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For Divers since 1975 The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975 |
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Dive Guana/Moorings Bareboat - Marsh Harbour, Jul, 2014,by T2inSF, CA, US ( 2 reports). Report 7676. |
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No photos available at this time | |||
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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| Accommodations | N/A | Food | N/A |
| Service and Attitude |  |
Environmental Sensitivity | |
| Dive Operation | |
Shore Diving | N/A |
| Snorkeling | |
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Overall Rating |
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| Value for $$ | |
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| Beginners | |
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| Advanced |  |
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| Comments |
We were on a bareboat sailing charter (Moorings), and first met Troy when we moored at his Dive Guana shop in Fisher Bay on Great Guana Cay, while en route from Little Harbor to Green Turtle Cay. Our experience with him was good, so we arranged a rendezvous dive in North Guana on our way back down to Marsh Harbor. He was willing to meet us either at an anchorage in Baker's Bay, or at his shop in Great Guana, whatever worked best for our schedule. We met Troy at his dive shop in Great Guana and were joined by a family of snorkelers. Troy was willing to motor us either up to North Guana or around down to Fowl Cay, and allowed the divers our preference of North Guana since we had already dived Fowl Cay with Dive Abaco (that trip report will be posted separately). Troy expertly drove the motor boat and anchored at North Guana, near some posh homes and a golf course. We were surrounded by beautiful coral reefs almost touching the surface at low tide, and entered into calm clear waters that were perfect for snorkelers and divers alike. The snorkelers were treated by a nurse shark as we were donning our gear. The relatively shallow dive profile (max 44 ft) allowed for a bottom time as long as you'd like (ours, 70 min, up with plenty of air to spare). The coral reef was lush and prolific, although there were some signs of spotty coral bleaching from nitrogen-rich agricultural run-off. Large schools of blue tangs, fairy basslets, Nassau groupers, yellow-tail snappers, blue chromis, and standard Caribbean reef fish abounded, and sand tile fish tucked themselves into their holes across the sandy bottom over which we were anchored. Troy took time to point out beautiful fish, and even found the tiniest adorable baby peacock flounder I have ever seen. This was the only location we saw lionfish about the Abacos; and it was only one small baby and one juvenile. The CATHEDRAL dive site had BEAUTIFUL swim-throughs, filled with tremendous beams of natural light sparkling with thousands of baby glassfish. This was the best of all the coral caverns or swim-throughs we experienced in the Abacos (Green Turtle, North Guana, Fowl Cay). On the second, shallower reef dive at White Hole (26 ft, 64 min), Troy's dive master pointed out flamingo tongues, fingerprint cyphomas, Pederson anemone shrimp, banded cleaner shrimp, and arrow crabs. There were also plenty of blue tangs, Nassau groupers, blue chromis, big schools of chubs, yellow tail snappers, sergeant majors, blue head wrasse, parrotfish, squirrelfish, goatfish, and other standard Caribbean reef fish. At the end of the dive, despite our already ample bottom time, the DM also tried teaching me how to blow air rings! Troy, the owner of Dive Guana, was very easy to communicate with, down to earth, mellow, experienced, and trust-worthy. He has a family owned and operated business, reports he has dived at least 300 times per year in Guana since he was a teenager (10K dives?), knows the reefs around North Guana and Fowl Cay very well, and obviously cares about reef conservation. He was very easy to work with, accessible by VHF radio channel 16 (per his daily morning announcements on Channel 68 Cruiser's Net, the shop telephone does not work, so contact by VHF or email would be best), and followed through with all plans for meet-ups for tank refills and rendevous dives. Overall, he was the most pleasant and down-to-earth of the dive shop operators who we dealt with in the Abacos, where we dove as far south as Sandy Cay and as far north as Green Turtle Cay. Great Guana is a very convenient mid-point stop-off location for traveling up and down the cays and if we were to go back, we'd do our tank rentals and all refills from Dive Guana. There are only 4 dive shops in the area (Brendal's in Green Turtle, Dive Guana in Great Guana, Froggies in Hope Town, Dive Abaco in Marsh Harbour), and Dive Guana seemed the easiest to communicate with in a straight-forward manner without any hidden fees, exorbitant fares, or surprises. We got some tank refills from him and only had guided dives at North Guana, but if we were to go back we'd dive North Guana, Fowl Cay and No Name Cay only with him. |
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| Websites | Dive Guana Moorings Bareboat - Marsh Harbour | ||
Reporter and Travel |
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| Dive Experience | 251-500 dives | ||
| Where else diving | Roatan, Utila, Bonaire, St. Barth's, Little Corn, Cozumel, Cocos, Galapagos, Komodo, Bali, Andaman Sea, Red Sea, Monterey, Channel Islands | ||
| Closest Airport | Getting There | ||
Dive Conditions |
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| Weather | sunny, rainy | Seas | |
| Water Temp | 80-82°F / 27-28°C | Wetsuit Thickness | 5 |
| Water Visibility | 60-100 Ft/ 18-30 M | ||
Dive Policy |
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| Dive own profile | yes | ||
| Enforced diving restrictions | All Abaco dives were relatively shallow, long (> 60 min), no decompression dives. | ||
| Liveaboard? | no | Nitrox Available? | no |
What I Saw |
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| Sharks | None | Mantas | None |
| Dolphins | None | Whale Sharks | None |
| Turtles | None | Whales | None |
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best): |
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| Corals | |
Tropical Fish | |
| Small Critters | |
Large Fish |  |
| Large Pelagics | N/A | ||
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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| Subject Matter | |
Boat Facilities | |
| Overall rating for UWP's | |
Shore Facilities | |
| UW Photo Comments | Good assortment and healthy populations of standard reef fish, lots small critters (Pederson anemone shrimp, arrow crabs, banded cleaner shrimp, gobies, juvenile reef fish) for macro opportunities. Plenty of fairy basslets and blue chromis sprinkling the reef, augmenting wide-angle reef shots filled with large and lush, healthy coral. Many coral swim-throughs teaming with juvenile glass-fish and beautifully naturally lit caverns in the CATHEDRAL (BEST swim-throughs of the trip). The owner (Troy) and divemaster both took time to point out special parts of the reef, fish behavior, beautiful views for UW photography, and small critters. | ||
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above. |
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