Main Menu
Join Undercurrent on Facebook

The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975 | |
For Divers since 1975
The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975
"Best of the Web: scuba tips no other
source dares to publish" -- Forbes
X
 

Dive Review of The Dive Shop Ltd./Villa Bruadair in
Barbados

The Dive Shop Ltd./Villa Bruadair, Mar, 2010,

by Edward Monat, ME, US ( 1 report). Report 5430.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food N/A
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 5 stars
Snorkeling 5 stars
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments First I want to say that we were a group of 15 year-round cold water divers from the League of Underwater Superheroes in Bar Harbor, Maine. Our group can not stop talking about our trip. The whole experience was truly amazing. We picked Barbados for many reasons, but you don't hear much about the diving there. I read some reviews online and divers seemed to really enjoy it. Well so did we!

It was easy to get to. Portland to JFK to Barbados on Jet Blue was easy and comfortable. We arrived at 1:30 in the afternoon and were snorkeling the first day.

Barbados is really beautiful. You need to get away from the hustle and bustle and visit the whole island. We did on our last day. It was well worth it. The people are really friendly, there is almost no crime, and there were no bugs. The transportation is by cab or bus. The bus system is cheap but long and a bit scary. You could rent a car, but I think you would be taking your life into your own hands. Order fish balls at the Surfside in Holetown, eat $3 fish sandwiches at the little fish shack, a short walk down the beach from the Dive Shop, and go to Oistins on Friday night. Most restaurants are wicked expensive, so we ate most of our meals in our villa. We were a 15 minute walk to town.

Our villa was just beautiful and really well thought out. Built in 2007, it was 3 stories tall with 7 bedrooms with a/c, 8 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, 2 pools, balconies and decks everywhere. There was also a bar, entertainment area, gazebo, and great landscaping. The back of the villa bordered the rainforest. The top of the villa was actually level with the rainforest canopy. We were visited daily by tons of monkees and birds. The staff was great also.

The Dive Shop rocks! Fatema and her crew were awesome. They are all knowledgeable, fun, helpful, and accomodating. They boat captain Michael and our divemaster Dave would help divers get in the water if they wanted it. Michael was excellent at handling the boat and picking up divers. Dave was great at finding unbelievable marine life and pointing it out. Fatema and friends or family would come to our villa and pick us up and bring us back for our dives. She would also go way out of her way to wait for us to get food, stop at the rum shop, or be brought to an alternative location. The dive boat was a little small for our group, but we didn't mind at all. They anchor the boat near the beach and you have to walk your gear and tanks out to the boat. We did 13 dives over 6 days. This included a night dive and a shore dive. Most dives are easy drift dives. The wrecks of Carlisle Bay are right at the beach of the Dive Shop. Shore diving was an excellent addition to our dives. We also used The Dive Shop for a snorkel with the turtles, stingrays, and puffer. This was an incredible experience also. After our last dive Fatema gave everyone a Dive Shop T-shirt and she held a huge party with lots of beer and tons of the best-tasting Bajan cooked food. Call or email Fatema and she'll set you up.

Our diving included: awesome 365 wreck "Stav", Carlisle Bay wrecks, turtles galore, stingrays, amazingly massive and beautiful sponges, tons of eels, frog fish, sea horses, octopus, squid, slipper and spiny lobsters, all kinds of crabs, conch, hermits, jawfish, flying gunards, peacock flounders, cleaner shrimp, anemones, all kinds of beautiful fish, a huge porcupine fish with a remora, and humpback whale singing on every dive. We even hunted for old bottles and found some really old and cool ones too. You can keep the bottles. Carlisle Bay is loaded with marine life. Do many dives here. We did. Of all the diving I've done around the Caribbean, this was the most varied and exciting for me.
Websites The Dive Shop Ltd.   Villa Bruadair

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Cancun, Belize, Grand Cayman, Curacao, Salt Cay, Florida, Nova Scotia, Massachusetts and home in Maine.
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy Seas calm, choppy
Water Temp 80-82°F / 27-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 40-100 Ft/ 12-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions General guidelines were set but the divemaster let experienced members of the group dive their own profiles.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? no

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish N/A
Large Pelagics N/A

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

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities 4 stars
UW Photo Comments There is tons to photograph in Barbados. Fish, invertebrates, wrecks, corals and massive sponges are awesome for photography. The overall undersea landscape had a lot to offer. Sometimes in a large group like ours the sand would get stirred up when divers got excited about the cool stuff to see. You have to lug your camera equipment out to the boat, which does not bother me, and I have a big rig. Doing so you walk through surf which stirs up the sand, so you have to pay careful attention to your o-ring. The rinse bucket is on shore. You can rinse between dives on your suface interval which is also back onshore. This is all worth it. All of the dives the boat picked us up. I was able to go off on my own, take photos, and be picked up later.
Was this report helpful to you?
Leave a comment (Subscribers only -- 200 words max)
Subscribers can comment here
 

Subscribe Now
Subscribers can post comments, ask the reviewer questions, as well as getting immediate and complete access to ALL 32 dive reviews of Barbados and all other dive destinations. Complete access to all issues and Chapbooks is also included.

 

Want to assemble your own collection of Barbados 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


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

Free Undercurrent Issue
Get a free
monthly email and
a sample issue!


Find in  

| Home | Online Members Area | My Account | Login | Join |
| Travel Index | Dive Resort & Liveaboard Reviews | Featured Reports | Recent Issues | Back Issues |
| Dive Gear Index | Health/Safety Index | Environment & Misc. Index | Seasonal Planner | Blogs | Free Articles | Book Picks | News |
| Special Offers | RSS | FAQ | About Us | Contact Us | Links |

Copyright © 1996-2024 Undercurrent (www.undercurrent.org)
3020 Bridgeway, Ste 102, Sausalito, Ca 94965
All rights reserved.

Page computed and displayed in 0.09 seconds