Diving in Nassau

[kimmy70_99]

Going on a cruise next February. I am interested in going on a diving trip with Nassau Scuba Centre. I would like to do the shark dive. I have not been diving in 5 years so I am a little nervous about going but have been told that I should not miss the opportunity to do this. Has anyone been on this shark dive and if so can you tell me what to expect? Also, how might the water be at this time of year? Thanks.

[Hilary]

We just did this with Nassau Scuba Centre in late December, and it was fabulous!! Basically you kneel on the bottom at about 35' and watch while they feed the sharks 10' in front of you. The sharks swim all around you, brush you with their fins, and basically get up close and personal. You grip a rock between your knees, keep your arms crossed in front of you, take as many pictures as you can, and just watch with wide eyes!

 

The water was 71 degrees on December 21 when we were there, and I got cold after 35 min. sitting on the bottom in my 3mil full suit. While we were moving on our first dive, I was fine in a 3 mil, but I don't usually get cold easily.

[Tarkus]

i did a shark dive with dive dive dive back in oct '99. it's definitely something you should do at least once. first dive was in the area (kind of disconcerting to back roll with jaws-like fins circling the boat) just so you can get-in a little "regular" diving; second dive (for us) was on our knees about 50' down - soon joined by the guy with the chum bucket and mesh suit, where we enjoyed 10-12 min of feeding frenzy followed with about 15min of looking for spent sharks teeth before surfacing.

 

as far as not having been wet in five years - while this dive is not taxing i would advise on a refresher (even if in a pool) just to be sure you don't freak.

[sea-jay]

Many dive operations require you to have had at least one dive within the last two years. I strongly suggest you take a refresher course with a local dive club and get in a couple of dives this summer.

 

 

The water will be chilly in February. You will need at least a 3mm and possibly a 4mm if you chill easily.

 

Nassau Scuba Center is usually the dive operation of choice for ships passengers. Do a search on the board and you will find a lot of other operators that will also do Shark dives and give you more personal attention, especially since you have not done a lot of diving recently. Some operators:

 

http://www.stuartcove.com/

 

http://www.divedivedive.com/

 

http://www.bahamadivers.com/index.htm

 

I used DiveDiveDive on my last cruise to Nassau and had a great dive. Only 4 of us with a dive master as a second dive master on the boat had 2 Discover Scuba divers that he sheparded around. A lot nicer time than a cattle boat operation that most cruise lines offer.