Diving Grand Turk

[iwhitley]

Does anyone know what dive operation Carnival uses on Grand Turk?

[G.C]

The three times we have been there with CCL they used Oasis Divers.

[iwhitley]

Thanks

[2wallace]

Here is a vote for Oasis. My DSs and I (12 & 15 at the time) dove with them last year. Great service, never felt rushed, and great diving! We did it through the cruise ship (Carnival) and was very pleased.

[092306]

Oasis Divers was a great experience. I can't wait till me Carnival Splendor cruise. Im going diving with them again and man I can't wait.

 

I wrote a review on Carnival website, under the excursion page. Look up GT, and you will see the certified scuba. ITS DEFINITLY WORTH IT

[iwhitley]

Okay, now that I know who Carnival uses I have a few more questions that you might be able to answer for me.

 

I have a couple different experience level divers that will be going along with us. Does the Dive operator break up the into different experience level groups? My wife would only like to do a shallow reef dive. So she is kind of worried about getting stuck on a Deep dive. Plus I will have a daughter that will have very limited experience.

 

Also how is the gear? We are driving to the departure port so I am thinking about taking gear. At least Mask, Fins, Snorkel so we can use them on Half Moon Cay.

[092306]

Their gear was first rate. I had used a BCD that looked brand new. all of their gear was top notch and looked really well cared for.

 

As far as the experience levels, basically they will do whatever. If you only want to do shallow dives, they will do it. When I went Craig (DM) said its your dive. I'll dive with you, I just show you where to go.

 

they went over the depth limits and safety stops, but if you all want to stay shallow I don't think they will have a problem with that.

 

Email them and tell them your concerns. I think they will definitely cater to you if need be.

 

Having said all this, I will tell you when I went with them, my group consisted of myself and 1 other diver. 2 total.

 

Hope this helps

[G.C]

They take everyone on the same boat and you`ll be in a single group. The spot they dive first is a wall they will not go beyond 60' the wall itself goes down about 800'. If you tell the dive master I`m sure they would have no problem with you staying overhead on the top of the wall around 40'. The second dive is a shallow reef dive 30-45'. This is a typical cruise group dive bottom time will be short due to lots of new divers. Expect 30-40 minutes of dive time.

[dot73]

Below are my comments on diving in GT that I have previously posted

 

My first dive in Grand Turk was with Blue Water and it was good but $150 was a bit steep. On my last cruise with HAL, I went with the ship's excursion which used Oasis Divers. Frankly, I enjoyed Oasis better. First of all, we met the Oasis people on the dock and we walked over to their board. We were divided into small groups (6 each) according to our experience. For those of us who needed equipment, it was either already on the boat or was brought over from their shop. The dive master in my group was excellent and was very patient and helpful with us fairly new divers. The boats split up and went to different sites so there were no crowds and we were able to get off and on the boats very quickly. Water and soft drinks were provided on board. Next time I am in Grant Turk, I will take the ship's excursion again as I was very pleased with Oasis. BTW, diving the wall in Grand Turk is a great experience.

[LocoLoco1]

DOT73. Hi. We will be on GrankTurk next week on a HAL ship. Question: My wife loves to snorkel...but doesn't SCUBA...any chance Oasis would let her pay the standard dive charge but just 'snorkel' near the dive boat while we others SCUBA below?? Let's assume Oasis has enough crew and I don't care about the $cost$ factor. I E-mailed Oasis twice..still no reply.

What do you think?? Locomotiveman TOMandPEGGY

[G.C]

I doubt they would allow that. I am sure given where they go and the depth she would she very little beside the pontoon boat they use. Their mooring bouy is over spot that has bare sand bottom under the boat.

[GuyGTGirl]

Email Dale at oasisdiv@tciway.tc and I know she will be happy to answer your questions. I do know that you should tell the divers exactly what you expect to do when you meet them and get their feedback..but overall the guys are great and they will set you at ease.

[dot73]

I would suggest that your wife take the ship's snorkel tour, which I believe is also run by Oasis. The dive sites are deep and she may not be able to see much while snorkelling. The guys on the boat, except for one, all go down with the divers, so she would snorkel on her own, which is not a good idea.

[stlouistravelers]

do they have weight belts or weight bags

[2wallace]

do they have weight belts or weight bags

 

Weight belts :)

[Lefty Writer]

Interesting that I just saw this post. I just confirmed booking with Grand Turk Diving when we are there in December.

 

DW and I prefer using private dive operators whenever we can. Since we are doing a B2B, one week on the Liberty and the next week on the Breeze, I've been busy nailing down dive ops for both cruises.

 

Living so close to Galveston, we normally cruise out of there and take all of our gear (except tanks and weights, of course). This time, though, even flying from HOU to FLL, we are still taking our own gear. I have everything set up just the way I want it, and the only mouth my regulator has been in, is mine. That, plus the fact I have a custom fitted SeaCure mouthpiece, is just one of many reasons I like using my own regs. Since I have a hose mounted AI computer, it wouldn't be feasible to rent regs, either.

 

Yeah, it's more stuff to lug around, and yes, it does take up a bit of room in our cabin, but it's a small price to pay to dive in really awesome places with your own gear.

[Laurie S.]

I wouldn't do it any other way, too. I've never dived with anything but my own gear right from my very first pool dive.