Dive Review of Grand Bahama Scuba/Ocean Reef Yacht Club in
Bahamas/Freeport, Grand Bahama

Other dive reports on Grand Bahama Scuba

Other Bahamas reports
Subscriber Content Preview
Active subscribers go here

Grand Bahama Scuba/Ocean Reef Yacht Club, Sep, 2010, by Gary Williamson, CA, US ( Reviewer 3 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 5699.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Grand Bahama Scuba is based at the Ocean Reef Yacht Club in a Marina away from the beach. It is run by a Husband and wife team Fred & Melinda Riger. Fred has been based in the area for over 20 years. My son and I dived three days with 2 dives per day. The dive sites are close to Freeport and we were there within half an hour. The boat we used on each occassion can carry up to 20 divers, however the most we saw were five on the 1st day. We dived Labor Day week and September is the slow tourist season (an even better reason to go at that time). The first day we dived through Coral caves at Pygmy caves following Fred. We could follow along or dive our own profiles. The coral heads had merged overhead and made some nice swim throughs. There was a variety of tropical fish but nothing very large. The coral looked healthy. The 2nd dive was at Shark Junction, a well known local shark feeding area. It was busy with other dive boats in the area. We saw five Bahama Reef sharks which were swimming in the area. It was fun to sit on the bottom and just watch the sharks swim by. There was also an patch of garden eels nearby. After the dive we washed our gear and Melinda stored it in a storage room. The next day it was set up on the boat when we arrived. Day two we dived a wreck called Badger, a tug boat sunk in about 90ft. We saw a few Lion fish inside the wreck so limited ourselves to the outer hull. There was a large variety of tropical fish nearby also. The 2nd dive was back among coral heads (don't recall the name) at medium depth. Lots of parrot fish as well as a few groupers. The water was warm enough to dive without any wetsuit and still not feel cold. Day three I opted for Nitrox. There was an extra charge of $12.50 per tank for 32%. We went down to another bigger wreck (Duncan, I think). Quite a few Lion fish in the area and large ones too. Also a number of large grouper. I saw a small Eagle ray and a barracuda as we swam around. The wreck had broken in half and exposed a lot of the interior to explore. Many different hard and soft corals were growing on the wreck. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of fish, many which I didn't recognize. The 2nd dive we returned to Shark Junction and it was much more peacful as we had the place to ourselves. The old hyperbaric chamber is used as an anchor for a buoy near the site. There is not currently an operating chamber on the island. Once again we kneeled on the bottom and watched as about five different sharks swam around us. They came within three feet but in no way did they seem threatening to us. Both Fred and Melinda dived with us the first days and on the last day it was just Fred with the two of us. We enjoyed the experience and would dive with them again. The Ocean Reef Yacht club is a timeshare operation and we traded into it through RCI. It a friendly place with pool bar that made burgers and hot dogs and a full restaurant. We were welcomed with Bahama Mama drinks and they were served again at Monday night guest gathering. The rooms were spacious and clean, air conditiong worked great, the wireless internet was a little flaky but was usable. There was an energy charge of $86 per room for the week also. Because it is not on the beach, they provide a shuttle service to Lucaya market and Taino beach on week days and food/drink run to the market on Saturday night and Monday. We also walked to/from the beach several times (about 1 mile). The local people we met were friendly and you have to go to the local Fish Fry on Wednesday night, a great time for a party. There is fresh water cave diving on the island but we didn't try it. All in all my family and I had a great week on Grand Bahama.
Websites	Grand Bahama Scuba Ocean Reef Yacht Club
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Monterey, Ca; Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo san Lucas MX; Fiji
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	86-86°F / 30-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	50-60 Ft/ 15-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Limit dives to an hour
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Cameras were stored in a a large cooler. Food was also stored in the cooler.

Leave a comment (Subscribers only -- 200 words max)
Subscribers can comment here

Subscribers can post comments, ask the reviewer questions, as well as getting immediate and complete access to ALL 440 dive reviews of Bahamas and all other dive destinations. Complete access to all issues and Chapbooks is also included.

Other dive reports on Grand Bahama Scuba

All Bahamas Dive Reviews and Reports
Diving Guide to Bahamas
Diving Reviews for All Dive Destinations

Want to assemble your own collection of Bahamas reports in one place?
Use the Mini Chapbook Facility to create your personalized collection.

Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

Undercurrent Home

Page computed and displayed in 0.11 seconds

Get more dive info like these and other important scuba updates sent monthly to your email. And a FREE Recent Issue of Undercurrent
Get a free monthly email and a sample issue!

Dive Review of Grand Bahama Scuba/Ocean Reef Yacht Club in Bahamas/Freeport, Grand Bahama

Grand Bahama Scuba/Ocean Reef Yacht Club, Sep, 2010,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Grand Bahama Scuba/Ocean Reef Yacht Club in
Bahamas/Freeport, Grand Bahama