Dive Review of Guanahani Divers/Riding Rock in
Bahamas/San Salvador

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Guanahani Divers/Riding Rock: "Good Wall Diving in the Bahamas", Jun, 2018, by Ronald C Schmetzer, FL, US ( Reviewer 4 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 10320 has 2 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The Diving: We were a group of 17 with 15 divers so we had a boat to ourselves. We were on the G3 this week with Tony, Betsy, and Dan. The G3 is a good dive boat but the single hand rail on the dive level to get you out of the water feels like it could collapse at any time. It definitely needs to be fixed and a companion rail on the left side would be welcome. The boat has a head down below but if you are a man taller than four feet, using it can be a problem. A camera bucket and mask rinse bucket are both provided. Fresh orange slices were provided between dives and a gallon of chilled water was shared by everyone. No shoes, especially flip flops, are allowed on the boat. Tanks are either aluminum 80s or compact aluminum 80s that are neutral when empty. I discovered that I could dive with 4 lbs less weight when using the compact 80s, similar to using a steel tank. Nitrox is provided by Club Med at $15 a tank. A fresh water rinse barrel is provided on the dock for rinsing wet suits and booties along with drying hangers. The rest of your gear stays on the boat. I didn't ask but San Salvador appears to be 100% wall diving similar to Lighthouse reef in Belize. I was caught completely by surprise; the walls are that good. Visibility was anything from 80' to unlimited. We got lucky this week with no rain and only a few dive sites with mild current. The standard routine was to head down, go out over the wall and head into the current, if any. Depth is anywhere from 60' to See Ya. First person to half a tank signaled Betsy or Dan and then whole group would turn around and start back up on the sand, which would be anywhere from 35 to 50'. Out of 18 dives I think there may have been two dives where we didn't see at least one reef shark. Two or three were the norm and they were usually very friendly sharks that would come close to give the divers a look see. A couple of the same individuals were spotted on multiple dives as many of the sites are directly adjacent. We saw a few turtles but they were the exception. The highlight of the week came on our second dive Thursday morning at a site called Monument which has an underwater marker where Columbus was supposed to have landed(formerly known as Telephone Pole). We were only about five minutes into the wall portion of the dive being escorted by the usual two reef sharks when a dolphin came up behind us! Of course everybody went crazy as it swam around everyone and then disappeared over the top of the wall to the sand. We all followed and it proceeded to show off for us and play for the rest of the dive, more than 30 minutes! The two reef sharks, seemingly miffed that nobody was paying them any attention, followed us up to the sand and also swam in and around the divers. Betsy said this was the first appearance by a dolphin on a dive in two years. The other dive boat went to this site as their afternoon dive but no dolphin. The Resort: A two-story building with basic hotel-style rooms. Ours had new furniture and a mini-fridge that did a good job chilling the beer and water. Each room had a little balcony that included hooks good for drying dive gear on the last day. The tap water is drinkable but you wouldn't want to. Very brackish with a distinctive salty taste. It's fine for showering and brushing your teeth. Water and beer can be purchased in town. WiFi has recently been added to the rooms to supplement the main building but the back-end internet connection dropped frequently on both WiFi networks. The rooms were always cleaned by the time we returned from the morning dives. The food was plentiful and delicious. Breakfast is a buffet with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, cantaloupe, honey dew, grapes, toast, pancakes, french toast, and occasionally potatoes and oatmeal. Lunch and Dinner are usually ordered at breakfast with a choice of two entrees. Salads and desserts accompanied all dinners. Some entrees we had were grouper, wahoo, steak, ribs, chicken(fried and BBQ), and pasta. Lunch was almost always accompanied by excellent conch chowder. All meals came with plentiful ice water. Coffee was ready by 6:30 each morning. The staff were all excellent. Bugs: San Salvador has bugs but most do not bother you during the heat of the day. Mornings and evenings are a different story. We didn't have too much trouble with the mosquitoes but the no-see-ums are a sneaky bunch. I discovered way more no-see-um bites after I got home than I thought I had.
Websites	Guanahani Divers Riding Rock
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Belize, Caymans, Bahamas, Bonaire, Saba, Turks & Caicos, Florida Keys, Florida Gulf Coast
Closest Airport	ZSA	Getting There	Club Med Charter non-stop from Miami or Bahamas Air with an overnight in Nassau.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, cloudy, dry	Seas	choppy, no currents
Water Temp	80-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	1
Water Visibility	80-0 Ft/ 24-0 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No deco diving, back on the boat with 500 psi.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	The G3 has a table that can be used for cameras and a separate fresh water bucket for cameras that can accommodate one large rig and lots of smaller cameras and GoPros.

Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Guanahani Divers/Riding Rock in Bahamas/San Salvador

Guanahani Divers/Riding Rock: "Good Wall Diving in the Bahamas", Jun, 2018,

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 Guanahani Divers/Riding Rock in
Bahamas/San Salvador