Dive Review of Aquamarine Dive/Blue Waters Inn, Tobago in
Trinidad and Tobago/Speyside

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Aquamarine Dive/Blue Waters Inn, Tobago, Oct, 2004, by S. Titus, VA, USA ( Sr. Reviewer 9 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 1418.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	After reading very mixed reviews of the Blue Waters Inn on several travel websites, we were pretty wary of what we would get. Aside from the disappointment of a mix-up in our reservation that put us in a 2-room kitchenette suite instead of a full cottage, we were very pleased with the accommodations. The rooms were simple but clean and well-kept, beds comfortable, A/C if you wanted it, and bathrooms in good shape with no mold or corroding fixtures. TV is located in a game room; no phones in the rooms either. (Bring your own alarm clock). We had strong consistent water pressure, and were never out of hot water in our shower. The grounds of the Inn are well-kept, with many bird feeders to attract the hundreds of species that live on Tobago. The beach is narrow, with tree roots and rocky sand, but is kept free of litter. The manager- Duane Kenny -is very sociable, attentive, and aims to please. Aside from him, service response is slow; if you need something done or fixed it may take 2-4 requests. As long as you are patient and persistent, it will happen. The staff are polite, but not very overtly friendly as on other islands. We ate breakfast and lunch everday at the onsite restaurant, The Fishpot, as well as a few dinners. The food was consistent in quality and good. We also went to dinner at Jemma's Treehouse in Speyside for the most incredible lobster dinner we've ever eaten, and to Sharon & Pheb's in Charlottesville for another great local seafood dinner. Having a car helped - BWI is tucked away in a remote setting and a bit of a hilly walk to town. Most guests are Europeans, with a split mix of divers and birders. Everyone dressed very casually. The dive shop, although on-site, is a separate business. The staff is courteous and helpful if asked, but no-one steps up to tell you the "drill" on getting geared and onto the boat; you either watch or ask another diver. Set-up is done at the shop, a cart takes the gear to the boat. Gear is switched to new tanks at the dock between the dives; after last dive gear is carried (by you unless you ask) to be rinsed at shop and set aside for next day. The boat is very simple - tanks in the middle with gear on, with divers seated in front of gear for 5 - 15 minute ride to sites. Group back-roll entries are done; some dives require fast descents due to currents. You are "counted" back at the shop - not on the boat after dives. Everyone is given a safety sausage, if you don't have your own - we also carried whistles. First dive is at 10-ish, second dive after lunch around 1PM. One or two night dives can be done during the week. Hurricane Ivan did a real number on the delicate finger corals at a few sites (also strange to see a large land cacti at 100' depth), but still many sites with beautiful corals and lots of small to mid-size fish remain. Japanese Gardens is particularly stunning. Currents are not always consistent - switching at depth or along the wall - so on occasion you may need to swim into pretty stiff water for 10 - 15 minutes. It helps to be in shape - and you need solid bouyancy control to be comfortable. There is no drift line off the boat...so re-entry can be time consuming while the boat maneuvers to collect everyone. A few dive guides surprised us by grabbing little arrowhead crabs and releasing them away from their spots, or pulling lobsters out of crevices by their antennae while leaning on corals - not actions we wish to see. Also saw a good sized turtle shell on a night dive - the turtle had been freshly harvested and the shell dumped. No conservation efforts are apparent to protect the reefs. Tobago is behind the curve on protecting her underwater resources. Still worth a trip; the island itself is beautiful with many waterfalls to hike to and a rainforest to explore. Englishman's Bay is a movie-set beach for a quiet day swimming and sunning.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Caymans, Dominica, Bequia, Bonaire, Saba, Puerto Rico, Roatan, Belize, Cozumel, BVI
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	cloudy	Seas	choppy, currents
Water Temp	80-83°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	0
Water Visibility	20-100 Ft/ 6-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Time and depth, entry and exit
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 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		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	The design of the boat doesn't accommodate large cameras, but the staff used a styrofoam cooler as a makeshift camera bucket for us. The camera rinse tank at the dive shop was not filled for some reason. Did our camera maintenance in the room. Speed of current on each dive will determine success or failure for pictures!

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Dive Review of Aquamarine Dive/Blue Waters Inn, Tobago in Trinidad and Tobago/Speyside

Aquamarine Dive/Blue Waters Inn, Tobago, Oct, 2004,

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 Aquamarine Dive/Blue Waters Inn, Tobago in
Trinidad and Tobago/Speyside