Diving in Nassau, Cococay & Key West

[turtlegirl2]

Hi! I'm new to the board and have been getting some really great info from this group! My dh and I will be in Miami the end of July for a conference and we are planning to take the 4-day Bahama cruise on RCI's Majesty of the Seas. We'd like to dive at each stop and are looking for tips/advice on who to use at each place.

 

We want to do a shark dive in Nassau and will probably go with either Nassau Scuba Centre or Stuat Coves - looking for insight on these two operators.

 

In CoCoCay, we'll do the ship's dive, I suppose, since it's their island.

 

In Key West, I've heard that getting off the ship at the printed time can be tricky since the entire ship has to clear customs. That makes me leery of diving with an outside operator, so I am looking for info from those who've dove with the cruiseline (RCI or others) at KW.

 

We are finally trying some new waters. We've been drift diving in Cozumel for the past 4 years, staying at all-inclusives and diving all week. This will be a little different since we are island hopping but we are looking for some good experiences! Thanks in advance for all the tips and advice! :) Jacque

[sportsterjohn]

I went with Stuart Cove about a year and half ago and had a blast. One thing to keep in mind, the shop is on the other end of nassau so it takes about 30 min to get there and back. They do pick up right in front of the customs building but thier schedule is not always cruise ship friendly. When you do dock in nassau, you will have to wait a bit to get off the boat and then stand in line at the customs office so make sure the pick up time is about an hour or so later than your scheduled dock time. As far as key west, I used captains corner. There is a marina about 10 min away from where the cruise ships dock (at least where mine docked last summer) with a few dive outfits there. The one I went on had 2 daily dives, one left about 9:30 and got back about 12:45. They then had the afternoon trip which left about 1ish.

[Hilary]

We dove with Nassau Scuba Centre in December (the shark dive) and had a great time. Very friendly and helpful staff and the boat was in good condition. They were the first op we experienced that only provided water, so don't forget to take a snack if you like to eat something between dives. We had about 10 divers on the boat, so we weren't crowded at all, and we liked the drive to the shop since we saw a little of the countryside.

[turtlegirl2]

Thanks for the info. We are in Nassau from 8a - midnight, which should let us get 4 dives in but it looks like the dive shops want you off the boat and on their bus by 8, so it looks like we will only get in 2 dives here. Hilary, did Nassau Scuba Club do an actual shark feed? We talked with them about a week ago and it sounded like they go to an area where feeding happens but they didn't do the actual feed. Maybe we misunderstood?

 

 

sportsterjohn, did the dive outfits in KW include a dive guide or did you have to pay more for one? I like to take pictures (especially of turtles, hence the name ;) ) and we are used to diving with a DM who takes us out and shows us all the good stuff.

 

Thanks!

[sportsterjohn]

btw, stuart cove actually does the shark feed. in kw they had 1 dm diving although you did not have to stay with her. you were basically on your own (with your buddy).