From the moment I sent an email asking questions Gigi was very prompt and helpful with all my... read more
From the moment I sent an email asking questions Gigi was very prompt and helpful with all my... read more
WOW! Just amazing! We had scheduled a Carnival cruise for our 30th anniversary and our son's 17th... read more
Good and bad.
The water is amazing with great visibility. We did two dives. First one was the concrete ship and the second one was a shark dive.
The ship was a shallow dive (15-20 feet) but the sea life at the base of the ship was plentiful.
The bad parts of the dive:
No one ever checked our certification cards.
No head count was done prior to entering the water or immediately after the dive was completed.
Once in the water the dive guide swam off and left us.
The dive was over in less than 25 minutes.
The second dive was more of a stand on the bottom and let the shark swim around us which was kind of cool and a little unnerving.
This dive was about 30-35 feet and lasted about 30 minutes.
Toward the end of the dive the dive guide once again swam off and left us standing in the bottom with sharks swimming around us.
No hand signals were used and no safety stop was done by the dive guide (we did our own). I have to question the safety of a less experienced diver and also the actual qualifications/training and of the dive guides.
My husband and I are long time divers- this place does not meet our standards. We did the concrete wreck and shark dive which was really cool ( and the only reason it gets two stars)both dives our bottom time was only about 25-30 min. I still had 3/4 tank of air left both times! I could have used the same tank easily. Staff not friendly- not sure they even like their job. It’s the little things - like making sure after we jump in we are ok, or helping you to your seat so you don’t clang tanks, or doing roll call to make sure all divers are back.... I’m being funny but seriously they do not follow the standard diving rules. Hand signals? Forget it - they take their breather out and try to talk to you underwater. I’ve dove all over the world and so far this was one of the worst as far as staff and quality goes. The ocean life was great- would have loved more bottom time. If you have a good dive buddy you should be fine just don’t have high expectations.
We went on 10 dives (including a night dive) and 1 snorkel outing and every single member of the crew was excellent! Roberta, Robin, Kev, Andre, Gepetto, we loved our dives with you guys! The dive sites were great! The equipment was well taken care of. The boats were clean.
We definitely recommend diving the Sopona shipwreck, not snorkeling. The wall drift dive was great. The stingrays were great. The reef shark dive was awesome!
We’re coming back in the winter for the Hammerhead season!
We Chose Neal Watson because they were the only company who consistently replied to my emails and were the most helpful when arranging a dolphin swim.
The weather and conditions weren’t ideal, but we were hopeful we’d see dolphins. We paid when we arrived and were given a snorkel and fins and waited for the rest of our party.
I’d never snorkelled before. While we were introduced by name to crew members, we felt like we didn’t really know what was going on and who was who. There were no safety briefings or any information given about Bimini, dolphins or sharks etc. And no one helped with the equipment and checked we were okay etc. The crew would spot a dolphin but took a while to give us the all clear to enter the water, unknown why as there were other people from other boats in the water then when we were allowed we’d all jump in as quickly as possible, the boat would then move away and leave us to our own devices. Which i suppose isn’t great if you’re not a strong swimmer. But they did this to try and attract the dolphins. Unfortunately we couldn’t get close enough, so we’d swim back to the boat and try again. However, 3rd time lucky! We got right up close to them and literally jumped in and started swimming with them straight away. It was amazing!! They hung around us for at least 10 minutes and were so close I felt like could touch them. Remember to bring a GoPro!! It was an incredible experience and one I’ll never forget, even if it was brief. As the dolphins swam away a nurse shark appeared which was also nice to see. So, be prepared, you may also come across sharks!
Overall, incredible experience, although we later went with another company snorkelling on another island who were more professional and better at communicating with us throughout the trip.
Great experiece which I highly recom
mend. We saw the dolphins very close and even some sharks. Nice atmosphere on the boat. It is a must when you visit Bimini.
I have been diving for over 40 years, & on many Dive Charters at different Locations, I looked at the Rate card, a 2 tank dive was priced at $109.. when I went to sign up, I was told that I would have to pay extra for equipment which I thought was included.. the BCD & weights were extra? my total cost was $150 for the 2 tank dive.. they also charged me $6.50 for a coffee.. which should have been included? I was asked which Dive Boat did I want to join, I thought the Shark Dive would be interesting and a good place to try out my new SeaLife Camera.. unfortunately the boat was old & in need of repairs.. the staff onboard were polite and helped out when needed.. I was the only scuba diver out.. that morning, on that boat, my dive master, "Roberta" was good although, she wasn't overly friendly, she was from Italy, I don't think that I saw her smile once while onboard? she asked me how many dives I've done, what PADI Certification did I have and then wanted to test me on putting my regulator onto the tank and BCD hook up etc.. I have dived maybe 10 dives a year X 40 years.. you work it out.. rather than grilling me while I am on Vacation. anyway, the overall attitude put a damper on my dive that day, we dived on the Sapona Wreck, there was some Rays & Lobsters, .the Visibility was fair.. lots of silt in the water, and a strong current at one end of the shipwrecks Hull, it was somewhat of a workout.. the ships propeller. & framework are interesting.. we spent about 35 minutes around the Sapona., On the 2nd tank dive that morning, we did the Shark Dive.. it was good, lots of Reef Sharks.. in about 25 ft of water.. they get pretty close to you,.. he sharks are baited to come out to play, they smell the bait from far distances... and swim around the bait box.. which is off limits to the snorkelers and divers.. got some good pictures with the new camera. we were in the water maybe 25 minutes.. then out of the water & the ride back to the Big Game Club.