Blue Water Divers Snorkeling Trip-Highlight of Our Trip

[lakehouse6009]

I have lived and travelled all over the world and this snorkeling trip was incredible. My husband and two teenage boys haven't travelled as much and to them, this was the most amazing experience in their lives. We are so grateful that we decided to go with Blue Water Divers and not with a trip planned by the cruise line. Let me say that this was a terrific deal; a little less than half of the cruise line cost and with so much more value. The owner was easy to get in touch with and quick with the communication either by email or phone. Blue Water specializes in diving, but Daniel (our guide) took the four of us snorkeling on our own small boat. While we went to the different spots to snorkel, we passed the groups from the cruise and there were SO many people crammed into a tight spot, I don't know how they could have seen anything but other people's legs. Not only did Daniel take us to amazing locations, but he gave us great background and instruction as well as helping to keep an eye on our two boys. The coral and plant life was beautiful and we saw a ton of fish on our quest for the sea turtles Daniel told us about. The color of the water and the ocean scenery is really something you have to see to believe; it is breathtaking. The truly incredible sight was "The Wall" where the bottom just drops out from under you and you can't even attempt to see the ocean floor that was there a second before. This is one of THE SPOTS in the world for scuba divers and despite the fact that we were only snorkeling, it was great to actually have been there. We can't say enough about the beauty of water and sea life in Grand Turk, but what made it really special for us was Blue Water Divers.

 

-This is not for the novice swimmer or really young children.

-http://grandturkscuba.com/

 

Email me is you have specific questions.

[bruce-r]

Email me is you have specific questions.

 

How do you suggest someone do that?

[texancruzer]

We were also recently on Grand Turk (Eurodam Thanksgiving cruise) and did a dive with Blue Water Divers.

 

This was truly an amazing dive. The wall is so close to the shore....... reef begins in @ 30 ft. near the edge and then it just drops out...... to 8000 feet :eek: We stayed above 60' and had a great time !

 

Blue Water was wonderful to work with (thank you Audrey !) and I can highly recommend them without any hesitation.

[Born2go]

We did a snorkle trip on Friday with Blue Water Divers and can't say enough good things about them. We emailed ahead of time, booked and had very prompt communication with Audrey. We had the boat to ourselves. Besides taking in some great snorkle sights, we also came upon several dolphins playing about. Our guide, Jessie, got the boat ahead of them, we slipped in the water and they swam around us. It was awesome, probably one of those "only once in a lifetime" experiences for me.

 

Why in the world someone would want to take the cruise ships snorkle excursion and flap about with 30 or 40 other people is beyond comprehension to me!

[Mary Ellen1]

We snorkeled with them on Nov. 27, and it was unbelievable! We, too had the boat to ourselves. They had 2 other groups of divers who went on other boats, but DH & me were the only snorkelers that day, and Mitch took us out in his boat. It was absolutely wonderful, and we saw a shark, turtles, and a barracuda, as well as lots of fish. The Wall is amazing!

 

Go with Blue Water Divers -- you won't be sorry.

 

Mary Ellen

[carters4usm]

My DH and our 2 teenagers will be in Grand Turk in June and thinking of booking a snorkeling trip with Blue Water. Would you recommend this for novice snorklers? Guess we are all decent swimmers, but want to make sure it wouldn't be too intimidating, especially for a 14 year old.

[texancruzer]

Absolutely.

 

The staff there is very careful with those who are novices.

[jambnett]

We are planning to be first time cruisers (Feb. 2010) :), with 4 hour port visit to Grand Turk. It looks like this short stop has the best diving. We have inexperienced 9 and 11 year olds, that would probably like snorkeling. The planned ship excursions look to be about 2 hours and snorkeling running about $50, with register early, fills fast notices. This gives the appearance of crowded touristy activity. Comments about Blue Waters Divers look interesting, would we have enough time? How should we get there and back? We don't want to get left by cruise. What about cost? :confused:

[texancruzer]

4 hours is plenty of time. Grand Turk is like 6 miles long by 1.5 miles wide. You can run from one side to the other in nothing flat.

 

That said, once off the ship (you will be amazed how close it gets to the shore !!!! :eek:) head to the taxi stand. Once there request a taxi that will take you immediately to the Blue Water Dive shop. Most taxis will want to take multiple fares (more people) and will want to wait to fill up. We told them we were in a hurry so it was just us.......same price. Took about 5 minutes to get there.

 

Depending on which snorkle you choose, you will be done in plenty of time to stop for some conch on the way back ;) We did. Our dive guide actually let us off on the beach near the ship instead of going all the way back to the original location near the dive shop. We were actually never out of sight of the ship as many of the dive/snorkle locations are just right there all along the wall drop off. It was an amazing dive ! Hope the snorkeling is as good :D

 

I would suggest you email Audrey and inquire as to times, length and cost. Just google Blue Water Divers Grand Turk

[maggieworkman]

My mom doesn't snorkle (won't put her face in the water). But could she stay on the boat and enjoy the ride while the rest of us snorkle? She did this when we went to Grand Cayman. And the helpers even brought up a starfish for her to hold and held a stingray up for her to see.

 

And my niece has never snorkled before but can swim.

 

Do you think this is something we can do? DH really wants to snorkle.

 

Maggie

[topspot]

I don't know the answer to your question, but here is a link to their website. You can e-mail them directly and they will answer your questions.

www.grandturkscuba.com

 

 

There is also a blow up float with a clear plastic scetion so one can see what the snorklers see without sticking your face in the water. I saw it on another thread. If I find a link for that, I'll post it here for you.

[topspot]

There is also a blow up float with a clear plastic scetion so one can see what the snorklers see without sticking your face in the water. I saw it on another thread. If I find a link for that, I'll post it here for you.

 

Here is a picture of what I was trying to describe. It might come in handy if the person who doesn't want to put their face in the water would get in the water and stay on the "surfboard" and look through the smaller rectangular section which is clear. They would be able to see some of the marine life.

Inflatable Surfboard

 

Inflatable Surfboard with Full Color Printing, Made of PVC or ATBC

[texancruzer]

Just so you know...... from the beach out to the reef there is nothing but sandy bottom. Not much to see. Then the reef varies in width out to the drop off (the wall) that goes down 8000 feet. The reef depth varies from about 30-40 feet so I am not sure anyone would see much looking through the window on a raft such as that. If your Mom won't put her face in the water - I'm not sure she would want to be floating on an inflatable raft in 40 feet of water in the ocean either....... just something else to think about.

[maggieworkman]

That float is neat. Do they have one of those on this excursion or would I need to buy one and bring it with me.

 

Mom will get in the water but she won't stick her face in the water. She might like to just flap around in the water with the float, even if she can't see much.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I will ask her what she thinks.

 

Maggie

[topspot]

You would have to bring one, and I would also ask them at Blue Water Divers if they thought it would be useful. They may recommend not using this. Just thought it would be something to give your mother a small example of what the snorkelers were seeing.:)

[Putterdude]

We did a snorkel excursion with BWD last week and I would just like to add that we were extremely happy with them. There were 4 of us, all CC's from the Grand Princess and Mitch took us out on a "snorkel" only excursion. Both Mitch and Audrey are great people and I would expect to use them again next year when we are back.

[tjschwalm]

We are on the Grand Princess Jan 3 2011 Next Jan . Just wonderin how long the tour was and if there is opportunity to beach it a little in the 12pm - 6pm

port times . Thanks !! Ted

[Mary Ellen1]

Hi Ted. We tooka snorkel tour with them in November, and there would have been plenty of time to go to the beach afterwards. The snorkel tour was approx. 2 hours long, and it leaves right from a beach near their dive shop. You return to the same beach, so you could either stay there (quiet) or head back to the port area where there's another beach area (with bars, loungers, umbrellas, and 3000 of your new best friends from the ship).

 

Have fun!

Mary Ellen

[Putterdude]

We are on the Grand Princess Jan 3 2011 Next Jan . Just wonderin how long the tour was and if there is opportunity to beach it a little in the 12pm - 6pm

port times . Thanks !! Ted

 

The tour is two hours and costs currently $40 which includes gear if you don't have your own. You take a cab from the port facility to their dive shop that is located across the street from the Osprey Beach Hotel (about a 6 min drive) which costs $5 pp each way. They like to run the tours from about 12:30 or 1:00 so you will have lots of time for the beach or the pool at the terminal facility.

[ninkb]

Just returned from Noordam's stop in Grand Turk. Jessie and Audrey did a wonderful job with our CC group of snorkelers. They were ready and able. We went to the wall, then to a more shallow reef, then to the artificial reef near the dock where the Noordam was waiting for us. Instead of taking a taxi back to the ship, we simply walked on the beach and saved part of the cab fare we planned to spend. Audrey took me to look for Diet Coke before we met Jessie and the boat. They did everything they could to please us. It was a wonderful experience and I highly recommend them to you.

[med2cruise]

I was just looking at Blue Waters this weekend for a snorkeling trip for 10 of us on the Miracle. This sounds awesome! I am so glad to hear so many great reviews.

 

I love cruise critic as it has been so helpful planning excursions for our 3 cruises. We have visited over 15 different ports in over 12 different countries and have only used the cruise line excursions once and that was because of a last minute decision.

 

Karen

[LynnAnne]

Would like to do this snorkle in Feb. We are kindof new at this. Questions?? Are their boats easy on and off?? I'm overweight and 58 and wonder how the ladder is. How do we get in touch with them ?? When your at the wall do you have to go down really far?? Thanks, Lynn Anne