Nassau recomendations

My next cruise stops in Nassau on Oasis. The time there is short. Any diving recomendations for a dive company or site? My non-diving wife will probably come along with me and stay on the boat. We have both been to Nassau many times, so port wise this is the best one to dive for me, since its just the two of us this cruise.

I was on Oasis at Nassau a couple years ago. I'd recommend the ship's dive there, because of the driving distance that's involved. They use Stuart's Cove and I had a couple awesome dives with them. And, I rarely use the ship's dive excursion.

see this page buried on the Stuart Cove web site dealing specifically with servicing cruise folks . . .

http://www.stuartcove.com/DiveBahamasMgmt.aspx?id=2&pageId=51

Stuart Cove's Aqua Adventures is contractually bound with HAL to provide diving, snorkeling and SUB experiences; with Disney for 2-tank dives: and with Royal Caribbean for 2-tank dives and SUB experiences to some of their ships when they visit Nassau.

I was on Oasis at Nassau a couple years ago. I'd recommend the ship's dive there, because of the driving distance that's involved. They use Stuart's Cove and I had a couple awesome dives with them. And, I rarely use the ship's dive excursion.

Thank you, I"ll remember that. I did a ships dive last week on Freedom at Grand Caymen. It was with the Don Foster location. Nice people and equipment, but all I had time for was a 1 tank shore dive because our friends that my wife would have went with canceled. The reef there was bleak and almost lifeless.

Nassau: “Snorkel Bahamas Adventure” is a 5-½ hour trip operated by Stuart’s Cove. On a previous excursion I went on the impressive Athol Island snorkel. This Stuart’s Cove outing surpassed all of my previous experiences, including Athol Island. The boat trip is @ three hours, and visits Schoolhouse Reef, the spectacular Golden Key Reef and finally a “swim with the sharks” at ‘The Wreck of the Bahama Mama’. I have never before witnessed such a number and variety of fish as at Golden Key. There are never-ending fish, large and small, singly and in large schools. The floor is decorated with huge, magnificent coral formations of all shapes and sizes. While there, a shark cruised past our group. He obviously thought this was his ocean and didn’t know, nor care, that we weren’t scheduled for a shark encounter until after Golden Key. Surprisingly, getting in with a dozen or so sharks is not frightening. I suspect we were too caught up with their grace and magnificence to be scared. The crew drops a bait bucket on the bottom, about fifteen to twenty feet deep. We float above them, watching the sharks feed. Best of all is when we return to the boat. A crew member baits the end of a metal pole holding it in the air over the aft end. The sharks leap up to grab the treat. It's amazing how graceful they are. The sharks, not the crew members.

This is a five star, gold medallion trip!

From my Nassau second dive:

Oh, THAT shark! heh, heh, heh! Contrary to popular belief, most Caribbean reefr sharks are absolutely harmless.

I'm looking forward to diving in Nassau again in December. Hopefully, NCL has a contract with Stuart Cove's as I've wanted to dive with them for ages.

Thanks people, this probably the way I'll go.

I was on Oasis at Nassau a couple years ago. I'd recommend the ship's dive there, because of the driving distance that's involved. They use Stuart's Cove and I had a couple awesome dives with them. And, I rarely use the ship's dive excursion.

I just checked Royal's excursions for this cruise and perhaps its too early as of today they list 0 scuba excursions, which I have never seen before. The irritating thing is if there are 20 excursions listed, 15 are Atlantis related. i'll start looking at Stuart's website and facebook pages.

Another vote for Stuart Cove! They are a fantastic shop. Definitely one of the top vacation ops I used. Very professional. If you have the timing to do the shark dive, I highly recommend it! It was pretty awesome to be surrounded like that. Just keep your arms inside your body ;)

Another vote for Stuart Cove! They are a fantastic shop. Definitely one of the top vacation ops I used. Very professional. If you have the timing to do the shark dive, I highly recommend it! It was pretty awesome to be surrounded like that. Just keep your arms inside your body ;)

Really looking forward to diving in Nassau now....and hopefully with Cove's.

We used to go over to Walker's Cay for the shark rodeo, before it got wiped out in back to back hurricanes. Such a shame. Being surrounded by a hundred sharks is the thrill of a lifetime. I realize Stuart Cove's won't have nearly that many but the idea is still the same. I wish people would realize that sharks are not out there just to eat you. Fascinating creatures.

Really looking forward to diving in Nassau now....and hopefully with Cove's.

We used to go over to Walker's Cay for the shark rodeo, before it got wiped out in back to back hurricanes. Such a shame. Being surrounded by a hundred sharks is the thrill of a lifetime. I realize Stuart Cove's won't have nearly that many but the idea is still the same. I wish people would realize that sharks are not out there just to eat you. Fascinating creatures.

Not sure I would want my first shark experience to be being surrounded by hundreds. I've done 3 caribbean dives so far and would welcome seeing one in a natural setting, but I would think, and have no actual experience, that 100 of them would be very rare or a contrived situation. I don't mind being around a few teenagers, but with 100 of them hanging around. one is going to do something stupid. ;)

Not sure I would want my first shark experience to be being surrounded by hundreds. I've done 3 caribbean dives so far and would welcome seeing one in a natural setting, but I would think, and have no actual experience, that 100 of them would be very rare or a contrived situation. I don't mind being around a few teenagers, but with 100 of them hanging around. one is going to do something stupid. ;)

In all the years that Walker's Cay had the shark rodeo, no human ever got bit. It was a controlled environment. The divers (no bare skin allowed, gloves were mandatory) descended to the bottom of a semi circular sandy area backed by a 6 ft reef. When everyone was in position, the dive master (Barry) signaled the boat to 'call the sharks'. The boat captain would gun the engines for a minute and the Caribbean reef sharks and a few nurse sharks would swim in. They were conditioned to the noise and vibrations from the engines that it was dinner time.

When everyone was ready, the 'chumsicle' would be dropped overboard on a chain. The chumsicle was a 55 gallon bin of fish heads, guts, tails, etc, gathered from the fisherman at Walker's each day (Walker's was mainly known as a fishing destination) that they froze each night with a T hook in the center attached to a 20 foot chain. The sharks would circle the chumsicle biting chunks out of it until nothing but the T bar remained, then they would swim away and leave the groupers and yellowtails to snap up the scraps. The divers would then scour the sand for any shark teeth that were pulled out during the rodeo. It was amazing....I went to the shark rodeo 4 times. They never had an incident. Eventually some of the sharks were tagged so they could do some research on who they were and where they went. Fabulous memories.

You can see the chumsicle just below the big guy on the upper right side - with the T bar sticking out of the top. Amazing. (I took this photo somewhere around 1997 with a Nikonos III underwater camera).

My next big adventure will be to shark cage dive in Baja Calif with great whites. I may need a bigger camera......:D

:D

Thanks for that input/message

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I just checked Royal's excursions for this cruise and perhaps its too early as of today they list 0 scuba excursions, which I have never seen before. The irritating thing is if there are 20 excursions listed, 15 are Atlantis related. i'll start looking at Stuart's website and facebook pages.

Hello folks. I wanted to update you on this quest. As mentioned previously because Oasis of the Seas is only in port something like 6 hours, I thought that if I dove here it would have to be a cruise ship excursion. I was happy that many of you like Stuarts and thought they provided services to Royal Caribbean. Today I checked Royals website and they have added a 2 tank dive to their offering. I decided to email stuarts and ask them to verify if this was through them and if so, what the additional cost is to bring along my non-diving wife. I also asked if this wasn't through them what they could offer us. I figured they are probably well informed about cruise ship schedules. I'll update when I hear back.

I got a fast response-

Hello Bill,

Thank you for choosing Stuart Cove’s for your diving adventures. We are the company contracted by the cruise lines that arrived in Nassau for all their water activities. So please feel free to book directly thru the cruise lines. Bubble Watchers are welcome on the boats at all times. Anyone wishing to accompany divers out for the day and ride on the boats may sign-up and come along. Morning dives are in deeper waters while afternoon dives are on shallower reefs and wrecks. The cost for a half day is $45 per person, plus 7.5% VAT.

Please let me know if I can further assist you.

Thanks,

Erin Whitley

I did book the 2 tank dive here today. 265 days till my next dive.