Dive Review of Dive Bermuda at Grotto Bay/https:/www.bermudascubagrottobay.co in
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Dive Bermuda at Grotto Bay/https:/www.bermudascubagrottobay.co: "Bermuda! Shipwreck Capital of the World and Healthy Reefs", May, 2023, by ROGER B COOPER, VA, US ( Reviewer 4 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 12434 has 1 Helpful vote.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Bermuda: Time for Another Look at the Ship Wreck Capital of the World. Before deciding to go to Bermuda for our 50th wedding anniversary, I of course checked UnderCurrent for recent reader reports. I found only one recent report in the 2020 Chapbook for an island that bills itself as the Shipwreck Capital of the World. That seemed strange. But Bermuda checked a number of my boxes: 1) easy to get to – a 2-hour 12-minute direct flight from Newark (featuring a brand-new Newark terminal and a three-year-old Bermuda terminal); able to do a two-tank dive and be back in time for lunch with my non-diving spouse; nice weather on a lovely island; and a PADI 5-star dive operation a ten-minute cab from our hotel. Dive Bermuda has three dive operations on Bermuda: Dive Bermuda at Grotto Bay, about 15 minutes from the airport in a lovely grotto not far from where Michael Bloomberg has a home; Fairmount Southampton (presently closed until 2024 while the hotel undergoes a major renovation); and Dive Bermuda Tech at Somerset (their technical dive operation). My wife and I stayed at The Rosewood Hotel and Spa, a five-star luxury hotel in Castle Harbour but a short ten-minute cab ride to Grotto Bay. Dive Bermuda at Grotto Bay is on the property of Grotto Bay Beach Resort (11 Blue Hole Hill Bailey's Bay, Hamilton Parish CR04) [grottobay.com link] I didn’t check it out but it seems to be a four-star hotel and much more affordable than the Rosewood. This review is of the Dive Bermuda at Grotto Bay operation and does not cover the Rosewood Hotel or Grotto Bay Beach resort. I think Grotto Bay Beach Resort certainly would be worth looking at if you are diving at Grotto Bay. The Rosewood Resort is very much a 5-star resort and offers excellent service but probably doesn't attract many divers. Dive Bermuda at Grotto Bay is what you would expect from a well-run PADI 5-star operation: easy online reservations with a 24-hour cancellation policy, very knowledgeable and experienced staff, concierge diving if that is what you want or need, and professional treatment of experienced divers. But what about the diving? I had planned a one tank afternoon dive (post-COVID warm up after no diving since 2019) followed by two-tank morning dives for the following two days. Unfortunately, the first afternoon dive was blown out but the next two days of diving went off like clockwork. All four dives were on a long coral fringing reef north of Bermuda that is lined with over a dozen major shipwrecks. On the first dive two things became immediately clear: We were diving on fantastic wrecks in relatively shallow water and the visibility was outstanding. My deepest dive hit 57 feet with an average depth of 41 feet. This was a big change for the hundreds of wreck dives I have done in New Jersey and Nova Scotia. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the health of the hard and soft coral. This coral looked like some of the coral I had seen in the Caribbean many decades ago or almost like some of the soft coral I had seen in Fiji onboard the NAI’A back in 2008. But there was one major disappointment: very little fish life. At first the relatively low level of fish life was not particularly noticeable. The amazing wrecks and beautiful coral kept me busy taking videos and photos with my GoPro. With the water being so shallow and clear the camera light on my tray was basically unneeded. But at some point, I noticed that while we did see some of the usual Caribbean fish and critters but just not very many. Here was a lobster, there was a Flamingo Tongue, here was a small school of grouper (probably spawning) and there was a single Lion Fish (speared as soon as the divers had a chance to see it). No turtles, sharks or large pelagics appeared during these four dives. One other potentially negative point was that the water temperature on May 12 – 13 was 70 degrees Fahrenheit. I had brought along a three-mil full wetsuit and a hooded vest but my excellent Dive Instructor guide, Dakoda, suggested that I add another three-mil shorty, which she quickly supplied. I then noticed that the dive guides all seemed to be wearing dry suits. Fully neoprened, I was never cold during the four dives. Bermuda lists average water temperatures from 79 – 82 degrees in the Summer but the outstanding visibility we had in May might owe something to the cooler water temperature. Being bathed by the Gulf Stream the water temperatures are moderated. I really liked the professional dive staff at Dive Bermuda. My buddy, an experienced diver from Australia, and I were paired with Dakota as our dive guide. It was nice not having to dive with a larger group. Dakota is working on a Masters degree in Marine Biology, splits her time between Florida and Bermuda and spent the last few years teaching in Thailand. This was my second dive trip to Bermuda but my last one was in 2006. My logs from those two dives also reported a relative lack of fish life but I did see some big fish at Tarpon Hole. Bermuda is a very safe, civilized and fairly expensive island, although I expect you could keep lodging and food costs down with a little planning. For East Coast divers it is really easy to get to. One of my favorite places to dive in the Caribbean is with Indigo Divers in Grand Cayman, another island that can be expensive. Another Caribbean favorite is Cozumel. Both offer more fish life and warmer waters in the Spring but Bermuda has its own special charms and I would like to return and see more of its 300 plus wrecks.
Websites	https:/www.bermudascubagrottobay.co
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Caribbean (many islands), Bahamas, Bermuda, Tahiti, Fiji, Philippines, Hawaii, California, New Jersey & Nova Scotia
Closest Airport	Bermuda L.F. Wade International Airport	Getting There	2 hour 12 minute direct flight from Newark to Bermuda
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	69-71°F / 21-22°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	100-150 Ft/ 30-46 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]With a dive guide and one other diver. Treated as an experienced diver.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	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
UW Photo Comments	[None]Had a bucket for underwater cameras and trays. They were careful with the equipment.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Dive Bermuda at Grotto Bay/https:/www.bermudascubagrottobay.co in Bermuda

Dive Bermuda at Grotto Bay/https:/www.bermudascubagrottobay.co: "Bermuda! Shipwreck Capital of the World and Healthy Reefs", May, 2023,

Photos Submitted with this Report

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 Dive Bermuda at Grotto Bay/https:/www.bermudascubagrottobay.co in
Bermuda