Greetings All!
For my first thread here on ScubaBoard I thought I'd submit a series of short trip reports and short videos from those locations.
My gf and I used the Carnival Valor as a floating hotel for a week in March, doing the run from Puerto Rico to St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Martin. With only one at-sea day this itinerary was a great way for me (a new diver) to ease into things and get a few dives under my belt. I made private arrangements with dive operations for each of the first four islands and we spent our last day before flying on a beach on the French side of St. Martin. We're not cruise-people really, but because of the room and floor we chose it was a relaxing and wonderful trip. (7th floor balcony with only staterooms above and below us - quiet!) We were up at 7am each day for a light breakfast and then off the boat to meet up with the local dive op for a two tank dive. Back on the ship at roughly 2pm or earlier to settle in for a nap as the ship pulled away at 5pm, taking us to our next destination. The boat itself was just fine. Food was pretty good, the staff was friendly and helpful. For us it was more about the itinerary than what the boat had to offer.
The water temperature was about 79 degrees (f) at every island give or take a degree. We both dove in full wetsuits, mine 3mm hers 5mm. We were completely comfortable the whole time. Some others in the dive group definitely wore less but we like the protection a full suit offers no matter the water temp. We took minimal gear with us. I brought my own mask/fins/snorkel along but in hindsight would have just used rental fins because my slingshots are huge. I see why people buy hotshots for travel
Other than that we each brought wetsuits and computers and cameras but that's it.
Day One - St. Thomas - Blue Island Divers
Killian (captain) and Geoff (dm 1) picked us up right on time at the pre-arranged slip in front of where the Valor was docked. There were a few more people waiting than they expected so we shot across the bay to the shop and picked up Morgan (dm 2) and a few more tanks. They were all super friendly, accommodating and professional. Both the boat and rental equipment were well loved and in fine shape.
Blue Island Dive sites
Dive 1 - Judging from the scenery I remember it seems like we had to be around Limestone. A large bowl of a reef with some nice coral and typical wildlife. Nothing too spectacular here but as it was my first dive in the Caribbean I was just happy to get wet and have a nice, leisurely time of it.
Dive 2 - The Navy Barges. This is a great spot (most of the video below is of this dive) with really nice coral, vibrant wildlife and some easy swim throughs.
Video info: GoPro Hero 3+ Black with Backscatter Flip 3.1 filters, mounted on a gopole. Shot at 1080p, 60fps, no protune. Workflow / editing done in iMovie.
*I apologize if the video is a bit jumpy and unstructured. It was my first time. Hopefully each day's is better than the last! hah.
[video=vimeo;90469156]https://vimeo.com/90469156[/video]
Next up, Barbados!
---------- Post added April 23rd, 2014 at 09:30 AM ----------
Day Two - Barbados - Eco Dive
Our second port of call was Barbados. We were picked up by Andrew of Eco Dive just outside the terminal and driven to the dive shop. Andrew has a very laid back and environmentally conscious attitude toward diving, which we enjoyed. Everything about the operation is small and intimate with a maximum number of 6 divers on the boat.
Dive 1 - Our first dive was a table reef (approx) with beautiful coral and sea life. There was quite a surge that day so though we finned around quite a bit we always seemed to end up in the same 100 foot space, which was fine because the details were gorgeous.
Dive 2 - The second dive was Carlisle Bay which is a lovely collection of wrecks in very shallow water, making for a really long dive. The wrecks are teaming with schools of fish (sorry I'm not better at identifying species yet.) It's a little crowded, with multiple dive boats in the area probably all the time and snorkelers on the surface but it's not to be missed if you're diving Barbados.
Unfortunately I made a rookie mistake and thought "we're so shallow I'll try this without the filter," so some of the Carlisle Bay footage is too blue for my taste, but hopefully the overall is fine.
Video info: GoPro Hero 3+ Black with Backscatter Flip 3.1 filters, mounted on a gopole. Shot at 1080p, 60fps, no protune. Workflow / editing done in iMovie.
[video=vimeo;91483279]https://vimeo.com/91483279[/video]
For my first thread here on ScubaBoard I thought I'd submit a series of short trip reports and short videos from those locations.
My gf and I used the Carnival Valor as a floating hotel for a week in March, doing the run from Puerto Rico to St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Martin. With only one at-sea day this itinerary was a great way for me (a new diver) to ease into things and get a few dives under my belt. I made private arrangements with dive operations for each of the first four islands and we spent our last day before flying on a beach on the French side of St. Martin. We're not cruise-people really, but because of the room and floor we chose it was a relaxing and wonderful trip. (7th floor balcony with only staterooms above and below us - quiet!) We were up at 7am each day for a light breakfast and then off the boat to meet up with the local dive op for a two tank dive. Back on the ship at roughly 2pm or earlier to settle in for a nap as the ship pulled away at 5pm, taking us to our next destination. The boat itself was just fine. Food was pretty good, the staff was friendly and helpful. For us it was more about the itinerary than what the boat had to offer.
The water temperature was about 79 degrees (f) at every island give or take a degree. We both dove in full wetsuits, mine 3mm hers 5mm. We were completely comfortable the whole time. Some others in the dive group definitely wore less but we like the protection a full suit offers no matter the water temp. We took minimal gear with us. I brought my own mask/fins/snorkel along but in hindsight would have just used rental fins because my slingshots are huge. I see why people buy hotshots for travel
Other than that we each brought wetsuits and computers and cameras but that's it.Day One - St. Thomas - Blue Island Divers
Killian (captain) and Geoff (dm 1) picked us up right on time at the pre-arranged slip in front of where the Valor was docked. There were a few more people waiting than they expected so we shot across the bay to the shop and picked up Morgan (dm 2) and a few more tanks. They were all super friendly, accommodating and professional. Both the boat and rental equipment were well loved and in fine shape.
Blue Island Dive sites
Dive 1 - Judging from the scenery I remember it seems like we had to be around Limestone. A large bowl of a reef with some nice coral and typical wildlife. Nothing too spectacular here but as it was my first dive in the Caribbean I was just happy to get wet and have a nice, leisurely time of it.
Dive 2 - The Navy Barges. This is a great spot (most of the video below is of this dive) with really nice coral, vibrant wildlife and some easy swim throughs.
Video info: GoPro Hero 3+ Black with Backscatter Flip 3.1 filters, mounted on a gopole. Shot at 1080p, 60fps, no protune. Workflow / editing done in iMovie.
*I apologize if the video is a bit jumpy and unstructured. It was my first time. Hopefully each day's is better than the last! hah.
[video=vimeo;90469156]https://vimeo.com/90469156[/video]
Next up, Barbados!
---------- Post added April 23rd, 2014 at 09:30 AM ----------
Day Two - Barbados - Eco Dive
Our second port of call was Barbados. We were picked up by Andrew of Eco Dive just outside the terminal and driven to the dive shop. Andrew has a very laid back and environmentally conscious attitude toward diving, which we enjoyed. Everything about the operation is small and intimate with a maximum number of 6 divers on the boat.
Dive 1 - Our first dive was a table reef (approx) with beautiful coral and sea life. There was quite a surge that day so though we finned around quite a bit we always seemed to end up in the same 100 foot space, which was fine because the details were gorgeous.
Dive 2 - The second dive was Carlisle Bay which is a lovely collection of wrecks in very shallow water, making for a really long dive. The wrecks are teaming with schools of fish (sorry I'm not better at identifying species yet.) It's a little crowded, with multiple dive boats in the area probably all the time and snorkelers on the surface but it's not to be missed if you're diving Barbados.
Unfortunately I made a rookie mistake and thought "we're so shallow I'll try this without the filter," so some of the Carlisle Bay footage is too blue for my taste, but hopefully the overall is fine.
Video info: GoPro Hero 3+ Black with Backscatter Flip 3.1 filters, mounted on a gopole. Shot at 1080p, 60fps, no protune. Workflow / editing done in iMovie.
[video=vimeo;91483279]https://vimeo.com/91483279[/video]
