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The coastline of Anguilla is surrounded by coral reefs. Anguilla has cave diving and a chance to explore a Spanish ship that sank in the 1700s. The government of Anguilla has enlarged some of the reefs artificially ....bravo!!.... by sinking old ships. (ships are emptied of all pollutants first)
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Antigua is on a shallow bank, therefore most of the diving is shallow. There are some interesting wreck dives on the western part of the island, though sometimes visibility is limited.
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Aruba is well known for shipwrecks and interesting coral formations. The wreckage of a German freighter,
Antilla, is Aruba's best known wreck and is the largest in the Caribbean. Aruba now has a brand new and most up to date facility for hyperbaric medicine located at Punta Brabo 3 Oranjestad. Contact info is: Dr Israel A. Posner MD +297 7307246 e-mail: iaposner@gmail.com.
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Pelican Water Sports - Holiday Inn
| Pelican Water Sports |
Barbara ~ Canada |
May 2006
On the wharf in front of the hotel is Pelican Water sports. I went diving with them. They are efficient and the dive leader was knowledgeable and made sure you saw every aspect of the site. There are 18 dive sites around Aruba with 5 being a 10 minute or less boat ride from the hotel. This means you can go for a single tank dive and be back on the beach within 1 ½ to 2 hours. I went to a site called the Antilla Wreck which, according to a number of people I spoke with, is one of the three most popular sites in Aruba. It is a 63 year old German freighter (400 feet long) that was sunk intentionally by its captain when it ran out of fuel so that it would not fall into the hands of the Dutch navy, during WWII.
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Bahamian reefs and clear waters are a divers dream. Types of dives include wall dives and shark feeding.
Bahamas Links
Andros Island
Small Hope Bay Lodge
Rest, Relaxation, Rediscovery, and Great Diving. 21 rooms in cottages on the beach w/easy all-inclusive rates.
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Small Hope Bay Lodge
| Small Hope Bay Lodge |
Tanya |
June 2004
I visited Small Hope in April 2004 with my best friend. I am a scuba diver
and she is not, but we both found tons to do at Small Hope Bay Lodge. I had
always wanted to visit Small Hope since I got certified 4 years ago. They
have a reputation for having wonderful diving and they definately lived up
to that reputation. Every dive was a totally different experience. One day
we did a wreck dive, one day a cavern, several days we did wall dives in the
morning, the coral garden dives were beautiful, especially Brad's Mountain,
the Ocean Blue Hole was "out of this world" and I did their shark dive one
afternoon and that was GREAT fun! I even did my first night dive while I was
there, now that was very cool. I was there for a week and I never did the
same dive twice. They offer at least 3 dives per day, but I usually did
only 2 because there were so many other things to do.
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From The Barbados Tourism Authority
The barrier reefs, located 1/2 - 2 miles from shore contain large coral heads which form the habitat for thousands of beautiful fish. Larger organisms are also found on these reefs, feeding on the smaller fish. The Hawksbill turtle can also be found on these reefs. Fringes and patching reefs are found closer to shore and have smaller coral formations and more abundant plant life then the barrier reefs. These reefs are home to Sea Horses, Frog Fish, Giant Sand Eels and many other marine creatures. Wrecks form fascinating habitats for marine life and Barbados has several excellent sites for wreck diving. Carlisle Bay, with 200 reported wrecks, and the Stavronikita, located at Folkestone Marine Park, are two of the most popular sites.
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Lonely Planet Diving & Snorkeling Belize
Belize offers all types of diving from the Great Blue Hole (200ft depth) to shallow barrier reef diving. (Hol Chan Marine Park).
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The Nautical Inn - Placencia
| The Nautical Inn - Placencia |
Kelley & Tucker ~ Colorado |
July 2006
The dive operation that CJV recommended, The Nautical Inn, was a completely unsafe, sketchy operation. The divemaster lost everyone on our first dive and we had to resurface after burning 1/2 a tank of air. They never once mentioned safety stops or sticking with your dive buddy (2 very basic things). We also saw next to nothing on both dives. Unbelievable that CJV would recommend them. After we described our experience, they did nothing, but charged us the full $220 U.S. for the dives.
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Over 300 wrecks and 200 square miles reef surround Bermuda. wrecks. The waters of Bermuda contain the farthest northern coral reef in the world.
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The waters around Bonaire are designated as an official marine park and are exceptionally calm and diveable year round. (an underwater photographers dream).
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General Info
Buddy Dive Resort
Sand Dollar
| Sand Dollar |
Jennifer ~ Fayetteville, AR |
October 2008
Great dive masters, boat captains, efficient boat loading/unloading; great sites! As a diver with physical limitations, I found the entire dive team great to accommodate my needs!
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March 2004
Snorkeling:
Bonaire is known mostly for its' diving and snorkeling spots. Unlike
most
islands with diving spots, almost all of the Bonaire dive (and
snorkeling)
locations can be reached from the shore; no boat required. Dive and
snorkel locations are marked with yellow rocks along the road and
there are
several maps available that list all the dive locations, their
characteristics,
and their name (which is painted on the yellow rocks). Once you
understand
how it works, you can easily locate any of the eighty-some dive spots.
However, the same characteristics that make shore dives possible also
mean
that there are essentially no soft sandy beaches. All beaches we saw
are
really hard rocks and coral. Getting into the water was sometimes a
challange. But once in the water, there were very nice reefs and coral
areas. The sea floor seemed to drop off very close to shore, so the
transition from shallow to deep was within easy snorkeling distance.
For SCUBA divers there are a large number of dive shops and outfitters.
If you don't have (or take) your own snorkle gear, there are numerous
snorkle tours available which will provide the equipment. The only
real 'caution' is that there appears to be a problem with locals
breaking into cars parked at the more remote dive spots. The general
suggestion os to not take anything valuable and leave the car unlocked
so it is not "broken" into.
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| Buddy Dive Resort |
Kathleen< |
December 2003
Buddy Dive Resort is THE most organized non-all-inclusive dive resort that I have been to. It is set up with divers in mind. The hotel and dive staff are extremely hospitable.
The rooms are like condos. You have a living area and kitchen. A/C is generally in the bedrooms only.
The hotel always had something going on and there was always a board that would list the upcoming activities. The restaurant was excellent and the staff was extremely courteous.
The diving was set up where divers could pick and choose when they wanted to dive. You did not have to 'worry' about being stuck at a set time each day. Our package contained six boat dives and we could divvy those up any way we chose to. There were boards set up and it was a first come, first serve basis for the trips.
The dives were great. The guides were excellent at pointing out creatures (ex: seahorses and frogfish). You could either follow them or you could dive your own plan, as long as you were back at the boat within the time allotted. It was best to follow them, as they knew the area and could point out the various creatures.
There were separate water bins where you could rinse: Cameras / Dive Gear / Regulators. As soon as the water got the slightest bit murky, the dive staff would drain and refill the bins with fresh water.
There was a room on the premises where you could hang and leave your gear to dry. This area was locked nightly. VERY CONVENIENT.
Our 'package' included unlimited tank usage and a truck to get around the island with for shore dives. Buddy Dive has a drive thru facility where you can pick up and drop off your tanks easily.
I would definitely recommend Buddy Dive to anyone who is going to Bonaire!!!
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From the BVI Dive Operators Association Web Site
Scuba divers and snorkelers will enjoy clear waters with abundant marine life. Other activities include sailing, windsurfing, shopping, and beach combing the long, sandy beaches. A special attraction in Virgin Gorda is the Baths, a collection of giant boulders that form sea pools for swimming and snorkeling. The most famous dive site is the Wreck of the Rhone, considered a World Class underwater destination.
The British Virgin Islands are best known for perfect sailing conditions, and they also have more than 100 dive sites for underwater explorations. While the BVI may not have walls or drift diving, it does have sites full of stunning coral gardens, canyons, tunnels, caverns, grottos, and wrecks teaming with underwater life of every size and kind. It also has dive operators who like to pamper and satisfy their guests, from newly certified to advanced.
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from Dive Cayman
Our warm, calm waters, 100 ft. plus visibility and breath-taking variety of marine life offer a world of exciting logbook entries. Each island offers very different diving adventures for divers of all levels - from novice to Nitrox and technical diving.
At Little Cayman's Bloody Bay Marine Park, the wall starts at 20 ft.! On all three islands, great boat dives are minutes from shore, like the Caribbean's only diveable Russian shipwreck, the 330 ft. M/V Captain Keith Tibbetts on Cayman Brac. Easy shore dives are also only a giant stride away.
Scuba Review Index
Snorkeling - Grand Cayman - 1
The Southern Cross Club - Little Cayman - 1
| Snorkeling - Grand Cayman |
Francois & Manon ~ Canada< |
March 2007
Snorkeling - This was the main reason for this trip and boy did we get what we were looking for. I had gathered a lot of info about snorkeling locations in GC from various web sites( as GC is just about surrounded by coral reefs) and it helped immensely in selecting the sites to snorkel. We started out directly on the beach of the Reef Resort. The reef is a little bit out and the currents can be relatively strong even on a non-windy day. So we stayed close to shore, not a lot of coral, but a lot of rock formations and a few fishes like peacock flounder, bar jacks, blue tangs, french grunts, palometas, sergeant majors, puffy fish,etc... Most of the fishes will gather just underneath the Reef Resort pier and you can usually see a 4 feet barracuda hanging around as well as many tarpons. Water is not that clear because of the waves but you can get real close to all of these fish species.
Eden Rock: Right into Georgetown before getting to the cruise ship piers. You will notice the dive shop with the "diving apple" sign. You can get easily in the water directly from the ladder and go to the buoys. Nice big coral formation with vertical drops and quickly get to over 60 feet deep of water. Lots of fish, hung around with a turtle for about 10 minutes(very nice) and saw stingrays. A few small jellyfishes but didn't bother us.
Stingray Sandbar: We did Stingray Sandbar with Captain Marvin outlet located in the Cayman Falls (small stripped mall). We wanted to do the Stingray thing on Sunday as there is not a lot of people, only certain operators are allowed(locals I think) to go to the Stingray Sandbar or Stingray City. We boarded a comfortable boat and were about 24 people aboard but never felt crowded. We started by doing stops at Coral Gardens and the Barrier Reef for snorkeling before hitting the sandbar. Both places had nice snorkeling. Coral Gardens had nice coral heads and numerous fishes in about 15 -20 feet deep water but we preferred the Barrier Reef as it was shallower and had more colorful sights and fishes( saw a nice trumpet fish standing still vertically imitating a soft coral...). When you reach the Sandbar, you get in the water without fins in waist deep and immediately the stingrays starts circling you and then rub your legs in search for food. You can pet them, touch their backs and bellys but do not worry they will not hurt you and the guides tell you everything you want to know about the Stingrays. They even will handle a few Stingrays and show them up close(their mouth, thier tail with the sting...yes...) and even make you kiss the Stingray as it is supposed to bring you good luck! Although we are just crazy about snorkeling and seeing as much sealife as we can, we didn't like the feeling of being touched by the stingrays but it did made for wonderful uderwater pics and video shots. Definitely a must do and the Capt. Marvin team was very good, except for reef protection. They didn't advise about reef protection and there were a lot of people new to snorkeling and it was just horrifying to see the damages caused by the inexperienced snorkelers hitting the reefs with their fins, standing on the coral heads and so on . Just a note to tell you that Stingray Sandbar is the snorkeling version of Stingray City, which is the scuba diving version. The Sandbar, Coral Gardens and Barrier Reef is located just off the Rum Point area so if I was to repeat the excursion, I would prefer going out from the Rum Point or Kaibo Beach area as you don't have to cross the whole North Sound to get to the snorkeling areas and the stingrays...
Sunset House: A diver's resort, a little bit before you get into Georgetown coming from the East End. We wanted to see the mermaid, a bronze sculptur fixed to the bottom of the sea. Easy access as you get into the water from a ladder and an easy swim to the buoys. The mermaid is in about 50-60 feet deep of water so for snorkelers it is not easy to find(ask the dive shop for directions) and if you find it, the views are deceiving as your as too far above. The rest of the snorkeling is average, again because the bottom gets deep rapidly and limits your views of the coral formations...
Cracked Conch:(near Turle Farm) We left out stuff on the chairs at the Macabuca Bar, adjacent to the Cracked Conch restaurant, and got in the water easily from the ladder close by. We snorkeled alond the rock formations along the water's edge and swam out a bit to the vertical drop. Nice views with lots of fishes. We met with a couple from Long Island, New York(in their seventies) that snorkeled the same area. We chatted about their snorkeling experience in GC and they directed us to Cemetary Reef and mentionned not to hesitate to swim out a bit before you hit the better coral formations...
Cemetary Reef: Coming back from the Cracked Conch, we stopped at the Cemetary Beach(yes, right by a nice cemetary nicely decorated with flowers on all tombs). The beach is very nice with fabulous views of Seven Mile Beach but we immediately got the fins on and swam out a bit(maybe 500 to 1000 feet) from shore and got to very nice coral formations and stangely found out after a while that numerous fishes were following us( mostly Bermuda chubs) in our snorkeling trek... probably because these fishes are used to be fed by the snorkelers. A strange feeling as when you were going about the different coral heads and you would suddenly look back and you could see all these fishes following you....
Rum Point: A well groomed beach with beach chairs, hammocks, picnic tables, restaurants, bars, souvenir shop and dive shop, with lots of trees for shade. No fees for use of the chairs or hammocks but they ask you not to bring any outside food or beverages. We walked about 5 minutes to the right (when facing the pier) and swam out quite a bit (about 1000-1500 feet) to the coral formations and we swam in what would be a big quadrant around the pier and then back to the pier. And we had a blast. Very colorful coral formations with many queen angelfishes, french angelfishes, grey angelfishes, huge parrotfishes, squirrelfishes, spiny lobsters, sort of a never ending display of sea life. We would be going out snorkeling for about one to one and a half hour at a time. Getting back to the beach we would reward ourselves with a nice cocktail from the bar(at $10US apiece..ouch..) but they were very tasty with high content of the "hard stuff". We would usually get to Rum Point Beach at about 9:00 am and we were just about the first ones on site. As the day progresses, cruise ship people and island tourists start to arrive, making the place a lot more lively(there are activities available), but we never felt any real crowding and the place was always relaxing(no loud music). We spent another half day at Rum Point to repeat the snorkeling as this turned out to be our favorite spot on the island.
Babylon Reef/Queen's Monument: We tried to snorkel this area but had a hard time to find the right entry spot. We were back from Rum Point and stopped at what I thought was the location just east of Old Man Bay (no signs here...) but there was not a lot to see except lots of fan corals(green) and a mostly sandy bottom with just a few fish species. I'm sure that we didn't have the right entry point or didn't head out in the right direction. Better luck next time..(or get better directions...).
Compass Point/Ocean Frontiers: This is a boat outing that we booked with Ocean Frontiers, a well trusted dive shop operating out of Compass Point located approx. a 10 minute drive from the Reef Resort. This outing was $35US per person and consisted of a three stop snorkeling excursion on Sunset Reef and two other reefs (I don't recall the exact names) that were located inside the barrier reef close by the Wreck of the Ten Sails. We got onto a pontoon type boat with 8 snorkelers on board, with an excellent guide. The first two sites had views of a huge anchor from the Wreck of the Ten Sails, a more recent sailboat wreck and all that in about 20-30 feet deep water with the nice coral heads getting at about 5-6 feet from the surface. Saw lots of parrotfishes, stingrays, french angelfishes , queen angelfish etc... The third stop was along the barrier reef in very shallow waters(2-4 feet at times) with nice "swiss cheese"like coral formations with nice schools of blue tangs, french angel fishes. My wife saw a green moray but I didn't get to see it... In between snorkeling sites they would provide cold water bottles and freshly cutted oranges to everyone, a nice touch. Also, when you get on a boat outing like this one, you will notice that the people onboard are a lot more serious at snorkeling/diving than say an outing to Stingray Sandbar. Very good dive shop to deal with, I would recommend them strongly.
Note: Wherever we got to snorkel out of a dive shop(Eden Rock, Sunset House, Cracked Conch, Rum Point, etc..) we didn't hesitate to ask about snorkeling pointers and safety tips to the young dudes at the counter and all of these were very gentle and talkative about their snorkeling or dive spot. That was very nice. Also, we felt maybe a bit lucky throughout our snorkeling week as The Ocean Frontiers guide mentionned that the wind was unusually down for this time of the year. A lot of times in winter, GC has what they call a Norwester(I think), a prevailing wind from the North West that makes a lot of places in the East End of the island subject to much bigger waves, therefore making snorkeling more difficult. But for us, all of the places we snorkeled the water were very calm to calm, with minimal waves. The only place we really felt a current was in front of the Reef Resort!
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| The Southern Cross Club |
Michele - USA< |
April 2005
It was exactly what we dream of...900 feet of secluded private white sand beach, just 13 airy and well appointed ocean-front bungalows with air conditioning, and superb diving and dining. The clubs kitchen offers wonderfully fresh and tropical dining alfresco. The club specializes in scuba diving and deep sea fishing. My husband and I are not experienced divers, in fact this was his first dive trip~ but the dive team and facilities at the club were so exceptional that we had a great time. The club has its own pier and boats right in front... so everything is easy. The staff only allow 12 guests per dive, so you are always VERY well attended. And Bloody Bay wall, one of the most famous dive sites in the world, is just a short trip away. The magic starts just a few feet down, which is great for the novice diver.
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Costa Rica is known to have some of the most spectacular diving spots in the world. Hammerhead, manta rays, white-tip sharks, moray eels, turtles, stingrays, sea horses, starfish as well as whale sharks & dolphins can all be encountered. Some of the well known dive spots are the Bat, Catalina and Caño Islands. A must visit is Bajo del Diablo, so named because of the large schools of Devil Rays.
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Sol Playa Hermosa - snorkelling
Cocos Island
Guanacaste Region - Resort Divers
November 2008
Anyway, we board the Okeanos and the trip out was rocky. There were four divers who got pretty seasick. I was lucky as I took Bonamine and it worked great for me. We get to the island 35 hrs later and anchor in a bay. We do our check out dive and it was awesome. White tip reef sharks everywhere, not to mention guinea puffers, lobsters, eels, plus a multitude of fish that I can't name. We do our "real" dive and hammerheads everywhere. All I can do is stare in awe. The week of diving was all hammerhead, white tip sharks, marble rays, eagle rays and a many fishes. I did four night dives and one was amazing. I got to watch about 50 white tip reef sharks go into a feeding frenzy about 3ft below me. WOW.... what else can I say.
Now about the liveaboard. The food was ok. Nothing special per say. Don't get me wrong. It must be hard to feed 22 divers all that food when you are 36hrs away from everything, but it was nothing to write home about. The boat staff (and that I mean non-divemasters or skiff captains) were amazing. There english wasn't the best but they did their best to accommodate everybody.
Now for the divemasters. In my opinion, I may as well have been diving on my own. I only saw them on two-three occations. It appeared they cared more about getting their personal underwater photos and videos than they did the clientel. There was one man who was on his fourth Okeanos trip and they didn't seem to mind showing him around personally. In fact, this man was apparantly so special that when two women on our skiff got hit with jelly-fish after our dive, the divemaster and captain thought it would be beneficial for this man to go and get footage of the island for 10 minutes before returning to the Okeanos where these women could get some vinegar to sooth the sting.
Another incident happened on our skiff. We were on our way to Alcyone (dive site) and the motor crapped out. No biggy. It happens. They tried and tried to get it going for about 10 minutes. So, as we are floating about in the skiff the boat captain calls the Okeanos. He called for approximately 5-10 minutes and NOBODY was responding. The other liveaboard was responding to us, but not ours. They did eventually get the boat going, but it was a bit unnerving knowing that if there had been a medical emergency then the Okeanos would not have responded.
Overall my diving was amazing. In my opinion it could have been better if the divemasters would have paid half the attention to the clientel as opposed to their cameras. There were certain fish I did not see because only the divemasters knew where they lived and they were never around to show me, even after I had specifically asked to see them.
If I return to that magical place, I think I will probably pick "the other liveaboard".
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| The Sol Playa Hermosa - snorkelling |
Jackie |
February 2004
My wife and I took a snorkeling trip with "Aldolpho" who is located on the beach. Aldolpho has a little stand on the beach about 50m to the left of the entrance Sol Playa Hermosa. He will take you out for $20 U.S. per person for a 1.5-2.0 hour trip which includes snorkeling and time at a white sand beach. Aldolpho was fantastic. He took my wife and I out by ourselves. He snorkeled with us, and showed us numerous fish, including holding blow fish, star fish etc in our hands. We even saw a sea turtle. Aldolpho's tour was so good that we hired him to take us snorkeling 3 times during the week. He is a very friendly and knowledgeable guy. I highly recommend that you take his snorkeling tour. He won't rip you off and makes it a great time -especially since my wife was nervous about snorkeling the first time.
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| Guanacaste Region - Resort Divers |
Ileana |
December 2004
Diving in Guanacaste area is spectacular and when I say this I'm referring to the marine life less to the water visibility which is around 30ft - 45ft. I've seen humpback whales, dolphins, white tip sharks, several varieties of eels, hard and soft corals, starfish, jewelfish, turtles, octopus, hundreds of rays of all types.
Water temperature was most of the time around 78-84F with few thermoclines here and there specially in deep water. Dive Masters are ok, they sometimes go fast on the safety part of the briefing, and sometimes go for the deeper dive after the shallower one but they're pretty good and knowledgeable. Bottom is mostly dark sand spotted with rocks or coral, sometimes rock formations with channels in between give divers the option to do a drift dive. You'll need a shortly for protection mostly, jelly fish tentacles are abundant in the water. I've seen some rented equipment and it looked pretty good for a resort diveshop. Once you're in the boat your gear is assembled and ready for you. I went with Resort Divers (www.resortdivers-cr.com) across the bay from us; the personnel is very friendly and they know how to make you enjoy the day. I arranged everything trough email days before arriving in Costa Rica. Once we've got to the hotel, I've called Resort Divers and the next morning they picked me up, I paid for the package deal and that was it. Every morning at 8:15 the boat was waiting for me at the beach to go diving. There are few pinnacles in the water, rock formation corridors, monkey heads so you'll not have the chance to go twice in the same place. About two hours by boat from the Gulf of Papagayo you can find Catalina Island and Bat Island -popular places for diving where you can spot giant mantas, sharks of all types (bull, tiger sharks, and sometimes whale shark), Moorish idols, nudibranchs.
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Diving centers provide everything that is needed and most have hyperbaric chambers and medical care . One of the most popular diving areas is found off the coast at Los Jardines de la Reina (The Queens Gardens). These virgin coral and mangrove islands are located forty to sixty miles offshore and are an official Cuban National Park and access is restricted.
Scuba Review Index
Blue Diving - Melia Cayo Coco
Blue World Diving Centre - Playa Pesquero ~ Holguin
Brisas Sierra Mar - Santiago de Cuba
Cayo Largo - Sol Club
Cameleon Villas Jibacoa - Snorkelling
Camaguey Region, Santa Lucia - Shark's Friend
Coco Diving - Club Tryp Cayo Coco
Melia Cayo Santa Maria
Sol Cayo Santa Maria - Snorkelling
SuperClubs Breezes Jibacoa
Trinidad Del Mar
Villa Oasis - Cayo Coco
| Blue World Diving Centre - Playa Pesquero |
ald1 |
February 2009
My only outings were 3 dives with Blue World Diving Centre. the Boat picked us up at 9am every morning for a 2 minute boat ride to the dive Centre. I walked it the first morning and the walk takes about 15 minutes.
1st dive was the Taza Azul; this is great wall and cave dive. we were lucky to see 2 lion fish. the dive master is Michael. Nice guy with Gold capped teeth!
2nd dive was Pasquero Sponge; dive master Michael brought some baitfish (maqueral??) and broke it up as we swam. it attracted a school of Rusty parrotfish and one huge grouper as well as other smaller tropical fish.
3rd dive was the Grand Canyon; this was a great dive were there are multiple walls that run from more 100 feet to the surface at about 20 feet. we also went through some tunnels.
note that the coral is slowly coming back to life.
I did see one octopus while snorkling in front of the dive shop.
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| Villa Oasis - Cayo Coco |
Theresa and Brad |
March 2008
The main purpose of our trip to Cayo Coco (in addition to relaxing) was to do some scuba diving. We have taken the NAUI open water course, but could not schedule our open water dive and so we are not certified divers. We decided to try to rectify this, and so we took the ACUC “scuba diver” course that takes two days to complete versus four days for the open water course. This was primarily for reasons of time and weather conditions (see my earlier diatribe about why it’s nice to get to see a rep on the first day of your vacation). It cost $180CUC each for this course and it included a written test as well as two dives. In fact, we managed to get three dives out of this because my partner developed a sinus condition and was unable to dive on our second outing. The first dive, at Las Coloradas, was about 12 meters and would have been spectacular, but the visibility was poor due to the previous two days of windy conditions. We did see sandfishes though. On the second dive at about 18 meters I had the great pleasure of seeing a green moray eel up close, as well as a king mackerel, a queen angelfish, French and gray angelfish, many large stoplight and rainbow parrot fish of both genders, a whole school of bluestriped grunts, black and Nassau groupers, squirrelfish, porkfish, rock beautys, butterflyfish as well as the typical wrasses, sergeant majors, yellow tail and Cubera snappers. On the third dive (about 15 meters) we also saw hogfish, a few rock hinds, royal grammas, dusky and yellow tail damselfish, blue chromis, and a school of blue tangs along with a small wreck that we explored. Overall the coral was in good condition and we didn’t see any debris or obvious signs of abuse.
The dive shop is located at the Tryp hotel and they arranged and paid for our round trip cabs on all the days we were diving. The dive shop was very professional and seemed to have just received new gear. They had brand new shorty wetsuits, BC’s and regulators. The only problem I observed with gear was that the wetsuits seemed to all be for men, and the two women we dived with were both quite petite and the wetsuits didn’t fit them at all in the shoulders; they were freezing the whole time. Also, if you are like me, and a bit arthritic, you will have trouble getting on and off the dive boat. Be prepared that there is no ladder, which isn’t such a big problem at shore, but getting back onto the boat after diving involves much yanking on the part of the boat crew! Dives seemed to cost $40CUC including gear and transportation, but the rates went down if you did repeated dives, stayed at the Tryp or had full gear. Two dives in the same day were $70CUC.
The only other excursion we took was to Pilar beach and Media Luna Island for snorkeling. The bus was meant to pick us up around 8:30am and brought us back around 4-4:30pm. It cost $49CUC each and included transportation to Cayo Guillermo, time on the beach, a speedboat ride to Media Luna, a short snorkeling excursion (20 minutes or so) and then a lobster lunch, followed by a return boat ride and more time at Playa Pilar. There was little instruction from the guide prior to entering the water and there were way too many people on the reef at once, most of whom didn’t have a clue that they were standing on delicate living structures. The island itself requires water shoes because of the thistles underfoot and many people cut themselves at the rough entry to the water, so be careful! There was also no ladder to get on and off the speedboat and people bigger and more arthritic than I am had a pretty tough time getting on and off the boat. You also have to be able to carry your gear above your head so it doesn’t get wet. The beach at Pilar was beautiful and I would have happily spent a day there just hanging out.
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| Brisas Sierra Mar - Santiago de Cuba |
Kathy ~ Toronto, Canada |
April 2009
I liked that they went diving every day. There were some certified divers ready and willing to go on a daily basis. The schedule, such as it was, be there at 9:30 hit the water...anytime up to about 10:30 or 11. Gather again at 1 hit the water around 2 or 2:30. I prefer more of a schedule. I like to dive, then relax which includes a beer or two. I can't drink or eat much before or between dives so by 3 I was famished and thirsty. I think if a group went down you could likely try and organize a schedule...if the bus that delivers the staff arrives on time which sometimes doesn't happen. I wouldn't go with a large group, they might be stretched to accommodate everyone. There were some long stay guys who dove frequently. The shop offered pool courses and solicited resort course divers. The two boats were ok, comfortable for 10 plus gear. Staff brought them into shore and willing loaded tanks and gear. There was a ladder for entry into the boat. They staff were very considerate. On a few occasions when there was more surf around the reef they stopped in calmer water, people got suited up and then hit the water close to the reef without delay. I like this as I am somewhat prone to getting sick on the surface. They do not offer a price discount if you bring your own equipment. The equipment looked to be in fairly good shape. I didn't hear too many complaints. They have short wetsuits. I appreciated having my long 3mm, temperatures were around 78 in the water. They use steel tanks so be prepared to adjust your weights. Fills were generally good. Most of the sites are within a 15 min. max. boat ride. They take VISA but pay in cash and you get a better deal. I offered alternatives but they wanted Cuban convertible pesos. I expect they lose on the exchange if you tip or pay in Canadian dollars. Dives work out to about $40 per dive. The staff were excellent. Nice guys and they can't do enough for you. Make sure that you get them a lunch and a drink from the beach bar between and after diving. If you are so inclined people ask for items for their children and shoes, every one wants and needs good shoes. Make a trip to Value Village before you go and you will be much loved. Medicine is also vey much appreciated. Ask your GP for samples. If you want to leave behind any dive equipment know that it will be well used and much appreciated. Some clever soul at the hotel took a printer and paper. Cubans really appreciated having photos of their children and families. Nice touch that.
The dive master to diver ratio could have been better. I didn't like that one dive master took down a family of 4 for their first open water dive. I think a 2/1 ratio was called for. The seasoned divers could largely do their own thing.
I did a shore dive to a wreck, the Cristobal Colan from the Spanish American civil war with a another diver staying at the hotel. We paid 40 Cuban pesos for the taxi and extra for the dive. It's about 80 min. by taxi up the coast. Take fruit, juice etc. from the restaurant, you'll appreciate having it after the dive. The view was spectacular, the road was horrific. The wreck is an easy swim from shore though the surf can be a challenge. Thank you to Edgar the dive master for good advice, strong arms and for knowing exactly where the wreck was. It was almost freaky!!!
I saw several black lion fish, a large caribbean blue lobster, a large green moray eel, a large grouper and assorted schools of fish. I could identify them with some effort but I'm lazy. Generally I'd say it's easy, relaxed diving. The reefs have been beat up by recent hurricanes, Mitch hit this area very hard and the people fish close to shore. I'd return happily but not necessarily as a first choice. There are so many other places to visit in this world. Got questions try me at waterwoman2002@hotmail.com I'll try my best to answer them.
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| Brisas Sierra Mar - Santiago de Cuba |
|
February 2008
As a scuba diver, I love this resort. The dive shop is on site, and I leave my gear there all week, a clean wash tank, drying racks and a secure lock up for the evening awaiting the next day's excursion. Their rental equipment is Mares and the air tanks are newer models. The airfill is housed in its own building. There are so many wonderful dive sites within minutes boat trip. The dive masters and instructors are well trained and professional and at a cost of $30 CUC for a dive, with multiple dive packages at reduced rates a good deal. They do offer a free intro to scuba in the pool so you can try out and also a monitored shallow dive in the ocean!
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| Sol Cayo Santa Maria - Snorkelling |
Vern |
May 2007
To those that are interested. There is an area to the west of the Sol resort, just past the naturists beach area, in front of where the last palapa is located (the police post). This is about a five minute walk from the beach restaurant.
Paralleling the shoreline in the water, varying from about 10 to 20 feet from shore is a series of very large rocks that run a couple of hundred feet along the shore. I am interested in identifying fish and over the two week period that I was there, I saw at least 45 to 50 species of fish species. (am still working on identifying a few of the similar looking ones). There is a very large barracuda that patrols the area most of the day. I got up close and personal with him on a daily basis. He is very curious and will approach you closely if your quiet but if you approach him he will slip back into the shadows. he is always in the vicinity. He scared the c--p out of many people who were not expecting to see something that big. Do not wear jewelry, rings or anything that will cause a reflection with the sun in the water. Barracudas mistake the flash of light for fish and may strike by mistake, otherwise they appear harmless.
I saw in large numbers, Palomitas, Chub, several types of Snappers, Jacks, Porgies, Grunts, Surgeonfish, etc. It was quite a surprise to see the diversity of species, as very little has been said about the snorkeling here on travel web sites. It was a big surprise to everyone who took the opportunity to snorkel here. People were quite amazed. Also saw Flounder, Sergeant Majors, Tomtates, Damselfish, Night Sergeants, Parrotfish and on and on. I spent several hours everyday at this location.
Further west of this area are many more areas with snorkeling opportunities. There is a sandy point that juts out from the beach where you can enter the water and also see several types of butterfly fish as well as barracudas and other types of fish. It is shallow to start and the ground is mostly comprised of volcanic rock, so it is very sharp on the feet. Not to mention the sea urchins with their spikes protruding out of every crack.
Walk down to the end of the beach to the west are more opportunities, but much further out from shore.
I wouldn't make this a destination based on the snorkeling alone, BUT, it was a very pleasant surprise considering that I didn't have high expectations for anything this close to shore. Very close!
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| Cameleon Villas Jibacoa - Snorkelling |
Vern |
January 2008
For good reason, Jibacoa has a reputation as fantastic place for snorkelling. This is because, in the front of the two resorts are a wide stretch of coral reefs that start relatively close to shore. there are shallow areas, and some dramatic drop offs, with walls of corals. Lots and lots of diversity to be found here, in relation to species of fish, coral, plant and other types of flora and fauna. The following is a partial list of what I observed over the two weeks I was there: Yellow Stingrays, Goldentail Moray Eels, Sharksuckers, Glassy Sweepers, Highhats,Yellow Goatfish, Balloonfish, Porcupine Fish, Trumpetfish, Spotted Scorpionfish, Peacock Flounder, Redlip Blenny, Glasseye Snapper, Blackbar Soldierfish, Squirrelfish, Blueheads, Puddingwife, Spanish Hogfish, Yellowtail Parrotfish, Stoplight parrotfish. Rock Hind, Blue Chromis, Yellowtail Damselfish, Sergeant Majors, Dusky Damselfish, Yellowtail Snapper, Schoolmaster, Lane Snapper, Porkfish, Sailors Choice, Chub, Flagfin Mojarra, Barracuda, Ballyhoos, all types of butterfly fish, and on and on and on. Probably the best sighting for myself on this trip was an Octopus within my first hour in the water. I was able to look at for quite a while. Never saw it again afterwards. The snorkelling directly in front of Cameleon is as good as that of Breezes. Two good reference points are the orange markers that are tied up off shore to indicate where the reefs are for the diving boat when it enters and leaves shore. Swim out a bit to the left of the first orange (red) balloon in the water. There are drop offs of about twenty feet at that point. Go out further to the second balloon and swim to the right. the water is much deeper, and the underwater landscape is very dramatic. The reefs have long drop-offs, its hard to estimate, but possibly 40 to 60 feet deep. Bring your own snorkelling equipment. The resort has very little equipment, and for the most part is in poor condition. There are alot of fish that disguise them selves extremely well against the backdrop of sand, rocK, and coral. The more relaxed you are the more this becomes apparent. many fish hide in holes, crevices and under ledges. If you just float a few feet away and are calm, they start emerging, especailly the moray eels.
We had quite a few afternoons when the red flags went up due to Portuguese man of war bring blown onto shore. So I would advise that when you see that the water is calm, do not hesitate, and get in the water, the sea can change within a few hours. And great opportunities will be lost. Out of 14 days only about seven days in total were suitable for snorkelling. There was a rather strong storm that lasted almost two days, huge downpours and strong winds. The variety of corals and other aquatic life is equally diverse as the fish. On a sunny day the reefs sparkle underneath the water. Such an incredible variety of colors, shapes, and movement.
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| Cameleon Villas Jibacoa - Snorkelling |
Brenda ~ Canada |
December 2005
Not much can be said. Most of the avid snorkellers we talked to, including ourselves, thought it was one of the best places they'd been. There is a large amount of seagrass before you hit the main coral areas, but the seagrass is not to be overlooked. Schools of parrotfish and surgeonfish frequented there. Also spotted was a barracuda, trumpetfish, ballyhoos and more, over the seagrass. Close to the shore is a small strip of rock/coral that was often overlooked by snorkellers but which contained many, many fish. Spotted there were juveniles of many varieties, a hairy blenny, an octopus (2 feet from shore!), and several baby scorpionfish. Further out, in the coral shallows, many many fish could be spotted. Some of the snorkellers poo-pooed this area, preferring to hit only the wall, but actually the biggest variety of fish was in the shallows. We saw another octopus here, 3 moray eels, scorpiofish, cowfish, tangs, surgeonfish, snapper and many many more. The wall WAS spectacular. The eastern edge of the wall is marked by the red buoy. If you want to see the wall the first time, the easiest is to snorkel out from the lobby bar and around the buoy. The wall will head straight out to sea for a bit and then it will curve left. Eventually, after several nooks and crannies, you will follow a channel (wall on both sides) into a bowl formation. There are several exits from the drop off in or near the bowl, that will take you back into the shallows. In the deeper wall area, we saw french angel fish, puffers, scorpionfish, barracuda, schools of tang, and some of the neatest coral formations we'd seen to this point. At low tide, entry to the deeper channel from the shallows can be tricky at the east end (always doable, but please be careful not to break any coral trying).
You can also snorkel in front of Breezes. I wasn't as familiar with the wall layout over there, but we investigated one day and saw a few bigger fish over there. People that snorkelled it more than we did, thought it was better over there, while we thought it was better in front of Cameleon. Meaning that the two areas were likely very comparable.
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| Melia Cayo Santa Maria |
Daniel ~ Canada |
December 2005
My girlfriend and I are both certified divers, we were not there for diving and that is a good thing as the diving is disorganized to say the least. Turns out we could only go diving on every other day because the dive master was doing the introductory class in the pool the rest of the time. We got one pleasant double dive on Tuesday and our Thursday dive was winded out. The cost was 55 convertible pesos per person, not cheap but OK. The boat was very nice and comfortable. The sites were as expected in this area…excellent. Also we had to take a short bus ride to get to the marina. If you still want to dive there bring your own regs at least, the rentals that others in the boat were using were pretty scary.
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| Trinidad del Mar |
Deep Diver ~ Canada |
December 2005
This is where our trip fell off the tracks. We go south because we want to dive. Diving is not cheap but is a luxury we can afford by denying ourselves other perks in life that many do not do without. I was told by a friend that the diving was excellent on the south coast and there would be less wind at Trinidad than on the North Coast. He got one part correct…there was less wind.
Firstly…the dive shop is not affiliated with the Brisas Resort nor is it affiliated with the Ancon resort. It is a separate facility located on the beach in front of the Ancon Resort about a quarter mile to the left of Brisas, if one is facing the ocean at Brisas. The building consists of a compressor room, a make believe office, and a gear room. Ample storage for personal gear and the room would be locked at night. There is a large rinse tank in front and a ten food board walk to the soft sand beach. The boat dock is gone, it was destroyed in one of the hurricanes.
The day after we arrived we walked down to the dive shop to check the set-up and see what the rates would be. We talked with a fellow. Perhaps he was the manager but he was not too interested in us being there. I explained that we wanted to do about 10-15 dives each and he became very interested..
A bit of background is required here. I am retired and have long past the 30ish age as has my wife of 41 years. I dove as a youngster but took another course about 8 years ago and convinced my wife to do so as well. She loves the water and is a natural in, and below the water. We have all our own gear and pride ourselves in maintaining it in excellent condition. At our age I think it is fair to say that one should not expect us to put on a 50lb steel tank,(no aluminum tanks), trek through the soft sand, wade into the surge and climb into a boat. I made it abundantly clear that I expected the staff to get my wife’s gear into and out of the boat. I also advised that I would certainly make it worth their while for their assistance. They were more than agreeable to help. It was agreed upon that we would commence diving the next day…two dives each morning, one deep and one shallow. They confirmed that it would be a large boat, a 29 foot fiberglass fishing trawler that they use for diving…sounded good.
As we left the shop I noticed there was no water in the rinse tank. I went back in and asked if they would have fresh water the next day, I was told that they had no fresh water for a week now, apparently a dispute with the hotel and the dive shop. It was suggested we walk up to the ANCON resort and use their outdoor shower near their pool until we got caught and then we would have to take our gear a quarter mile back to the Brisas, rinse it in our room and then bring it back the next day. I cancelled all our diving.
A day or so later the Brisas PR fellow saw me in the lobby of the hotel and asked why we were not out diving as I had previously told him we would probably be diving everyday. I explained my position and he nodded wisely. About 3 days later he tracked me down by the pool and advised me that the dive shop now had fresh water. An hour later we got a call from a Dive Master that they had fresh water. That afternoon we hauled our gear in the 30C degree heat down to the dive shop in preparation for the next day. Two of the staff were sitting in the doorway and it appeared they were very inconvenienced that they had to move so we could get in the gear room. No offer to “help the lady” with her gear was made. I checked the long concrete rinse tank..it had 4 inches of water in it. At the end of the rinse tank were two large plastic containers of fresh water that would probably hold two BCDs max per container. They were full of fresh water. I thought that we may as well give it a try the next day.
The next day we put the gear together and no one moved a muscle to take my wife’s gear down to the boat. To make a long story short …..of the 12 dives we did, I hauled all the tanks to and from the boat with the exception of 3 tanks which were done by the boat Captain. The DMs were extremely poor, never even introduced themselves and never even conversed with the divers. One young DM got on the dive boat, cranked up the radio to max output and air guitared or air drummed all the while he was on the boat. At the dive site he just fell into the water swam to the anchor line, waited until all the divers were in and went down. Underwater the DMs’ seemed to care less about the divers. I saw the DM turn around once in our first two dives and just give an OK sign, No one asked for air quantity and on the second dive we had beginner divers who ran through their air quickly. All dives started out as 35 min max until I said we would not be coming up with 1500-2000 lbs of air so they could bloody well wait until we had at least a 45-55 minute dive in.
After 3 days of this “diving” the rinse tanks had not been recharged with fresh water, were dirty and each had about 10 lbs of sand in the bottom. This was on a Friday afternoon and I said I would be back Monday to dive again but if there was no fresh water we would cancel. Fresh water arrived Monday morning, just prior to us putting on our gear..
While my comments may appear to be of a whining nature rest assured that I have enough dives under my belt to know good service from a poorly run organization . It seemed that it was inconvenient for the staff to have divers to contend with and their interest certainly reflected a liaise- faire attitude
All in all, this was the worst service I have ever encountered in Cuba and probably the worst service I have had anywhere. This was the first dive trip that I have ever been on where we walked away without so much as a tip to any of the staff and believe me I tip really well for good service. Sad to say but my comments to the manager, as we progressed through the dives seem to fall on deaf ears. A lot of promises but nothing ever happened and I was not alone with my feelings. A few experienced divers who did dive with us felt the same way. We managed, but we were pretty much on our own.
What were the dives like ????? They were not that bad, there was a bit of life underwater but nothing compared to Cozumel, Caymans, Roatan etc. The viz was about 50 feet and if the tide was going out it was down to 30 feet. I have never encountered so many thermo clines as we did one day when the tide was ebbing. We did one dive where we bottomed out at 116 feet and went through tunnel that ended on the edge of a wall with nothing below you but a black abyss, apparently 300 meters to the bottom, so said the boat Captain…was an interesting dive.
Summary…
The service, in my opinion, was poor. Was this an isolated incident? I hope so. Would you recommend diving there? It would be OK as long as you feel comfortable being pretty much on your own. The undersea life is probably acceptable if one has not done a lot of diving and the ocean is pretty calm on that side of the island. The cost for a single dive, (one tank), was 30.00CUC or about $39.00CDN . The price goes down a bit if you do more dives but you must commit to the number you want to do at the onset, You can not do two dives and then decide to do two more and expect to get a 4 tank rate…you have to go back to the two tank rate. You must pay before diving. No refunds other than for no boat, poor weather etc. You get sick or don’t want to complete your dives…you loose. No credit cards, cash only.
If you have any further questions feel free to email me at kidi@sympatico.ca
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| Camaguey Region, Santa Lucia - Shark's Friend |
Kim ~ New Brunswick |
February 2008
I visited Santa Lucia specifically with the intent to dive on the world's 2nd longest barrier reef (right after Australia). I expected great dives and was not disappointed. However, my camera chose not to work on a couple of the dives and high winds and hangovers cancelled approximately half of my scheduled dives. Photos are few, but the memories will live on. You can see photos at http://caracoluw.notlong.com
The dives are deeper than I expected - anywhere from 75 to 120 feet in average depth. The one dive shop in the area (Shark's Friends) offers 2 1-tank dives each day and will make a day trip (3 dives + lunch) ocassionally (not when I was diving). They have good looking rental gear and steel tanks in 12, 15 and 18L sizes (80, 100 and 120 cu. ft.) with both DIN and yoke valves. The divemasters are very professional - they saved more than one idiot diver while I was there. Cost is about $30 per dive, but the price goes down as you do more dives.
This area is well known for the bull shark population. However, what is not well known is that the bull sharks are seasonal!! They disappear each year around the start of January and won't be back until mid-May. So I didn't get to play with them at all!!
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| Camaguey Region, Santa Lucia - Shark's Friend |
Naomi & Fiachri ~ Dublin, Ireland |
December 2005
We had an amazing scuba diving trip in Santa Lucia in Cuba - 1st week of November. We stayed at the Hotel Gran Club Santa Lucia - a very nice hotel on the beach. The dive centre, Shark's Friend, is right next to the hotel beach. It was badly damaged by hurricane Katrina but they had almost finished re-building it when we were there. We were a group of 7 experienced divers and we had the same guide, Lasaro, each day. Each morning, we'd have a quick briefing and then everyone kitted up, as the boat was too small to move around in. It held about 10 people and there was enough room for 2 tanks each. We had to carry our own tanks to and from the boat - approx 50m from the dive centre and lift them into the boat. There is no pier there, so you wade out to the boat and climb in using the ladder at the side. We did 12 dives in total over 5 days. We did 3 dives on two days, so we came back and picked up more tanks and off-loaded the first tank after the first dive. So, when you have a little too much sunburn on your shoulders and you have to put your BCD and the tank on your shoulders and walk the 50m - it feels like a long distance ! Most of the other divers wore a 3mm suit or a shortie, but my friend and I wore 5mm suits - we get quite cold, even though the water temperature was always 29C. ! Most of us didn't bring much equipment as our package included rental of gear - this kept the suitcases a bit lighter too. The equipment mostly worked fine - there were a few problems with air leaking out of the first stage, but not much. I think they have a few O Ring problems. Their tanks are very difficult to open ! They are very stiff. Lasaro was always able to do it for us though ! We'd like to have done a night dive, but there was a problem with the bus, and I don't think the authorities allow boats to be on the water after dark !
The captain would head off from the beach for about 10-15 mins and suddenly stop in the middle of nowhere and in we'd get. I was amazed at the captain's accuracy. Only once did he leave us in the wrong spot and we had to swim for 8 mins in the big blue until we suddenly saw the outline of a massive wreck ! We'd usually drop down to about 25m and there was always something to see or explore! This area boasts the second largest coral reef in the world, and they are truly amazing to see. There is a lot of soft coral and there are a lot of ship wrecks - There are also a lot of swim throughs, canyons, caves .. not too deep though ! We also saw quite a few huge lobsters and crabs that would take a week to eat! Each dive lasted approximately 45 mins. In between dives we'd always head to Coco Beach, a deserted spot with just an open sided seating area with a bar, and cold drinks, where we would have a snack - they organised a lunch for us one of the days, but on the other days we brought our own food and just bought drinks from them. We would relax there while we off-loaded the residual nitrogen before the next dive. The beach there has the whitest sand and the water was just delightful to relax in.. aqua-marine colour. If you go there.. bring some sandwiches with you from breakfast, and one for the captain and the dive instructor was always appreciated !
While every dive was great....the most interesting ones were the two shark dives we did ! These are not just any sharks .. they are BULL SHARKS, extremely dangerous ! This is apparently one of the only places in the world where they feed them in the wild - right out of the hand of the dive instructor ! The only protection he has is a harpoon. No chainmail suit, no gloves, nothing ! The dive site is called Shark's Point. There's a channel a few minutes from Coco Beach that's about 300m wide and the tide changes at about 1pm each day. Up to then there are very strong currents, so the dive has to be done at exactly a specific moment. We dropped down to about 15m, passed by Magdalena, a massive moray that they sometimes feed, and then at about 25m, as planned, we all lay on a sandy area about 5-6 higher than the area where the sharks would come to, while Lasaro placed himself about 5m from us. He gently shook the thing that he uses to catch our attention when we stray ... and the next thing there were 7 huge sharks coming for a feed !! It was amazing ...!! He hand fed them the fish he had just killed, and gave their fins a stroke as they went by !! We watched in amazement at all of this for about 20 mins, and then all of a sudden Lasaro shot the harpoon out into the sand, and was prodding the sharks gently as they came by him - to keep them back. I found out later that the sharks had gone into a feeding frenzy !! Lasaro stopped feeding them then, and we left ! We were exhilarated when we came up .. it was an amazing dive .. probably the best I had ever done .. until we went back for more punishment two days later ! We found out in the meantime that one of the sharks had almost taken the arm off a diver last year when he went down and was feeding them and trying to video the whole thing at the same time ! (A local guy).
If you want to do some great diving, and have the thrill of a lifetime on the shark feeding dive, I highly recommend Shark's Friend dive centre on the beach there next to Hotel Gran Club Santa Lucia. They even have a DVD of the "show" for sale, so you can relive the moment over and over ! (Filmed on a previous dive)
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| SuperClubs Breezes Jibacoa |
Ross |
December 2007
I went on five dives while there. One free dive is included and subsequent dives are CUC25 per dive if you have your own equipment. The rental equipment available looked pretty decent. The o-rings in a few of the tanks were rather worn and had slow leaks, not enough to affect bottom time by more than a minute. The water temp was quite warm, 82F each day I was there. There are typically two dives per day (closed Sundays, no night dives), the first dive at about 20m and the second about 15m. The dive masters are excellent, lots of experience and do everything by the book. We had a 5m safety stop on each dive of about 3-5minutes. They have a small 20’ boat at the resort and don’t overbook it, a maximum of eight divers plus DM and safety diver. The coral reef isn’t a wall like Cozumel, but it is almost as pretty and I think there are even more species of fish. We also saw quite a few morays, yellow stingrays, lobsters, and one very large crab. I would go back to this resort just for the snorkelling and diving.
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| SuperClubs Breezes Jibacoa |
fishfanatic 123 ~ Quebec |
October 2007
Snorkelling: This is the reason why I booked this resort. It has a well deserved reputation for easy access to coral reefs from the shore. I always bring my own snorkel, mask, flippers and life vest. The main area in front of the Beach grill is quite shallow (3 to 4 feet deep) A few hundred feet from shore the depth drops and there is a very large circle surrounded by corals, the depth dropping at some places to about 40 or 50 feet . I identified a minimum of 50 different species of fish and countless others that I didn't see well or long enough. The best technique when snorkelling is to relax and just float, the fish will be less nervous and many interesting species will come out from underneath the ledges and rocks for brief appearances. There are also some species that camouflage themselves very well, such as the Peacock flounder and Scorpion Fish. If your just thrashing about, you'll miss them for sure. There is bit of a current that seems to pull you west, especially on yellow flag days. I spoke with another avid snorkeller who had seen a small octopus in the grassy area near shore. I was extremely jealous of her. Anyways what can I say, The corals are beautiful, the underwater landscape changes all the time while you're moving about. Lots to explore. I was in heaven and spent many, many hours in the water on the days that were not red flagged. On a bitter note, There were too many people actually walking through the small corals, kicking them off the sea floor with their feet. I could see this while I was under the water. Not only is this bad for the eco system, it is also dangerous for the person walking out there. They could step on some very sharp rocks, sea urchins, cone shells and Scorpion fish, all guaranteed to bite, sting or cut you in some way. I also would recommend to not feed the fish, some are becoming a bit aggressive, especially the Chubs. The tour reps should be explaining how fragile the reef is, as part of the orientation for the tourists. An amazing experience. Some of the more interesting species for me, were Rock Hinds, Porcupine Fish, Spotted Scorpion Fish, two types of eels, Puddinwife.
If you are someone who likes to snorkel, it is strongly advised that you bring your own equipment. The aqua center was constantly running out of equipment. You could make reservations, but when people went for the equipment, it hadn't come back yet or was handed out. Also you can only reserve the equipment for short periods of time. The best time to snorkel seemed to be in the morning, the water appeared calmer than in the afternoon and early in the morning certain species were not as shy.
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| SuperClubs Breezes Jibacoa |
Bart & Caroline - Edmonton, Canada |
December 2004
Probably the main reason for picking SBJ was the reports on the excellent snorkeling in front of the resort. Our last holiday at the Casa del Mar (Bayahibe, Dom. Rep.) had fantastic snorkeling right from the beach and I doubted if SBJ could match that. It did and it even surpassed it in the variety of ecosystems and a more dramatic reef structure if you don't fear venturing out some 150 meters from shore. But even close to shore there is reasonable snorkeling with about a dozen fish species including small barracuda. The best place is on the left end of the beach in front of buildings 1 and 2 where a rocky ridge runs parallel to and just 5 meters off shore in hip deep water. You will see many wrasse, some butterflyfish and grunts. If you look under ledges in the rocks you can find many more odd fellows, baby angelfish, drums, snapper, tangs, flamefish, and I even spotted a scorpionfish (poisonous!). Beyond this ridge, as well as on the right end of the beach, there is a mix of sea grass and sandy patches. This area has a different collection of inhabitants but in general has less diversity. Beyond the sea grass to the left of the beach bar area lies a limestone plateau with corals, sea fans and sponges growing on top of it. You can spot this from the beach by its olive color (the sea grass is darker) and extends out all the way until where the waves break (~150m). Here you will again find different fish including goldentail and purplemouth moray eels. The plateau remains at only about 1m depth so its quite save. If you want to stand up, watch were you place your feet so you don't damage any corals or sponges. Some of the coral is fire coral so it is also in your best interest not to touch anything. The most exciting part is at the edge of the plateau where deep cracks and holes start to appear, after which the floor drops away leaving you hovering over a vertical wall bordering a sand plateau at 6-8m depth. Caves and crevasses in the wall give abundant shelter for fish and you will see many types that you would also find on the scuba dives. Squirrelfish, big porcupinefish, French angels, many grunts, and glasseye snapper are some of the eye catchers. The final area to explore is at the far right of the beach where the shore turns into limestone rock. Along this shoreline you'll find a very shallow area full of coral debris. The landscape isn't attractive and it is so shallow that you have to watch out not to bump into the bottom with its many urchins. The attractions here are blennies, funny small fish that hop between the rocks, and night sergeants which are the largest damsel fishes. Some of the fish you find here you won't find anywhere else in this area. In total I spotted 104 species right in front of the resort, just to give you an idea of the biodiversity of this shore reef.
SBJ also has its own dive operation. In the past, diving was part of the all-inclusive. Now you get one free dive per week and can pay for extra dives. If you bring your own equipment (except tanks and weight) and book a package of 5 or more dives then you pay only US$21 per dive which is the best price we have ever seen. It is about $5 per dive more without your own equipment. Wetsuits were in short supply so if you have one it's worth bringing. They have one boat and normally make two dives, a deep dive starting at 8:30 and a shallow dive at 10:30. The boat returns to the resort for the second dive and since all sites are close by that is no problem. When done for the day you can rinse your equipment in a fresh water tank and store it in a locked and covered area. They accept up to 10 divers per trip but by then the boat is uncomfortably full. On the deep dives we never had more than 6 divers and if you avoid the shallow dives for novices, see below, then they weren't too full either. They don't operate on Sundays and on three days during our stay it was too windy to go out in the boat or even to swim or snorkel. There are no night dives per Cuban regulations (you are only 90 miles from the US).
On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, the shallow dive will have a lot of first-time divers who took the pool class. We did two of those but tried to avoid them most of the time. An earlier review commented on the poorly organized pool class. We can't comment as we didn't take it, but the pre-dive briefing on the boat for the pool-class divers was very well done. We have also seen them decline a diver to take a deep dive due to lack of experience. Finally, at the end of one dive the dive master spent time removing a plastic bag stuck inside the reef. They care about the divers as well as the reef. Kudos!
On most dives, and specially those with novices, there are two dive masters, one to lead the way at the front and one (the safety diver) on the back to keep a constant eye on all divers. We never had problems with tanks not being full. In fact our tanks were typically slightly over-filled to 3200 psi. All dives were announced as 40-45 minutes maximum bottom time but in reality we got 50 to 68 minutes on all dives, including 54 minutes on a 117 foot dive. Pretty good. Since they knew we were efficient air users we almost always ended up having a private 5 minutes with the dive master after the safety diver had guided the others that ran out of air earlier to the surface. They were very good at making the most out of every dive for us. On the whole the dive operation is a bit more basic than what we have experienced elsewhere but it was safe, convenient, and at a very good price.
The dive sites come in two varieties. Shallow dives maxing out at around 60 foot and deep multi-level dives bottoming out in the 100 to 120 foot range. Both have their attractions. Since we like to search for small fish and take pictures we often find the shallower dives more rewarding. In this case, the deep dives actually had our preference. The reefs are higher, with sand-bottomed canyons between rock/coral walls, which made for an impressive landscape. These sites (the trenches, white rock, and catalinetas) were also ideal for multi-level diving allowing you to experience the deeper parts and still get a nice long dive. There are many corals, gorgonians and especially a good variety of sponges. Fish life is dominated by smaller fish as the big groupers etc have all been caught for food. We had the same experience in Bayahibe (Dom. Rep.). Among the larger fish there is an abundance of chub, several snappers including big mutton, dog and schoolmaster snapper, and porkfish (catalinetas means porkfish). I only saw one large grouper, but there are some red hinds and the smaller graysby and coney groupers are abundant (again mimicking Bayahibe). The greatest variety is in the smaller fish. If you are after the “big game” you may be disappointed but all the other people we dove with were pleased.
I take underwater surveys for the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF; http://www.reef.org/) to help catalog marine diversity in the Caribbean. In total I counted some 140 different kinds of fish (including snorkeling) which is a record for me and the greatest diversity of any dive site in Cuba in the current REEF data base. Although the big fish may have been caught, the fact that SBJ is the only dive operation in the area means that there is little damage to the reefs and it is never crowded.
Our thanks to Adolfo, Arturo, and May for giving us 9 memorable dives to look back on and all SBJ staff for their hospitality and care.
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| Cayo Largo - Sol Club Cayo Largo |
Deep Diver |
December 2004
Cayo Largo is an island that runs basically in an west to east direction. The marina is on the western end and if one leaves the marina, the first facility one sees would be the airport. The first resort after the airport is SOL CLUB, next would be PELICANO and then EDEN and last would be BARCELO. I mention only these resorts as these are the most popular and the DIVE bus only stopped at these resorts.
EVERYDAY of the week, the DIVE BUS stops at the SOL CLUB at 8:30am and from there proceeds to each of the other resorts and I would estimate that it is at the BARCELO at about 8:45am. The bus then reverses course and goes directly to the marina. Normally the bus is at the DIVE SHOP/Marina just before 9:00am.
One must check in at the small office and produce their "C" card in order to purchase unrestricted diving privileges. One can then decide what kind of a dive package to purchase. The cost to do a single dive is 35.00Pesos, (equivalent to 35.00USD) and may only be paid in PESOS, or you may use a recognized credit card but one that is NOT affiliated with a US bank. The rate drops the more dives you do. For example a package of 8 dives drops the rate to 25.00Pesos a tank. Caution....once you sign for, and pay for a package, you may not add dives in an effort to do more dives at a lesser rate. Example ------. You pay for 8 dives and decide to do one more. You will have paid for the 8 dive package and then will have to pay for a one dive package (the rate goes back up to 35.00 for that one additional dive) so make sure you know how many dives you are going to do. Renting gear is an additional cost. If you have your own gear, there is lockable storage available. So lets say you buy an 8 dive package......you will get 8 little tickets and one is collected for each dive you are going to do on that boat trip, by an employee on the boat prior to leaving the harbor.....don't lose the tickets.
There were two dive boats when we were there. There is a large boat, (slow) that carries about 15-20 divers with adequate room. There is also a small boat, (faster), that would carry about 10 divers max. There are times when a boat will break down so be prepared to be flexible if you have to switch boats. Normally the boat goes out for ONE dive, (30 meters) in the morning and gets back to the dock at about 11:30am. The bus then takes everyone back to their hotels, one gets lunch and the bus re-picks the divers up at 2:00pm and back to the marina for a shallow dive, (15meters). If all goes well it can take you almost a full day to do two dives...or so it would seem.
There was enough of us that wanted to do a double tank dive in the morning so we convinced the man in charge, (CARLOS) to allow us to do a deep and shallow dive on one boat trip. This allowed us to get back to the resorts by about 1:30pm and not waste an entire day doing two dives. Is this option available to everyone??? It is entirely up to the staff...ask if you want to do a double tank dive and see if they will accommodate you.
Normally the boat takes about 20-30 minutes to get to the inner side of the main reef and then everyone gears up. Once all the gear is on, the boat goes outside the reef for the deep dive. It can be a bit rough if the wind is out of the east or the south...be prepared. The shallow dive is normally done inside the reef unless the wind is from the north then it is done just outside the reef in the protection of the reef.
The diving was great. On one dive, in a space of 15 minutes we encountered 7 Eagle Rays that flew past us at about 10 feet. The largest Ray had a span of about 8 feet. We were at a depth of 106 feet. Then we saw a 4 foot sea turtle, within about 8 feet. Shortly after that we saw two sharks, one a 10 foot nurse shark at 85 feet and the other was a 10 foot reef shark at 65 feet. Our group of 5 divers including the DM were the only ones to see all of that within 15 minutes and it was great to have a camera and get all the shots.
The staff are very good and the DMs very knowledgeable. We enjoyed our time with all of them and appreciated that after the diving, we merely rinsed our gear, hung it up to dry, and the staff put it away later and locked it up. If you have any questions about the diving at Cayo Largo feel free to email me at kidi@sympatico.ca.
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| Coco Diving - Club Tryp Cayo Coco |
Deepdiver |
February 2005
Our primary reason for going to any resort is to dive and in this case we were not disappointed. The weather in Cuba during January-February is winter in Cuba, as well as Canada, so be prepared for a few rough days on the sea as the winds can be pretty brisk from the N, NE and NW. Where to dive???? The two companies we knew of were BLUE DIVING and COCO DIVING. A friend of ours arrived at Cayo Coco a few days ahead of us and set up our diving with COCO DIVE who operates out of the TRYP resort. This necessitated a drive from our resort to the TRYP and a return drive back to our resort. It was not a problem for us and the folks at COCO DIVE picked us up each day and took us back when diving was completed. We had nothing to do with BLUE DIVE but did see their little pick-up vehicle at our resort a couple of days. I believe BLUE DIVE is the company that ACVacations use if you book dives through ACVacations.
The rates at both clubs are the same but I’m not sure how flexible BLUE DIVE is with regard to “negotiating” a package of dives. We found the folks at COCO DIVE to be most accommodating in every respect. We have all our own gear so renting was not required but we did note that their rental gear was in excellent shape. Dive packages can be paid for using Credit Cards as long as they are not drawn on an American bank.
Their boat is about a 24-26 foot open boat with twin 70hp Yamahas, which would hold no more than 8 divers. The boat arrives in front of the shop each morning and divers wade out to the boat and put their gear and body in the boat, there is no dock. They did have a portable boarding ladder for us old folks and it was not in very good shape but was certainly better than attempting to throw a leg over the gunwale and slip into the boat. The boat came back to the beach area after every dive, as the dive sites were not more than 10 minutes away. The first dive was normally 30 meters and the second dive would be 13-15 meters. There was an afternoon dive but we normally just did two tanks each day and were finished by 1:00pm each day. Back at the hotel by 2:00pm and had 45 minutes left to get lunch.
The dive sites were very interesting, some better than others, and there is no point in wasting space here elaborating on any of the sites. A word of caution…as I mentioned it can get pretty rough with a North wind so be prepared for a rough ride out if it is windy and you plan to dive. We had waves coming over the bow on numerous occasions and wore our masks to stop the water from stinging ones eyes. Considering the wind I feel that, as a couple of old folks, we did pretty well.
Dive Masters of note were PABLO, HECTOR, and RAMON. We did one session with RAMON and he said he wanted to dive with us so except for one day we did all our dives with him. A most excellent individual who went out of his way to ensure we had a good time. It should be also noted that the boat Captain was a very helpful individual who also gave 100 % on each trip. It was most gratifying to work with these types of folks. Rather than bore non-divers it would suffice to say that I managed to get some excellent pictures of sea life and there were a couple of interesting underwater meetings.
For our return flight to Canada we were seated beside a young man that had been at the El Senator for the 14 days while we were all in Cayo Coco. It was interesting to note that he went to the BLUE DIVE shop on 8 separate days to go diving and all diving was cancelled so of the 8 days he had set aside for diving he did not accomplish one dive, he says, due to the fact that BLUE DIVE would not go out in the wind. I cannot verify this statement but if it is true then I guess we did well getting 25 dives in during our 14-day stay. Should you have any questions about our experience, please feel free to email… kidi@sympatico.ca
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| Blue Diving - Melia Cayo Coco |
Dean ~ UK |
April 2007
Things must really have changed a lot since the review that this dive centre received in 2005 and we are compelled to put the record straight.
My wife and I booked our honeymoon at the Melia, Cayo Coco knowing that Cuba boasts the second largest coral reef in the world but with very little information about the diving facilities on offer. I have been ‘holiday diving’ several times since completing my Padi course in Hurghada in 1999 and the wife has had a couple of ‘try’ dives over the last three years.
Within three days at the hotel we’d pretty much decided that this was going to be a diving holiday!
We found Blue Diving to be very safe compared to everywhere else that I’ve been (including Egypt) and really good value for money at around £25 per dive, including all of the equipment (although this was a bit cheaper for honeymooners). My wife spent two days doing the ‘Easy Diver’ course at a cost of just £85 which included four qualifying dives. The instructors were excellent at their jobs as well as very entertaining.
We also went on a day trip, organised by Blue Diving, to Trinidad after being told that there would be no diving at the resort for a couple of days because of the weather conditions. It was a long trip to Trinidad, but easily worth it for the diving alone not to mention a great lunch in an amazing setting and a really good tour of Trinidad. The dives were off the side of an 80M sheer coral wall with a visibility of 40M – and we were the only divers there that day. It was indescribable.
Blue Diving had three scheduled dives a day catering for different types of dive (deeper in the morning) and they were quite busy because divers came from other hotels in Cayo Coco every day saying that Blue Diving was better than the facilities at their resort.
In case you haven’t guessed yet, we thoroughly recommend Blue Diving and hope to go back again soon.
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| Blue Diving - Melia Cayo Coco |
Chrissy ~ UK |
November 2005
We were on Cayo Coco in Oct/Nov 2005.
Enquiries were made from the UK regarding diving and we were given a price of $252 for a dive package. We went to the dive centre and was told the 10 dive package would be $310 (around GBP £17) with all our own kit, we queried this but 'the boss' wouldn't like it if the staff stuck to the original price given.
The staff were very friendly and we were told we had to pay in advance - which we have never been asked to do in numerous countries, settlement at the end of the diving usually suffices.
We were hoping to do 10+ dives throughout the duration of our holiday. We were given the terms and conditions which indicated that if we couldn't dive due to bad weather or ill health we would be penalised. The weather had settled down and we were both fit so thought it would not be a problem.
We did our first two dives - the visibility was quite poor but it was good to get back into the water again especially at 28 degrees.
We had booked to do a couple of trips - Speedboats (this is a must) and an overnight trip to Havana and visit to the Tropicana. So we wouldn't be diving for the next two days. We found out that had we been available to dive we wouldn't have due to problems the arose.
On the next morning we were due to dive we had a telephone call from the dive centre advising there would be no diving as the boat was 'broken'! They would be in touch later that day to let us know if we would be diving tomorrow - later we were told the boat was not fixed as the part hadn't turned up, maybe the next day and it went on....
To cut a long story short we didn't do anymore diving during our stay as the boat was not repaired.
On our last day we had to go back to the dive centre to sort out the payment. We were then charged for two dives each which worked out at GBP £23!!
Through no fault of our own we were charged a price that was not agreed. We both feel as though we have been cheated.
I wouldn't recommend the diving in Cayo Coco - we were offered a trip to Trinidad on the day we were leaving but this would have cost us an extra GBP £50 in transport costs and we would have ended up with a case of the bends.
Hopefully this review will prepare other divers who visit the dive centre - whatever price you agree you may end up paying much more !!
It maybe worth going to Mexico or the Dominican Republic if you are looking for good diving.
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Most diving sites are within swimming distance from shore. Curacao is also excellent for snorkeling. The water temperature is warm and visibility averages around 100ft.
Scuba Review Index
Ocean Encounters - Breezes
Sunset Waters
SuperClubs Breezes
| SuperClubs Breezes |
Tim & Tracey ~ Canada |
December 2006
We stayed at Superclubs Breezes from Dec 3rd till the 10th. This is our third time back at this resort. We just love it there. Its a good home base to do all the shore diving that Curacao has to offer, not to mention its the only all-inclusive there.
We did 17 dives in all. 3 night dives. We rented a 4 wheel drive vehicle from Micheals and drove to each of the sites. One of my favorite dive sites is Porto Marie. It costs $3 to get in each, but you get a pop while doing your surface interval. They have a dive shop where you can rent tanks, a fresh water dunk tank, a bathroom, shower, and a place to get food and drinks. It is a nature preserve so the money goes to help keep this place pristine. They even have what they call reef balls. They are cement domes with holes in them for juvenile fish to grow in safety before they head out on the reef. It's part of the snorkeling thing there. The swim to the reef was interesting as you can watch all the baby fish.
Now, the diving. Just to hit the highlights, we saw a VERY BIG spotted eagle ray, 4 loggerhead turtles, 3 octopus, porcupine fish, trumpet fish, triggers, parrots, spotted drums, juvenile drums, juvenile angles, queen angels, french angels, green morays, spotted morays, gold morays, etc... Too many to name... and the coral,,,,, and the sponges.... WOW !!
One last thing, if you want to do Mushroom Forest, and don't want to pay the outrageous amounts the dive operators are charging, and you are adventurous, go to Santa Cruz and look for the water taxi. Dive boat wanted 120US each , we paid "Captain Goodlife" 15US each. He dropped us off at the buoy, told us to meet him at the other buoy in 1 hour. When we surfaced, he was there. I now know why they call Mushroom Forest the signature dive spot of Curacao. All I can say was that it was remarkable. We saw hundreds and hundreds offish balling as jacks were hunting them ,, very cool..
I have been to Bonaire, Cozumel, Turks and Caicos, even Costa Rica, but I have to say that I am more impressed with the diving at Curacao than I was at the other places. But then again, that is just my opinion :o)..
Any questions, feel free to email me at shark_bait_98@yahoo.com
Good Diving.
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| Sunset Waters |
Brenda - Canada |
September 2005
We were at Sunset Waters in April 2005 and were treated to the best
snorkeling we had experienced. My travel mates had snorkeled all over
the Caribbean and we had also been to Bali and Mayan Riviera and nothing
compared to the snorkeling we had at Sunset Waters. The first few days,
the water was a tad rough with winds, so we stuck to the lagoon. Plenty
of underwater life in the lagoon itself. Barracuda, scorpionfish,
parrot fish, tangs, blennies, puffers, lots more and even a moray. Once
the seas had calmed and we could venture out of the lagoon, the
snorkeling was amazing. There is a marked snorkel trail - recommended,
but if the seas are choppy, you must be a strong swimmer because the
trail is in deeper water (15-35 ft before the drop off) and may be
disconcerting to a greenhorn. There are large elkhorn coral heads, fire
coral, brain coral, feather and fan coral. The airplane wreck sits
straight out and slightly west of the lagoon opening. Though the wreck
itself is not impressive - just a few tube sponges - we witnessed a
large bait ball of fish out there one day, reminding us of a lava lamp.
The breakwaters are populated with lots of life and a few corals. One
must be patient and snorkel quietly and you will see fish popping out
from between the rocks. Just east of the lagoon is a very large elkhorn
coral head populated with hundreds of fish. The coral head is only a
few feet from shore and we saw morays, puffers and many more there. The
snorkeling is good all the way down the beach if you have the stamina to
swim that far. Heading west out of the lagoon mouth, the snorkeling is
good as well. We didn't venture across the bay mouth - apparently the
snorkeling over there is good as well - but with some wind and jet ski
traffic, we preferred staying around the lagoon area. List of critters
we saw? Goldentail moray, chain moray (about 12-15 morays in total),
sharptail eel, smooth trunkfish, scorpionfish, fireworms, flamingo
tongues, reef squid, scrawled cowfish, honeycomb cowfish, peacock
flounders, all sorts of parrotfish, blue tang, hairy blenny, barracuda,
gar, black jack, balloonfish, porcupine fish, yellowtail snapper,
damselfish, sergeant major, graysby, soapfish, bluehead and yellowhead
wrasse, nudibranchs, crabs, squirrelfish, sand diver, trumpetfish,
octopus, lobster, glassy sweepers, sharpnose puffer, orangespotted
filefish, goatfish, and tons more that we weren't able to identify. We
spent most of our day on the beach and I spent probably close to 5 hours
(in 1-3 jaunts) out snorkeling each day, seeing something new each day.
Water entry can be a bit tricky as the edge of the water was lined with
coral rocks. Because of that, and because of the numerous fireworms and
scorpionfish in the lagoon, and many potholes dug by fish, aqua shoes
are recommended. Once in the water, there is a large sandy area in the
lagoon to swim in.
The resort has a dive shop that takes dives out 2X a day as well as
leading shore dives for beginners. Shore dives are free for guests and
many divers when we were there chose to shore dive at night. Entry for
dives was through the beach and lagoon.
Another bonus when we were there was that the whale sharks were
feeding. Though we didn't actually see a whale shark breech we saw
several (6-7) tuna boils right off the beach and we did see the white
belly of one whale shark churning in the water. Staff also reported
that a pod of dolphis headed through each morning, but to be truthful,
we didn't see them while we were there.
For those not staying at Sunset Waters, you can still use the beach and
snorkel and dive off the beach for a small fee.
On an Island tour we stopped at Groot Knip and snorkeled for a short
time there, but nothing like the snorkeling at Sunset Waters. We felt
absolutely no need to go anywhere else to snorkel.
I have a few pictures of the snorkeling, but quality is not the greatest
since I just used a dispo underwater camera. To view them, please feel
free to visit: http://community.webshots.com/album/345217862MNzEzD
If you have any questions regarding the snorkeling or regarding Sunset
Waters Resort, please feel free to contact me...bmpink@shaw.ca
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| Ocean Encounters - Breezes |
Tracy - Ontario |
March 2005
Best I've done, other than west coast of Australia. (Though I'm told that Cozumel is even better)
Ocean Encounters staff are great, they remember your name after your first dive. Family run, I was invited to a BBQ at the end of the week down at Lions Dive hotel (their main shop - be sure to check it out). Daily guided shore dives at 2:30pm, good for me since I was alone, and spent my dives taking pictures, not paying attention to where I was headed! Divemasters pointed out lots of stuff for me, and there's LOTS to see right in front of the resort, like a big school of cuddlefish/squid. Car Pile is a must see, with a crane at 100'.
Unfortunately, I was stung by some almost microscopic things once or twice, right near the breakwall.
I did 2 boat dive days. One to Klein Curacao, an uninhabited island (but lots of lizards). It was $100US for 2 dives, plus $25 for gear (with my own mask), and it left at 6:30am -which meant signing out the gear the night before and lugging it all the way to my room. A 2 hour ride on the tourist boat The Mermaid - a bit of a clunker - lots of people were ill over the sides! Diving was done out of a Zodiac. This is the place to see turtles - but I only saw a small one. HUGE green moray followed the group. Walk over to the lighthouse and shipwreck - good photo ops. Great lunch included - but they made WAY too much food!!!
Also did Mushroom Forest/Watamula ($85+ equip). Super!! Amazing endless coral formations. Saw lobster, eels, baracuda, and a 'lizardfish'? Bus broke down on the way, the new driver made up lost time with breakneck speeds! Went on another companies boat, really nice. The 'camera rinse bucket' ended up being used for masks :( Refreshments included, but was good to have the extra that I'd brought.
Oc. Enc. are the 'cadillac' of dive ops on the island, a bit pricy, but worth it!
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The dramatic topography in Dominica is something that all divers will remember. From 1000 foot vertical walls to the the submerged volcano at the Soufriere Marine Reserve and underwater hot springs to caves filled with lobsters, your dive log entires will be marked with many!!!!!!!!.
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While the Dominican Republic is a great place to begin diving, it is also a haven for serious divers. The country's undersea world has excellent reef diving, good visibility, warm waters, wrecks, caverns and marine life offering a wealth of diving experiences around the island.
Dominican Republic Diving Reviews
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El Salvador is famous for volcano crater diving, the most popular being Ilopango.
Scuba Review Index
Royal Decameron - Alvaro Pazos
| Royal Decameron - Alvaro Pazos |
Patrick |
January 2007
I went to El Salvador in November 2006. I stayed at the Royal Decameron. I contacted Alvaro Pazos via email prior to going.
He was great, he came and picked me up at the resort in the a.m. and drove me to his dive shop and to Lake Illapongo were I did my PADI open water certificate. It was great and the price was right.
I can only compare the diving to San Andres Island, the only other place I went. Lake Illapongo was not as nice, not much fish/wildlife to see, pretty grey and not a lot of visibility. Again though this is in comparison to San Andres Island which was amazing water.
Alvaro was great, very knowledgeable and helpful. I would reccommend him.
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The best diving is on the south coast of Grenada. For the advanced divers there is the Bianca C . This 600 foot wreck met its end in the 1960's and sank in 165 feet of water. Excellent snorkeling can be found at Moliniere Point where the reef comes within 6 feet of the surface.
Scuba Review Index
La Source
| La Source |
San Jose, California |
June 2003
CJ and Adriane and the rest of the staff are great. Very safe, skilled and fun. They go above and beyond to get you good dives. Many times I thought to myself "man, they are working hard to make sure we have a good dive." That is great thing. Dive boat is ok but rumor has it they are getting a big new dive boat. If so, it will make La Source a 10 in my book. The scuba diving was so good, it's hard to know where to start. Drift diving, deep, reef diving, wreck diving (multiple wrecks, not just Bianca) -- it is all there. The only thing missing was a night dive. Saw many many nurse sharks. Turtles, baracuda, lobster, crabs, shrimp, eels, and schools and schools of fish are all in abundance. This place is NOT over fished and the coral is healthy. One very big note: If you are not PADI advanced, they will not let you go on any of the deep/advanced dives (and you don't want to miss these). They will try to sell you the advanced for 250.00 US. You can get around this by having a log book that proves you are an advanced diver. Else, you will be stuck getting a cert if you want to do the dives. They will not negotiate on this. Probably a bit of safety and of salesmanship. I can't blame them. Bring your log book.
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The top diving site is the Réserve Cousteau at Pigeon Island. To those who would rather snorkle, be sure to try Ilet du Gosier. Scuba Review Index
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At Amani, divers descend the famous Zombie Hole, a 450 footdeep hole.
Reefs in Haiti are largely undamaged and disease free. Giant anemones and sponges are common. Dive sites located in the channel formed by the barrier island of Gonave have very diverse and healthy eco-systems.
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Scuba Review Index
Fantasy Island Beach Resort - Roatan
Henry Morgan Resort - Roatan
| Henry Morgan Resort |
Freedom Ryder & Wossa. |
March 2008
The on-site dive operators TGI Diving run a smooth and slick show. The Dive Masters are very good at what they do and the dive briefing is always detailed and professional prior to every dive.
You will need to register with TGI (Tropical Gangsters Inc) on arrival, fill out the required paperwork and medical questionnaire, provide them with a log book and your diving qualifications. They then tended to split everyone up into regular diving groups depending on experience and nationality.
TGI visit 3 different dive sites each day. The boat leaves at approx 8.30am for a two cylinder dive, and then again at approx 2.30pm for a single afternoon dive. You need to get kitted up as much as possible prior to walking the short distance to the boat as they do not use a dry dock, and have to wade into the sea, sometimes chest height carrying your fins, regs and everything else…..so be warned. You can store your kit with TGI for the week, and they will provide you with a secure personal little area, and hangers for your suits, that is also locked up at night.
TGI also offer a night dive, wreck and deep dive which there is an additional cost, and also a minimum entry of Advanced Diver qualification. They also offer a morning diving at Cara-a-Cara with the huge reef sharks that frequent this area. This is really is a once in a life time chance to shark dive without a cage, and see these animals up close. We took the PADI Shark Speciality course for $250 each, which includes 2 x class room sessions and also 2 x shark dives at Cara-a-Cara. We really enjoyed this course and would recommend it if you had the time.
There is a great dive shop on site that is a Mares dealership, and the prices are probably the best you will ever see, way cheaper then in England and Canada. TGI also has a class room on site for anyone wanting to take the majority of PADI courses which are normally available back home.
We would really recommend TGI, and would dive with them again without a second thought.
The only negatives are that the dive boat can get incredibly packed. I have never seen so many divers on a single boat, sometimes 35 plus and space is very tight. I also thought that some groups where a little big for a single Dive Master, sometimes as many as a dozen divers to one DM, so you need to be pretty confident in your abilities and your dive buddy.
There is a lot of Italian guests at the hotel and they tended to keep the English speaking and Italian speaking groups separated, which sometimes made for a ‘them and us’ type situation. It would have been nice to be able to mix more.
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| Henry Morgan Resort |
Russell & Sheryl ~ Port Coquitlam, British Columbia |
March 2008
TGI Diving, and Italian Company operates the Dive Shop. It is a Mares dealership too – incredible prices on the best and newest dive gear – there are no taxes or duty on their equipment. This is a very good dive operation – they have a huge white-board outside the shop – you just pick up a dry erase marker and sign up for whatever dives you want. The dives are fairly inexpensive too – the more you dive, the cheaper the dive package. We did 16 dives each over our two week stay and our final bill was only ~$24/dive. The diving was great!
Right off the beach, running for miles in either direction is part of the second larges Barrier Reef in the world. People snorkelling on this reef (an easy swim from the beach) were seeing Eagle Rays, turtles, and hundreds of different fish. The crossing to the reef is frequented by water taxi’s so just keep a good eye out – they seem to be good at avoiding all the tourists floating along on the surface.
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| Fantasy Island Beach Resort |
Diane & Fred ~ Queensville, Ontario, Canada |
February 2008
They have 5 very good dive boats; each can hold up to 25 divers and their gear. While with 25 it is somewhat “crowded” it is still manageable. Dive staff are trying to help. It is obvious that the dive operation is also “victim” to the apparent “cut backs” at the resort. The dive office handles the rental of equipment for both diving and snorkeling. However there is no “dive shop” where equipment could be obtained if you have a breakdown. There is a place for it, but it is locked up with nothing to offer. If you are into getting your dives recorded, Luis is VERY GOOD – his videos (DVD’s) are excellent. He is an excellent diver himself and knows how to ensure everyone gets the “15 minutes of fame” and the various sea life that is found on the dive site is included with excellent clarity. The Dive operation does provide both Air and Nitrox tanks, and all fills are very good. There was only once with a tank with a short fill, but that was due to a leaky valve. They have excellent compressors. The other very good point is that they have a medical doctor on site and their own chamber. They ask that divers support this with a $2/day fee – which is both reasonable and should be supported by all divers who go to the resort. There is shore diving, but I did both a night and day dive from the gazebo, and it is not very interesting. There is an old ship sunk to dive on, but not much sea life around it. Interesting to look at for one dive, but after that, not much else. Actually the snorkeling off the gazebo is much better – lots to see. You can either go to the left off the gazebo or across the way to the coco reef – which has lots to see. Just watch out for boat traffic. Diving on the reef ranges from good to very good depending upon the site. All sites are quite close and max boat ride was 15 minutes. Staff on the boat is very good, aiding divers very competently and providing good aid to divers upon return even in very high seas.
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| Fantasy Island Beach Resort |
James |
January 2007
I'm a dive instructor who fell upon this wonderful little dive mecca by accident through Noli Tours. I am booked for my 3rd trip down there within a year as the diving is so fantastic.
If you love the easy life for diving, it doesn't get much better than this. Unless of course you're talking Bonaire which is harder and more expensive to get to. Don't get me wrong Bonaire is fantastic diving too! I took my wife and kids along with a neighbour and his family for their Open Water Course on this trip. It was for Christmas 2006 and although they were worried about what they were going to do on land for activities, it quickly turned out they did not have much time to do anything anyway. The diving is made so easy that they actually surprised themselves how easy it was to get an average 16 dives each in 6 days.
The dive staff make it so easy to dive with the 3 dives a day off the boats. The boats are very nice heavy boats with lots of room and uncrowded. It makes it easy to get in and out of the boat after your dives if the sea is a little rough. I strongly recommend the 2 dive package for divers. The boat departs at 0900 and then for the 1100 dive, have the Divemaster put an extra tank on for the trip back. When you get into the lagoon they will drop you off on top of the wreck and you can have a nice easy 3rd dive before lunch. Then if you want you can go back out on the afternoon dive at 1430. We were located right beside the dive shack where it was nice and quiet. Took a few beers down and sat on the dock to do our Apres Dive routine debriefing on the days dives and do up the log books.
The wife enjoyed the diving so much she is going back with me and our neighbours fo another week in February 2007.
If you have any questions, mail me nawtical@yahoo.com
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| Fantasy Island Beach Resort |
Kevin and Emilie ~ Canada |
February 2005
The coral and sponges were amongst the best I have ever seen. The barrel sponges were large and colorful. We did 11 dives during the week and all of the dives with the exception of the shore diving location were all wall dives. We pre-purchased 5 day, 2 tank boat dives which ran from Sunday through Thursday and the boat dive times were 9am, 11am and 2:30pm.The boats are all cattle boats and held our entire group of 19 divers. I did find it a little crowded in the water and there was only one dive master and one boat captain for the group. The dive master would lead everyone along the dive and it was good that we were diving with experienced divers who were careful not to kick your regulator out of your mouth or knock your mask off. The shore diving was unlimited and the dives took place off a gazebo where you followed a cable out to a plane wreck and a shipwreck. We saw turtles, green moray eels and sea horses. The water temperature was 79degrees in most locations. At the dive shop there are lockers (open/no doors) that you can hang your gear in but I would recommend that any expensive gear should go back to your room. I made the mistake of leaving my signaling device (quacker) on my B.C. and overnight it disappeared. I know of some clips, hats and a mask that also went missing. The locker room is locked at night time and it is impossible to tell who was doing the stealing.
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from the The Jamaica Tourist Board
Negril
Underwater terrain has excellent patches of spur-and-groove corals including caves and overhangs, as well as "coral cottages" in depths of 60-plus feet. There are several close-to-shore wrecks to explore including two coral-encrusted Cessna planes and a 50-foot tugboat known as the Pete Wreck.
Montego Bay
Montego Bay is famous for its wall dives. The Airport Reef located at the southwestern edge of the airport is considered by many to be the best site on the island, known for its mass of coral caves, tunnels and canyons.
Kingston
Some of the best reef development is found in this area, with small cays separated by clear blue water no deeper than 50 feet, surrounded by an outer reef with an 80 feet drop off.Special attractions include the wreck of the lumber ship "Kim & Trader" – plus an actual sunken wall from the pirate city of Port Royal.
Ocho Rios to Runaway Bay
At Runaway Bay the reef is alive with brightly colored schools of tropical fish, grouper, snapper and stingrays. Large green morays, barracuda, sharks and turtles also hang out. An outstanding site here is the Canyon, where two walls start parallel, 20 feet apart in 40 feet of water, and maintains a 30 foot depth, while the bottom slopes down to beyond 130 feet.
Scuba Review Index
Scuba Jamaica Divers at Pebbles Resort
Scuba Jamaica Divers at FDR (Runaway Bay)
| Scuba Jamaica Divers at FDR (Runaway Bay) |
Lloyd |
July 2006
My sixteen year old and I spent several great diving days with the folks at Scuba Jamaica. The PADI 5-Star shop is owned by Christian Rance. The have three locations and we dove with the shop located at the FDR resort. You do not need to be a guest at the FDR in order to dive with Christian’s group of professionals. These folks led us on excellent dives and were some of the friendliest and safety minded folks I have had the pleasure to dive with.
Cameron, Craig, and Stephanie were excellent people. My son achieved his Advanced Diver status while we were at Jamaica. You can reach Christian at Jamaica Cell: 876-381-1113 or USA Tel: 305-677-2224 after 6pm Central Time. Top of Page
| Scuba Jamaica Divers at Pebbles Resort |
Harry ~ Alberta Canada |
March 2005
I planned my trip to include diving; however, Starfish resort would not answer my many requests for information via email. I went on line and found Scuba Jamaica Divers had a dive op in the area and they responded immediately with answers and contact information.
I like to have things arranged before I get there, I have found from experience that getting there and then trying to find operators and make arrangements costs you a couple of valuable days of a too short a stay as it is.
I contacted and made all arrangements before departing, with Scuba Jamaica Divers at the Pebbles Resort next door. I can highly recommend them; they responded quickly with information and proved to be a top notch dive operation. They went every day at 9am, 11am, and 1pm. It takes about 5 min to walk west down the beach past Bamboo Village, it is the next Resort down the beach. Troy was the dive master/Instructor, and Norman is the boat captain. They are a small operation so it would be wise to contact them and arrange ahead of time to schedule your dives as they serve Pebbles guests first unless you have made a booking. They have one dive boat that can take 12-14 divers at a time but they like to keep the groups smaller. They use 80cu ft alum.tanks @ 3000psi, and they check each tank with a pressure gauge before setting it up with bcd and reg’s. They are PADI certified and run discover scuba as well as full open water certification and advanced courses. They are friendly and skilled and I felt relaxed and at ease with them. They put safety first, and willing do little extras to make your experience better. The first dive of the day is for certified divers, and then 2nd and 3rd dive is dependent on skill level of the group. The second instructor often brings the discover or open water certification group out on the 3rd dive after doing the in pool session in the mourning. So there may be 2 different groups and 2 dive masters. There are lots of different sites, with walls, coral heads, and valleys, drift and anchored sites. They are on the edge of the Cayman Trench, I didn’t get to see the sharks or turtles that they frequently see but others in the group that I was diving with during the week did. I did see lots of other species and fauna that make diving so incredible, rays, eels, flounder, starfish, conch, lobster, crab, Nassau grouper, Cuda, parrot, wrasse, I noted the absence of sgt majors and yellow tail snappers but there are lots of others that I have yet to identify from my books. There are some beautiful fan corals and barrel and vase sponges as well. The wind was blowing strong all week and the visibility was considerably reduced by the end of the week with silt from the beaches working its way off shore, but they went out 3 times a day even with the rough seas, it doesn’t make any difference to getting in or once in the water but getting back on board was a little more interesting. Ever tried to hold the ladder on a boat in rough water, it is always pitching in the opposite direction to you They have a slick system devised. They attach a line to the ladder and throw it out, the group grabs a hold, you remove your fins and pull yourself up to the ladder, hand your fins aboard position yourself in front of the ladder and when the ladder pitches down get your feet on the rung and hang on and up you go. The captain grabs the top of your tank and lifts to take some of the weight off and to steady you when you step on deck. For those that are weaker, just wait for the next pitch down and use your buoyancy to take the next step up. Scuba Jamaica’s pricing was also better than Starfish resort.
Christain and Kelly Rance are the owner/operators and they can be contacted at divejamaica@yahoo.com or fax 876-381-1113, phone 876-973-4910.
There is an operator on site at Starfish, and I only found out once I arrived there, they go out once a day, 9am, cost $45US/ dive. Boat diving, loading right there at the pier if they decide to go, it seemed to be haphazard if they dove on a particular day or not. Once I arrived at Starfish I was not impressed with their operation and extremely glad I had found Scuba Jamaica Divers and was diving with them instead. It appeared that they only deal with certified divers, as I did not see any indication of in pool clinics or certification training or any recognized affiliation. I did not even find out their name, and the only thing posted was their dive rate along with the other water sports listings.
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The best areas to dive in are:Cap Saloman, Ste. Anne, St. Pierre and Ilet Ramier. and are the best snorkeling is at Anse-Mitan beach.
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Lonely Planet Diving & Snorkeling Cozumel (3rd ed)
Mexico, particularly certain parts of the Caribbean and Pacific, is a paradise for those who are intrigued by the underwater world. In the far east of the country, along the Caribbean coast, the waters are transparent and the richness of the Mayan Coral Reef, the second longest in the world, lets divers explore an endlessly fascinating world. Major scuba diving sites include Isla Mujeres, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, Punta Allen, Banco Chinchorro, Akumal, Puerto Morelos and Paamual. The main snorkeling sites are Xel-Ha, Cozumel and X-Caret. In the Pacific Ocean, there are excellent scuba diving conditions in Puerto Vallarta, Zihuatanejo, Acapulco and Huatulco, as well as in Mulegé and Cabo San Lucas in the Baja California peninsula.
Scuba Review Index
March 2009
DON'T TAKE THE AKUMAL DIVE CENTER SNORKELLING TRIP. You can see everything we saw just by snorkelling from the beach.
We paid AKUMAL DIVE CENTER $20US per person for 5 people (so $100) to take us "out" to the snorkeling spots in a boat. The boat first stopped about 50 feet off shore - we could have swam there in about the same amount of time. We said we wanted to go to the spots that you couldn't swim to from shore. The captain did not understand much english but realized we were not happy. He took us another 100 feet out and dropped all of us off - again we could have swam there from the shore. The boat stayed there for about 5 minutes then, the next time I looked up, it was gone. Basically, he dropped us off to swim in to shore with no regard to anyone's abilities or the thought that someone might get tired.
When we returned to shore, I spoke with the manager of the dive shop. He said I did not make the reservation, the person in our group who made the reservation "agreed to the map" he was shown and he was not giving us ANY REFUND. They already had our money. What could we do? (I also got the impression that he did not like dealing with a woman.)
They used about $1 worth of gas to bring us out and drop us off.
They made a tidy sum off of us that afternoon.
Besides that, the snorkelling was excellent.
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April 2008
visited Cozumel specifically with the intent to dive my butt off – and I did just that!! I had been to Cozumel previously and had not been totally impressed with the dive shops that I dealt with. Last year I did my research while on the island and chose my shop for this year. Deep Blue (http://www.deepbluecozumel.com/) was professional, on time, and safety conscious. And most importantly, they are busy enough to break up their customers into groups according to skill level – advanced divers in one group, beginners in another group – so I got to dive the reefs I wanted, with divers I knew to be competent. Excellent!! Currents were strong, visibility was lower than during winter months, and turtles were everywhere!! I was not disappointed in the least.
Deep Blue picks up at the Hotel Cozumel wharf at 915am and 215pm daily. I did 14 dives in 6 days and was quite waterlogged at the end of the week, yet sad to leave this wonderful island and wonderful dive shop. Deep Blue offers package pricing depending on the number of dives you do with them. In the end, I paid $60 for a 2tank dive, which included tanks, weights, water and fruit between dives. We would dive one site, head to the beach for a surface interval and then be off to the next dive site – no sitting in a small cramped boat slowly chugging along to the next site as Deep Blue has very fast sun-covered boats.
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| Hotel Cozumel - Papa Hogs |
Tracey |
December 2007
At the beach there are dive lockers but you have to get the key from the front desk. Do it when you check in and then your all set. They had dunk tanks there and fresh water showers. The dive shop on-site was Dive Paradise. We were going to dive with them, but upon asking questions regarding bottom time, I opted to walk 15 minutes down the road and dive with Papa Hogs http://www.papahogs.com/site/index2.php . They were amazing. They picked us up at our dock at 8 AM. We got to pick where we went, and we ALWAYS got back to the hotel at least 1 hour before anybody else. The dive masters are safe but let you dive your profile. I can say nothing bad about this dive op. They were VERY accomodating.
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| Grand Sirenis Maya Beach |
Aaron ~ Canada |
August 2007
The dive shack is a great place for people that like water sports. From the Dive centre we SCUBA dove 2 times (we did the resort Discover Scuba Course) It was my girlfriends first dive ever and the instructor was GREAT with her and helped her extensively to insure that she had a enjoyable dive. The first dive was just off the resort in about 40 feet of water. The water was exteremely warm and very warm. The second dive we did took us to Akumel bay where the sea turtles eat and we were able to see not only sea turtles, but many other types of fish and amazing coral formations. This is a great place to dive!
We also did the Turtle Tour from the Dive shop. It was $35 per person and was about 1.5 hours long. They take you by boat to Akumel Bay to snorkel with the Turtles and this was quite the experience as well. We dropped into the water into a school of Sardines and the water was a flash of silver and black with these thousands of fish. In the middle of these fish were two huge barracuda which had to be 5-6 feet in length, what a sight that was. And if you like turtles you are sure to see loads of these graceful creatures swimming with you but remember DON’T touch them they are endangered. They offer a turtle tour in the lobby at the excursions desk and it was much more expensive for what sounded like a similar experience but the one that we went on was booked and paid for at the dive shop.
They also offer Jet Ski rentals I believe they were $69 per 30 min. Parasailing, wind surfing, banana boating,
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| Iberostar Cozumel - Dressel Divers |
Deb ~ Tamworth England |
July 2007
We were a group of 9 divers staying at the iberostar cozumel and dived with dressel divers who are based at the hotel. The service was excellent and we payed up front for the gorilla package which is 11 dives and by doing this you get 15% off. Go to the website www.dresseldivers.com and you can see what they can offer you.The best dive was the cenotes which I was a little nervous of as its a cave dive but it was wonderfull you can see the light streaming in at different points and they filmed us and we just had to buy it you can not explain how good it is.Any questions please ask.
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| Grand Occidental Flamingo Xcaret |
David ~ Canada |
July 2007
At the resort they wanted $90 US for 2 tank dive. I checked out Playa the day before and arranged a 2 tank dive for $55 including equip at beach divers near the ferry plaza. Problem was the transportation cost. The resort is set in 2km from the highway so it’s not as easy as other resort along the Riveria to catch a collectivo to do excursion get into town. At $10 each way by cab it wouldn’t be worth it. I had an ingenious idea. A cab may take you to the highway from the lobby for about $3. Then you take a collectivo for $2US. Saving $15. I couldn’t get the cab but did manage to hitch a ride from a worker on his motorbike the highway. Even better. So it only cost me $2 to get into town. On my way back took a $2 collectivo but couldn’t manage to hitch a ride back from the highway. Ended up walking in the heat for 20 min. Still spent $55+2+2 vs $90.
Did 2 drift dives – almost back to resort from Playa. Could see X Caret.
Tagl Reef
- not a lot of coral but amazing sea turtle. Giant and spotted about 10 during the dive. There were morays and the best was a school of 20 giant tarpon fish (15 ft each). This was a deeper dive at about 80ft.
Baraccuda Reef
- Nice shallow dive approx 45 ft. Very good marine life and coral. Saw more turtles, rays, stone fish, giant green moray, crabs, tons of grunts, snappers, squid, trigger, etc…..
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| Dive Palancar - Occidental Grand Cozumel |
Freedom Ryder & Wossa |
June 2007
One of the main reasons we wanted to come to Cozumel was to dive. The resort has a dive operator on site called ‘Dive Palancar’. We had booked 10 dives prior to arriving, as we had managed to secure a good dive package back in Canada.
Dive Palancar where ok. I guess you pay your money and they take you diving. However, there are some awesome sites in Cozumel, and we found that if they could, Dive Palancar would take you to the nearest reef, and drop you in for 40 - 45 minutes at the most. Most dives you would be back on the boat with 1750 PSI, or, 125 Bar of air still in your cylinder. The divemasters where a little lazy, and seemed to be just going through the motions of leading a dive.
Cost is 1 x dive = $ 32 U.S. 10 x dives = $290 U.S.
They do return after each dive to either The Grand or the sister resort, The Allegro, so that you can use the bathroom, and so they can exchange empty cylinders.
However, we have dived with other operators in Cozumel, and would recommend walking a short distance up the beach to the left, locating Dressels at the Iberostar, which is next door to The Grand. I am sure Dressels would pick you up each morning from the dock at The Grand, the divemasters where awesome with Dressels, wide range of locations, and they offer free Nitrox if certified.
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| SeaLife Divers |
Pat ~ Tampa, FL |
November 2006
My girlfriend and I just got back from a Carnival cruise that took us from Tampa to Grand Cayman and Calica. I researched a dive shop in Playa as we wanted to do some shopping as well as get in a dive. I looked at every dive shop on the internet and settled on Sealife Divers.
I decided on Sealife due to their great prices. A 2 tank dive is just $65! Little did I know that it would turn out to be the best dive value in the Caribbean!
When we arrived, we were greeted by Martin who is super friendly and accommodating. He helped us put together equipment and arranged for our trip. While we were waiting, we enjoyed Momitas beach which is spectacular. Tiki style umbrellas are setup in front of a beach bar with pristine sand and beautiful turquoise water.
After a short wait, we boarded the boat and headed out for our first dive. Aboard we met our guide Claire who turned out to be very knowledgeable of the area and sealife. Claire also was the best diver I have ever dove with. She could drift 6 inches above the floor and I never saw her kick once. She pointed out sealife that I would have most certainly missed if it hadn't been for her alerts. I certainly learned a lot. On our two tank dive we saw: A Loggerhead Turtle, Puffers, Lobster, Huge Angel Fish, Stingray, Barracuda, at least a dozen Moray and spotted eel, Ledges with hundreds of fish, swim throughs, etc.
After our dives, we hung out at Momita's Beach Club, had a Margarita, and enjoyed the breathtaking scenery.
Sealife is a great dive operator and an incredible experience. If your ever in Playa, I highly recommend!
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| Crown Pacific - Buceo Sotavento |
Kathleen |
February 2008
We had 2 wonderful dives with Buceo Sotavento. Hector Lara was an excellent guide and I feel with someone else we wouldn't have seen near as much as we did. We dove in an area of volcanic rock and on a coral reef. We spent our surface interval on a beautiful beach eating an assortment of fresh fruit(including delicious mangoes) and having soft drinks and water provided by Hector. We also followed flying rays on our way to the beach. There was an amazing variety of sea life that we saw: turtles,eels, rays, pufferfish, butterflyfish, damselfish, grouper, sea stars, sea cucumbers, urchin, lobsters, jellyfish, nudibranchs, and lots more. Hector's skills and enthusiasm got my husband back into diving with a positive experience. He had only dove about 12 times when he had a bad experience two years ago in Cuba and refused to dive again until this experience. We had most of our own gear(dive gear flys free and is not included in your weight allowance) and what we did rent from Hector functioned adequately. I have logged over 150 dives and dove in 6 different countries and felt totally pampered on this dive. Hector and the dive captain William both saw all our needs were met. I totally reccomend Hector Lara as a dive guide.
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| Hurricane Divers |
Neil ~ Canada |
March 2006
My wife and I went with another couple to Huatulco, Mexico from Feb 1st to 15th, 2006. We stayed at the Barcelo located in the resort area of Tangolunda. This is a gorgeous area and we highly recommend the area but I will just concentrate on the diving in this review. My friend and I are both certified seasoned divers. We dived with Hurricane Divers (www.hurricanedivers.com), which is a Gold PADI Instruction and 5 Star PADI dive operation and was worth every penny. It is owned and run by Robert and his wife. They are located in Santa Cruz which is a 5 min taxi ride for 25pesos from the Barcelo (Santa Cruz and Tangolunda are all part of the Huatulco area). They are truly a professional dive shop and the only one we seen that followed PADI standards. From the outset they were prompt with e-mail replies and have modern Scuba Pro equipment. Their shop staff, dive masters/instructors and deck hands are very helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly. They did small groups of no more than 6 divers and we would highly recommend them to any diver. You will not be disappointed with their service. Refer to their web site for their equipment, etc.
The costs worked out to $68.00 per two tank day because we took the package and booked ahead. I had some concerns about putting a deposit down on a shop that I really didn't know much about and there wasn't any independent reviews that I could find. My concerns were unfounded and one can be confident with this dive shops integrity. The cost included all equipment if you didn't feel like taking your own. There is no further discount for using your own equipment. We brought down with us almost everything except for our BCD's, tanks and weights. If one wanted to leave their equipment at home I think you would be quite satisfied and comfortable in using theirs. We left our equipment at the shop between our dive days. One of the deck hands lives there and so there is no problem with it going missing.
We did 8 dives over 4 days. The Pacific Ocean isn't as clear as the Caribbean but it had lots to offer. There were many types of Rays (in some locations too many to count) along with the regular tropical fish some in large schools. We seen many types of eels (Zebra, Green Moray, snake eels) along with Octopus, Guitar Sharks, sea horses, lobsters, etc. The average visibility was 50ft or so. We did mostly surge diving with a couple of calmer dives within the bays. The dives are generally shallow as the deeper you go the less visibility there is. 70ft appeared to be about as deep as one would want to go and still have adequate visibility. The upside is you had lots of down time. We spoke with other divers who had seen several turtles (this area has 7 of the 8 species) but we had no luck with running into them. Others had also seen dolphins. The water temperature was 75F and a 3mm suit was adequate. The air temp is in the high 80's to low 90's.
We do have plans to return to Huatulco and probably rent a room or what ever in town and eat at the local establishments, etc. They have good food and reasonable prices. We would also be diving again with Hurricane Divers.
Just a side note about Buceo Sotavento dive operation. We had researched his operation prior to our holiday and came up with some serious concerns that was raised in another review. While in Huatulco we did some further investigations and confirmed that they are no longer a PADI operation after PADI cancelled them. A couple we had met down there were originally going to dive with them but after they saw their operation and lack of customer service they decided to dive with Hurricane. I observed one of their boats at a location we were diving at. It was unmanned and did not appear to be in very good shape. Divers personal articles were left unattended and with no deck hand there would be some real concerns if surface help was needed or the boat came loose from its mooring. It was also noted to have only one outboard. Personally I like a boat with a back up motor in case the first konks out and you are now adrift.
Take care and happy diving.
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| Riu Palace Las Americas Resort |
Lou & Pearl of Toronto |
April 2005
There is an excellent dive site here call the C58 wreck. The wreck was split in half by the hurricane. The two pieces rest about 15 metres apart, a testament to the strength of the hurricane. According to the dive masters here this is the best local dive but can also be one of the most difficult due to the often strong prevailing current. For personal safety reasons only divers with a minimum of 40 dives with drift dive experience will be brought here. Once here you enter with the BCD deflated for rapid drift descent to the ship wreck about 50 metres downstream, 25 metres below. If you do not descend quickly enough the current will carry you past the wreck completely. Once you are there the prize is the 12 pristine eagle rays that hold their position against the relatively strong current. Gloves are highly recommended on this dive to secure yourself against the strong current. Peering above deck with only my head exposed to the current, my neck muscles started to feel sore after only a few minutes in the current watching the sting rays. There are also large schools of fish for viewing with the occasional turtle sighted. For turtle viewing the better dives are the Tortugas and Green Wall reef dives in Playa del Carmen. The ascent and safety stop are also a bit tricky due to the strong current. For these reasons the dives are usually one on one and last about 30 minutes. Expect to use air quickly even though they give you 3500 psi air to start with. My dive master was Aristides a friendly, handsome, young Mexican from Mexico City. He has traveled all over Mexico and is well informed on the best places to visit in Mexico.
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| Scuba with Alison - Cozumel |
Amy and Rob - Canada |
December 2004
We're both divers and were not disappointed with Cozumel. You can go directly with the dive company offered by the resort (Dressel), but their boats look like they take out about 20 people at a time. We choose to go with Diving with Alison (www.scubawithalison.com). We e-mailed her in advance and she paired us up with others at about the same ability. She picked us up right at the resort. The boat was smaller, but the most we had was 7 divers. The price was cheaper ($70 US each for a 2 tank which included a reg and BCD) and she throws in a wetsuit if you pay with cash or travellers cheques. I'd highly recommend her to anyone. The Iberostar is located right in front of the reef, it didn't take more than 5 minutes to get to any of our dive spots. We did 3 days of 2 tank dives (Santa Rosa wall and shallow, Palancar Horseshoe, Dehlia, and Cedral Pass). Note that Cozumel is all drift diving and there is no ropes to descend. Our stongest current was at Santa Rosa shallow (but this also had the best sea life including huge turtles, moray eels, eagle rays, and parrot fish). Alison keeps a close eye on you and if you let her know you're not comfortable with the current, she can pick other spots.
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| Venta Diving - Akumal Beach Resort |
Grant ~ Canada |
March 2005
My wife and I, along with another couple just returned from a one week (February 18 - 25) holiday at the Akumal Beach Resort. We had a wonderful time. The food was good, the service very good, the beach was excellent (white crushed coral, groomed daily), weather awesome (mid-eighties F, mid-twenties C, bit windy) and the diving was superb. My wife and I snorkel though she is not keen to dive. The other couple were PADI [OWD] certified twenty years ago and but had not been diving for almost ten years. I was certified PADI [OWD] last year and have been diving every few months since then. There is adequate snorkeling off of the beach. Saw lots of small colorful fish and the local barracuda (a two-footer called 'Barry'). The bottom is white sand covered with a bit of white silt which unfortunately is easily stirred up by the waves cutting visibility to about 30'. Still, the bottom is easily seen along with the colorful shallow flora and fauna. Apparently there are turtles in the area but we did not see any while snorkeling.
We went to the on-site (Venta Diving) provider to see what was available via SCUBA in the area. We found the dive shack staff interesting and engaged. They spoke excellent English - I think one is Mexican and one is Italian. They were a bit concerned about my diving partners because of the length of time since they had last been diving and wanted them to meet the "manager." If we passed muster, they would consider taking us to the reefs without an orientation dive. We met "Alex" and he suggested a vanilla (local, shallow) orientation dive and since we are the kind of folk who follow good advice, we acquiesced.
We signed up for 5 tanks (one local orientation dive, two tanks at Cozumel, and two tanks at a cenote). Sorry I didn't save the price list but it went something like this. NOTE: With 3 tanks or more the masks, fins, wet suit and BCD are included in the costs - for fewer dives there is a modest charge. I recall we paid about $200.00 USD for the five tanks which of course includes local transportation (boat), tank, octopus, weights, and instructor/guide. There was a further $70.00 charge for transportation to Cozumel and I think $20.00 for the cenote dive. Here is a quick briefing on the dives.
The first dive (Feb. 21) was to the reef just off of the resort. The trip out, while short, was a bit choppy due to the 6' swells - as it was, we had to wait a day for the waves to settle down. There were seven divers in the twin outboard open boat - the three in our group plus an guide and two novices working on their certification plus their instructor. We dove to 45' and cruised the bottom. Lots of reef stuff, multi-colored fish, brain, fan, staghorn coral, etc. We saw a 4' manta ray, a 2' turtle and a 6' nurse shark - all within 10'. It was an entirely satisfactory dive though the wind had stirred up the bottom cutting the vis to about 60'. Apparently we behaved ourselves and Alex said he would take us to Cozumel. A word about Alex. He is Italian and speaks at least four languages (Italian, English, Spanish, French) and says he knows enough Arabic to get by on a dive. My wife says he looks like a bald-headed (he shaves his head) Brad Pitt but I must admit I didn't see that much of a resemblance. He is personable, humorous and professional - pretty much what you want in a dive master. Clearly he knows his craft and local diving conditions and has excellent connections in the diving community. He seems to be well-known wherever he goes. He made excellent arrangements and we wanted for nothing - we felt safe and had a good time.
On our second day of diving (Feb. 22) we went to Cozumel. Alex drove our group of eight to Playa del Carmen where we caught a ferry to the island. Our group comprised we four Calgarians (my wife came for the ride), a father and son (12 years old) and a husband and wife pair, the last four being from France. Alex paid for the parking, arranged for our equipment to be taken (bicycle courier) to the ferry, and led us to the docks. We took the 45 minute ferry ride across to the island. The crossing was a bit rough but, as promised, the water in the lea of the island was reasonably calm. Alex led us to a chartered dive boat (1/2 covered deck, open back, dive platform, inboard diesel engine) that had a crew of two. We headed up the coast for about 1/2 hour to a popular dive area. Alex said there are about 3000 dives a day booked in this area. We saw about 20 boats in the general area though we didn't see any other divers below. We dove the Cedral Wall and cruised at a depth of about 80' with about 100' of vis. The wall is quite something, drops off to about 400'. There is a very strong current so we just went with the flow. Didn't see a lot of large fish but lots of very colorful smaller species.
We rested for an hour or so at anchor and ate a light lunch provided by the crew. We were invited to snorkel and while in the water I watched a 6' ray fly beneath the boat. My dive partners on the boat saw its shadow against the white bottom. Our second dive was to Chan Kanaab (spelling?) and was a bit shallower, better vis and a lot of reef life including several huge lobster - made my mouth water. The ferry ride home was uneventful.
The final two dives (Feb. 24) were to a cenote (pr. se no' tay) which is an inland (freshwater) sink hole. The entire peninsula is situated on old carbonate reefs which have been eroded by underground rivers. When the rivers got too close to the surface, the ground collapses creating the cenote. A typical cenote is a hole in the ground (about 100' in diameter) with a rubble pile in the middle surrounded by slowly flowing fresh water. The water courses through elaborate caves which at one time were above sea level. The water dripping from the roof caused traditional stalactites and stalagmites. During the last ice age, the sea levels rose and most of the caves are now underwater. We dove at Cenote Dos Ojos - the name means 'two eyes' for the two holes in the ground at this site. Alex is the only Akumal Beach Resort diver certified to take people cenote diving. It requires special training and the guide must carry twin tanks (just in case). Alex is experienced at this cenote and insisted we get an early start. We were there by 08:30 and in the water by 09:00. The dive is a fascinating excursion into the cave (never deeper than 40' and mostly at 25'). The shallow depth means a long bottom time. I expect each dive lasted about 45 minutes. Alex explained that technically this was a 'cavern' dive because we were never more than 110 feet from an opening to the air vs. a 'cave' dive where God only knows how far you have to swim to get out. The route we followed was probably about 1/4 mile long and comprised a large circuit. The river system we were diving in has about 40 MILES of explored tunnels - don't even think about diving here without a certified guide. We followed a route marked with a yellow rope which never left our sight. We were given high-powered flashlights to illuminate the rooms. The visibility is astounding - I bet it was more than 300'. The Akumal Beach Resort is the closest dive shop to the cenote and Alex wanted us to be the first divers in. There is a bit of silt on the bottom and the visibility drops during the day. By the time we exited the first cenote, the parking lot had filled with about 20 vehicles and there was probably 60 divers in the cave following the same rope we had been using.
We exchanged our tanks and headed in for the second dive (to the Bat Cave). Again, wonderful sights, huge rooms, awesome vis. As we exited from the darkness, a professional diver/photographer was waiting to take our pictures. He has a 5 megapixel camera and flash and took pictures of us individually as well as a posed picture of our group (all at about 20' depth). He also took a 20 second video of us swimming up from the depths. The cost is quite reasonable ($35.00 USD) for a CD with your pictures and video along with some other pictures (unremarkable) of the caves and local wild life. I asked if he would take VISA and he said, "No sir, I am afraid this is the jungle and we don't offer that level of service" so we cobbled together enough pesos for the disc - take cash, you will be glad to have the vids to show your friends.
Well, that is a quick summary of a thoroughly wonderful diving vacation. Can't say enough about the Akumal Beach Resort and the Venta Diving group. Try to get Alex to take you out. I expect he is their top diver and he is the person they all call the Manager. By the way, the equipment is in good shape but don't panic when they say the water is cold. It is about 72 F. I am from Saskatchewan - learning to swim in June at 62 F with only a Speedo - that's cold. I found my 5 mil shorty wet suit more than adequate though my colleagues said they thought the longer suits were better for them in the cenote.
Send me an email if you want to see some of the cenote pictures. Not much use using a disposable camera in the caves unless it comes with a flash. Mine didn't have a flash so the only pictures we have were taken at the entrance by the professional.
Cheers and great diving,
ghenneberg@shaw.ca
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Puerto Rico offers diverse diving expereinces due to the continental shelf. All skill levels will enjoy coral reefs, sea walls, caves and trenches. Some areas not to miss are; Mona Island in western Puerto Rico with its walls, coral reefs and caverns (one should have a good set of sea legs as it is a 5 hour boat ride in sometimes rough water!); Fajardo & Cayo Diablo home to moray eels,barracudas, octupuses and if you are lucky you will see a manatee; Humacao You will find a plethora (nice word) of caves & tunnels. Drift diving is popular here.
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St. Eustatius is a destination that caters almost exclusively to the diving market with one of the most bio diverse marine environments in the world. It is Caribbean diving at its best. Facilities for the divers include wall dives, reef dives, lava flows, old ship wrecks, and the 350ft long C/L Charles L. Brown artificial reef. Not to mention two decompression chambers, Marine Park, Professional dive operators, nice hotels, and good restaurants....information provided by Glenn of Golden Rock Dive Center
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from the St Kitts Tourism Authority
St.Kitts offers exceptional dive sites for the novice and the die-hard diver as well. These include wrecks, reefs, walls and caves. Excursions can be arranged, through your hotel, with any of the dive operators on the island. All of the necessary gear can be purchased and/ or rented from the dive shops. Note, however, that there is no decompression chamber available.
Monkey Shoals:
Situated just off the western tip of St. Kitts’s peninsula, is home to lobsters, rays, lizard fish, and nurse sharks. Average depth is 50 feet.
Coconut Tree Reef:
This is one of the largest reefs in the area, beginning at a depth of 40 feet and plunging to nearly 200 feet. With its expanse, clear water, tremendous depth and abundant marine life, it is a good site for new and experienced divers alike.
Nags Head:
Located at the southern most tip of St. Kitts, where the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic meet. The current there is usually strong, making this a destination for experienced divers. The reef plunges into roughly 80 feet and is populated by rays, turtles, lobsters, and large reef fish.
Sandy Point:
This site has been designated a National Marine Park and offers truly world-class diving. Two of the most popular mooring sites (no anchors drooped) are Paradise Reef, a beautiful site of large coral heads with swim through canyons sloping to about 90 feet.
The Wreck of River Taw:
Taw is a 144 foot-long island freighter sunk intact in 50 feet of water. It was broken in half and the stern turned 180 degrees, providing easy swim-throughs and views directly into the hull. Skin Diver Magazine has called this, one of the twenty best wrecks in the Caribbean, but we think its one of the ten best.
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St. Lucia's clear waters and numerous spectacular reefs offer perfect diving for all diving skill levels. Anse Cochon and Anse Chastanet reefs are just couple of the many great dive locations on this beautiful island.
Scuba Review Index
Fair Helen Dive Centre - Coconut Bay Scuba St. Lucia - Anse Chastenet
| Fair Helen Dive Centre - Coconut Bay |
Canada |
March 2008
The resort will arrange for scuba diving if there are enough people interested. The dive centre is in Margot bay on the west side of the island and about 1 ¼ hrs away by cab. The cab costs $80 USD so they want at least 4 people to share the ride, it is also possible to call the dive centre (“Fair Helen Diving” ) to see if they are aware of any other divers or snorkelers in the area to share the cab with.
Fair Helen Dive Centre is a very professional organization and take safety seriously. They have two large boats for diving and snorkeling and the diving is great, lots of corals and huge variety of reef fish. Cost is about $85 for two dives and includes lunch if you book through them; the resort charges $125 including the cab fare.
Because of the long cab rides diving fills up most of the day with a 8AM pickup and normally a 4PM return.
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| Scuba St. Lucia - Anse Chastenet |
Carl |
July 2007
The dive facility was fine, much like many island dive shops I have visited. I listened in on some of the certification classes which seemed fairly well presented. The staff was great. They were very friendly. They filled my pony bottle without question. The first dive is always a check-out shore dive. to their credit, the staff requires all divers to demonstrate a mask clear and a regulator recovery. I ended up diving with the same few people every dive. They were good divers so I never got to see the true test of a dive facility, handling unskilled divers. The dive sites were decent, not great but still interesting. We saw a fair number of smallish eels and a few turtles but not much else. The coral was is decent condition. Note that like hiking the jungles, it is against the law to dive in St. Lucia without a local divemaster. The claim is that the currents are too strong so it is unsafe. Sorry. there was not a single dive with a current coming even close to many other popular places I have been. This makes it a bit of a challenge because it eliminates the open shore diving which I love so in Bonaire. Also, I dive alone a fair amount (yeah, I know). That was not possible in St. Lucia. Still, the divemasters allowed me to roam fairly freely once under water. Again, I want to commend the dive staff for being so friendly.
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| Scuba St. Lucia - Anse Chastenet |
Martin |
March 2006
I dived with Scuba St. Lucia, affiliated with the resort Anse Chastenet. It was about two weeks ago. I was on a cruise. I was picked up at our ship and went by boat to the resort and the dive operation.
The boat ride to and from the resort was delightful. The boat crew was courteous, knowledgeable, unpretentious and friendly.
Scuba St. Lucia is a high-volume operation, and I was looking for a "cattle-boat" mentality. On the contrary, I was very impressed with the personal attention, the safety and the attitude. There is a real effort to provide fun in a safe situation.
The first dive was a shore dive, and, that, too, was a red flag to me. But, it was a wonderful dive, on a very healthy reef, with numerous and varied fish and coral. My previous cruise was to Hawaii, and, with the exception of Cozumel, this was as good as any tropical dive I remember
The second dive was a boat! dive, even better than the first dive.
I am a North Atlantic diver, and I was never into photography. This time I had an underwater camera, and I took many pictures. Even with the help of my diving friends and excellent reference books and the Internet, there were many fish and creatures I could not identify.
I emailed everyone I knew, but the one place that gave me simple, accurate, instant identifications was Scuba St. Lucia. It is a wonderful dive operation, and I recommend it without reservation. I give it five stars. If you have a maximum of four stars, I give it five stars anyway.
I have been diving thirty years, I held instructor's certification for seventeen years, and I have over 1,200 dives.
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St Martina / Sint Maarten |
The divided French and Dutch island of St.Martin/Sintt Maarten offers wreck and reef diving. for all levels of experience.
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Dive Adventures - Sint maarten
Octopus Diving - St. Martin
| Octopus Diving - St. Martin |
Sean and Elizabeth |
July 2008
My Wife and i recently spent a week on the French side of St.Martin and dived with a centre called Octopus Diving. We had such a great time that i think it is only fair we write a review for them.
The diving was great, we have dived in the Red Sea but we found diving on the Local reefs extremely pleasing, the Dive guides were amazing, they pointed out some really cool turtles, stingrays, Eagle rays and on the way back from Tintamarre we even saw dolphins.
When we booked we were told that we would recieve VIP service, that started from the minute we got to the shop. Chris and Sally, the owners, take real pride in offering the best service possible to thier customers. They provided drinks and fruit on the boat, assembled our equipment, made sure we buddy checked and even helped us out of the water so we climbed back on to the boat wearing just a wetsuit. safety was excellent and they still managed to make it a really fun experience, especially as they only take 6 people on thier really cool fast boat.
We cannot thank them enough and will make sure that we tell our friends and Family back in New York what a wonderful experience we had at Octopus Diving. The website looks amazing too, this is what made us book the trip in the first place, take a look for yourself www.octopusdiving.com and you will see why.
We really hope this makes it on to your board as we strongly believe in recognizing great service.
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| Dive Adventures - Sint Maarten |
Kel and Raf ~ Canada |
February 2005
My girlfriend and I spent a week in St. Maarten (Sint Maarten in
Dutch) with the intention of scuba diving. Before leaving, we checked out the websites of dive shops nearby. We decided to go with Dive Adventures because of it's proximity to our hotel - we don't like renting cars to get around even though St Maarten is well stocked with quality, affordable car rentals.
The staff were very helpful and knew the area well. Except Mike, the boat captain, was from New York and was newly hired.
We did six dives and had brought our own equipment. Even though rental was only 5$ for a complete set of equipment, we had brought our own. I was surprised by the excellent quality of the rental equipment - even the wetsuits weren't all torn up!
One staff member was not very professional when he planned a dive to start with a strong current and swell leaving us with an extraneous and air depleting return. He should have spent one third of the tank going and two-thirds coming back. Several divers returned with a long surface dive, completely exhausted.
The following dives were better. Visibility was not superb (as compared to the Pacific or Cuba) but quite acceptable (15-20m). The variety of fish was above average with several Rays, goatfish, langoustines, squirrel and Parrot fish to name a few.
I would recommend Dive Adventures because it was not crowded (max 8 divers on a boat that holds 18), the price was fair (30-40USD), the staff fun and the shop and boat were well maintained.
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St Vincent's and other islands in the archipelago are known for their steep black coral walls, nurse sharks of the Tobago Cays and the amazing currents of Mustique.
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Karibik Divers - 1
| Karibik Divers |
Patrick ~ Canada |
February 2006
My first experience scuba diving, was staying at Decameron Marazul and met a guy who was there for his third trip and suggested Karibik Divers with Werner Koster located in town. It was about 10 minute taxi ride from Marazul resort, which was paid for by the dive shop. they had a place to hang your suit and store equipment and fresh water. I paid about $75 for 2 dives in a day plus small lunch and the taxi rides.
I went and took a mini course one afternoon and dove at a spot called Le Pyramide on the east side of the island, followed by two more days with 2 days a day. Went to four spots on the west side of the island Reggae nest, Bajo Bonito, Velerito and El Padi.
I knew I was hooked right away. Werner was a very good instructor and made me feel comfortable at all times, and pointed out lots ! of things to see. We dove as deep as 25 meters. The visibility was incredible, I felt like I could see forever. We saw many types of fish and wildlife most of which I don't know, saw several small to medium size barracuda, a scorpion fish, a ray, and one man saw a small gray reef shark, an eel and on the way back from the dive some flying fish.
All in all a great time. I would highly recommend Werner and San Andres Island for diving and a vacation.
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In Tobago drift diving is popular and divers of all skill levels will experience some great dives. The most popular are Crown Point, Speyside and St. Giles.
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Lonely Planet Diving & Snorkeling Turks & Caicos 
The Turk Islands: The best dive location on the Turk islands is wall diving on Grand Turk. 250 yards from shore the wall has excellent visibility with all sorts of marine life from manta rays to hawksbill turtles.
The Caicos Islands: Some of the best diving sites are around Provo and the West Caicos islands. There is some wreck diving here as well as marine life such as giant spider crabs, nurse sharks and giant elephant ear sponges.
Scuba Review Index
Flamingo Divers
| Flamingo Divers |
Kyle and Yvone - Annapolis, MD |
June 2005
Have you ever been on dive boats with what seems like a hundred people? You are one of the crowd, just another dollar? Flamingo Divers might not have the newest, shiniest boats, but they offer so much more. Lynn, Wayne and Carol have enough knowledge of diving and the surrounding waters, they could make their own documentary. In fact, their pictures and writing have been published. That alone should speak volumes about their credibility. They offer a personalized service with safety at the top of the list. Their genuine care for the underwater environment is evident. The type of divers who maximize your experience while making certain you are truly cared for. When choosing a site, they consider all factors…..visibility, current, winds, skill level and most of all crowds or lack thereof rather.
We were never pressured. We were able to go at our own pace and our numerous questions were always answered with patience. Plus, they did everything but breathe for us! Very accommodating. And the reef life was spectacular, the walls beautiful. We saw everything from flying gunnards to several reef sharks! Eagle rays, turtles, jacks, spades, grouper ….all in abundance. So many dives you “might-maybe-sort of” catch a glimpse of a larger animal. Here, they are common. All this in only 6 dives. Were we just lucky? Who knows? Four dives off West Caicos and two off French Cay and ALL were outstanding. And the fish seem less shy.
Maybe just the imagination, but after floating perfectly still for several seconds, even the most timid of creatures, a turtle, decided to investigate” up close and personal Truly humbling. You'll realize soon enough that you’ve stumbled upon a bit of heaven. Enjoy!
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Diving & Snorkeling U.S. Virgin Islands - Lonely Planet
St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas offer some of the best dive spots in the Caribbean. Cane Bay Reef, Davis Bay and Salt River Bay are popular diving spots on St. Croix, known for the 13,000-foot deep sub-sea canyon and steep diving walls. The waters of the Pillsbury Sound between St. Thomas and St. John offer several popular shipwrecks, encrusted with brightly colored sponges and coral. On the northwest point of St. John, large boulder and rock formations such as Carvel Rock and Congo Cay offer interesting dive opportunities through unusual coves at varying depths.
Scuba Review Index
Blue Island Divers - St. Thomas
Scubawest - Frederiksted, St. Croix
| Scubawest - Frederiksted, St. Croix |
John & Sally |
June 2005
My wife Sally and I spent a week diving with Scubawest, out of Frederiksted, St. Croix. They ran a first class dive operation, providing invaluable knowledge of the reefs, wrecks, walls, and fabulous Frederiksted Pier. They were very relaxed and flexible, allowing us to decide what type of sites we wanted to dive each day. We never went to the "scheduled" site, but were given several choices to choose from each day. We were never crowded on a boat full of divers, and were very impressed by the fact that of the divers that joined us, most were local divers who said they wouldn't dive with anyone else on the island.
The diving was fantastic! We spent over an hour every day, just diving the old pier, where we saw turtles, seahorses, spotted drums, French grunts, green moray and spotted eels, octopus, and many other species of fish. We also dove the wrecks, walls, and reefs, all within a single day of diving. On one of our last dives, a juvenile humpback whale surfaced within a boat length of our boat. It was an unforgettable experience.
Scubawest also arranged to have my defective regulator repaired, and loaned me a replacement regulator, all at no cost. I would highly recommend Scubawest for a relaxed, knowledgeable, flexible, and fun dive vacation on the island of St. Croix.
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| Blue Island Divers - St. Thomas |
webgypsy |
November 2004
I obtained my PADI Open Water Certification with Blue Island Divers, and they couldn't have been better instructors! There were only 3 of us in the group, we received all the personal attention that we needed to overcome any difficulties we each had. I have since dived with several other outfits on other Caribbean islands & on STT, & I've come back to dive with Blue Island again. Despite the fact that STT doesn't necessarily have the most spectacular reefs, I always have the best experiences with BID - their divemasters know all the local reefs & wrecks inside out (just have a look at their website!), and with typically small groups we always get maximum bottom time on a dive. They also offer some excellent value packages with small hotels & B&B's on STT.
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Most of the local diving takes place in Mochima Park. From beginner to experienced, all skill levels will enjoy diving in this 32 island paradise called Mochimo Park. Wrecks and cave diving are just a couple of the attractive diving opportunities.
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Protect the Coral Reef
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Coral reefs face an increasingly uncertain future, snorkelers and other coral reef visitors can play an important role in helping to protect these fragile habitats.
Please go to: The Coral Reef Alliance for more information.
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