Need a good dive shop in Bermuda

[szdiver]

Has anyone dived in Bermuda recently? I read about a wreck called "Aristo" which sank in 1937 or so. It has a 1930's fire engine on board I really want to see. Blue Waters Shop emailed me that it was a 3 hour trip out to the wreck and they did not go there regularly. HELP......

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[skyview851]

Any new reviews from Bermuda? We will be there in Sept & want to dive, but not with 30 other divers & 50 snorkelers.

[JOE I]

Skyview,

I was in Bermudal last September on Celebrity's Horizon. I set up two days of diving with Fantasea.Their boat was located right at the ferry terminal in downtown Hamilton about 3 blocks from the ship. That was nice as I always take my own gear.The first day they serviced 2 ships (Horizon and Empress) and we probably had about 20 divers. The next day we only had about 8 divers. They had 4 instructors on board and all were very nice.They team expereiced divers up in buddy teams and let them do their own thing--no follow the leader unless you wanted to! I dove a couple of times with one of their instructors (Lizzie from London). She was cute, fun, and a very good guide.The maximum depths they dive are only about 80 feet (most wrecks are in the 40 foot range)They are very professional and safety conscious.I will use them again when I return to Bermuda.Dont miss the Underwater Institute if you love wrecks and thier history. It is a great museum and also walkable from the docks. Hope this helps.

 

Joe IDEA Dive Master

[skyview851]

Did you arrange your dives thru the cruise line, or did you do it on your own? We will be on the Horizon..it's been 4 years since we cruised on the Horizon, is she as run down as some people report?

Thanks for the tip about the Underwater Institute!

Did you dive in St Georges at all?

 

Thanks,

Lisa

[JOE I]

Lisa,

I set the diving up on my own and chose Fantasea because they were walking distance from the ship. It turns out that Fantasea also supplied the diving for Celebrity and RCCL.I did get a price break of about $30 per day by booking multiple days and having my own gear but I did have to find the shop on my own--no escort from Lizzie! We never got to dock at St.Georges due to Hurricane Jeanne messing up the seas on the outer reefs--we had to go straight to Hamilton. We did take the bus to St. Georges one day and really enjoyed touring all the forts and historic sites.I thought the Horizon was in very good shape for her age--a few missing tiles by the pool,small carpet stains, and a liittle rust in the shower--no big deal.The ship was clean and the food and service were up to Celebrity standards-very good.We also really enjoyed the production shows on the ship--The Broadway classics was outstanding--know I am getting old!!!!!The dive boat was definitely rocking on the first day and we had to go to several sites to get two good dives in--glad I had the patch as quite a few would be divers spent all day chumming.The next day was much better.I really thought Fantaea was a nice operation and I liked being able to dive my own profile with expereiced buddies.They also really seemed to take care of the newbies too.Keep in mind that the big boats cant get into Hamilton and St Georges so the Horizon and Zentih are still the Queens of Bermuda for one more year, unless you want to take the Voyager and spend one night at the Dockyard--I will go see the Ice Capades in Greenville, SC and leave the Voyager for the Caribbean.

 

Joe