Dive Review of Blackbeards/Cat Ppalu in
Bahamas/Nassau

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Blackbeards/Cat Ppalu, Jul, 2009, by Steve Meinhardt, MO, USA ( 2 reports). Report 4975.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food	N/A
Service and Attitude	N/A	Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I booked a trip on the Cat Ppalu(Blackbeards) through my local dive shop (Y-kiki here in St. Louis) along with 11 other divers whom most I never meet until the week before we left at the pretrip party. While most everyone else arrived on the day we left port(Saturday), I flew into Nassau on Wednesday and stayed at the Orange Hill Beach Inn. What a very lovely place it turned out to be. At first look the place seems to be a little "dated" but let's hold judgement until you see inside the rooms. Even though I had to carry my own gear to my room, (which was no big deal to me), when I opened the door it smelled freshly clean and well made up. I was suprised to find a minikitchen complete with stove, fridge, microwave, coffee maker and a complete set of cook and eating ware. The bathroom was clean with very large bath towels and enough room for your shave gear. In the closet you will find a large steel safe bolted to the wall for your cash and passport, just go to the office and ask for a lock, install it yourself and leave the key in a sealed envolope with the office and your good to go. BTW, I've been a locksmith for 19 years and this was a impossible lock to by-pass, so DON'T lose the key while diving. The owner of the place explained how the bus system worked for getting around town. With the bus stop right out in front you can ride all the way to the downtown area for just $1.25. Just make sure you have correct change as they don't. If you want to stop anywhere along the line just sing out and the driver will stop. All taxi trip are $15.00 each way so you can see the savings. Make sure you ask the bus number (for Orange Hill Inn it was #10) and that way you can get back to where you started from. I found two food stores that I used - a small one within walking distance and a LARGE one with everything just a short bus ride towards town. Remember, it's $1.25 each way no matter how long or short a ride and you pay when you get OFF - not on. I thought that kind of strange. Now you don't have to go and buy food as the Inn has a complete resturant and bar that serves just about anything you need. You can get coffee and cold cereal starting at 6:30am in case your diving and hot food at 7:30am. I get up at 5:00am so that's why I need carry coffee/tea packs with me when I travel. The bar is on the honor system, just help yourself and mark it down on the sheet. They have two computers that you can use and wireless internet if you have your laptop with you. For the price I highly recommond the Orange Hill Beach Inn. Any other questions, please contact me. Steve Meinhardt
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Bonaire, St. Lucia, Cancun, Cozumel, Key Largo, Key West and now the Exuma Islands.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, choppy, no currents
Water Temp	-°F / -°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	75-100 Ft/ 23-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Just stay with your buddy and be aware of your surrondings.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	I am not doing UWP yet but the other people useing their cameras said that they were happy with facilites.

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Dive Review of Blackbeards/Cat Ppalu in Bahamas/Nassau

Blackbeards/Cat Ppalu, Jul, 2009,

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 Blackbeards/Cat Ppalu in
Bahamas/Nassau