Dive Review of Underwater Boat Services [UBS]/ Island Hideaways Villa Rental in
Virgin Islands/Tortola, BVI

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Underwater Boat Services [UBS]/ Island Hideaways Villa Rental, Jun, 2004, by Robin A. Masson, NY, USA . Report 1162.
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	UBS is a great operation. Their boat is fast, and comfortably holds 4 divers and captain/DM. You hire the boat for your party. With three divers you pay the same as you'd pay for three to go on a cattle boat; with 4 divers, it's cheaper for 2-tank dives. You set your schedule and decide with the DM/captain where you'll go for the day, given the conditions. DMs are very enthusiastic and knowledgable about sites, critters, fish, behavior, etc. Equipment is in good shape and there are 60cf tanks for short people who don't suck the air [like me]. Since this is a private dive, you can stay down as long as you like. We decided, since we were on vacation, to start diving at 10AM, do one dive before lunch, go over to one of the neighboring islands for lunch, and then another dive in the afternoon. A couple of days, we did a late afternoon dive, had a surface interval while watching the sun go down, and then a night dive. Late dinner at Fat Hog Bob's, just down the road where we had awesome BBQ overlooking the water, watching the full moon shimmer on the surface. The Wreck of the Rhone is a fabulous site -- bow and stern are two separate dives, throbbing with fish life and encrusted with corals and sponges. We did both day and night dives at this site. Other good sites at other islands in the BVI chain are all within 20 minutes by boat, depending on weather. Diving is generally 80 feet or less, with little current. Viz was only so-so, due to daily storms; it's usually better, but this was the end of June, beginning of July and the start of the stormy season. Tortola is a great island. Safe, clean, friendly people, varied terrain [need 4-wheel drive for most roads -- consider it an adventure!], and beautiful uncrowded beaches. Cruise ships come in once or twice a week, but with little impact on the island outside of "downtown" -- spend those days diving and you won't even know they're there! I recommend renting a villa from one of the many villa rental agencies on the internet -- we used Island Hideaways and they arranged airport pickup and jeep rental for us too. Good supermarkets allow you to cook at home and save $ or just be more relaxed than having to go out for all meals if you choose. If you want to go out, there are lots of very good restaurants of all kinds and prices.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	All over Caribbean, Great Barrier Reef, Andaman Sea, Sea of Cortez
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	calm, choppy
Water Temp	81-83°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	0
Water Visibility	40-60 Ft/ 12-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No restrictions. We had a private boat with dive master and the four in our party. We stayed as long as we wanted, many dives more than an hour long.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
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		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Our small boat had a big bucket for cameras, large enough for a housed Nikon and a Nikonos V with strobes-- that's all we needed. A dry area for changing film. The island has 24 hour print processing and e-6 processing available for those who want them.

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Dive Review of Underwater Boat Services [UBS]/ Island Hideaways Villa Rental in Virgin Islands/Tortola, BVI

Underwater Boat Services [UBS]/ Island Hideaways Villa Rental, Jun, 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 Underwater Boat Services [UBS]/ Island Hideaways Villa Rental in
Virgin Islands/Tortola, BVI