Dive Review of
Man Friday and DIVE M Redman/Man O' War Cottages, Charlotteville in
Trinidad and Tobago/Charlotteville/ Speyside

Fiji, Hawaii, California Coast & Channel Islands, Coronado Islands
(Mexico)and Baja, Caymans, Grand Turk, St.Croix, Guanaja, Florida, Bonaire,
Curacao, Cozumel, Culebra

Dive Conditions

All dives guided due to current. Man Friday more rigid about limits.   

Not the place for underwater photographers with either of these operators
due to open boats, rough seas, no facilities, potentially lots of current
and surge. Personally, it was nice not to have to deal with beginner divers
with cameras or "professionals" with their huge camera set-ups
grabbing and stomping the reefs.  

Overall Rating

Our family of 4 (including 2 boys 5 & 7) went to Tobago after reading a
recent Undercurrent article, which we followed up with additional research.
MAN FRIDAY DIVERS(Charlotteville)- Anna a sweet & watchful divemaster,
did a good job in the water but inadequate briefing. Confusing policy for
reboarding the boat in very rough seas. Tremendous surge underwater, swells
and fumes topside left half of us sick (although I with the SCOP patch was
the only one to actually succumb to the nausea.)Bjorn, "the boss"
was downright hostile toward every American diver we spoke to in Tobago
(including us) and has a very poor reputation with the locals due to his
arrogant, nasty demeanor. His outrageous behavior (rude ranting and raving,
badmouthing divers in their absence) and scheduling rigidity were
unprofessional and unprecedented in the decades (combined) my husband and I
have been diving. Unfortunately the other Charlotteville dive operator RON
was out injured and did not dive until the end of our trip. So we made the
drive over to Speyside and dove with Redman (DIVE M REDMAN), a local with
the best reputation on the island. He bent over backward to accomodate our
little group of 4, adding a separate trip for us so the boat and diving
would not be too crowded. Beautiful drift diving over pristine reef with
lots of variety in terrain and perfectly timed so safety stops were spent
over shallow reefs. Lots of great fish life although not the mantas or
hammerheads recently reported by other divers. Our original cottage at MAN
O' WAR Cottages was somewhat shabby and not as clean as it could've been,
but we adjusted to it and were very happy there due to the comfy beds,
roomy deck, beautiful grounds, and super location right on the beach. We
loved the short walk to town by beach or road, the constant twitter of
tropical birds, the exciting and flavorful local cuisine, the rainforest,
and mostly the lovely local people. We were able to hire a young local
woman to watch our kids and they loved her. As reported by others, big
sister Trinidad is a MUST for nature lovers, including ASA WRIGHT NATURE
CENTER, CARONI SWAMP TOUR, and ARIPO COTTAGE for delightful accomodation
and great surprises.  

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