Best SCUBA Diving

[peterp]

We are traveling to Dominca, Grenada, Bonaire, and Aruba. Are any of these islands good for diving?

[jimw]

We dove a cruiseship wreck on Grenada--pretty nice. We were on a cruise visiting Grenada that ran out of Aruba. Bonaire is one of the best places in the Caribbean to dive--we have made many trips there. Not so much diving around Aruba. I would probably dive at all those locations, but Bonaire would come first. Grenada is a very interesting looking place.

[RedHeadTexan]

I agree with jimw. I would dive all four, but Bonaire would be an absolute must dive. I have heard nothing but fabulous things about Bonaire diving...

[Pilot70D]

We are traveling to Dominca, Grenada, Bonaire, and Aruba. Are any of these islands good for diving?

 

We have been diving at Dominica, Bonaire and Aruba on multiple trips. The diving near all three is really great. Dominica is sometimes referred to as the best kept secret in the diving world. There is some truly spectacular wall diving there. Aruba and Bonaire are two members of the so called ABC dive itenerary - Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao. You can't go wrong anywhere there.

We will be doing the ABC route again for the third or fourth time this December. We haven't had the opportunity to dive Grenada yet but we hope to before it's all over.

We always book our dives independently from the cruise ship. By so doing we get better diving under less crowded circumstances usually. There have been numerous threads here about cruise ship diving. Much of the time dive operators won't even take cruise ship divers to their best dive sites. There are many reaasons for this and rather than rehashing this topic let me suggest that you do a search on this board for the archived threads dealing with this topic.

 

Enjoy that next dive trip no matter where it is located.

[peterp]

Thanks everyone. I knew that I could count on Cruise Critic. Are there are local dive companies I should contact in Bonaire?

[Cosmo30068]

In Bonaire, we used Wanna Dive. Nice operation that took us to Klein Bonaire and it was good viz. Our snorkeling friends went with us & also enjoyed it. In Aruba, we used Clive at Dive Aruba. He only takes 6 divers - his boat is small. We dove real near where the ship is docked. A storm affected viz in that area, but you really can't help that. Not impressed with Grenada - we used Dive Grenada which picked us up & drove us a long way to their shop only to take a lot of time waiting for a couple of students & their instructor & then taking the boat all the way past the Emerald Princess we had left a couple of hours earlier. It was nice to see a little bit of Grenada, but the diving wasn't great. They took us to the underwater sculpture park - very unusual - if you haven't seen pictures of it, take a look. Now for the best part - Dominica through Nature Island Dive - would go with them in a heartbeat. We saw two frogfish, sea horses & the prettiest coral we have ever seen. You will not be disappointed if you dive in Dominica. Enjoy!

[bruce-r]

We are traveling to Dominca, Grenada, Bonaire, and Aruba. Are any of these islands good for diving?

Where are you from?

[sillied]

From several posts, I see that experienced divers are doing their own dive arrangements and with at least some of their own equipment. My question is how you handle the usually wet (and possibly smelly?) bcd, wet suit, or what have you. Hang it in the shower? Tie it to the veranda (probably frowned upon)? Any advice? I'm on a cruise in October to a bunch of these islands and we want to at least have the option of diving whenever possible.

 

Thanks,

Ed

 

In Bonaire, we used Wanna Dive. Nice operation that took us to Klein Bonaire and it was good viz. Our snorkeling friends went with us & also enjoyed it. In Aruba, we used Clive at Dive Aruba. He only takes 6 divers - his boat is small. We dove real near where the ship is docked. A storm affected viz in that area, but you really can't help that. Not impressed with Grenada - we used Dive Grenada which picked us up & drove us a long way to their shop only to take a lot of time waiting for a couple of students & their instructor & then taking the boat all the way past the Emerald Princess we had left a couple of hours earlier. It was nice to see a little bit of Grenada, but the diving wasn't great. They took us to the underwater sculpture park - very unusual - if you haven't seen pictures of it, take a look. Now for the best part - Dominica through Nature Island Dive - would go with them in a heartbeat. We saw two frogfish, sea horses & the prettiest coral we have ever seen. You will not be disappointed if you dive in Dominica. Enjoy!

[azdiver1]

Hi All -

 

Have read through this post and there are some great recommendations. Thank you!

Has anyone a recommendation for Curacao?

 

Thanks a million.

 

Linda:)

[azdiver1]

Ed,

 

That is a great question. I have been lucky enough to have a balcony room each time I have dove and use one of the chairs to "hang" things on with clothes pins.

 

Yes, I think an inside cabin with wet stuff might be a bit much after awhile.

 

Linda

[RedHeadTexan]

I have never had a balcony, so I have to make use of all spare space in our cabin. To deal with the smell, I rinse everything out in the shower as soon as we get back (I also pack air freshener). I keep the bc's in the shower, fins, mask, and regs in the window, and wetsuits in giant ziplock bags (open). On our next cruise I was able to snag a 200 square foot inside cabin. I will be bringing a plastic shower curtain liner to place on the floor for our wet gear.

 

One other thing, I always tip our cabin steward extra on the first day since he has to deal with the gear all week.

[bruce-r]

Hi All -

 

Have read through this post and there are some great recommendations. Thank you!

Has anyone a recommendation for Curacao?

 

Thanks a million.

 

Linda:)

 

The Dive Bus

[Loves_Dogs]

From several posts, I see that experienced divers are doing their own dive arrangements and with at least some of their own equipment. My question is how you handle the usually wet (and possibly smelly?) bcd, wet suit, or what have you. Hang it in the shower? Tie it to the veranda (probably frowned upon)? Any advice? I'm on a cruise in October to a bunch of these islands and we want to at least have the option of diving whenever possible.

 

Thanks,

Ed

 

My son (also my dive buddy) and I have the wet dive gear thing down to a SCIENCE! Getting back to our cabin we drop our gear bags in the bathroom. My son starts the rinsing process while I go back and forth from the bathroom to the balcony spreading and securing the equipment. I bring TONS of clothes pins, tethering each thing down to the chairs with several pins apiece. The heavy things (fins, masks, etc) I spread out on towels after rinsed.

 

Usually there are a few hours after our dives before the ship departs and a lot of things will be dry. We do leave things out there after the ship departs but are always watching. We have never left the cabin with gear out on the balcony.

[sddiver]

Use the pool deck. On port days there are usually very few people on the pool deck. Most often you return from two tank dives around lunch time give or take an hour. We go up to the pool deck and use the outdoor showers to rinse all our gear and lay it out on lounge chairs to dry while we take turns getting some lunch. In the tropical sun you will be amazed at how fast things dry out, even wet suits. Once done eating we will take it to the room and lay it out on the balcony to finish drying, while we head out for an afternoon exploration. Depending on your schedule it may not work in all ports, but for most it does.

 

Enjoy

 

 

Rich

[Pilot70D]

Has anyone a recommendation for Curacao?

Linda:)

 

Diving with the DIve Bus in Curacao is an experience that shouldn't be missed. They are the most fun (and the best) dive operator which we have ever encountered.

 

Their level of service is unmatched. The last time we were there the battery in my main dive computer died even though I had just replaced this battery before leaving home. This computer uses an unusual battery that isn't readily available and we were fixing to go diving.

 

Dive Bus to the rescue. One of their personnel unstrapped his wrist computer handed it to me and said just use it until he returned. He was fixing to run an errand out in town during which he picked up a new battery for me at Radio Shack. BTW - his wrist computer was a $900 Suunto.

 

Incidentally there is small but very good beachside seafood restaurant about thirty feet from the hut occupied by the Dive Bus. The food there is supurb. The menu is unpredictable though. It all depends on what they caught that morning.:)

 

So by all means go diving with the Dive Bus and you too will have a great time.

[Loves_Dogs]

Diving with the DIve Bus in Curacao is an experience that shouldn't be missed. They are the most fun (and the best) dive operator which we have ever encountered.

 

Their level of service is unmatched. The last time we were there the battery in my main dive computer died even though I had just replaced this battery before leaving home. This computer uses an unusual battery that isn't readily available and we were fixing to go diving.

 

Dive Bus to the rescue. One of their personnel unstrapped his wrist computer handed it to me and said just use it until he returned. He was fixing to run an errand out in town during which he picked up a new battery for me at Radio Shack. BTW - his wrist computer was a $900 Suunto.

 

Incidentally there is small but very good beachside seafood restaurant about thirty feet from the hut occupied by the Dive Bus. The food there is supurb. The menu is unpredictable though. It all depends on what they caught that morning.:)

 

So by all means go diving with the Dive Bus and you too will have a great time.

 

We are booked with the Dive Bus for our December cruise. After all the good reviews I cant wait to dive with them!

[Pilot70D]

We are booked with the Dive Bus for our December cruise. After all the good reviews I cant wait to dive with them!

 

Say hello for us if you get there before we do. We will be diving with them on the 15th of December.:)

[Loves_Dogs]

Say hello for us if you get there before we do. We will be diving with them on the 15th of December.:)

 

You will be there a day ahead of us.....I cannot wait, hate to wish my life away but December wont come soon enough!