bikefox
Guest
Rickster,
I told you I would give you a full report on the Xanadu so here it is:
The resort itself is up and running fine. The wing that had the fire is still closed and looks as if it will be for some time. The tower is where the majority of the rooms are and was unaffected by the fire. The rooms were huge, the water was hot and the beds were comfortable. Everything we needed to survive a dive trip. We only ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant but the prices were decent and the food was good. The onsite convenient store has snacks, soda, shampoo, etc... We also went down to the Xanadu's private beach and ate a burger from the beach grill. Again, decent price and good food.
The dive shop was wonderful. Chris is a great guy and our divemasters went out of their way for us (especially Ben). They have onsite lockers for all of your belongings and plenty of room and hangers for wetsuits and BCs. Their two dive boats were just okay, but none of the really good sites are farther than 15 minutes away. We only had one day that the boat was full (11 people). The other days they used both boats, one for the beginners and then our boat with just four or five divers for the wrecks and deeper dives.
The diving was good. We dove Mermaid cavern, Tunnels, Theo's wreck, the Sea Star, SPID city, Dolphin Reef and Papa Doc. We also dove Theo's wreck at night. Tunnels/SPID city was an awsome dive (in fact we did it twice)!! The two sites are close enough you can do them both in the same dive. This is also where they do the shark dive so your almost guaranteed to see some reef sharks. The swim throughs at Tunnels are so much fun that you never want to surface again. The wrecks were both interesting but Theo's at night was quite an experience.
If you are planning on doing much of anything but diving, eating and sleeping, I would rent a car. We did not and we would definitely change that part of the trip. The Xanadu is very isolated from any other dining or shopping. The International Market is pretty much closed except on days when cruise ships are in port. This is mainly due to the fact most of the hotels and resorts in that area are still closed. Port Lucaya was not hit nearly as hard as Freeport and has good shopping and restaurants. The nearest grocery store is the Winn Dixie about 10 miles away. The buses do not go anywhere close to the Xanadu so you are left with taking taxis. We spend as much money on taxis as we would have on a rental car. One last thing. Don't expect great service in the Bahamas. I was warned about this beforehand and thought how bad could it really be. I found out, BAD!! Oh well, I didn't mind because I was on vacation!!
Hope this helps.
I told you I would give you a full report on the Xanadu so here it is:
The resort itself is up and running fine. The wing that had the fire is still closed and looks as if it will be for some time. The tower is where the majority of the rooms are and was unaffected by the fire. The rooms were huge, the water was hot and the beds were comfortable. Everything we needed to survive a dive trip. We only ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant but the prices were decent and the food was good. The onsite convenient store has snacks, soda, shampoo, etc... We also went down to the Xanadu's private beach and ate a burger from the beach grill. Again, decent price and good food.
The dive shop was wonderful. Chris is a great guy and our divemasters went out of their way for us (especially Ben). They have onsite lockers for all of your belongings and plenty of room and hangers for wetsuits and BCs. Their two dive boats were just okay, but none of the really good sites are farther than 15 minutes away. We only had one day that the boat was full (11 people). The other days they used both boats, one for the beginners and then our boat with just four or five divers for the wrecks and deeper dives.
The diving was good. We dove Mermaid cavern, Tunnels, Theo's wreck, the Sea Star, SPID city, Dolphin Reef and Papa Doc. We also dove Theo's wreck at night. Tunnels/SPID city was an awsome dive (in fact we did it twice)!! The two sites are close enough you can do them both in the same dive. This is also where they do the shark dive so your almost guaranteed to see some reef sharks. The swim throughs at Tunnels are so much fun that you never want to surface again. The wrecks were both interesting but Theo's at night was quite an experience.
If you are planning on doing much of anything but diving, eating and sleeping, I would rent a car. We did not and we would definitely change that part of the trip. The Xanadu is very isolated from any other dining or shopping. The International Market is pretty much closed except on days when cruise ships are in port. This is mainly due to the fact most of the hotels and resorts in that area are still closed. Port Lucaya was not hit nearly as hard as Freeport and has good shopping and restaurants. The nearest grocery store is the Winn Dixie about 10 miles away. The buses do not go anywhere close to the Xanadu so you are left with taking taxis. We spend as much money on taxis as we would have on a rental car. One last thing. Don't expect great service in the Bahamas. I was warned about this beforehand and thought how bad could it really be. I found out, BAD!! Oh well, I didn't mind because I was on vacation!!
Hope this helps.
The roundabout can be a scarry place.
