2nd try: Trip report: Bahamas, Dom. Republic, Cozumel Dec 22-Jan. 28/01
by franny

Gidday, Gidday everyone! Figure I will break this up in three parts and not get too long winded. That way, if you're bored you can have 3 short snoozes rather than 1 long nap. :)

The goal was the shark dive at Stuart Coves in Nassau for xmas. That was the only reservation we had, and the rest of the time would be spent flying by the seat of our pants. Sometimes structured plans are fine, but I do love spontanaety when the circumstances allow it. This would be one of those times. We had been to Freeport a couple of times around this time of year a long time ago so I sort of new what to expect weather wise and new it could not be guaranteed. However, the shark dive was something I just HAD to do. There is enough info. in the archives about diving in the bahamas so I won't get repetitive, I hope. With the exception of course of the "shark dive".

We stayed at the Clarion Hotel for the convenience of having the dive op within walking distance as opposed to touristy Cable Beach and being picked up. The up side of the hotel was a nice room, king bed, coffee maker, a/c, telephone, ceiling fan, good hot water and pressure (a must for me), and balcony. The staff was very friendly. Convenient public bus transportation to Cable Beach, downtown, and Paradise Isl. at the front door for cheap fares as opposed to exp. taxis. The down side was wake up calls went unheeded, (set the mental ones after that), getting beach towels was a daily challenge, water got turned off at the most unnopportune times and lets not forget the food. If you are a breakfast eater, (which I am not), you are okay but, you can definitley forget the dinners. Tried it twice (to give them a second chance), and I could not even eat it. Which is too bad as you are stuck in the middle of nowhere and have to take a bus to town or Cable Beach which offers a variety of good though typical expensive meals. Lunch by the beach was a disorganized affair with ho-hum but at least edible food and snacks.

The Dive Op: Stuart Coves:

Nothing but a first class and very busy operation with all the venues they have to offer: scuba, snorkelling, underwater subs, wall flying, and while we were there, sharing their boats with the Sandals crew whose boats were in repair. Great staff in the shop, photo, store and boat and dive crew. Loved the breifings to watch your depth as the drop offs could be from 3-6000 feet. Nice boats with all the safety features on board. Had a nice visit with Michelle and she was very helpfull with advice for our possible on going trips to Harbor Isl., Riding Rock in San Sal and possibly Grand Turk. She is a great gal.

We arrived on the 23rd and were to start diving the next day. That didn't pan out as some of our bags didn't make it and the weather was yucky and raining. Figured we'd just make it up later. Early evening our bags arrived and we did our 2 tank on xmas day. I just love diving on xmas day. The DM was Brian, and I asked if he had a zodiac for sale as I am in the market for one, but, alas, it was not the same one we know and love. Upon our return to the dock, (I do this every year and I am sure many of you probably do too), I gave the dive crew, dive store staff and our maid who cleans our room a xmas wrapped gift of stuff like chocolate covered macadamia nuts, truffles and body shop soap. The smiles on their faces makes it so worthwhile. Brian said "Wow" that's the only xmas gift I got this year. The weather improved and vis. for the week averaged between 55-90 feet. The water was a little cool and I was happy I got a full 3 mil. before I left. I was not cold during the dives, however, most people were in either 5 or 7 mils. The DM and photo staff were freezing even in theirs. Well, it is their winter. The reefs were quite nice and healthy though I did expect to see more fish. I think it was the second day of diving on the second dive, we went to where the little wreck is and were told we would probably see sharks as they sometimes do the feed there and to not stick out your hands. They were there alright! So cool to have them swim so close to you and admire them. God, they are beautiful. There was not fear at all. And the quieter you were, the closer they would approach. Only sad thing, is they fish for sharks there and many cruising by would have fish hooks sticking out of their mouths.

Boxing day was the shark dive and it was a 4 tanker to make up for the day we missed. I was pooped afterwards, definitely time to look into geezer gas. Two nice morning dives. I really enjoyed the peaceful and relaxing wall dive with the sharks. One bumped my fin he was so close. It is a lovely wall with more fish than I had seen on other dives. The only downside about the diving here, is the 30 min. bottom time. The wall dive seemed like is was only about 15 minutes. Not that it was, it's just you would like to spend at least an hour on this dive. The next dive was "the feed". I wasn't nervous as I had had a couple of encounters already, but the excitement was sure there. It's funny how after the breifing about being a little overweighted is a good idea so you are not flailing about, just about everyone added a "little extra" just before we went down. Me included. The energy of these sharks at the feeding frenzy was electric. Sure some call it the shark and pony show, but, I didn't mind a bit. You will never get closer to a caribbean reef shark than on this dive. Hubby and I wore santa hats and mine got knocked off once and hubby twice plus his mask got pushed sideways around his face.It is just amzing the power they have. LOL. Michelle said she would try and post the picture. I don't have a scanner. It was a great dive and of course I bought the video to show my non diving friends and mom who said I was nuts!

The last couple of days, the weather was turning colder and winds were picking up. Waves were crashing as far as the camera rinse tank and people where chumming the yellowtails like crazy. Getting back on board was a challenge. Sometimes, hanging on the safety line, you had to wait for a big wave and get flushed onto the transom. One of the crew was even sick. The last day of diving I sat outthe last dive as I was cold and had already done that dive twice before and didn't feel it was worth the headache of trying to get back on board. Spent the time trying not to watch a Japanese couple taking turns running to the side to coax the fish and sometimes they didn't even make it to a sitting position before breaky was flying. Fortunately, I was okay.

Have to hurry up, my dinner is ready.

All in all it was a great time. Anyone thinking about doing the shark dive, hesitate no more. It was a great experience. After purchasing some goodies in the dive store, the video, key chain, t-shirts, bag etc. we settled our bill. Who else bought the t-shirt of the "bone-a-fide-shark diver? I couldn't resist.

Time to move on.

Next stop, Harbor Island.

Part one described our xmas week at Stuart Coves in the Bahamas. I'll just add a wee bit about Harbor Island which followed. We took the fast ferry over there which was about 2 1/2 hour smooth ride. It is a lovely 3 mile long island located next to Eleuthera. We were lucky to find a place as New Years is very busy. A lovely island with the most georgeous PINK sand beach. You will not pass one person (tourist or local), without getting a smile and friendly "hello". New Years eve was spent at the Ramora Bay Club with a superb meal with champangne and fireworks.

This is not a place to go if you are on a budget. Two local Kalik beers will set you back about $11.00. Yikes! Inquired about local restaraunts and were directed to Averys, just around the corner from where we were staying. The cheapest thing on the menu was a piece of slightly overcooked chicken that was $26. Weather was iffy for the first 3 days. On the 4th it was really nice so we hiked down to the dive shop (Valentines) and got the paper work for diving the next day. Woke up to pissing rain, cold and wind. Yuk! Maybe it's time I got a handle. Something like "Sun Chaser"? With the forecasts of more cold fronts moving in we decided to abandon the dream of San Sal, Caicos and Grand Turk. Save it for another trip. Back to Nassau to overnight and then back to Miami. Sat at the airport scratching our heads mumbling, "okay now where"? Grenadines? Been there. Virgin Isl.? Done that. A woman working in baggage where I was making an enquiry, asked where I was headed. When I said "don't know yet", she laughed. I said, "anywhere hot & sunny with some decent diving. She replied, "go to my country, the Dominican Republic". I remember reading a little about it and Stephen Frink praising it so I thought....why not? It was a toss up to just head to Coz, but we decided to do both. So paid through the nose for tickets and off we were. Had to go through San Juan as there were no seats available for direct flight. Talked to a couple of American guys who live there and they said the best diving was on the North Coast and a good place to stay was Cabarette. Flew into Peurto Plata, (oh I forgot to mention, on stepping out of the aircraft into the hot and humid air, it was, you guessed it, raining) and after clearing customs, were completely pounched on by taxi drivers. And not in a nice way. With two dive bags, large suitcase and one carryon, they literally ripped them out of your hands and were fighting amongst each other. Hands everywhere yelling "Give me tip, give me tip". That certainly cleaned out the rest of our small bills. I always appreciate help with heavy bags and don't mind tipping at all, but, it doesn't cost a nickle more to be polite about it. Arrived at a recommended hotel about l/2 hr. later and went to check out the room. Just what I was looking for. Large room, with balcony, ac/ceiling fan, large washroom and located right on the beach. Offered the guy $20 less a night which he agreed to right away. The sound of the waves crashing on the beach lulled us to sleep despite the awfull bed. Next morning, was a bit cloudy, had our breakfast and went to check out the town. Quite a busy place for only about 3/4 of a mile long with lots of shops, restaraunts etc. Sun came out and so we decided to sit on the beach for a while. Walked out to grab a lawn chair and my mouth dropped open. My God! I have never seen so many people. It was packed! Turns out that 90% of the tourists are European and most of the resorts are all inclusive. The majority are german with a light sprinkling of eastern (french) Canadians. Menus in rest. are in german first and sometimes you have to request one in English. Vendors on the beach can be fairly pushy at times. With all the travelling, hubby just wanted to kick back for a few days. On day 3 we went hotel shopping for a new room. The bed became unbearable, and they refused to give me another room. Found a super place at the Tropical Beach Club. Wonderful staff, great room with (comfy) king bed, a/c, fan, tv, phone and towels arranged with fresh cut flowers everywhere. Also located right on the beach. As a bonus, rates had just dropped from high season to shoulder season. We went for the breakfast option at $5 each, per day. You could add breakfast and dinner for 18$ or all inclusive for $25. Very reasonable, however, we like to try different rest. for dinner and enjoy the variety.

On the information sheet, it noted that on Tues. & Thursdays they had "try scuba" by the pool so we decided to look into the diving then. The next couple of days were spent just relaxing as hubby gets darn tired of travelling. The weather was finally co-operating and it WAS hot and sunny. This is a great place if you are into windsurfing. And did I mention "kiteboarding". Any windsurfers know what this is but I had not seen it before. Instead of a sail on the board, they use these large kites for propulsion that can lift them right out of the water. Fantastic to watch. Oh to be that young again..sigh.....definitely for the experienced only. Spent lots of lazy time watching the freaks and the beautiful people. Lots of tatoos, boobies and bum floss around here.

Well this report is getting too long and just had a call that hubbys 64 yr. old brother in law, dropped dead of a heart attack on a beach in Spain.

Will get to the diving next.

Sorry to split it up with so much time in between, but that's just my circumstances right now.

We made our arrangements with the Hippocampo dive op that uses the hotel for "try scuba" and resort courses. We were to be picked up by taxi van on Fri. at 8:10 a.m. where we would drive approx. 15 min. to the Sosua area where all dive operators all located. After baking in the sun for a couple of days, we were ready for diving. You guessed it, Friday a.m. weather turned cloudy and large waves were rolling in over the reef. The dive op called and said to wait til 8:00 to see if the beach patrol was letting boats go out or not. (Sort of like Cozumel when they close the marine park). The call didn't come so off we went in the taxi with 3 other divers. From where you get dropped off to walk along the beach to the dive op takes about 10 min. The dive shop was a good size with rinse tanks, large room with toilets, showers and storage shelves and change rooms. I noticed the rental gear was all Tusa equip. that looked in very good condition. After the DM and boss spent about 15 min. looking at the waves and scratching their heads, hmming and hahing, they decided it was a go. Sosua has about 20 dive operators and average around 200 dives per day. We and one other boat from a different dive op. were the only ones to go out that day. So NO! I am not exaggerating. Tanks were set up and loaded into a push cart. A short dive brief about the site and walked past were we came down, to the end of the beach. There are no docks for the boats so after the gear is loaded into a 20' skiff, everyone pushes it into the water. After the capt. does a test spin, you wade out to the boat and climb on. I did not see any safety equipment on board, nor was anything mentioned. Also, no rinse tank for a camera. There are about 20 dive sites, and fortunately, all are within 5-15 min. ride. It was pretty rough out there so I was not expecting very good vis. Close to the sight we spotted a pod of dolphins. At the site, the entry is explained, sort of. You don your weight belt, mask and fins and jump over and hold onto the boat. Then they throw in your inflated bc and you put it on. Doing a backroll entry is strictly forbidden, I found out later, by all operators. Because of a slightly handicap in my left shoulder and limited range of motion, I usually aquire a little help getting my bc on. So I did a backroll anyway. Average water temp. is 82-84 and vis. is between 45-120'. I went down with the DM and it was spooky. This is the first time I have done a decent without being able to see a thing! About 15' from the bottom, (about 60'), I spotted a reef. Seemed to take forever, for the rest to get down. All were underweighted. We proceeded around the reef for about 35 min. (In the five dives done) A lot of the usual reef fish were present; trumpet fish, rock beauty, spotted drum, angel, pufferfish, damsels, even a black durgeon. Lobsters, crab, spotted moray, peacock flounder etc. etc. Just not very many of them. The reef was not very colorful. A lot of dead coral. After returning to the boat, it was still pretty rough and a unanimous vote was taken to cancel the second dive. A couple of days later, the weather improved and we did our last 2 days of 2 tanks. Afternoon dives are for resort and certification.

The reefs: At no time at any briefing, was there any mention of protection of the reefs. None of the usual "look, don't touch or take". It was with much dismay, that I noticed how much garbage was on the reefs. Large paint cans, plastic, styrofoam, glass bottles etc. No wonder there was so much dead coral. But, in between, I would spot a huge and beautiful 8' purple sea fan, some incredible tube sponges and a beautiful chritmas tree shaped pillar coral with an abundance of juviniles. A german fellow said the "Airport Wall" was one of the best dives so our request was met for our last dive. Just the DM and shop guy for recreation and hubby and I. This was about 65' with some canyon type areas and again some lovely coral and sponges among plenty of dead coral. Saw a solo diver with a speargun and on surfacing asked the DM about it. He said he didn't know as there were no fish there. You certainly won't see anything big on any of the sites. One day a boat captain that was moored, was fishing while waiting for the divers to surface. Go figure. Our vis was never better than about 40-50' at best, with the weather and this being their winter.

The cost was $25 per dive which was quite reasonable. There is a Dan Chamber in Peurto Plata. The staff were very friendly and just about had a heart attack when we tipped them. One of the managers said no one ever tips. (Hmm, germans in all inclusive)

Summary: No real walls or deep diving. Sparse fish life. Lots of dead coral. No visible efforts at reef protection.

The good news, from our divemasters great stories, is that there are often "whale sharks". He told of several encounters including many videos he has shot. Sperm whales also pass by and there was one spotted while we were there.

I can only speak for the diving on the north coast. It may be different on the south coast but I would be surprised if the reefs were not in similar conditions.

It is very good value for the $ in diving, accommodations, some great restaraunts and side trips. I did not wish to visit the capitol of Santo Domingo (a whole day trip), with 3.5 mil. people or Santiago with 1.5 mil. people. I beleive crime in the cities is something to be concerned about but in the touristy areas it is less of a threat. Always use your head and common sense anywhere though.

Well, it was a new adventure and I did enjoy it but, it is doubtful that I would return.

From here we would spend our last 9 days in Coz. Yeeeeeehaaaawww! :)

Happy diving everyone.

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