Which dive shop in Nassau?

[Washy]

Yep, gotta go with Dive Dive Dive.

My wife and I did 8 dives with them last week, and although I thought they were on their last legs (dive shop is a little absent) they were a great dive team.

We never had more than 6 divers on a boat, which is very important to me after diving the cattle boats of Egypt (why people bother going there is beyond me).

If your´re bringing your own gear DDD, should be no problem, if your rentingt, just check your regs as some of the DDD regs have torn mouth pieces.

Overall, bloody good dives.

Washy.

 

[Deep Blue]

Bahama Divers and Stuart Cove's dive totally different sites... so it depends on what you want to see. The Tongue of the Ocean and all the wall diving is on the south side, which is catered to by Stuart Cove's, Dive Dive Dive and Nassau Scuba Center. The North Side which os catered to by Bahama Diver and Diver's Haven is mostly wrecks off Paradise Island, shallow reefs of Athol and Rose island and if weather permits the Blue Hole.

To get the most out of diving in Nassau you should probably plan to dive both sides of the island. However 80% of the best diving is south side. Also... it's a good idea to see what the weather's doing. Bahama Divers does cater to novices more so than any other shop on Nassau.... and any wind or swell out of the North pretty much eliminates north shore diving... this time of year though, it's not really a concern.

All south side operations pick up on Paradise island at 7:45AM for the morning dive... takes 45 min to get to the dive shop considering that there are in town pickups at 8:00AM and Cable Beach at 8:15. Bahama Divers pick up on Cable beach at 8:00AM and Paradise Island at 8:30AM.

Afternoon pickups by south side operators are generally at 12:15 - 12:30 and Bahama Divers run between 1:00 and 1:30.

Something to consider though... Bahama Divers don't do 2 tank afternoon dives... they do a 2 tank morning dive and a 1 tank shallow afternoon dive. Their afternoons are geared toward snorkeling and resort course dives (the pool lessons are done at hotels in the morning). All south side operations will run 2 tank morning and afternoon trips.

 

[O2Addict]

The best diving on the island is on the West End. The wall off the tongue of the ocean, and the shallow reefs out west are superb.

Dive operations, I would go with Nassau Scuba Centre. A very professional and friendly operation. Stuart's is also a good operation although it is a lot more commercial, but you can do fun things like Wall Flying on DPVs.

Most of all the diving is great. So it really does not matter who you go with. All will pick up from the hotel.

 

[pnewlon]

After reading all the feedback, and searching the archives, I decided to go with Stuart Cove's. Here's my $0.02 worth on the two days of diving.

I took all my own gear, except tanks/weights of course. Friday I did four dives, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. We did the wall first thing, the only directive I got from the dive leader was to "try to stay at 100' or above". I was buddied with a guy from Denmark - I was worried at first but her turned out to be one of the best buddies I've ever had - not in my way but not too far away to be of use in an emergency. This dive was followed by a dive to a wreck sitting in 40fsw. Not spectacular in any way, but still interesting.

The afternoon started with another wall dive, this one was a bit more challenging in that the water was starting to get a bit choppy, and there was a good current running even at the 40-60fsw depths we went to. I was pretty spent after that. The guy I was buddied with this time was a little less useful, typical that I had to search for him frequently, and often found him 50-100 feet away..... The fourth dive was to a sunken Haitian refugee boat sitting in 50fsw. By this time, I was within a few minutes of my max no deco time according to my computer. I ascended to 30fsw and watched the rest of the divers for a few, then called it a day (after a 15' safety stop and real slow ascent to the surface).

Sunday, I went for two dives in the morning with my wife. The seas were calm and the sun was shining - perfect for her, as she is a "tropical waters" only diver. Our first dive was on the wall again, maxed at 100fsw again. Absolutely beautiful scenery, excellent dive. The second dive was to only 20fsw, but was probably the most interesting from a scenery perspective. The area we visited is only used when the seas are completely calm ("We get complaints from the divers if we take them to 20 feet of water and there are 2-3 foot swells at the surface.") I got to work on my bouyancy control, and see some of the jewels of the sea at the same time - I win!

As far as Stuart Cove's goes...... I asked for zero help from the boat crew, and got just that. The people that needed help and asked for it, got it. All the crew members were pleasant and polite. I enjoyed having my picture taken, but feel that they charge an exhorbitant amount of money for them. I voiced my opinion about that in the best way I know - I refused to spend my money on them. I will, without hesitation, go back to SC the next time I am in the Bahamas.

 

[leadweight]

LW and the Mermaid had the pleasure of a free weekend at Stewart Cove's due to the Mermaid's participation in a TV commercial shot using Cove's boats and safety divers. I have to say that I really liked Stewart and Michelle. That trip resulted in one of my more memorable dives where I did not have my gear with me so I just found some wet stuff on the boat, grabbed it and jumped in for my last dive before the milenium.

 

[CuriousMe]

I've dove with NSC, Stuart's, and Divers Haven.

Diver's Haven is the only one that I would avoid at all costs. I had the scariest diving experience ever with this group....not going to go into the whole story but in short....it was a 90 foot wreck dive (no pennetration) 4 divers on the boat....one certified last week in a quary....never been in an ocean even to swim, one had been certified for many years, with lots of dives....but hadn't dove in 2 years and the piece de resistance.....one of the guys on the boat hadn't dove since 1969! The other divers on the boat (not the DM ) were trying to explain the gear to him (had never seen a power inflater, spg, etc...). During the dive, the DM paused at the side of the wreck to use the extra weights in his pocket to knock a conch (or some kind of shellfish) off the wreck....and got lost durring the dive twice. Getting back on the boat was a fiasco....no line to hang on to....had to take off gear to hand up and were told to all hang on to the swim plattform (with the boat going up and down) with gear being handed over our heads. I chose to hang back and wait till everyone else was done, even with them shouting at me to hold on to the boat.

Well there was more....but those were the highlights. Thankfully no one got hurt....I passed on diving the second tank that day.

 

[amollere]

We dove with Nassau scuba center and found they were just so -so. We did the shark rodeo and that was great but the 8 other dives we did with them were not that great. They want everyone to dive the same platform - which is VERY conservative. The sites are shallow and not much life. We stayed at the Atlantis - that was worth the trip. But for the most part don't expect service anywhere. I thought diving was a bit expensive for what you get.

 

[jdf]

We went to Stuart Cove's over Christmas 2003 and did 2 days/4 dives per day. We liked the diving so much we are going back at the end of this July and we are bringing 4 more friends with us. We thought they were a very professional operation. The dive masters were personal and once they figured out our experience level they left us alone to do our own thing and paid more attention to the people that wanted or needed it. They also made sure we never went to the same dive site twice. Yes, it is a high tourist operation because of the subs on the weekends, but it was also fun to people watch. We got to do our last dive of the day in the cove where they launch the subs and it was fun to watch the tourists motor around in them underwater. The daily pickup at the hotel was very convenient. Our only complaint was there was not much to eat during lunchtime; just premade sandwiches in the gift shop. This time we are staying at the South Ocean Beach Hotel which is right next door and will be better prepared for lunch and just a short walk away so we are not rushed to get on the bus home. For just day tripping, they are professional, fun, but not fancy. If you want to be treated like a god or goddess then I suggest you go on the Cayman Aggressor instead. That is the only dive operator in our experience that gives you the very best royal treatment (Many kuddos to Capt. Tom & crew!)
Have fun! The diving is great there!