Diving in Barbados - our opinion

[flyerfan22]

Barbados – We pre-arranged pickup and with The Dive Shop LTD (http://www.divebds.com). Finding the pickup point can be confusing. If you make arrangements with a private operator, make a left out of the mall area, walk past the cars, and exit the cruise ship customs area. After wandering around in the terminal for a few minutes, we walked outside the terminal, and found Haroon waiting for us. He was nice enough, telling us about Barbados holidays as we drove to the shop. When we arrived, there were 2 people there already, with gear already set up. I felt uncomfortable when I found out that they arrived at the dive shop much earlier, and were basically waiting for us to start diving. I just got the impression that other divers were PO’d that they had to wait until we got there and set-up before they could go diving.

 

The service here was the complete opposite of our experience in St. Lucia. No one spoke to us, or explained anything. We figured out where to get tanks, and set up our gear. When we were finished, we carried our gear across the beach to a small boat. It took about 15 minutes to arrive at the dive site. At some point, everyone started gearing up. Again, nothing was said. The DM gave a short briefing, then jumped in. Before we knew it, the other divers jumped in, and we were (again!) the last two. There was no one there to help us get off the boat and into the water. Usually, the boat captain or another DM will assist. In this case, the captain was up top, and we were left to our own devices. I struggled with my equipment, and wound up aborting the dive because I just did not feel comfortable. We returned to the shop, and got most of our $$ back. We did not do the 2nd dive, and we returned to the ship via taxi. It was a holiday week, so the 3 mile drive took almost an hour! Overall, our diving experience in Barbados was not good. I would recommend either diving with the cruise ship or trying another operator. It was not easy to find a recommended shop on the web beforehand.

[w&k]

Flyerfan2-

 

I'm so sorry to read that you had a bad experience in Barbados - we had two of our best dives ever, and am returning in the spring to dive again.

 

It sounds like you had some trouble finding dive information. The Scuba and Snorkeling board here at Cruise Critic is a great resource in addition to the port boards. There are recommendations and reviews for a lot of the cruise stops. Another great place for information is Scubaboard.com.

 

If you go to Barbados again, try John at Dive Barbados - it couldn't be farther from your experience. Here is a link to my review, and there are others posted. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=121690

 

Hope your next cruise diving experience is great.

 

Wendy