one of their outdoor thatched mini bungaloes. The food and the service are superb. Bill can help set you up.

Almost equally good, though, was a place called the Lime Pub, very close to the dive shop, just below the main road. Here's an entry from my trip journal, in what turns out to be August 2002, not 2001:

Sure enough, there's a road slanting down towards the Pub which I missed on the way, not having seen the sign yet. Once through the entrance breezeway, I'm met immediately by a lovely server who escorts me to my table and provides me with a menu. It looks just great, with a multitude of possibilities. She's very sweet as she explains the choices and offers suggestions. Soon, she's introduced herself as Ayasha, after asking me my name. We have a fairly lengthy conversation, broken up into each of her visits to serve or clear my Martini, Escargot with hazelnut and garlic butter, Pumpkin soup, and main course of Lime and Caper Kingfish. All are delicious, including the conversation, which ranges from Ayasha's goal of visiting her brother in Toronto, which apparently has a substantial Vincentian population, to the state of Vincentian education, to the rich foreigners who are buying up property in the Grenadines and then refusing entry to locals.

Ron, I'm sure you're gonna love SV. Especially if you have a macro lens on your vidcam! Say hello to the frog fish for me and to Bill Tewes (I see him fairly frequently at the Ft. Lauderdale dive shows).

Best,

 

[ronrosa]

I don't mind paying for quality and from what I 've read, Dive St. Vincent is worth it.

This will be a guys weekend so I think I'll skip on the fancy dinners and go for cheap and basic.

I am starting to experiment with macro video. Hopefully I get some good footage. I have a long way to go with keeping the camera still.

Peter, Raja Ampat sounds great. Did you get your custom wetsuit ? Did I read you were also going on a Turks & Caicos trip ?

 

[peterjmaerz]

Ron,

Was contemplating the Turks and Caicos Explorer II, but got sidetracked with Radio business and a possible family meetup at Banff in the Canadian Rockies this summer.

Looks like it'll be South Florida diving this summer. Can't wait for Raja Ampat! I've been lusting after this trip for years.

The food at the Sunset Shores was simple and relatively inexpensive, but pretty good. I'd suspect the Paradise will have similar fare. Looking forward to eyeing your vids!

Best,

 

[peterjmaerz]

Oh...the wetsuit. You know I've driven by that location a few times lately and didn't see the operation there. I'll have to look further into it. I'm still contemplating an Insta-Dry 5 mil, but the half-a-grand price tag's a bit staggering!

 

[tvictory]

Dive Saint Vincent is a very mercenary organization. I would recommend booking your package through the hotel rather than through Dive Saint Vincent. Be aware that if you book through Dive Saint Vincent, the entire package will be marked up by 5% if you pay with a credit card. The hotels themselves all accept credit cards with no surcharge.

I've heard there is a new dive operator called Indigo Dive which also offers packages. Young Island Resort is very nice. It's pricey, but the all-inclusive plan compares well to what you'd pay eating a la carte at the local restaurants.

 

[Damselfish]

The credit card thing is annoying, they're happy to take personal checks though. Last time we found that booking a package cost a little more. We always wind up adding dives over the package anyway.

I've heard Indigo divers mentioned before but have yet to see a review and would love one. Bill is cool (though occasionally a little crusty) but I'm not crazy about his boats. Would be interesting if they actually dive Bequia or some other sites DSV doesn't do as well.