trip report: tobago

[smokey braden]

left bwi on american 10/9/04
arrived tobago same day via bwia
got onboard peter hughes' m/v wind dancer
total of 11 divers,8 crew
i lucked out and got a priviate cabin with bath

list of dive sites:
-wreck of the maverick
-mt irvine wall
-dutchman's reef
-mt irvine wall east
-sisters
-brothers
-london bridge
-st giles
-goat island
-black jack hole
-coral garden
-japanese garden
-cathedrel
-goat island dream
-aquarium
-spiney coloney

the weather the whole week was beautiful
the vessel was clean and well organized
the food was good and ample
the crew was wonderful
the divers were from tx, co, nv, or, and va

with all these ingrediants it made for a perfect diving holiday
all the dives were in current
all the divers were given reels and safety sausages with hands on training
as the week progressed, the vis and water temp improved
divers allways received detailed dive breifs with plan a & b

i recommend this vessel to those divers who prefer a holiday on a liveaboard
regards,
smokey

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

How would you compare the diving to other places you have dove?

 

[smokey braden]

tim,
the local fishermen work the same reefs that were dove.
imo this has an effect on the fish population.
we saw lots of all the fish you would expect, BUT, no large schools or large mature individuals.

when diving islands with "protected" reefs you see more large schools and large mature individuals.

when trying to compare the islands in the carribean i always end up with salad.

if you want to compare the drift diving i'll quote the roatan man and say that tobago makes cozumel look like kiddie land.

when comparing fish and reef i'd say tobago is similar to roatan imo.
we did see a rather large black tip reef shark, several large hawks billed turtles, a very large baracuda and several very large green moray eels.

 

[cxg31s]

Smokey, you dawg, you! It's Angie from Sunset Waters, remember? Wow sounds like quite a trip to Tobago--thanks for sharing the details! What's the approximate cost on a trip like this? I take it you left the family behind for this one?

Angie

 

[smokey braden]

angie,
hey baby!!!!!!!!!!!
that WAS a great time we had.
yea, i had to do this one solo.
the complete pkg not counting air was $1495
this also included $100 credit to the vessels store.
you can put this to nitrox
i had a very good time and met nice folks.
where are WE going next year?

 

[cxg31s]

angie,
hey baby!!!!!!!!!!!
that WAS a great time we had.
yea, i had to do this one solo.
the complete pkg not counting air was $1495
this also included $100 credit to the vessels store.
you can put this to nitrox
i had a very good time and met nice folks.
where are WE going next year?

Hey hey! Sounds like you got a good deal--I'll bet Bo was jealous!

That was a great time at Sunset Waters, and guess what? I'm going back for another week at Thanksgiving! I'm with a big group this time--I can't wait to get back in that crystal blue water!

Next year? I don't know man, I'm thinking about all kinds of places....Galapagos? Saba? T & C? Ideas? Let's go diving!

 

[Doc]

when trying to compare the islands in the carribean i always end up with salad.

I like that, can I use it?

if you want to compare the drift diving i'll quote the roatanman and say that tobago makes cozumel look like kiddie land.

And your dive site list didn't even include "washing machine", "heart attack" or "african express". Whew! QUOTE]


I'm glad that you enjoyed Tobago. Once a diver is ready for it, I would say it's in the top 5 of Caribbean destinations.

 

[scuba_diva_mv]

hey smokey!
seems as though you had a great time there matey.. how did the wind dancer compare to the liveaboard in maldives?

what was the coral reef like? any abundance of marine life?

 

[smokey braden]

scuba diva mv,
here is a picture of the wind dancer
http://www.peterhughes.com/wind/wind_dancerindex.shtml
here is a picture of the sultan of the madivaru
http://www.sultansoftheseas.it/en/infoSMadivaru.php
as you can see they are like night and day

as far as the reef and abundant marine life the maldives win hands down.
the maldives comprise of atolls numbering over 1200 islands with only about 200 which are inhabited, leaving 1000 islands with reefs in pristine condition.
while diving there you see many large schools of fish
you see large mature individuals
the reefs are covered with all kinds of soft and hard corals.

being a carribean diver i saw tons of stuff for the first time in the maldives.
since i reside in the usa it is alot easier for me to go to the carribean.
however, our european dive brothers find it easier to go to the maldives, the seychelles and the red sea