Xanadu Info

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Rickster

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Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
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Location
Oxnard Shores, SoCal
Hi,
We are planning a trip to Xanadu resort, at Freeport, in June. I just heard there was a fire there. Does anyone have any info on the resort? I have heard it was in disrepair, so maybe the fire was a good thing. I was wondering if they have rebuilt, or should I cancel and rebook, to save ourselves from any disapointments. Any suggestions?
Thanks, Rick
 
As to the state of Xanadu I don't know, I have not been the GBI in years. That said, I would not stay there reguardless...well free maybe. It is located a pretty good way off the beaten path so you must take a taxi to get anywhere. I don't like being cooped up in a resort with no other restaurants to choose from. Some place near the international bazzar or Port Lucaya is a much better choice. The dive shop use to be pretty good, they were who I used when I was there but that has been 7-8 years so things may have changed.
 
Actually we just got back last week from Xanadu. There was a fire but we were put up in the high rise rooms. They were clean but nothing special but then again I went there to dive not to stay in the room.

The resort is in repair throughout as is most of the Island I think. The hurricanes really smacked the islands pretty good. The food at the Hotel was excellent and reasonably priced. We took a Taxi into Port Lacaya and had a blast there. I think the cab fare was like $20 which there were 5 of us so that was $4 each.

The diving was just awesome. The dive shop is right there and Chris and company really went out of their way to make the dives lots of fun. Night diving was a blast as was the Shark Feeding dive. We liked the fact that we could do our own thing at the dive sites and not have to worry about when others sucked air and had to ascend.

We did not dive one day due to very strong winds and the ocean was just ugly (in fact we witnessed a yacht hit the rocks and sink....) So instead we went and did a cavern dive which was just a blast.

I would go again in a heartbeat as wouild the other 4 divers that I was with. The Dive operation and operators were just excellent. They have Nitrox albeit a little steep surcharge ($10 extra a tank) but well worth it if you want to extend your bottom time or at least we thought so.

If you are looking for a luxury resort then this is not the place to go. If you are looking for a nice clean place with a great dive operation then this is the place to go.
 
Like you said, I am going there to do one thing, DIVE. I don't care about the room, the bars(we don't drink), or even any of the sites. I am talking a dive trip not a social gathering. I received an email from Xanadu, and they are up and running, that is all I care about. Thanks wfmiller for the info. I am sure I will be having a great time. There will be a lot of company, 14 people going with us. I can't wait.
Thanks, Rick
 
Rickster,

I will be at the Xanadu from March 17th through April 1st. I also live in Brighton and know Kathy and Jess. I will give you an update when I return.
 
I glad to hear that Xanadu dive operation survived the hurricane. We had a good experience with them a few years ago. They had the coolest shark feeding dive as they "hypnotized" the sharks by rubbing their snouts and could stack them like cord wood while they were stunned. I did my nitrox cert with them and got excellent service. They ran multiple boats most days, so I could take the 8AM 2 tank deep dive and my wife slept in and caught the 10:30AM 1 tank shallow dive boat. They did have some boat issues and equipment issues on my second trip as few months later. They had to wait awhile (months) to repair one of their boats and their nitrox blending equipment as I'm sure they are operating on a shoestring budget.

I am not surprised however to hear that the hotel burned. They had a couple of power failures while we were there and it was in a state of advanced disrepair. Much of the hotel appeared be under going some type of renovations, but I never saw anyone working. As Herman mentioned earlier, it is by itsself close to Freeport. Cabbing to the International Bazaar is not too bad, Port Lucaya is a little further. We did not try out the main onsite restaurant or bar as we could not catch them open. We did try the short order bar/snack bar down near the beach, which wasn't bad.

If you sign up with the RPI vacation timeshare people on site, they will show you a good time including providing organized excursions to Port Lucaya and other hot spots, but you will have to attend the sales pitch at the end. If you are going to focus on diving, you will probably decline their services.
 
bikefox:
Rickster,

I will be at the Xanadu from March 17th through April 1st. I also live in Brighton and know Kathy and Jess. I will give you an update when I return.
Hi bikefox,
I will be looking forward to your report.
Thanks, Rick
 
blawler1:
I glad to hear that Xanadu dive operation survived the hurricane. We had a good experience with them a few years ago. They had the coolest shark feeding dive as they "hypnotized" the sharks by rubbing their snouts and could stack them like cord wood while they were stunned.

Hey blawler1,
The shark feeding dive sound great. I will have to do this one if they still do it. I heard Xanadu resort has the best shark dives around. I can't wait.
Rick
 
Rickster:
Hey blawler1,
The shark feeding dive sound great. I will have to do this one if they still do it. I heard Xanadu resort has the best shark dives around. I can't wait.
Rick

Rickster
The shark feeding dive was awesome and I remember seeing a shark clamping down on the feeders leg (Greg) and the next day seeing that his leg was all black and blue from the attempted bite (he wears a chain mail suit). I also liked that the sharks bumped us from time to time as they came swooping in for some fish. I think they (Xanadu) only do this on Saturdays but am not sure. Check with Xanadu.com as I think the info is on their web site.

After the show we were given the go ahead to look for some shark teeth and continue our dive until we needed to go up. The sharks stayed around for awhile afterwords.
 
wfmiller:
Rickster
The shark feeding dive was awesome and I remember seeing a shark clamping down on the feeders leg (Greg) and the next day seeing that his leg was all black and blue from the attempted bite (he wears a chain mail suit). I also liked that the sharks bumped us from time to time as they came swooping in for some fish. I think they (Xanadu) only do this on Saturdays but am not sure. Check with Xanadu.com as I think the info is on their web site.

After the show we were given the go ahead to look for some shark teeth and continue our dive until we needed to go up. The sharks stayed around for awhile afterwords.
Wow! I just went to www.xanadudive.com this is what they say about the shark feeding:

SHARK ALLEY - Divers watch as the Instructor hand feeds Caribbean reef Sharks and puts them into a trance. The sharks are four to eight feet in length and there can be as many as 30 sharks at the site. The area is situated by an old Recompression Chamber with coral reef surrounding it. There are also Jacks, Angel fish, Grouper, Hogfish and a large Green Moray Eel. There may be the occasional Nurse Shark, Hammerhead or Whale. (20'-40')

Sounds like fun to me. I think this trip is going to be exciting.
Thanks, Rick
 

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