Tobago

[Lurch]

Hello, A group of us wants to go to Tobago in Feb 2004. Are there any other live aboards there besides the Peter Hughes one as it is not there that time of year. Could I also get some recommendations of some land operators.

Thanks

 

[DocVikingo]

There are no liveaboards other than the Wind Dancer serving Tobago, and it will be doing the humpbacks at the Silver Bank off the DR during that time period.

As for landbased, how about the very extensive trip report in this tread found by a search of the board archives (http://www.scubaboard.com/search.php?s=)?--->

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2597&highlight=speyside

Best regards.

DocVikingo

 

[Doc]

No, so far there is only one. The diving in Tobago is certainly in the top 5 of the Caribbean.

Tobago's better diving is done from Speyside and Charlottesville on the far Northern end of the island. this is serious, no excuses, high speed drift diving. Everyone should be prepared for surfaced diver signalling and survival techniques. I'm not saying it's gonna happen, but this is not for inexperienced divers.

There are very small reputable ops on the South end (like Sun Splash Scuba), but any South end op that can handle your large group I would caution you to avoid. On the North end you have a few options, the pick of the litter is Blue Waters Inn. This property leases the dive op to the only op that has piers on the North end. It has the best availoable boats.

The staff is a bit sluggish and tired, and de motivated by servicing the European crowd which is notoriously stingy on tipping. I would find El Jefe and lay some green on him upon arrival. Know that most visitors to Tobago are British Birding fanatics.

Get the breakfast package, but you simply dont have enough surface interval to eat their lunch. Bring/buy snack crackers, etc and munch, sun, log and off gas. Evening meals? Go into Speyside.

This is going to involve renting a vehicle- Get 1 Suzuki Samurai per 2 divers, try Steve Cordell's auto rental at the airport. Maybe $250/wk. Drive slowly on these mountainous roads. venture as far as you dare on some jeep trails.

I prefer diving with "Red Man" and RedM diving, but only with 6 ppl max. for his primitive equipment. If anyone can give you Mantas, he can. I am not impressed with the accomodations at Charlottesville (a bit mouldy) or of the Manta Lodge (way too noisy). Lots of great spots to dine cheaply in Speyside.

Suggest you take a room near the airport for the last night as the drive from Speyside is 2.5 hours, way too much to fly at 0700.

See our trip report at

http://www.turq.com/trips/trinidad5.html

Roatan Man

 

[Lurch]

Thanks alot, very detailed answer, we are only a small group of 4 to max 6 divers and are all quite experienced. I am a big fan of the big animals so sharks and Mantas are definately a reason for me to go. Any more infor is appreciated. Thanks again

 

[Doc]

From your quick description, Lurch, this is the character and size of groups that I lead to Tobago (when it's not just me & Herself).

For my money, I can't recommend a better way to do the diving that Tobago is known for. Get a room at the Blue Waters Inn (BWI), I don't like the standard motel type rooms, and the private guest houses on the South end of the property may be cheaper!

Get the breakfast package, but rent a Suzuki Samurai from Steve Corder at the airport. It will be late at night when you make the right hand drive trip, and the first half is a breeze. About 1 hour along the mountainous nature of these otherwise excellent roads comes into play. I seriously recommend no faster than 20 m.p.h. I have driven it many, many times, and you have no idea what the penalty is "for going out of bounds" until you see it in the daylight! The car will allow you access to various Speyside dive ops, so you can pick not only from BWI (The best boats and only pier) to my personal favorite, RedM owned by Redman. You may also charter for a day with some of the other smaller ops, or Manta Lodge (a great Moray Eel bar rail and pool but otherwise quite noisy).

The car will also allow you to get over the steep and winding road to Charlottesville, which altho it's the end of the line does have a grocery store! From there, you can use 4WD to motor South on the Caribbean side, but recommended only for those experienced in such matters. Knowing when to quit and turn back is a practised art, and here on Tobago there is simply no room for error in such matters. There is no AAA towing out that far- only cows and a long walk back. A very long walk back!

In Charlottesville you can dive with Man Friday diving, but I would not recommend any accomodation in that town over the BWI. There are many restaurants in Speyside to chose from, well maybe 6 or 8 anyway. You will still need the car from the BWI to the not-so-bustling "Speyside Industrial Complex and Wide Spot on the Road" as their driveway is long and with a dramatic overlook vista at the apex.

With dive site names such as Washing Machine and African Express (you figure out the reference!) it is imparative that the group is fully versed in surface recovery and rescue skills (ie: how to get in and out of a less than perfect boat, a primer in surface signalling skills, a plan for extended surface waits in case of seperation). It should also be discussed the protocol for group behavior in what could be described as disorienting lateral and vertical currents. This is the place that the pre-dive briefing and standard boat procedures shoyuld be listened to, adhered to, questioned if not sure, and discussed amongst the group of even "advanced divers".

FYI: Tobago is the place a lady diver spent two days lost from her party and adrift just off shore. She swam in at least. The owner of Man Friday disappeared in such a current and I participated in the fruitless search many years ago.

Have a grand time with your trip- if you have planning questions, be sure to post them as well as the results of your adventure. Tobago I rate in the top 5 island derstinations of the Caribbean included in a list of Outer Bahamas, NE Grenada by live aboard, Los Roques, Bonaire shore diving, CocoView on Roatan, the Nekton in Belize. Be sure to check the rtrip report I referenced earlier.

Have fun!

RoatanMan

 

[Donna Daly]

I first went to Tobago 10 years ago one month after being certified. I initally dived with Dive Tobago at Pigeon Point. Alas, Jimmy Young has retired (first dive operator in Tobago) and the other dive shop I used at Pigeon Point is R&Sea and they have just been sold.

On the first trip I also spent a week at Speyside. I used Redman and he is the ONLY dive shop to use in Speyside. Redman is the original dive shop in Speyside and was trained by Jimmy Young. Redman is a local person and knows all the sights and currents of Speyside. As I new diver, I was very comfortable and felt very safe with Redman.

At Speyside, I did stay at Blue Waters Inn. In recent trips, I just showed up at Redman's and asked him to find me a place. He always finds me reasonably priced and very clean places.

Redman works with Ron Thia at Charlotteville. Ron is another very excellent dive operator. He no longer has a shop at C'Ville but comes to C'Ville on a regular basis from his home in Trinidad.

Make sure you travel the whole island of Tobago. And make sure you interact with the local people. Tobagoians are very friendly and incredibly nice people. As a single woman, I always felt safe where ever I went on the Island. Although, to walk through the rain forest, I did use a local guide.

When staying at the Blue Waters, I would walk each night into the village of Speyside. Yes, it has a very big hill, but it's a 20 minute walk. Make sure you take your dive light for the walk.

Tobago is a very laid-back island and is one of the last islands to be developed (as North Americans know it) for tourists. But accept you are going on a adventure and enjoy it!

Doing a back roll out of a pirong is just too much fun and after the dive, climbing back into the boat, it's with a ladder.

Rent a car and tour the island, drive inland as well as just using the main road. Scarborough is hot and noisy and crowded but you need to go their once just to see it. There is a bank at the Airport (Replublic) and a Royal just down the road. They have bank machines for interact. The Replublic opens at 8:00am and I get there about 7:40 to be first in the line up to cash travellers cheques. There is no bank or bank machines in Speyside or C'Ville. So you need to have cash before you travel up island.

As I said, I first went to Tobago ten years ago and I fell in love with the Island and the people. I have been back every year since then and it truly has become my second home.

Have a great trip!

 

[sharon]

Great island, very underdeveloped, which is a good thing. I did not dive there when I went, but my husband did his open waters there with an operation called Black Rock Dive Center. They are located at a resort not far from the airport. I cannot find his dive logs from this trip, but I do recall that they used small inflatable boats to do their diving. They did arrange a bus to Speyside one day and took the group to the Blue Waters Inn for a couple of dives. Do rent a car, drive carefully and enjoy the forest, it is just beautiful. Have a great trip.