Hi everyone,
I've just returned from Tobago (mid-February, 2006) after a week of liveaboard diving on the Wind Dancer. There's already some excellent threads discussing Tobago in general and the land-based operations, including DocVikingo's information and RoatanMan's description, so I'll concentrate on the conditions and diving I experienced at this time of the year. YMMV, of course.
Including myself, there were seven guests and eight crew (!) on the boat. The diving is virtually all drift diving, follow the divemaster style. A float is sometimes towed throughout the dive, and a safety sausage/tube is almost always launched from depth at the end of the dive to indicate where the divers will be surfacing. This is done both to assist the tender driver (more on that below) and to alert local fishermen that there are divers in the area.
The weather was windy but warm, and apparently rainy up until the week prior to the trip. Take descriptions of the extent of the "rainy season" with a big grain of salt: supposedly the rainy season usually ends earlier in the year, but it was still tapering off at this time. As a result the visibility was so-so, usually 30-40ft on each dive, and the winds and rough seas prevented diving at some sites. Water temps were generally in the high 70's, with occasional thermoclines. Most divers, including myself, dove in full 3mm wetsuits; one was comfortable in a shorty, and another went to 5mm. After a while I added a beenie (hood) and was much more comfortable. Gloves are discouraged except on the wreck dives where the mooring line is covered in barnacles. I didn't use my compass all week, as the reef is either "on the left" or "on the right" during most dives and you can't get too lost so long as you stay near the reef.
All the diving is "tendered", meaning that the Wind Dancer itself moors in a calmer harbor and then divers board a small tender boat (approx 20ft, covered) to get to the dive site. Once there, eveyone simultaneously backrolls into the water. More often than not the entry is negative, meaning that you don't hang around on the surface unless there's a problem. Divers immediately descend to depth where it's calmer. I was caught on the surface once, for only a few seconds after the backroll, and ended up bonking my head on the underside of the boat as it was blown over the top of me. No harm done, but that was not a happy place.
Have no doubt about it, the conditions can be rough. This is not diving for beginners, but having said that there were several fairly new divers on the boat who did very well. It's all about your comfort and buoyancy skills in the water, and not getting anxious in high currents and rough swells. I enjoyed it, but I was also aware that (IMO) the biggest danger was not so much before or during the dive but climbing back on the boat afterwards in choppy, rough conditions.
Many of the reefs are still healthy, especially around Speyside and that end of the island, which is nice after seeing so much reef deterioration elsewhere in the Carribean and Cental America. Big critters were seen on many dives, including sleeping nurse sharks, tarpon, the occasional grouper, monster morays, and five large hammerheads on one dive near Sisters Rocks. This is the only place in the Carribean I've seen hammerheads, so that was very exciting. Strangely, some things that are common elsewhere are rather scarce here, notably anenomes and stingrays. But when it comes to sponges, this is the place. Again, Speyside seemed to have the best sponge collection, some of which were spawning like small volcanoes.
Aside from the hammerhead excitement, we all agreed that the most dramatic dive was one call Flying Manta, where the current sweeps you up into a rock canyon, flying superman-style underwater. On many dives the current would change direction mid-dive, sometimes going up, down, sideways, or seemingly every direction all at once.
I would love to go back to Tobago to dive again, but the distance from the PNW where I live is just too far; the flights were waaaay too long. But if you live near the East Coast of the US and can get a direct flight from Miami (for instance) to Tobago, that should reduce the travel time significantly.
A Word About Trinidad
Because of my flight schedule, I ended up spending one night in Port of Spain, Trinidad, both coming and going from Tobago. To be blunt, Trinidad has a crime problem. Everybody I met was friendly and I never felt threatened in any way, but then I didn't go looking for trouble either. If you do find yourself on "Trinny" for a day or two, I highly recommend a hotel called the PAX Guest House. It's a guest house located in the St. Benedict's monastary high above the city, and backs up to the forests and hills. It's a bird-watcher's paradise, it has incredible views, and the people who operate it are wonderful. The place is old, the floors creak, some rooms don't have a/c, and the water pressure is virtually nil. It was perfect. They provide both breakfast and dinner in a communal dining room or out on the veranda facing the forests. If you don't need the amenities of the Hilton and would rather enjoy a rustic, authenic and friendly place to stay, this is it. It's the kind of magical place people often look for but rarely find.
Happy diving!
Glenn
I've just returned from Tobago (mid-February, 2006) after a week of liveaboard diving on the Wind Dancer. There's already some excellent threads discussing Tobago in general and the land-based operations, including DocVikingo's information and RoatanMan's description, so I'll concentrate on the conditions and diving I experienced at this time of the year. YMMV, of course.
Including myself, there were seven guests and eight crew (!) on the boat. The diving is virtually all drift diving, follow the divemaster style. A float is sometimes towed throughout the dive, and a safety sausage/tube is almost always launched from depth at the end of the dive to indicate where the divers will be surfacing. This is done both to assist the tender driver (more on that below) and to alert local fishermen that there are divers in the area.
The weather was windy but warm, and apparently rainy up until the week prior to the trip. Take descriptions of the extent of the "rainy season" with a big grain of salt: supposedly the rainy season usually ends earlier in the year, but it was still tapering off at this time. As a result the visibility was so-so, usually 30-40ft on each dive, and the winds and rough seas prevented diving at some sites. Water temps were generally in the high 70's, with occasional thermoclines. Most divers, including myself, dove in full 3mm wetsuits; one was comfortable in a shorty, and another went to 5mm. After a while I added a beenie (hood) and was much more comfortable. Gloves are discouraged except on the wreck dives where the mooring line is covered in barnacles. I didn't use my compass all week, as the reef is either "on the left" or "on the right" during most dives and you can't get too lost so long as you stay near the reef.
All the diving is "tendered", meaning that the Wind Dancer itself moors in a calmer harbor and then divers board a small tender boat (approx 20ft, covered) to get to the dive site. Once there, eveyone simultaneously backrolls into the water. More often than not the entry is negative, meaning that you don't hang around on the surface unless there's a problem. Divers immediately descend to depth where it's calmer. I was caught on the surface once, for only a few seconds after the backroll, and ended up bonking my head on the underside of the boat as it was blown over the top of me. No harm done, but that was not a happy place.
Have no doubt about it, the conditions can be rough. This is not diving for beginners, but having said that there were several fairly new divers on the boat who did very well. It's all about your comfort and buoyancy skills in the water, and not getting anxious in high currents and rough swells. I enjoyed it, but I was also aware that (IMO) the biggest danger was not so much before or during the dive but climbing back on the boat afterwards in choppy, rough conditions.
Many of the reefs are still healthy, especially around Speyside and that end of the island, which is nice after seeing so much reef deterioration elsewhere in the Carribean and Cental America. Big critters were seen on many dives, including sleeping nurse sharks, tarpon, the occasional grouper, monster morays, and five large hammerheads on one dive near Sisters Rocks. This is the only place in the Carribean I've seen hammerheads, so that was very exciting. Strangely, some things that are common elsewhere are rather scarce here, notably anenomes and stingrays. But when it comes to sponges, this is the place. Again, Speyside seemed to have the best sponge collection, some of which were spawning like small volcanoes.
Aside from the hammerhead excitement, we all agreed that the most dramatic dive was one call Flying Manta, where the current sweeps you up into a rock canyon, flying superman-style underwater. On many dives the current would change direction mid-dive, sometimes going up, down, sideways, or seemingly every direction all at once.
I would love to go back to Tobago to dive again, but the distance from the PNW where I live is just too far; the flights were waaaay too long. But if you live near the East Coast of the US and can get a direct flight from Miami (for instance) to Tobago, that should reduce the travel time significantly.
A Word About Trinidad
Because of my flight schedule, I ended up spending one night in Port of Spain, Trinidad, both coming and going from Tobago. To be blunt, Trinidad has a crime problem. Everybody I met was friendly and I never felt threatened in any way, but then I didn't go looking for trouble either. If you do find yourself on "Trinny" for a day or two, I highly recommend a hotel called the PAX Guest House. It's a guest house located in the St. Benedict's monastary high above the city, and backs up to the forests and hills. It's a bird-watcher's paradise, it has incredible views, and the people who operate it are wonderful. The place is old, the floors creak, some rooms don't have a/c, and the water pressure is virtually nil. It was perfect. They provide both breakfast and dinner in a communal dining room or out on the veranda facing the forests. If you don't need the amenities of the Hilton and would rather enjoy a rustic, authenic and friendly place to stay, this is it. It's the kind of magical place people often look for but rarely find.
Happy diving!
Glenn
