To Dive or Not to Dive??

[dirvin0500]

We will be on a cruise with 5 stops. The first stop is Barbados. Is it a good dive spot? We are more into reefs than wrecks. Can someone suggest a good operator?

[TOlson70]

Dove with Barbados Blue based out of Carlise Bay in February. They share the parking lot with the Hilton. Good guys. Various dive sites. We did wrecks, but reefs would be nice too.

 

Andre and G are who I dove with. Very professional yet fun dive masters.

 

Contact Info:

Scuba Diving

10:00 am, 12:00 pm, 2:00 pm

 

(246) 434-5764

http://www.divebarbadosblue.com

 

 

 

 

 

From their site:

Coral Reefs

2. OLD FORT: Off Needhams Point ~30ft – 90ft ~ Shallow barrier reef with lots of small fish life. Cannon balls and antique bottles can be found on this drift dive.

 

3. THE DEEP: Break off from Castle Bank ~ 60ft – 130ft ~ Deep drift dive, good for photography with lots of fish life.

 

4. LOBSTER REEF: Off Drill Hall ~ 30ft – 80ft ~ This inner reef can be done in combination with the wreck Friar’s Craig. Great drift dive with lots of marine life with occasional sightings of stingrays.

 

6. CASTLE BANK: Off Drill Hall ~ 50ft – 120ft ~ A barrier reef with a slow drop off on either side, great for macro photography (lots of barracudas).

 

7. FORK REEF: Off Hastings ~60ft – 120ft ~ A barrier reef with a drop off on both sides of the reef. Lots of barracudas, snapper and cavalee may be seen on this reef.

 

8. PIECES OF EIGHT: Hastings ~40ft – 60ft ~ This drift dive is good for photography with lots of fish and marine life

 

9. ACCRA : Off Rockley Beach ~ 20’ – 60’ ~ Shallow reef dive good for novice divers and photographers. Regular sightings of large schools of Bermuda Chubs on this dive.

 

10. CARIBBEE REEF: Off Caribbee Hotel ~ 60’ – 120’ ~ Barrier reef great dive for all types of photography, lots of marine life. A drift dive.

 

11. BOOT: Off Sandy Beach ~ 40’ – 80’ ~ Nice drift dive, lots of turtles to be seen on this dive, regular sightings of Eagle Rays. Good marine life, small derelict Coast Guard boat sunk here.

 

12. THE MUFF: Off Worthing ~ 60’ – 130’ ~ Virgin reef, great fish life (horse-eyes, blackjacks and barracudas) excellent for photography. Home of the famous sponge.

 

13. MOUNT CHARLIE: Off Dover ~ 70’ – 120’ ~ Deep reef dive, outer barrier reef, lots of marine life, turtles, snapper, horseye, and barracuda. An excellent dive for photography.

 

14. HIGHWIRE: Off Dover ~ 70’ – 120’ ~ This reef is between Mount Charlie and Close Encounters. There are underwater cables that are suspended over this reef. Plenty of small creatures can be found good location for photography.

 

15. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Off Dover ~ 40’ – 80’ ~ Inner reef that is good for feeding fish and interacting with stingrays, lots of marine life. This reef also has underwater cables passing over it.

 

16. BOTTLE GROUND: Carlisle Bay ~ 45’ – 100’ ~ This area was anchorage for wooden sailing vessels and the bottom is littered in 18th & 19th century bottles. You get to keep what you find. Lots of interesting marine life can be found here.

 

17. CLARKES BANK: Off Brighton Beach ~ 30’ – 130’ ~ Good dive site, lots of horse-eye, eels & barracudas. Location of the Atlantis Submarine Dives, you may even get to see the Submarine on some dives.

 

19. PAYNES BAY: Off Fitts Village ~ 30’ – 50’ ~ Shallow patch reef, good for novices. This reef has big coral heads, lots of small tropical fish, usually done after Victors or Stavronikita as a second dive.

 

20. VICTORS: Off Fitts Village ~ 50’ – 120’ ~ This reef is located on the outer side of the Stavronikita. One of the more underrated reefs in Barbados not dived on very often. Soft and hard corals combine to make this site very different.

 

21. DOTTINS: Off Holetown ~ 40’ – 100’ ~ This is a very popular reef, it has beautiful corals, barracuda, bar jacks, yellowtails and turtles can be found regularly on this dive. You can dive this site on more than one occasion and not be tired of it. One of the more popular of the dive sites on the west coast.

 

22. SANDY LANE: Off Sandy Lane Hotel ~ 70’ – 140’ ~ Barracuda and other small tropical fish are found on this reef. Lobsters can also be found but they are usually hiding in the reef.

 

23. JOHNSONS: Off Paynes Bay ~ 70’ – 80’ ~ A typical west coast reef, well worth a dive as the corals remain as beautiful as ever harboring all the small reef creatures often missed when you are concentrating on not missing bigger fish. Abundant with soft corals, barrel sponges, tube sponges, and a large variety of schooling tropical fish, barracudas, turtles, parrot fish, and much more. Very consistent conditions make this a popular dive site.

 

24. EAST COAST: Consett Bay to Bathsheba ~ 30’ – 130’ ~ On the Atlantic side of the island, there are about ten (10) different sites available depending on the weather conditions as seas are usually rough. Best times are in the summer months. Plenty of big fish including sharks can be seen here.

[dirvin0500]

Thanks. You may have been on the cruise we're going on next Feb. I'll look into them. It's always nice to have recommendations. Did you dive any other stops on your cruise?

[TOlson70]

I wish I had dove St. Lucia, heard good things about diving near the Pitons. Snorkeled there and it was awesome, lots of coral and sea life.

 

Our cruise was Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Maarten, and St Croix. Is yours the same? It's a great trip. Have a blast!

[dirvin0500]

That's the exact cruise. We just got off the other side of that loop (Curacao, Aruba, Dominica, and St Thomas). We dove all 4 islands and had a great time. Trying to figure out whether to dive all 5 islands next Feb or not.

[TOlson70]

Barbados and St Lucia were the recomendations I was given by other divers, I could only do one, my wife doesnt dive, and I didn't want to desert her two days in a row, so went with Barbados.

[GeneHunter]

... I could only do one, my wife doesnt dive, and I didn't want to desert her two days in a row....

 

I let my my husband dive at every port he wants. If he likes the dive and what he sees underwater, there's a week vacation for both of us. Win - win.

[TOlson70]

I let my my husband dive at every port he wants. If he likes the dive and what he sees underwater, there's a week vacation for both of us. Win - win.

 

I understand, this was our first vacation together without the kids, so we wanted to spend some time doing excursions together, otherwise I would have dove every day.

[Island.Hopper]

:) We're glad we did it, just to say we've ticked that box, it's not something you do everyday.

The crew are a good laugh:D

[callen729]

That's the exact cruise. We just got off the other side of that loop (Curacao, Aruba, Dominica, and St Thomas). We dove all 4 islands and had a great time. Trying to figure out whether to dive all 5 islands next Feb or not.

 

 

 

Do you know who you dove with in Aruba and St Thomas? We are looking to dive on our Oct cruise.

 

Thanks

 

 

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