Thinking about Barbados. Any advice?

[RICHinNC]

Send a PM to... SCULPIN....on the board here. He owns and runs Dive Barbados LTD. I have dove with John several times and will again on my upcoming trip. Good guy.... and he needs to pay off on a new pair of shoes. (inside joke)

And, I def agree on the comments about the food being high. In most places it is. I am taking some good pans down to do my own breakfast and maybe a few dinners too. Lunches are very light. About the only restuarant I didnt like was The Cliff. I paid over $200 USD for a meal for two (the kind on the way home you stop at Micky Dees and top off), and then spent the night talking to Ralph and watching $200 go downt he porcelin bowl.

Oistins on Friday and Sat nights are cool. And, OPA is a great Greek restuarant and not all that pricey but I recommend you have reservations.

 

[Torontonian]

Just returned from a Caribbean cruise in which we had four diving excursions booked. The only let down was West Side Scuba in Barbados. They lost our reservation, thereby not being at the dock to pick us up. After taking a cab to the shop, we sat around with the other prospective divers for nearly two hours. Turns out they couldn't get the boat started. Dive cancelled.
We enjoyed Dive Fair Helen in St. Lucia and Nature Island Dive in Dominica. The op we enjoyed the most (though the diving was not on par with St. Lucia or Dominica) was Admiralty Dive Center in St. Thomas.
Have a great trip!

Sounds like you were on Carnival Destiny (same cruise we're going on, as we are diving/snorkeling on those ports too)

That is awful with West Side Scuba. I'm booked with them in 2 weeks. So they didn't try to book you on another op then. I better call to find out what's happening to their boat.

 

[citykid]

Torontonian,
How did it go? Were you happy w/ West Side?

 

[citykid]

We are planning on renting a car for the whole week. Anyone second this idea or think it's a bad one?
Thanks again.

 

[sweetcalypso]

West side will not be at their present location much longer, they have been given notice to quit.
I seriously suggest you try hightide, they are the best operator on the island, have two dive boats so can always use the other if they have a problem, and are the biggest (and best) operator on the island. They are half a mile from westside's present location. Go to HIGHTIDE Watersports - Barbados
They are also the only operator to work with the Barbados Sea Turtle Project and will take you out turtle tagging on certain days, a great and interesting dive.
As for hiring a car, definatley. If you want to see the real Barbados get a car and explore, try Bathsheba, and all of the east coast.
Prices in Barbados are not expensive unless you eat at expensive restaurants, its like any where in the world. The Cliff is probably the most expensive restaurant on the island, and for years voted the best, prices there are comparable to a nice restaurant in London. There are plenty of cheaper restaurants on the island. If you are on the West Coast try Groots, Cocomos, Spargos, and the new (opens soon) Beach House (who have taken over where westside currently are) which was formerly The Coach House further down the road.

 

[Torontonian]

Torontonian,
How did it go? Were you happy w/ West Side?

Hi. I wanted to write up a review but was quite busy after getting back.

We were a group of 6, with me as diver and the rest as snorkelers. We were happy with what we saw in the actual diving/snorkeling, but not happy about the amount of wait time it took.

After getting picked up by the shuttle to get to the shop, we waited a fair bit at the shop, because there were other divers who came later and filled out forms and got fitted. There was construction at the adjoining hotel which we had to walk thru, before wading in water to get on boat. I should've worn my sandals rather than just the soft water socks.

The first dive at the Starv wreck was good. This was a big wreck and had lots of coral growth. Peter the owner said to me in the email that the snorkelers could snorkel on top while we dived. But on the boat (Peter was not at the boat but stayed at the shop), they said the snorkelers need to stay on boat.

After the dive, we went snorkeling in front of the Sandy Lanes, and saw some turtles. We thought we were going to the second dive site when then they drove the boat back to the shop to pick up some more divers. This made it a full boat. It turned out there was one student and they left the instructor and him at one location. They then took us more experienced divers to another location. Then the rest of the newly picked up (probably less experienced) divers and the snorklers then were taken elsewhere.

With one boat taking so many different types of divers, and snorkelers, to different locations (which I didn't not know would happen), it made the whole trip longer.

After the dive/snorkel trip, my group went on a tour of the island (Peter the owner offered his shuttle driver to do that at a cost). We started the tour more than an hour late. It was still a fairly good tour, but we had to cut out some places to go.

 

[citykid]

We just got back for Barbados. Interesting though... some really good stuff and actually some disappointing things. I will do a write up when time becomes available.

 

[RICHinNC]

look forward to reading it.

 

[citykid]

Well, I can jot this down. I followed Rich in NC's advice, stories, and tales to a tee! Great info Rich! If not for your info I would have been flyin' blind.

More to come.

 

[Butch103]

Have to agree with Hightide. I dove with them about 5 years ago and they were very easy to get along with and were willing to pick me up 1/2 hr away fromm the shop. No extra cost.