Stuart Cove's Aqua Adventures, Snorkeling and Sharks! Pops is "Swimmin' with da fishes"
Written: Mar 10 '06 (Updated Mar 13 '08)
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Pros: Professional Staff and excellent crafts.
Cons: We don't get to the Bahamas enough
The Bottom Line: My wife and I who are pretty well experienced snorkelers enjoyed the snorkel sites, the professional staff and swimming with the sharks.
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| popsrocks's Full Review: Stuart Cove's Aqua Adventures |
Be sure to read "UPDATE" Below.
My wife and I have been fortunate enough to have snorkeled some Florida Points like Biscayne National Underwater Park, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, and Dry Tortugas National Park. We have snorkeled on two side of Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Vieques, the US Virgin Islands of St. Thomas and St. John, British VIs Baths at Virgin Gorda, Mexico's Cozumel and even up north in Bermuda. Stuart Cove gave us the best three stop adventure of all these places.
Some History
Stuart Cove is owned by a husband wife team. According to their web site in 1977 "Stuart landed a job as stunt / safety diver on the James Bond feature film "For Your Eyes Only" staring Roger Moore and Carole Bouquet. During the filming of this job, Stuart's skills as a "shark wrangler" and dive instructor quickly stood out. By the end of the shoot he had established himself as a competent U/W production support coordinator."
He parlayed the money he made in that venture to purchase his own boat and started building up business. In the next few years he met a gal, Michelle, who took over business operations for him. In 1983 "Stuart and now Michelle, reinforced themselves as the leading underwater film production coordinators on the island during the filming of "Never Say Never Again". This Bond thriller starred Sean Connery and Kim Bassinger. This time Stuart was the lead underwater coordinator. As part of those responsibilities Stuart personally certified Mr. Connery and Ms. Bassinger as divers in order for them to complete their rolls. In addition, Stuart choreographed underwater fights and again lead the "shark wrangling" team.".
Stuart and Michelle have since married and continue to build up the business in equipment and reputation now owning ten boats Most are over 40' and are customized for their particular tasks of diving, snorkeling or what Stuart Cove's call their Wall Flying adventure. These are personal scooter-like vessels that "aquanauts" travel underwater in. The operator needs no previous dive or snorkel experience. Very cool looking but we never made that trip. So much to do, too little time.
Our Experience
The fee for snorkeling is $52. Believe me, that's a great price for what you get. We were picked up complimentary at our hotel for the twenty five minute ride to the dock. We were at Sandals in the Cable Beach area. They pick up at all the major hotels including those on Paradise Island. At drop-off we walked onto the dock. You'll see Stuart overseeing everything and keeping his nose in the day to day business. He's a hands on guy. I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to say hello, especially after our successful trip.
The boats are all in a sort of inlet that is pretty cool looking unto itself. Seeing all the water-craft, the relatively new shower/restroom set ups, the waiting area and the top notch store with every piece of equipment and also souvenirs you may want, is almost worth the trip itself. The area was used as the set for the "feature film "Flipper" starring Elijah Wood and Paul Hogan when it was temporarily transformed into a fishing village in the 90s.".
Today the place still looks really cool with shark cages along the docks and the beautiful turquoise waters beyond.
The Shop
The paper work is started on board the bus that picks you up. The rest of the registration is taken care of in the shop area. There are some pretty well-worded facts on these sheets stating that diving, snorkeling and boating can be dangerous and a waver must be signed. With paperwork complete you pay and you are assigned a boat. We boarded and ten minutes later we were off to our first site.
Hollywood Bowl and More
This was the name of our first stop. The waters were anywhere from 10' to about 30' deep. It had magnificent elkhorn coral formations. For those beginners who stayed near the boat the staff of two feed the fish and you will have plenty to see. My wife and I went around looking more at the coral formations and looking for turtles, rays, and nurse sharks. This area was fascinating with its drops and small walls along a very white sandy bottom.
Their web site states that it" is used quite often for commercial and feature film shoots such as "Splash," "Cocoon" and "Kelloggs Cereal," among others. Mahogany Snapper and Bluestriped Grunts are numerous..." My wife and I both loved the area. Even though we have seen more colourful settings at John Pennekamp's reef areas we enjoyed the diversity of the coral formations here. After about 35 minutes in the water we climbed aboard to go to another area just around the western most part of the island. This area was a bit more shallow and was again full of interesting formations. We stayed in the water about half an hour and again got on board for a ten minute ride back toward the home base. The waters were exceptionally smooth and clear that day. We were very fortunate although I have read these waters are noted for their clarity.
Swimming With Sharks
Our last stop brought us back south in the direction we came from. We stopped south of the port where we took off. This is where we received very specific instruction on what our limits in the water are with live shark swimming some twenty to thirty feet beneath us circling a wire crate that was lowered by our crew member. The crate holds chunks of fish to attract the sharks.
We were told these reef sharks are not predators, they are scavengers, so a direct attack is extremely rare. I read different facts saying they are predators of small bony fish. In any case, what can happen is the shark sees a part of you as food and take a bite. The precautions given made sense like swimming back to the boat using fins only and keeping hands and arms close to the body.
Though I never felt any great thrill or feeling of really being among the sharks that were circling below us, it was still pretty cool watching them circling the food. It was like being at a zoo when the lions are pacing just before feeding time only here the animals were below us with nothing but water in between.
UPDATE March '08
Once again we went to Stuart's Cove for a snorkeling adventure.
We got off to a bad start when they bumped the price my wife found on the internet. They have a special price if you book ahead. To make a long story short my wife made a direct call to them because she wanted to set it all up on our own rather than trying to do something through our cruise ship. She called them direct, talked the price and the important information on where we would get picked up for a free shuttle service from our ship to Stuart's Cove. She also reserved a spot for the four of us during that phone call.
When we arrived at the desk we were told that we had to have made the purchase via the internet and they charged all four of us an additional $5. They even had our names on file for the reservation! We had no alternatives but to pay or leave.
I wasn't a happy camper.
Unfortunately the day was overcast and it seemed the coral reef not nearly as full of life as our last visit.
The shark encounter though was MAD!! We were told that the sharks would be swimming near us. My wife quickly noted that it wasn't that way last time. The captain stated that these are third generation sharks and now swim nearby.
My daughter and I were the first off the boat. These sharks were swimming within a couple of feet of us making pass after pass. It was quite exciting though I wonder if I'll ever get into the water with them again. This is especially true now that we heard a man visiting from Austria was killed by a shark bite in the Bahamas just a week or two before we entered the waters. It was a different kind of shark and different type tour though. It wasn't in a more controlled environment like we were in... but still... these are animals in the wild.
Yes, I have my underwater pictures with these sharks just inches from myself. (we bring the disposable ones on all our snorkeling outings) Now that I'm back home and thinking about it, That was definitely my last encounter with the sharks on that tour.
Have fun if you decide to do it, kiddies. It certainly is a kill...whoops I mean thrill. ; )
End update March '08
We didn't have much time in the water here and it wasn't needed either. After everyone was aboard the crate was brought to the surface and the sharks continued circled it to the surface. Once aboard the crate was opened and chunks of the fish were thrown onto the water's surface. It was exciting watching them make their moves to the food. The splashing and maneuvering had dorsal fins break the surface and splashing and quick moves gobbling up the bait were seen by these creatures. I suppose it was to look like what we see on TV as a feeding frenzy. If you ever saw alligators being fed in a gator farms outside the Everglades, it was much the same. Many people were jockeying for good photo taking position. The crew and sharks continued the show for about five to seven minutes, enough time for all to complete their photo opts.
Finishing Up
We picked up anchor and moved into port. At this point we were just minutes away. My wife and I were very pleased with the sites and the safety measures taken by the staff. We all had to wear a floatation vest. This is the type that you can blow up while in the water in case of an emergency. I like to free dive so I never blow mine up. Quick note, no free diving with the sharks. My wife usually keeps a bit of air in hers for a touch of security.
The staff was sure that everyone's gear fit properly and they were comfortable with it. The fee includes fins, mask and snorkel. We happen to have our own and my wife was having a small problem with her mask. One of the guys helped her out with a professional and friendly attitude.
The captain took charge of the boat while the mate took care of us answering any questions and helping out when needed. We were about twenty people that day. He also gave all beginners a lesson before going into the water. The boat did have drinking water on board.
After arriving back they helped us off the boat and into the shop went my wife. Buses are scheduled to be at the ready for a return back to the hotels. My wife did a bit of shopping so the first full bus left without us. Another bus was summoned and arrived ten minutes later.
We enjoyed this trip and look forward to returning.
Sandals Royal Bahamian Our five star choice
Pirates Museum of Nassau
Ardastra Gardens, Zoo and Conservation Center Just one mile west of Nassau
Nassau International Airport
Nassau, Bahamas
Foder's Bahamas Guide
Recommended:
Yes
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