Scuba Diving - Keywest, Freeport, Nassau

[Guthrie]

We are Carnival cruising in May to Key West, Freeport, and Nassau. We are hoping to dive a wreck in Freeport. But as of now, we aren't having much luck.

Our cruise doesn't offer a dive excursion. So, we must go outside the cruise line to book a dive.

We port in Freeport at 8am and depart at 5pm.

 

Grand Bahamas Scuba doesn't have a dive that will works with our port schedule.

 

Unexso has a 9am dive, but we will have to be at their facility by 8:30. Talking to the lady on the phone today, she's not sure we can make it to the facility by the 8:30 meeting. They do not offer transportation from the cruise port.

 

If you have dove with another dive op in the Bahamas, or have any other info that might help us, please, we'd love to hear from you.

[Guthrie]

I'm bringing this thread back to life with a small update.

 

We booked our dive with Stuart Coves in Nassau.

We are doing the 2 tank morning dive with them on May 9.

 

Anyone with any reviews?

We'd love to hear about your experience.

[audcc77]

http://www.calabashecoadventures.com

 

I have been on 10+ cruises and this is by far the best company ever.

 

See the reviews on Trip Advisor. It is ranked 5 out of 5.

 

Good luck.

[Slopfrog]

When I was there last year, I booked through RCI and it was Stuart Cove's. The price, through the cruise line, was pretty steep at $175. The boats were good and the dives pretty good. We did a wreck dive where there were three different ships all together in like 60'... Well if you swim another hundred yards away you end up over a wall that the dive master didn't tell us about. I broke off the group and went over there. Pretty amazing how deep and dark it was. Ask the dive master before the dive and be sure to check it out if you end up at that spot.

 

Anyways, Stuart Cove's is completely on the other side of the island and it takes a pretty long time to get there and back. On the way back they will stop at a bunch of hotels along the way to let people off. Cruise ships are the last stop. If your cruise line is booking through Stuart Cove's AND someone on the ship has booked it through the cruise line, they will wait for the shuttle (and by extension, you), otherwise you do run the risk of not making it back. I don't remember exactly, but we got back maybe around 4 pm? It wasn't too much longer before the ship was leaving port, I know that.

 

Also, bring some extra cash. In addition to a tip for the divemaster or boat operator, save several bucks for a hot dog and a coke that they have there. It takes awhile to board the shuttle back, and believe me... You'll want that hot dog.

[Guthrie]

Slopfrog, thanks for the info.

We've booked the 2 tank A.M. Dive.

From the website, the estimated times are from 9-12.

Surely, we can get back to the cruise ports in 4hrs. Right?

[Guthrie]

Slopfrog, thanks for the info.

We've booked the 2 tank A.M. Dive.

From the website, the estimated times are from 9-12.

Surely, we can get back to the cruise ports in 4hrs. Right?

[Guthrie]

Sorry for the double post.

[beargrass1]

Good choice to go with Stuart Cove's. They are a first class operation. I use them each time I visit Nassau. The ride can be long depending on traffic it can be as long as 45 minutes. I see that you are in Nassau from 7AM - 5PM, that is a great time for a morning dive and you will be back at the dock sometime between 1PM -2PM. Remember you are in the Bahamas, they take it a little slower there. Be at the pickup point by 7:30 AM, I know the wed site says 7:45, but I have seen the bus arrive at 7:35AM and be as late as 7:55AM.:)

I hope you have a great dive.

[Guthrie]

Beargrass1, thank you so much for the info & encouragement. I can't wait!

[Guthrie]

I think the one thing I'm most nervous about is "Ship Time" vs "Local Time" on our arrival.

 

I've talked to Stuart Coves a couple of times & they have told me that the arrival times are the same & will work out.

But the more I read here, it seems our 7am arrival is 8:00 their time.

Which means I'll miss the bus.

SO, I guess I'll just stress till I actually get there & see that pink & white van. Or not!

[beargrass1]

Nassau is in the same time zone Miami and they are also on daylight savings time.

[Guthrie]

Just a quick update, if anyone comes here looking.

 

If you're cruising:

Nassau is on Eastern time.

We sailed out of New Orleans, on Central time zone.

We sailed Carnival Conquest.

 

We dove Stuart Coves:

Their bus picks up at the port, but picks up on Eastern time.

Luckily, their bus was running late. Also, a "port hand" called Stuart Coves for us & told them we were there, waiting for them.

The bus ride is about 45mins.

We stopped at 4 different hotels to pick up other divers, on the way.

 

Stuart Coves is a great place. They've got some really nice people working there.

 

We did a two tank A.M. dive.

Boat was named Youngdom.

10 people on our boat.

7 divers, a DM, a pro photographer who worked for Stuart Coves & snapped pics of us while diving, & the Captain.

 

Our first dive was about a 10 minute boat ride.

Bridgewater was the name of the dive site.

The dive master, Julian, led us on this dive.

This is a wall dive on an awesome reef.

We dropped down to about 45' & made our way over the edge of the wall that drops to 6500' (that's the depth we were told at the briefing).

We dropped down the wall to 80'.

Made our way parallel to the wall. Lots of fish & marine life to see here.

Photos are taken over the wall.

 

The dive here lasted close to an hour.

 

After about a 30 minute surface interval, & a 5 minute boat ride, we were ready for our second dive.

 

Our second dive was on the BBC Wreck.

 

A shallow wreck dive.

The wreck is a small tug boat.

Photos will be taken here.

It's shallow at around 35' - 45'.

The wreck is resting on white sand.

Just off the stern of the wreck, is a huge reef with tons of marine life.

 

The visibility was well over 50' as of 5-9-13.

 

A great dive operator.

 

Highly recommended.

I would dive with them again today if given the chance.

 

Hope this helps someone else along the way.