October 2009    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 24, No. 10   What's this?

Off the Beaten Path

dive destinations worthy of your consideration

from the October, 2009 issue of Undercurrent  

Subscriber Content Preview
Only active subscribers can view the whole article

Despite a tough economy, plenty of Undercurrent subscribers are not forsaking dive trips to the Caribbean, Pacific and other dive destinations. While a few wrote us about dive operators that need to do some work on their service, most said it was money well spent.

Bequia Dive Adventures, St. Vincent, & The Grenadines. Not many readers visit the tiny, charming and picturesque island of Bequia, but Kristin Farrag (Dundee, IL), who made her fifth visit in May, said it’s good Caribbean diving. I dived it years ago and though it’s not St. Vincent I still liked it. About Bequia Dive Adventures, Kristin says, “Ron and Laury are professional, safety-minded, respectful to the underwater environment and its creatures, and they are really good at finding little things like frogfish and seahorses. Bequia diving is almost all drift diving, but it’s a nice, slow drift. Bequia is difficult to get to - we’ve been stranded in several places trying to get to & from it – but I think it’s so worth it.” (www.bequiadiveadventures.com)

Wananavu Beach Resort, Fiji. In our June issue, we reported that Kai Viti Divers had closed as the resort’s on-site dive shop and was replaced by Ra Divers. Gene Huff (San Ramon, CA) visited the same week Ra officially replaced Kai Viti and says the shop did a good job for his group of 10. “Ra was getting a new boat the week we left, so those going now will get a luxury we didn’t have on their old boats that looked well past their prime. Divemaster Bob and guides Jimmy, Nitesh and Solo all did a great job, managing the group in currents and letting us do our own thing on bommie dives. There was a mix of skill levels in our group and they managed to keep everyone happy and safe, with only one ‘eventful’ dive when the currents were ripping a lot faster than anyone expected. Shore diving is available at no charge, and several times either Ra or the resort motored us out a ways and let us do a one-way back in.” Norman Ross (Abilene, TX) visited in September and says about Ra’s new boat, “There were nine divers and two dive masters, and it was not crowded. The front part of the boat is enclosed, which is nice for the long ride out to Bligh Waters. The two dives I took in Bligh Waters were very good, with a number of fish and great coral. However, the other sites did not have nearly as many fish. When you end up taking pictures of just coral, that’s a sure sign fish life is lacking. I love the people and the resort, but it’s not worth a return visit.”...