jreihl
Registered
I was staying at Atlantis, Paradise Island the first week of April and just wanted to tell everyone about the great experience diving with Stuart Cove.
I booked 8 dives and the experience ranged from great to phenominal. First of all I was a bit hesitant to book with Stuart Cove based on some of the "Cattle Boat" comments here. I would have to say that I felt that I was treated very well.
I had the pleasure to dive with a very cool English divemaster, James. He is a very intersting guy, took the time to find out all of the divers abilities and group us accordingly, gave great dive breifings, and even bent over backwards to help me with an equipment problem I had. A very fun guy with great stories and a good dive leader. I think I was with him on 5 of the 8 dives.
On another dive I was with another divemaster, Ben, aka wonderboy. We dropped in off the boat, I start my descent, and I see Ben buzzing by with a bag of trash he had picked up off the bottom. After tying it to the anchor line, he buzzed back and led the group. He showed me some unbelievable swimthroughs and caves. This guy is just a really good diver that truly has a zest for what he is doing.
The only gripe I have was no fault of the divemasters or employees...Ben was interrupted during his briefing by a know-it all, Mr. Tech-head, and said that he would do his own thing, that he didn't like crowds, and he and his group would take care of themselves. There were only 6 in our group, so when they went their own ways, I stuck with Ben and he took me for the dive of my life. They missed out on some great swimthroughs, critters, and watching wonderboy.
The photographers on the boat were not pushy, as I thought they might be, to sell the photos. I ended up buying some fantastic shots when I got home. They were kinda pricey, but very much worth it.
All in all I ended up seeing plenty of sharks (15 at a time), snorkeled with dolphins (they took the time during a surface interval to let us all jump in), and saw a huge manta ray (unfortunately from the boat). The next time I'm anywhere near Nassau, I will go out of my way to dive with Stuart Cove and I hope that James and Ben are still there to show me some great diving.
I would recommend these guys to anyone diving in Nassau. I have dived with charters in Cozumel, Belize, Cayman Is., St. Maarten, Lake Michigan, and this was my best boat diving experience.
I booked 8 dives and the experience ranged from great to phenominal. First of all I was a bit hesitant to book with Stuart Cove based on some of the "Cattle Boat" comments here. I would have to say that I felt that I was treated very well.
I had the pleasure to dive with a very cool English divemaster, James. He is a very intersting guy, took the time to find out all of the divers abilities and group us accordingly, gave great dive breifings, and even bent over backwards to help me with an equipment problem I had. A very fun guy with great stories and a good dive leader. I think I was with him on 5 of the 8 dives.
On another dive I was with another divemaster, Ben, aka wonderboy. We dropped in off the boat, I start my descent, and I see Ben buzzing by with a bag of trash he had picked up off the bottom. After tying it to the anchor line, he buzzed back and led the group. He showed me some unbelievable swimthroughs and caves. This guy is just a really good diver that truly has a zest for what he is doing.
The only gripe I have was no fault of the divemasters or employees...Ben was interrupted during his briefing by a know-it all, Mr. Tech-head, and said that he would do his own thing, that he didn't like crowds, and he and his group would take care of themselves. There were only 6 in our group, so when they went their own ways, I stuck with Ben and he took me for the dive of my life. They missed out on some great swimthroughs, critters, and watching wonderboy.
The photographers on the boat were not pushy, as I thought they might be, to sell the photos. I ended up buying some fantastic shots when I got home. They were kinda pricey, but very much worth it.
All in all I ended up seeing plenty of sharks (15 at a time), snorkeled with dolphins (they took the time during a surface interval to let us all jump in), and saw a huge manta ray (unfortunately from the boat). The next time I'm anywhere near Nassau, I will go out of my way to dive with Stuart Cove and I hope that James and Ben are still there to show me some great diving.
I would recommend these guys to anyone diving in Nassau. I have dived with charters in Cozumel, Belize, Cayman Is., St. Maarten, Lake Michigan, and this was my best boat diving experience.
