bahamas good place to learn

[puffer21]

I was thinking about learning to dive at stuarts cove in the bahamas. They have a class where they send you the books and you do the academic traning at home. When you get there you take a test to see if you passed the academic and they go over the academic part. Then you do some pool class. then four open water dives. here are some of my questions about it.
1. Is this a good course?
2. Is this a good place?
3. Is the water clear?
4. What will I see?

I also have some questions on what you think i will see.
5. Do you think i will see sharks?
6. Do you think i will see turtles?
7. Do you think i will see porcupine puffers?
8. Do you think i will see anemones and clown fish?

Thanks for any help Puffer21

[mimmies11]

what type of certification will you get from this place? Sounds kinda like PADI...if that is the case, it is a great program IMO. It is an internationally known and accepted program so you wouldn't have any problems diving internationally in the future. I don't know about any of the other dive programs.

[mimmies11]

Also, if it is a PADI certification program, you can look into doing the confined (pool) dives in your hometown so you don't have to use up a couple of days down there doing the preliminary dives. Then when you go to the bahamas, you can do your open water dives in the first couple days and then do some real diving the other days you are there. It may be a way to squeeze the most out of your trip. PADI allows you to do the cert. parts with different instructors because they are all supposed to have the same standards and teach the same skills all over the world.

[puffer21]

Yes it it PADI.

[maractwin]

I would recommend doing the classroom and pool portions of your scuba training at home, and only do the final open water dives in the Bahamas. That way you don't waste a lot of your trip in classes. You'll have more time to learn the material properly. And if you have problems learning the skills in the pool (or physical problems with your ears), you've got more time to work through them. This is a common way to get certified, and I'm sure that Stuart Coves will honor a referral letter from your local dive shop.

I have dived with Stuart Coves, a couple of years ago. They were a pretty good organization. They are large and deal with a lot of divers every day. This isn't necessarily a good thing, as it means you may end up diving in a large group on a dive that's planned for the lowest common denominator. Though if you're a beginner completing your certification, you'll dive with an instructor and may feel more comfortable with other divers around rather than striking out with only your buddy in view. I was there with a group of ten people, and we got our own boat and had input in deciding where to dive.

The area has a lot of easy dives, so in this regard it's a good place to get certified. With OK (but not great) coral coverage, and a nice mix of fish and critters, you'll find lots to see. We did two dives on the exposed side of the island which isn't dived so much, and the reef was much better there. Visibility was good on most sites when we were there, 60-75 feet. I've got pictures from my trip online at http://www.markrosenstein.com/galler....php/v/nassau/ if you want to see some of was there.

You will most likely see sharks. There are a lot of grey reef sharks in the area. They aren't dangerous. They'll cruise by you, 20-30 feet away just to check you out. Stuart Coves does special shark feeding dives which attract a lot of these sharks. I'm not a fan of feedings because it promotes more dangerous behavior from the sharks and you'll see them in an unnatural setting. And I wouldn't recommend going on a shark feeding dive for a beginner until you've done a few dives and find out how comfortable you are underwater. If you're nervous about diving in general, and more nervous about sharks, it could lead to panic.

There are turtles in the area, but not as many as in other parts of the Caribbean. You may see a hawksbill, or possibly a green turtle.

What aquarists call porcupine puffers, and divers call balloonfish, Diodon holocanthus, are fairly common throughout the Caribbean and Bahamas. You will likely see them. What divers call a porcupine fish, Diodon hystrix, is a much larger relative, and less frequently seen.

You won't see any clownfish, as they are only found in the south Pacific ocean. There are anemones there. Condylactis are the easiest ones to spot. Take a close look among the tentacles, and you're likely to see translucent blue-striped shrimp, which are Pederson's cleaner shrimp.

-Mark

Originally posted by puffer21
I was thinking about learning to dive at stuarts cove in the bahamas. They have a class where they send you the books and you do the academic traning at home. When you get there you take a test to see if you passed the academic and they go over the academic part. Then you do some pool class. then four open water dives. here are some of my questions about it.
1. Is this a good course?
2. Is this a good place?
3. Is the water clear?
4. What will I see?

I also have some questions on what you think i will see.
5. Do you think i will see sharks?
6. Do you think i will see turtles?
7. Do you think i will see porcupine puffers?
8. Do you think i will see anemones and clown fish?

Thanks for any help Puffer21

[puffer21]

Thanks for all the help. the reason i asked about sharks was cause i dont want to see them. Im Kinda Scared of diving and i would hate to see a shark to close to me.

[mimmies11]

sharks have a bad rap. They do not bother people at all. If you are wanting to get into diving in saltwater, you will most likely see sharks. As long as you don't bother them, they mind their own business. I have seen MANY sharks and had no issues. They just swim by. The very worse that will happen is they wil follow you until you are out of their territory. I had a barracuda follow me around numerous times. If you want to saltwater dive, you will see sharks. They are in about every diving place.

[puffer21]

ya i know i just dont want to go to a place with tons of sharks,

[fnicklaus]

Bahammas are known for a variety of shark species. Don't worry. Sharks don't have much interest in divers. They are nervous of bubbles. Anywhere you go in the ocean, you have a chance to see a shark. Don't be nervous and enjoy the moment. They are incredible animals.You will have less chance of seeing a shark if you go to Bonaire or Little Cayman. I saw very few sharks there and they were small(less than 4 feet). However, I saw many many sharks in the Bahammas.

[puffer21]

you saw many oh my. How deep did you go and how shallow do sharks go

[maractwin]

Let's see if I can offer an analogy without making you afraid to step outside your house.

Have you ever seen a large hawk or eagle? If you pay attention, it's not unusual in many parts of the world to occasionally see them soaring high above, scanning the ground for potential prey. But unless you go out of your way looking for them, it is unusual to see them up close.

Similarly, there are sharks in most of the worlds oceans. If you spend some time on each dive staring out into the blue instead of down at the reef, it's not unusual to see a dark, vague shape pass quickly by. But close encounters that last more than a couple of seconds are unusual unless you make a point of going to places where sharks congregate.

The exception to this is a few species of shark that like to sleep on the reef, such as nurse sharks in the Caribbean or white-tips in the Pacific. You're more likely to stumble upon one of these, but that usually ignore you, or sometimes flee. Don't worry about them.

-Mark

[puffer21]

ok thanks

[billsreef]

Here's another way to think of diving with sharks, I've been diving for over 20 years...and I'm still here and never been bit by a shark Statistically speaking, your in far more danger stepping into your bathroom than diving with sharks

[billsreef]

Neither this girl or her buddies even tried to taste me, and yes I took this picture while diving



They are creatures to be respected, but you need not fear them. Don't go diving with a catch bag full of bloody fish or grabbing a shark by it's tail and you'll be fine

[puffer21]

were did you see that shark its huge

[billsreef]

Grand Cayman. Yeah, she was impressive in size. Quite the sight to make for a good days diving

[puffer21]

goods day try scary day

[billsreef]

Not scary at all. Despite the size, they are really too small to want to bother something the size of a human. People on the other hand are scary. We kill millions of sharks per year, yet the average global statics for sharks attacking people can generally be counted on your fingers. More people die in their bathtubs than get attacked by sharks, yet you still get in your bathtub...at least I hope so BTW are you scared of Dogs?

[puffer21]

No im not scared of dogs im just allergic. But im tiny a shark mit think of me as food no wait more like apitizer.

[billsreef]

On that dive that I saw that shark, there was also a 14 year old girl as part of the dive group She came back up in one piece and just as excited and happy about the dive as the rest of us

BTW I don't personally know anyone that has been bitten by a shark, but I know quite a few people that have been bitten by dogs. I'm not suggesting you take up trying to pet sharks like you would a dog, but I am trying to get you to loose that fear of sharks

[puffer21]

to loose my fear of sharks might take a while