Date dove: 12/06
Booked through ship? Not this time. If you book online you will be asked which ship you are arriving on. They cannot book you direct if you are sailing on some ships, due to their agreements with the cruiselines.
Operator: Stuart Cove's
http://www.stuartcove.com/
Air Temp: 80° F
Water Temp: 77° F
Vis: 40-50 ft.
Return factor? Definitely. We have made this stop many times over the years on ships and have talked at length about booking a condo to stay for a week. Stuart Cove's picks up at various locations, so transportation would be easy, and of course, flights to and from the island are relatively cheap.
Information about the island:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nassau%2C_Bahamas
Stuart Cove's knows how to run a dive operation. Their facility is clean, well stocked with quality rental gear, diver supplies, food and beverage, and souvenirs. The staff is always friendly and helpful. They have enough boats to handle divers from three to four ships at the same time with ease. And most important, it is obvious that safety is an important part of the operation. You can print out your paperwork in advance on their website, which also saves time.
But how's the diving you ask? Great! On this trip we dove the Sea Viking and the Will Laurie on the first dive and the Treasure on the second dive. The sharks were with us on the second dive, but both dives offered plenty to see in terms of marine life. Because they feed the sharks, I think there are several locations at which you might be visited by a few, but if you want to really get up close and personal with them opt for the Shark Adventure, which you can book yourself online, rather than booking through your ship.
On this particular trip we too this photo of a Red Lion fish which doesn't belong in the Caribbean. The research we did indicated that populations of them are increasing.
Though Nassau doesn't rank highly on most people's WOW diving destinations, we like it because cruises to the Bahamas are cheap and scheduled so that we can squeeze one into our schedule without it being a full blown dive vacation. We also have really enjoyed our dives with Stuart Cove's. Without that operation factored in, we might not be as thrilled with the diving here.
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