Scuba Forum / Scuba Locations / July 2005
Anyone gone diving with Beaches-Turks and Caicos?
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Susan Margarit - 06 Jul 2005 21:12 GMT Hi, I'm interested in taking my family there for a 4 day vacation in late November and I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has been to this resort. Since the diving is included in the price, and I've heard good things about Turks and Caicos, I'm interested in knowing how good the dive shop/dive masters are.
We have been certified for just two years, and have gone on approx. 12-18 total dives in San Carlos, Maui, Key West, and Cozumel. The Beaches website says a pre-dive pool "swim(their wording)test" must be taken before diving. After reading the "which diver are you" posts I'm wondering, what could they be looking for?
Also, I saw the on-line medical form and I'm concerned they won't let me dive since I have migraines. I don't ever experience auras, but I do sometimes pre-medicate with Maxalt (like Imitrex) to avoid a migraine while diving. I've noted this on past dive forms and they have still let me dive, but this form brings up migraines specifically and none others have.
Any information on Beaches or their dive trips and "swim" testing would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks!
Sue
Dan Bracuk - 06 Jul 2005 23:24 GMT Susan Margarit <mail@drmargaritDOT.com> pounded away at his keyboard resulting in:
:Hi, I'm interested in taking my family there for a 4 day vacation in :late November and I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has been to :this resort. Since the diving is included in the price, and I've heard :good things about Turks and Caicos, I'm interested in knowing how good :the dive shop/dive masters are. I have not been there but I have been to a resort (La Source in Grenada) where diving was included in the price. The implications there were that since everybody had paid to go diving, as many people as possible, subject to qualification of course, were to be given the opportunity. That meant fewer dives per person.
If you want to dive a lot on your trip, this resort may be the wrong choice.
Dan Bracuk If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.
Dillon Pyron - 07 Jul 2005 02:10 GMT >Susan Margarit <mail@drmargaritDOT.com> pounded away at his keyboard >resulting in: [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >If you want to dive a lot on your trip, this resort may be the wrong >choice. I just asked a client who was there in June. There are a limited number of tanks and they reserve the right to control the number of dives you can get "to accomodate everyone who wishes to dive". You are also limited to when and where you can dive.
So, you are very correct. An AI that has diving is different than a dive AI.
Beaches is a nice resort, but not the place I'd go for diving.
>Dan Bracuk >If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure. > >----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- >http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups >----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----
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Dr Yak - 07 Jul 2005 03:37 GMT > Hi, I'm interested in taking my family there for a 4 day vacation in > late November and I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has been to [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > Sue Since you are concerned about your Maxalt and migranes, I would talk to your physician. Your certifying agency has some clearance forms and you might get one to show her/him. You could also get some information from DAN whether you are a member or not. If you bring a signed note, that should eliminate the problem. Then again, some divers are not honest on the forms... but talk to your doctor first.
My guess is that they are doing an intro to scuba type dive, not a "real" dive.
Practice limited to small animals.
Ken - 07 Jul 2005 04:02 GMT Hi, I just got back from there on Sunday. I did the morning 2 tank dive with my 14 yr old son six times and , I paid $70 for each of us for a night dive. So we did a total of 13 dives. I have been diving for a while, but my son just started last year and had about 10 dives before we went. The whole Beaches experience was great. We were lucky in that the morning 2 tank dives weren't crowded, although I hear that was unusual. They will take up to 30 people out on the boat, but the most we had was 20, and on Saturday there were only 9 of us. The single tank 9:30 & 2:00 dives do fill up faster than the 8:00 2 tank dives. The dive counter opens at 8:00 AM and it pays to get on line early to make sure you get a spot. The dive sites they take you to were good, not great. The first dive is about a 45 minute ride to the North part of the Island, then they bring you closer for the second dive. I did see two Live-a-boards at the sites. The profiles are 60 feet for 30 minutes. All dives are guided, but they don't try to control you, the guides were great. They put you in groups of about 8 people and ask you just not to go deeper than them, although you can cheat a little. The experience level of the divers varied greatly, and everyone I dove with were very friendly. The reefs were ok, probably some damage from last years storms, and there wasn't as much sea life as I expected, but we did see a couple of nurse and reef sharks, turtles, octopus, one moray eel, baracuda and the usual stuff.
The dive "Test" was nothing to worry about. I suggest that you go to the dive center as soon as you can after you arrive, We were able to do the orientation at 3:00 the first day we got there, so we were abe to sign up for the next day's dives. All they do is put you in the pool and ask you to demonstate 5 skills. 1. Equalize, 2. Taking off your mask and putting it on and clearing it, 3. Manually inflating your BCD, 4. Regulator retrieval and clearing 5. Neutral bouyancy, where you go to the bottom and inflate your BC until you rise a little off the bottom. As far as the medical questionare, just answer NO to all the questions. They basically tell you to do that, if you answer yes, they want a doctors note and you can't dive if you don't have one. So answer NO. They supply all the equipment, but you might want to bring your own. Some people brought everything, some nothing. The snorkling trips also fill up fast, and it really was worth it. There is a spot about a 10 minute walk down the beach that was better. We saw a turtle, and a dolphin there.
You say you are going with your family, I don't know how many people or the ages, but I had my wife, 14 yo son and 12 yo daughter. We made the mistake of getting one room and it was too crowded. We really needed a separate bedroom. We were in the French Village which is newer than the main hotel but further from the beach and watersports. Make reservations for the Japanesse or French restaurant early, they fill up fast. There is some entertainment every night and plenty of planned activities for younger kids. Mine meet other kids their age and we hardly saw them. Unless you do the night dive or parasailing, the banana boat or get a massage, you won't spend any money there. Everything is included and there is no tipping allowed. We spent some cash for that stuff, not the massage. There are no ATMs on site and you can't get cash at the resort, so make sure you bring some. The parasailing and banana boats are not affiliated with Beaches, so you can't charge them to your room. Bring some OFF to prevent bug bites, I didn't get any, but my wife and daughter were bothered by them.
Anyway enough said, the vacation was great and well worth it. I would definitly go back. Have fun.
>Hi, I'm interested in taking my family there for a 4 day vacation in >late November and I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has been to [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > >Sue Susan Margarit - 08 Jul 2005 17:12 GMT Thanks, everyone for the advice about Turks, Beaches resort, and the medical form. I am a DAN member and will check out their site for a form to get clearance for diving though I have migraines. Would my local dive shop have the form mentioned?
Still planning on going to Turks and Beaches, but don't know about November anymore. I thought about it too long and didn't act and lost my frequent flyer opportunity. We are bringing our two teenage boys (14, 17) with us, so Beaches still seems the best way to go, though it sounds as if our diving will be limited. I may spend the extra cash to do a night dive or go offsite for a longer dive trip. 30 minute bottom times sound very stingy to someone who always has extra air after 40-45 minutes of bottom time (even at 60-80 feet in Cozumel).
By the way, excellent review of the resort and the dive test, Ken. I really appreciate it and may e-mail for for questions if you don't mind.
Sue
Dr Yak - 08 Jul 2005 23:32 GMT > Thanks, everyone for the advice about Turks, Beaches resort, and the > medical form. I am a DAN member and will check out their site for a form [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Sue Sue, I don't think DAN will have a clearance form (although they have some advice). Your certifying agency--PADI, NAUI, SSI, etc.--will have it. But I've called DAN to talk about sea sickness prevention and gotten some very good suggestions from non MDs. If you (not Beaches) wants to talk to an informed person about migraines, medications and diving, talk to them. Unfortunately, very few doctors really know much about dive medicine. So they read the form, guess a little and sign it--or not.
Here's a link from DAN on the topic: http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/faq/faq.asp?faqid=174
Call them if you have any questions. As I recall, they don't really ask if you are a member.
Ken - 11 Jul 2005 04:01 GMT E-mail me anytime, glad to help. Ken
>Thanks, everyone for the advice about Turks, Beaches resort, and the >medical form. I am a DAN member and will check out their site for a form [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > >Sue
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