Harley's Helmet Dive or Peppercorn Helmet Dive?

[lawyer180]

Does anyone have any recommendations for which Helmet Dive is "better" (or a better value?) Through the Zenith, Harley's is $70 and the actual dive is 25-30 min. and the entire excursion is 4 hrs. We could book the Peppercorn one independantly (out of St.George) for $50, and the entire trip takes 2 hours. Generally, we like to book independently because the excursions tend to be less crowded, however, we would not mind booking through the cruise line if it is a better trip/service, ect. Thoughts??

[Joanandjoe]

You can also book Peppercorn through Celebrity, at $70, including transportation. Is the hassle of getting there yourself worth a $20 savings, even if you have a bus pass?

[moinma]

I don't have any experience with Peppercorn but I have done Harley's twice, booking on my own. Greg Hartley is quite a character! He has a small boat and doesn't do a lot of people, I'm not sure how Peppercorn does it. Harley's takes 6 people at a time down for a half hour...it's a very relaxing trip and he doesn't try to rush you through. He has many trained fish (although his well-trained angel fish died in the hurricane a couple years ago). I have felt a moray eel, held a very large grouper, and seen the original angel fish and a newly trained one swim through a hoop. On the way back we have spent some time hunting for sea turtles in the water and they don't quit until we find some! I guess if you're docked at the Dockyards, I'd go with Hartley's. If you have any questions, you should email Greg, he loves to talk and I'm sure would email you back.

[Joanandjoe]

Moinma, the reason Peppercorn is listed as two hours and Hartley as five is that the Zenith docks in Hamilton and St. George, but not the dockyards, so almost two hours is lost in transportation. Do you recommend Hartley anyway? In our case, we'll be in Hamilton in May 15 and 16, and the water will be 70 degrees at most. I don't know when Lawyer180 will be there.

[moinma]

We're always docked at St. George but make the trip over to the other side to Hartley's. I really can't tell you which is better. I thought you were probably at the dockyards since Hartley's is on that side of the island. All I can say is that I've heard from several people that they enjoyed Hartley's. I've never spoken to anyone who has done the Peppercorn (that's the one our ship offers in St. Georges).

 

I just did a quick find on Peppercorn to see if they had a site to compare but found this interesting....http://www.hartleybermuda.com/testimonial.html. It is a Hartley's site but there's a couple letters from people who have done both and compare the two companies....couldn't find a site for Peppercorn.

 

Good luck with your choice; sorry I can't be more help.

[moinma]

I should have included the Hartley's site so you can read about what is offered...http://www.hartleybermuda.com/

[Pleiades]

The length of our trip depends on the number of passengers (up to a max of 28 passengers from Hamilton, 35 from other departure points). Each group of 7 gets 25-30 minutes underwater, the length of the trip is traveling time plus 30 minutes per 7 people. Traveling time from Hamilton is about 45-50 minutes each way; the traveling time is considerably less from our other two departure points, Watford Bridge and Dockyard.

 

At the beginning and end of the season, we can afford to be more relaxed; however, things can be fairly rushed in august.

 

As a Hartley myself, I don’t think I have to say which I think is better. I have never been able to do Peppercorn’s excursion so I don’t know exactly how they do things, but I have spoken to people who have done both, and from what they tell me, ours is a better tour.

 

I believe there are some old threads similar to this one too.