Diving with Stuarts Cove in Nassau

[BigRed93]

I have never really considered diving in Nassau because port times don't correspond well with diving times. However, Carnival Pride shows time in port from 11-8. Stuart's Cove has a pickup at 11:45 for afternoon dives. Could I make this pick up? Has anyone done this? I know the morning is tough with docking at 7 for the 7:45 pickup because there can be delays with getting the ship cleared thru customs. I also think there could be delays simply with the number of ships that dock in the am.

I have already emailed the dive shop asking what their experience is with this, but have not received a response back yet.

 

 

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[Capt_BJ]

I know the morning is tough with docking at 7 for the 7:45 pickup because there can be delays with getting the ship cleared thru customs.

 

I've seen several horror stories of people have trouble with pick ups by SC in Nassau .. but there's something curious about it all.

 

On RCLs ENCHANMENT cruises from Port Canaveral to Nassau twice a week, SCUBA is offered in Nassau and IME it is provided by Stuarts Cove. The ship arrives at 7AM and IME there was NO PROBLEM and NO WORRY about the pickup for a morning 2 tank trip. We had plenty of time... I was sitting outside at the assembly point for a good 20 minutes.

 

I would note that the SC shop is on the south west corner of the island so it is a bit of a ride ... on our return, there was a traffic accident and the excursion ran well over an hour longer than the planned 5 hours ... and then there was a LONG line at port security which added ANOTHER hour. Fortunately ENCHANTMENT (and MONARCH b4) stay until midnight . .

 

I suspect SC has a contract with RCL and the lines that don't want to enter into a contract .... well their folks get the back seat or no seat ... and it is we the customers that suffer the consequences . .

 

btw - even 'serving' only 1 of the several ships in port the SC dive boats were FULL ... they had NO shortage of customers.

Edited August 5, 2013 by Capt_BJ

[BigRed93]

I would probably book thru the ship here if that were an option. Unfortunately it is not this time. The office did get back to me and said I could make the shuttle if I made sure i was off the ship as soon as we docked. I have to think about this.

 

Thank you for the response.

[G.C]

We have had the same port time as you twice in Nassau. Both times we used Stuart Cove`s operation. Everything went off without any problems. They pick up on the left side facing town of the fence in front of the port area.

 

As stated above they are on the other side of the island so you have a nice ride of 30/45 minutes depending on traffic and how many other stops along the way. They are by far the largest operator in town. We have used them 10 -12 times over the years for Nassau I think they are the best choice.

[BigRed93]

Thanks GC. I think we have enough time on the back end to cushion, so I think we are going diving :)

 

 

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[2wallace]

SC runs a great operation once your on the dive boat! I have only taken their shuttle once out to their shop (had an early arrival), because of time constraints! Always take it back to the ship and have had no problems, though my DW sweats this!

[BigRed93]

If you don't take the shuttle, how do you get there? Taxi? How much would that be?

 

 

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[G.C]

I don`t know how much a taxi ride to the other side of the island costs. My guess would be near the cost of the dive each way. Cab prices are fixed in Nassau by law.

[MonDreamr1]

RCCL does contract with SC. The weekend 3 night Enchantment gets in around noon. (The 4 day one gets in around 7 am - they go to CocoCay the first day) It was only the group of us from Enchantment on a boat for a 2 tank afternoon dive. They had other boats going out about the time we got there, one of those was the shark dive. The shuttle over had a snorkel group from somewhere else (the beach towels were green/white striped, vs the blue RCCL ones)

 

The shuttle back is a whole mix of cruise and hotel passengers. You just get on the next one going back. Ours on Saturday had Sheraton, cruiseship, and Atlantis people.

[CDNJehn]

I'd be fine taking an excursion with them that I knew I'd be back in time for.

 

The snorkel was good, the service was not great. A bus arrived to port and us and another two couples got on, along with some other folks. They started counting heads and apparently we got on a bus for cruise excursion folks (not sure how we'd know that.) The chick was super rude and made a huge spectacle telling us to wait for the OTHER bus and not to just be getting on whatever bus we felt like. They said pink bus, in front of the fountain. Excuse us.

 

We did an afternoon snorkel and they assured me multiple times by email beforehand (and then again in person the day of our stop) that we'd be back at the ship in time. 'We do this EVERY DAY ma'am' they said snootily. We had to constantly remind the staff on the boat of our ship departure time, as they seemed content to keep us out there all night. There were other ships in port, but ours left 2 hours before the others. One staff on the boat learned of this and said as soon as we get back to the dock I was to go tell the office we're ready to go. I think the chick's name started with a G. Glenda maybe? This girl was a total NIGHTMARE (and believe me, I have MANY others words to use for her). I was sitting waiting for the shuttle in a spot that was apparently close to the entry gate. It was in the shade, but she came by and rolled her eyes and said 'Staring at the street isn't going to make the bus come faster.' And rolled her eyes. Yeah, I was in the shade lady!!! Finally the buses came. It was do disorganized. They moved us from bus to another, then back again. We finally left and they stopped at what seemed like every resort along the way, even driving around the fish fry looking for the stand the girl wanted. While we offloading people at a hotel we saw the other bus (the one we'd been pulled off of) PASS US. I thought I was going to vomit. My mom was on the ship alone, and we were going to be left behind. Our all aboard was 5pm. I scanned my card at the gangway at 4:58.

 

Never again will I use them or recommend them. I know you take a risk when you book outside of the ship excursions, I can take that. But we were given the WORST attitudes from everyone there.

 

And I get that they're not hurting for my business and I'm just a cruiser...but I'm still bitter YEARS later. That's all, I feel better now. ;)

[BigRed93]

Oh no! I would've been sick. I'm sorry you had that experience.

 

 

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[berkyvdr]

I booked a dive with Stuart's Cove through the Disney Dream and discovered it was just myself and one of the crew. We were picked up at the cruise pier by bus and made a lot of stops to pick up other divers as we drove to the dive shop.

 

On the bus we heard others were diving with sharks, which is what crew member wanted to do and he spent much energy trying to switch his dive (and mine), however it did not happen as we would have returned too late to make it for ship's departure.

 

At the dive shop, there was minimal coordination and we both had to go back and forth from shop to boat to gather all equipment and no one there to help you select appropriate gear.

 

As a nervous novice diver, I was fortunately buddied with divemaster, but even he was a bit too relaxed for me.

 

We did have two good dives. I cut the second short as I was freezing cold although I did have a wetsuit on.

 

I did find there were an awful lot of people on the boat. Did they do a headcount??

 

On our return to the ship, there was an enourmous lineup to get through check point and ended up running the last little bit to get to ship just in time. That did not feel reassuring at all.

[Capt_BJ]

I don't know if this is NEW info on their web page, but I never saw it b4

 

it answers some of my questions / confirms what I thought to be true

 

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

 

Nassau is known as one of the most popular Port-of-Calls for cruise ships and consequently, many of our guests arrive on cruise ships as well.

 

For many of our passengers, a typical schedule offers an 7:00 am arrival and a departure between 9pm and 2am. The 7:00 am arrival makes the morning pick-up difficult to guarantee because if your ship is delayed or you get hung up in customs, our bus can not wait

 

... 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. If your ship is one that we are contracted to provide services for, the cruise line has arranged for special charter times to make the excursion work. In this situation, you will have to book your excursion directly with the cruise line or once on board the ship.

Edited September 15, 2013 by Capt_BJ

[BigRed93]

Just to follow up - we were on Carnival Pride and had a stop in Nassau from 11-8. We had absolutely no issue being out by the fountain by 11:45 for the shuttle pickup. I think we were out there at 11:20am.

It was a very relaxed day. There were maybe 8 divers on our boat. Only 4 of us from the ship. Great day and glad I went. :D

[Capt_BJ]

do you recall what SITES they took you too?

[BigRed93]

Yes, the David Tucker wreck and Hollywood bowl.

 

 

editing to add that since we had some land based people on the boat, they were making sure they didn't repeat any of their dive sites earlier in the week. We could have suggested sites, but I had never been diving there before, so I just went where they took me :)

Edited September 19, 2013 by BigRed93

[itsrikkig]

Just to follow up - we were on Carnival Pride and had a stop in Nassau from 11-8. We had absolutely no issue being out by the fountain by 11:45 for the shuttle pickup. I think we were out there at 11:20am.

It was a very relaxed day. There were maybe 8 divers on our boat. Only 4 of us from the ship. Great day and glad I went. :D

 

we also booked sc for the carnival pride this past april. by far the best snuba excursion anywhere . would book them again in a heartbeat.

[servalgirl]

I did a two tank shark dive with them-I was on NCL and was told I had to book with NCL which was fine because it meant they could not leave without me! The shuttle was great-the service was great-the sharks were amazing. The crew were on point and put me to ease (terrified of sharks). I highly recommend SC.

[Colorado Kat]

Our ship was due in at 11, and I hoped I could make the 11:45 bus. There were a lot of ships in port. Our ship was directed to back into a spot at the pier.

 

I was the first in line to get off the ship. Unfortunately, our ship barely dinged the already-docked ship next to us. We sat there waiting forever. Missed the bus to Stuart Cove's.