Scuba Diving in Nassau Review

[DizMagic]

Anyone been scuba diving in Nassau recently? Looking at maybe doing this on upcoming October cruise. It would be my first time scuba (other than certification) but my dad is a master diver. So looking for reviews from a newbie and veteran standpoint. Do you see a lot of sealife (fish, sharks, turtles)? Looking for any feedback to help me decide if this is something we want to do.

 

[WDW Crawl]

Honestly I wouldn’t do this at all there right now. A woman was just attacked and killed by a shark on a scuba excursion.

Not sure if I can post links but just Google “Nassau Shark” and it comes right up. Sad stuff.

 

[Sykes]

I did it a few years ago. It's ... fine. The boat was well-run, and when I went there were only three of us diving on the boat so it felt like a private excursion, which was wonderful. The guide was really helpful for finding some of the more interesting spots along the way. We did two stops, one of which was a pretty active reef, and the other was a bowl-like area that was pretty empty. We saw turtles and a pretty decent variety of fish, but overall it's one of the least active places I've dived (it might have just been a slow day). Both areas were shallow enough that you could have had a fairly similar experience on a snorkeling expedition. (Personally I find a dive much more relaxing than snorkeling and consequently worth the extra hassle, but my wife would strongly disagree).

I'd do it again, but mainly because there isn't much else worth doing in Nassau--there's only so much rum I can drink.

 

[DizMagic]

I did it a few years ago. It's ... fine. The boat was well-run, and when I went there were only three of us diving on the boat so it felt like a private excursion, which was wonderful. The guide was really helpful for finding some of the more interesting spots along the way. We did two stops, one of which was a pretty active reef, and the other was a bowl-like area that was pretty empty. We saw turtles and a pretty decent variety of fish, but overall it's one of the least active places I've dived (it might have just been a slow day). Both areas were shallow enough that you could have had a fairly similar experience on a snorkeling expedition. (Personally I find a dive much more relaxing than snorkeling and consequently worth the extra hassle, but my wife would strongly disagree).

I'd do it again, but mainly because there isn't much else worth doing in Nassau--there's only so much rum I can drink.

Do you recall how deep you go? Looking to grab an underwater camera to document my adventure! Want to make sure i get one with the right depth rating.

 

[AgentMama]

Honestly I wouldn’t do this at all there right now. A woman was just attacked and killed by a shark on a scuba excursion.

Not sure if I can post links but just Google “Nassau Shark” and it comes right up. Sad stuff.

The person who died was snorkling, not scuba diving.

We've done a couple dives there, there are a lot of places that are much nicer to dive. I think the area is over visited and doesn't have the same amount of reef life as some other dive destinations. The boats tend to have a lot of new divers and it can be a challenge to stay out of the way of people who struggle with control in the water. We choose to save the money other than diving there now. But if you haven't done it, maybe you'll like it. We've typically done a wall (60ft+) and then a shallower reef there, on the 25-30ft range. We also did the shark dive, wouldn’t recommend that for new divers.

 

[WDW Crawl]

The person who died was snorkling, not scuba diving.

We've done a couple dives there, there are a lot of places that are much nicer to dive. I think the area is over visited and doesn't have the same amount of reef life as some other dive destinations. The boats tend to have a lot of new divers and it can be a challenge to stay out of the way of people who struggle with control in the water. We choose to save the money other than diving there now. But if you haven't done it, maybe you'll like it. We've typically done a wall (60ft+) and then a shallower reef there, on the 25-30ft range. We also did the shark dive, wouldn’t recommend that for new divers.

That’s correct, I tend to use both terms interchangeably despite them being different. Both activities too close to sharks in that area for me.

 

[Sykes]

That’s correct, I tend to use both terms interchangeably despite them being different. Both activities too close to sharks in that area for me.

Seems odd to be that concerned about a threat that kills fewer people annually than falling coconuts, but I guess I have a number of pretty irrational fears too.

 

[Sykes]

That’s correct, I tend to use both terms interchangeably despite them being different. Both activities too close to sharks in that area for me.

It seems odd to call out something that a) is much more likely to happen in the surf zone where people are swimming near the beach, and b) kills fewer people per year than falling coconuts, but I guess I have a number of my own fears that would be difficult to justify with rational basis.