Stuart Cove 2000

Harlequin Holidays: www.harlequinholidays.com

Photo Gallery: Stuart Cove Pictures

Island

Diving

Food and entertainment.

Travel

 

The Island

New Providence Island is also known as Nassau which is the capital of the Bahamas. Nassau itself is quite a busy town and is regularly visited by cruise ships. The only excursion we made from our base on the quieter south ocean area of the island was to Atlantis hotel which boasts an impressive water park and aquarium. Nassau appears to be quite an historic town with good shopping but as we did not spend any time there it is difficult to comment any further. The South Ocean resort had a regular bus service to and from Nassau and Paradise Island. The South Ocean resort also had a good golf course.

 

The diving

Average water temperature: 23 Celsius

Wetsuit used: 5mm full wetsuit

The Stuart Coves dive operation is run from the former set of Flipper the movie and our reason for going to there is the shark feeding dives. Stuart Coves have been involved in quite a few films which means there are a number of underwater film sets close by including James Bond and Jaws to name but a few. The dive shop seemed to be well stocked but as we have our own equipment we just needed air tanks and weights. It's worth noting for those who are interested that Nitrox is available. The boat dives consisted of two morning dives and an afternoon dive.

 

The main shark dive site was called Shark Arena. This is where the shark feeding takes place. The divers kneel in a circle before the feeder with his box of fish bits who swims into the middle and then starts to feed the sharks with a spear. The result is Caribbean reef sharks (around 30-40) swimming very close to get a chance of the tit bit on the spear. The sharks were very relaxed and not in any sort of feeding frenzy as some media would like to portray. This gave you a chance to see these apex predators at very close quarters in their natural environment, although not necessarily with their normal wary approach to humans. The sharks swimming over your shoulder regularly brush past you with their pectoral fins and give you the occasional stroke on the face with their tail. Divers are not allowed to touch the sharks so you feel quite privileged when they break the rules.

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Food and entertainment

The package was room only, but the menu at the hotel was varied and the food was good . The South Ocean hotel is quite isolated as it is the opposite side of the island from Nassau and the main hotels on Paradise Island, but Michelle Cove did provide us with locations of bars and eating establishments close by although we did not venture from the hotel to eat.

Travel

The holiday was booked through Harlequin Holiday. The outward flight from Heathrow on British Airways and we flew to Miami which was about 8 hours, then a connecting flight to Nassau and a transfer to South Ocean . The return flight was early afternoon from Nassau to Miami airport.