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Dive Review of Bequia Dive Adventures/The Villago Apartments in
St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Bequia Dive Adventures/The Villago Apartments, Aug, 2008,

by stan wilson, md, usa ( 2 reports with 5 Helpful votes). Report 4325.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments August is a slow season; and for the 12 dives I did that week, I only had one additional diver for about a third of the dives. And with just about all dives being drift dives (due to the prevalence of currents), I frequently went out with just the dive master and a boat captain. Ron, Laury and Ashley were very professional and friendly in their capacities as dive masters and boat captains. I had great personal service.

We would load the boat from shore and proceed anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes to the sites. While the boat was open, there was an ample canvas sun shade.

The corals were healthy, small fish and critters varied, and the environment in good shape. When asked 'what has changed in your 15 years of working here?', Laury said that the big stuff has generally been fished out. Even so, on several dives, we had a 6-ft tarpon swimming along with us for a good while.

The highlight for me were the octopi. Told that this was mating season, I saw an octopus on three dives - one for brief moment until he slipped into a crack, but another time I was able to stay with one for 10 minutes and see him do a variety of color changes, including flashing all white when he appeared unhappy. On my last dive I saw a pair of mating octopi and was able to stay with them for 10 minutes, again seeing the larger one (about 18 inches tip to opposite tip) flash all white. If you like octopi, try Bequia in August.

I went with a non-diver, and we enjoyed the stay at the Village Apartments. Our apartment (#7)- one bedroom with a kitchenette - was clean, cheerful, and comfortable - with all of the comforts of home! As with the diving operation, I highly recommend it! The porch of this particulart unit has a great view of the beach, ocean, and sunsets over the water. We would typically make our own breakfast and lunch, and then choose between a half dozen or so bar/restaurants within easy walking distance.

We got to Bequia by flying in to St Vincent, taking a taxi to the ferry terminal, and then boarding a ferry for an hour-long ride.

Our only problem was on the last morning. We had scheduled a pick up with Chris Olliviere for 6:10 AM Saturday morning so we could catch the 6:30 ferry. He had been more than happy to get paid for a 2+ hour tour of the island the previous afternoon, and he said that we could depend on him being there to pick us up the next morning. But he was a NO SHOW, even though I called him at 6:15 AM to remind him.

We were indebted to George (the owner of the Village Apts) for having heard us talking outside while we were waiting for pick up, and then getting up himself to drive us to the ferry in time. If we had missed that particular ferry, we would have had to take a later flight out of St Vincent and missed a connection in San Juan, forcing us to spend the night there and getting home a day later.

Bequia is a hidden gem of an island. Interesting things to see and do topside, and good diving below. I understand that for 4 or 5 months in the winter it becomes a sail boaters haven, with a peak over the Xmas/NY holidays. But for the slow season, we had it all to ourselves and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving California (Monterey, Channel Islands, LaJolla), Flower Garden Banks, Florida Keys, Caribbean (Bonaire, Tobago, Saba, Dominica, Little Cayman), Bahamas (San Salvador), Grand Turk, Kona, Great Barrier Reef, Fiji, New Caledonia
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, rainy Seas calm, currents, no currents
Water Temp 84-°F / 29-°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions I did two morning dives, each an hour long. I saw no reason to go deeper than 100 ft, but could pushed it, if there were a reason.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish 1 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

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

Subject Matter N/A Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments No special arrangements for photography.
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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.

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