Dive Review of
Dive Guana/Dolphin Beach Resort in
Bahamas/Great Guana Cay

San Sal, Belize, Honduras, Cayman brac, G.Cayman, Little Cayman, Keys,
Bonaire (12), Turks/Caicos,Saba, St. Thomas, St Kitts, St Bart's

Dive Conditions

we were free to dive our own profile.  the sites were less than 70 feet,
mostly.....the divemaster led the dives, but as veteran divers, we went
wherever we wanted to....this was our 4th time diving with Dive
Guana....Troy is organized, helpful, and attentive to divers as well as
snorkellers.  

We  had our own housed digital, and had no trouble.  We were diving in
small groups, and were the only divers doing photo/video. Divesmater/owner
Troy Albury went out of his way to take a photo of my son with a huge
barracuda in the background. With  groups with more UWPs, more attention is
given to their needs, dip tank, etc.  There is a nice fresh water hose on
board that is always working, and always avaiable. The divesites are within
about 30 minutes or less.   

Overall Rating

This was my 4th trip in 4 years diving with Dive Guana on Great Guana Cay
in Abaco. The dive operation is run by Troy and Maria Albury, who are
committed local Bahamians, parents of  2 young kids, and run an  small,
organized  dive operation. The primary dive boat is beamy, sqeaky-clean,
and updated. January-through March can be a crap-shoot diving here,and I
don't recommend it, like anywhere in the Bahamas. Late May though early
July would be my choice. Our recent trip in August '06 was a gamble during
Hurricane season, but we had flat calm seas, mostly, with endless vis,
mostly 100-120.  There are 3 or 4 great sites that are well worth diving
more than once in a dive week, like Shark Alley and Grouper Alley.  We saw
3 or 4 big reef sharks, up close and personal (as close as 5 or 6 feet) in
the 4 to 8 foot range on all our dives here.  There are huge Nassau and
black grouper here, that will allow you to hold and pet them like puppies,
if you are still, and gentle. Troy is like their mother, as they eagerly
snuggle into his arms! Gray angels, French angels, and a few porky lobsters
were also sighted. We also saw enormous nurse sharks, under ledges. We did
see one eagle ray and a turtle, briefly, on  "fly by" sightings. 
Perhaps my favorite aspect of Guana diving is the caverns and swim
throughs, in the 35 to 40 foot range!  They are loaded with silversides to
the degree, that when you get in there, you can't see anything but silver
flashing, 2 inches from your face mask. When the sun hits a cut in the swim
through, against the silversides, it makes  a great photo op. Diving at the
other end of the Island, the diving was a bit shallower,less spectacular,
but still worthy.  It was here where I saw my first ever Pacific Lionfish!!
He lives under a hooded section of coral, and is remarkable to see and
photograph. They are aggressive, and I noticed that there was not a small
fish anywhere in his vicinity! When you arrive at Dive Guana, they also
take care of your gear for your entire stay, including careful washing. I
never picked up a tank. I'm not sure more than a week here, for serious
divers, is the way to go. The diversity  of dive sites is adequate for a
week,  but certainly not Bonaire-like. There is a nice wreck in 120 feet
that we ran out of time to do, in fact.  Troy and Maria are also at the
forefront of a legal action against the Bahamian government to halt, or
scale back, the project at Baker's Bay  (Land Discovery Co.), that proposes
to build a golf course on Guana Cay, certain to be harmful to the delicate
reef system of Guana. I like to dive with people who are out there looking
out for "our" critters, and ultimately, our diving. Troy also
chases poachers in his capacity as an Island authority, which we witnessed
a few years back, when he got after some bad guys stealing lobsters.

 As for accomodations, Dolphin Beach Resort worked just fine for us.  It is
a  small resort, tucked into a lush oceanfront property.There is damn good
snorkelling just to the right, toward NIPPERS.  There is a  cute, clean
pool in the courtyard, but no on-site restaurant. The Blue Water Grill sits
above Dive Guana, 200 yards away, and is excellent, and not too
expensive...and what a view! NIPPERS famous eatery/bar is a 5 minute ocean
beach walk. The Nippers Sunday Pig Roast is a must! There are hotel rooms
in the Dolphin Lodge, and also assorted pastel colored cottages. It is on
the Atlantic oceanfront, 200 yards from Dive Guana, which is on the Sea of
Abaco. On Guana, the way to get around is by golf cart, which is so much
fun. My son and I locked ourselves out of our cottage late one
night.....and had to wake up the owner/manager Rebecca, who gave us the key
to a Lodge room for the night. We needed our "stuff", so we had
to break the window, and get in to our cottage. They fixed this by 10 am
THE NEXT MORNING, and refused to allow me to pay for it!  Finally, Great
Guana Cay is TINY!.....only about 120 folks live here!  The ferry from
Marsh Harbour takes 30 minutes.. In closing, of 35 dive trips and  over 25
years, I'd rather be either here or in Bonaire.    

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