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| Tobago | ||||||||
Trinidad, the southernmost island in the Caribbean chain (it's
actually south of Caracas) isn't for divers, but its smaller sister to the north
is.... Diving from resort hotels along the southwest coast of Tobago is inferior
to the diving to the north, where you'll find huge coral heads and good fish
life, with mantas common in the spring. Strong currents and choppy water make
this a place for experienced divers. (The owner of the Man Friday dive operation
disappeared while diving in 1994, and his body was never recovered; his shop
is now operated by his son. In 1997 a woman lost contact with her dive boat
and spent 27 hours in the water before washing ashore.).... Blue Waters Inn
is the main dive hotel; it's situated on a nice beach about 15 minutes from
all sites.... Tobago is covered with rainforest and has good hiking, friendly
people, and serene and beautiful beaches. Birding there is excellent (visit
Bird Island offshore with a guide), but Trinidad's Asa Wright Nature Center
(a small hotel with a view that's almost guaranteed to be filled with scores
of tropical species) is unparalleled, as is the lagoon trip to see 2000 scarlet
ibis fly in from Venezuela each night....
For full reviews of the following Tobago destinations, see:
Blue Waters Inn/Manta Lodge - Tobago,
Undercurrent- March 1998 Tobago Dive Experience/Manta Lodge, April 1998, Harry L. Cure, Jr., Fort Worth, TX. Tobago has some of the healthier reefs in the Caribbean. Currents can be very strong, but they bring large volumes of sea life. Great diving for the experienced diver! Vis: 50-75 ft. Water: 80-81 degrees. Restriction enforced for diving was 100 ft. depth limit. (Ph: 809-639-0791, Fax: 809-639-0030, Speyside Ph/Fax: 809-660-5268) Tobago Dive Masters/Coco Reef Hotel, November 1997, Gary Wenzel, Manchester, NH. My wife is a nondiver so we elected to stay at Coco Reef Hotel. Rooms were immaculate and food was gourmet every night. Beach was fantastic with a manmade lagoon that sheltered the swimmers and those on inflatibles. Each night, the hotel would feature wonderful entertainment. Happy Hour sitting next to the beautiful sea was a dream. Tobago is off the main flow of tourism and it doesn't cost much more to go first class. I ate at Jemma's every day and it was great. We were on Island time and this experience just added to the list of great memories there. My dive buddy and I chose run by Ellis John and his assistant Otto. First class organization. Each day they would pick us up at the hotel and drive to Speyside in about one hour. For the whole week, there was a max of 4 divers plus the dive guide with us on each dive. We did several wonderful dives; this area is among the finest in the Caribbean. My fondest dive was Cathedral and going into Flying Manta, all on the same dive. We were flying so fast with so many nutrients in the water that for about one minute, our dive became a night dive. Fantastic; we were expecting it from the dive briefings. On all dives, they instructed us to come up with 500 lbs. of air. At the end of the day of diving, we would stop off at the Islander Inn, just over the hill from Speyside. Beer was only $1.10 and we would take turns each day buying beer and peanuts. Even Ellis, the owner of Tobago Dive Masters, bought beer and peanuts.
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