MikeSSS
Registered
1. I'm not experienced with dive resorts or resorts in general, something to keep in mind when reading this.
2. Our daughter got married at Beaches during this trip, so we had a great time. Beaches does a great wedding!!!
She and her new husband are divers, the three of us went diving with the Beaches dive operation. Diving is free for guests, it was wall diving, about an hour boat ride to the north west point of Providenciales, aka Provo, island. The dive boats are mono hull, probably about 50' long and are well set up for diving. The staff are excellent, a dive master leads the divers on their dives (this is new to me). The boat had a hang bar and regulator. The ride out was smooth, the ride back was an adventure. I love a rough ride, others loved it not so much. The boat provided drinks, sandwiches and fruit. Meet time was 8:15a and we were back by 1:30p. Sign up was the day before around 8:15a. Time is EST, same as the east coast of the US.
Beaches uses Scuba Pro equipment, the regulators are generally MK2 first stages, don't know which second stage. BCs are the Scuba Pro Pilot, it has ample pockets, weights are on a weight belt. I took my mask, booties, fins, etc but Beaches supplies masks, snorkels and fins. I should have taken my dive computer, there is enough depth on a wall dive to make it useful.
Both dives were wall dives, vis was good on both. There was not a lot of marine life but there was enough so that there was plenty to see. We did see Lion Fish and Reef Sharks. It was possible to get close to both but the sharks were at 80 to 90 ft and the dive master wanted us shallower.
Beaches is part of the Sandals operation. It is a large resort with three large complexes, four if you count the villas. The use of Hobie cats, kayaks, sail boards, standing paddle boards, masks, snorkels and fins and stuff like that is free to guests. There are too many restaurants to visit in one trip and the food is excellent and safe to eat but Beaches does not have fried conch, aka cracked conch. To us the facilities are superb and so are the people. Weather was just fine, the sand was good, the water good but the big thing was the local people, they are the way people should be. Electricity and plugs were US standard.
Off property: Taxis are 6 to 10 $/person, one way, yike! Beaches does not have fried conch but we went to "da Conch Shack", it has live music Thursday nights, we went and liked the music. The fried conch, aka cracked conch on the menu, was great and so were the plantains (like french fries but different in taste and texture). Actually, Provo Island is like the US in many ways but different in good ways too.
Warning*** they drive on the English side of the road. Also, not many scooters were seen, the cars were Corolla to Camry size, there were lots of SUVs, gas was about $5.90 a US gallon.
Cameras: I took an Olympus 1030SW in an Ikelite housing and a GoPro HD1 in the GP underwater housing, the one with the flat front. The GP did much better, but to be fair the 1030SW has a lot of use and the display on the back was not working.
Snorkeling, did not do it at the resort but we did go on a trip. Don't know if cost was included in the resort package. It was a good trip, we visited an island with iguanas, went snorkeling and visited a beach to look for shells. The boat was a large deck boat, it had a good ride, good speed and plenty of shade. Rum punch was provided, as was water and maybe snacks.
Hobie cats: they use the new style, it is more comfortable than the old style, there were several 14' HCs and one 16'. The 14s have one sail, the 16' had a main and jib. The HC's did not have booms, so no head bonks.
Well, that's it. Questions? Ask away, I'll be back later.
---------- Post added December 17th, 2012 at 11:42 AM ----------
Forgot, a wet suit is a good idea in Dec. We didn't use them.
2. Our daughter got married at Beaches during this trip, so we had a great time. Beaches does a great wedding!!!
She and her new husband are divers, the three of us went diving with the Beaches dive operation. Diving is free for guests, it was wall diving, about an hour boat ride to the north west point of Providenciales, aka Provo, island. The dive boats are mono hull, probably about 50' long and are well set up for diving. The staff are excellent, a dive master leads the divers on their dives (this is new to me). The boat had a hang bar and regulator. The ride out was smooth, the ride back was an adventure. I love a rough ride, others loved it not so much. The boat provided drinks, sandwiches and fruit. Meet time was 8:15a and we were back by 1:30p. Sign up was the day before around 8:15a. Time is EST, same as the east coast of the US.
Beaches uses Scuba Pro equipment, the regulators are generally MK2 first stages, don't know which second stage. BCs are the Scuba Pro Pilot, it has ample pockets, weights are on a weight belt. I took my mask, booties, fins, etc but Beaches supplies masks, snorkels and fins. I should have taken my dive computer, there is enough depth on a wall dive to make it useful.
Both dives were wall dives, vis was good on both. There was not a lot of marine life but there was enough so that there was plenty to see. We did see Lion Fish and Reef Sharks. It was possible to get close to both but the sharks were at 80 to 90 ft and the dive master wanted us shallower.
Beaches is part of the Sandals operation. It is a large resort with three large complexes, four if you count the villas. The use of Hobie cats, kayaks, sail boards, standing paddle boards, masks, snorkels and fins and stuff like that is free to guests. There are too many restaurants to visit in one trip and the food is excellent and safe to eat but Beaches does not have fried conch, aka cracked conch. To us the facilities are superb and so are the people. Weather was just fine, the sand was good, the water good but the big thing was the local people, they are the way people should be. Electricity and plugs were US standard.
Off property: Taxis are 6 to 10 $/person, one way, yike! Beaches does not have fried conch but we went to "da Conch Shack", it has live music Thursday nights, we went and liked the music. The fried conch, aka cracked conch on the menu, was great and so were the plantains (like french fries but different in taste and texture). Actually, Provo Island is like the US in many ways but different in good ways too.
Warning*** they drive on the English side of the road. Also, not many scooters were seen, the cars were Corolla to Camry size, there were lots of SUVs, gas was about $5.90 a US gallon.
Cameras: I took an Olympus 1030SW in an Ikelite housing and a GoPro HD1 in the GP underwater housing, the one with the flat front. The GP did much better, but to be fair the 1030SW has a lot of use and the display on the back was not working.
Snorkeling, did not do it at the resort but we did go on a trip. Don't know if cost was included in the resort package. It was a good trip, we visited an island with iguanas, went snorkeling and visited a beach to look for shells. The boat was a large deck boat, it had a good ride, good speed and plenty of shade. Rum punch was provided, as was water and maybe snacks.
Hobie cats: they use the new style, it is more comfortable than the old style, there were several 14' HCs and one 16'. The 14s have one sail, the 16' had a main and jib. The HC's did not have booms, so no head bonks.
Well, that's it. Questions? Ask away, I'll be back later.
---------- Post added December 17th, 2012 at 11:42 AM ----------
Forgot, a wet suit is a good idea in Dec. We didn't use them.
