Extra Divers in Speyside

[Tim Barker]

At last, a team and company that mean what they say about preservation.
Although new to the area, Stuart and his team of Jon, Kevin and Dane ( Capt'n Smithy)made our 4 days of diving a great experience.
We were dissapointed by a couple of divers from France who stood, pulled and moved coral to get that extra special holiday photo, even clinging to the largest Brain coral in the world, on returning to the surface they were asked not to come back to extra divers as they were seen damaging this stunning coral and dive area and spoiling it for generations of divers to come. ( of course they denied it, but 6 other divers observed them)
Considering Stuart and the guys are just starting up in the area, and want the trade- they are not going to forfeit the $$ business over keeping Tobago a prime and possibly the best dive site in the Caribbean.
Thanks guys, you did divers proud!

[Kevin Hampson]

Hi Tim,
Nice report. Welcome to MyTobago.
Out of interest did you dive Japanese Garden or Spiney Colony. When I was there in October those two reefs were the most affected by Hurricane Ivan I was wondering if there was any improvement.

Coral Garden where the big brain coral is was not too bad, mainly soft coral and tube sponges that got damaged.

Regards
Kevin

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Tim

Welcome aboard!

While returning from showing friends my favourite village of Charlotteville recently, I decided to pop in and take a peek at the Speyside Inn. I was intrigued to know what was going on there since Extra Divers had bought the place and started renovating and expanding the buildings.

I was fortunate enough to meet Roland, the new manager of the Inn, and Stuart Sampson, whose in charge of Extra Divers as you mention. We were all highly struck by their obvious professionalism and by Stuart's dedication to both Tobago and diving generally. Its therefore great to hear your report and to learn that it wasn't just 'words'. Kudos to Stuart for taking a bold action and standing up for his principles (and Speyside's future as a dive centre).

Incidentally, our tour and chat lasted longer than I anticipated and we ended up staying at the Speyside Inn for dinner. I have to tell you that we had a totally delightful meal - in fact well worth the drive back to Grafton beach, where we were staying, in the total dark down those twisty roads.

[Jeremy Brook]

I was with Tim diving with Extra Divers last Easter weekend and witnessed the two divers handling the coral. I applaud Stuart of Extra Divers for putting his principals above profit by refusing to allow these two divers to dive with them again, WELL DONE. And thanks for having a great, fun loving attitude to life whilst being principled; I shall be back.

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Kevin

I contacted Stuart Sampson re these incident. He's sticking by his principles. Good for him. Anyway, he answered your question as follows:

japanese garden is pretty much untouched but spiny colony got a kicking, mostly by landslides rather than hurricane. however it still makes for a good dive as there is abundant marine life there. the sites which got hurrained out the most were St Giles and Picker. we simply are not diving them at the moment as divers would be disappointed and i have many other sites that will please.

[Kevin Hampson]

Thanks Steve,
Full agreement over the coral fondlers It's good to see a dive centre sticking to its principals. The only problem they just go and do the same with another centre, it's a pity centres can't endorse dive logs the same way you get your driving licence.

I know it happens on some of the Maldives, you get points for diving longer than the plan or going deeper than you should and bad behaviour such as poor buoyancy or leaving your buddy. If you get too many points they limit your dives or make you do a scuba review.

Regard
Kevin

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Kevin

Yes, I know what you mean. What I forgot to add to my post above was that Stuart emailed all the ADTO dive centres on the island with the names of the two French divers and details of the case. Obviously there's no telling what would happen from that point, but Stu said that half a dozen had replied already and he expected them to act prudently if approached by these oiks.

Given the number of independent witnesses who saw their actions, I wish Stuart would let me publish the names of these divers here.

[Kevin Hampson]

Hi Steve,
I've got my annual Tobago fix booked with Bluewaters in October again. With All this good feedback on Extra Divers I'll pop along the road from BWI as get a few dives in with them to get a comparison with Aquamarine.

Reagrds
Kevin

[Matthew Mylecharlane]

Had some great dives with Kevin at Extra Divers. He's a total pro. Stuart also gave me a tour of the Speyside Inn, and the rooms are clean, bright and beautiful. Lunch at Speyside Inn was excellent, and definitely the one of the nicest restaurant environments in Speyside, sitting outside on the verandah.

We encountered the divemaster from Manta Dive while on the docks. He was goofing around, jumping between the boats and making rude comments about people we were diving with, calling one guy who just got his certification 'a girl', stupid stuff like that. The British couple diving with him did not look happy to be diving with him.

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Matthew

Welcome aboard!

Yes, those guys are certainly making some good changes at the Speyside and its good to hear your comments about their professionalism on the dive front (and the lack of same from Manta Dive). Even though I have 100% faith in the dive experts that act as our consultants and constantly monitor and update our dive articles and rankings, its still a comfort to hear the views of regular visitors, particularly when they confirm our views.