Scuba Diving with Adventure Eco Divers

[Richard OShea]

On September 20th 2004, I arrived at the Le Grand Courlan Hotel at Black Rock for a 2-week holiday with the prime objective of discovering Tobago underwater.
I have previously dived in the Caribbean off the islands of the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

BASIC INFORMATION
I received 10 free house dives (now 6 dives) as part of my holiday with Adventure Eco Divers who are located within the hotel grounds. The next morning at 9am, after showing my certification (PADI Divemaster), recent dive experience and filling in the usual disclaimer forms, I was allowed to immediately book onto the 11am dive.
If you have not been diving recently then you will be required to do a 10-15 minute diving skills test session either in the pool or just off the beach.
I had brought my own dive gear, which consisted of a 3mm Long John with a Rash vest, BCD, Regulator, Mask & Fins. I also had a dive computer and small torch.

PRICES
There is a charge of US $5 Regulator, $5 BCD, and $4 for a 3mm shortie. The mask and fins are free if you are staying in the Grand Courlan or the next-door Grafton Beach Hotel otherwise a $4 charge per dive. If you want to pay as you go then it costs $330 for a 10-dive package or $45 for a single dive, with varying rates in between.
All prices are also subject to 15% VAT. You can pay in cash US$ or use a credit card in which case you will be billed in $TT. More prices which are approximately correct but some need updating are available on the website. http://www.adventureecodivers.com

ADVENTURE ECO DIVERS TEAM
Adventure Eco Divers are made up of Andrew (Owner/Instructor) he calls the shots, Dion (Instructor) loves mashed potatoes, Kirk (Instructor) likes to be called Captain Kirk, Dolrick (Divemaster) nickname 007 or double O, Glennis (Shop Manager), Alex & Devon (Boat Captains).

The normal set-up was 2 dives a day at 9am and 11.30am

EQUIPTMENT & ROUTINE
We set up our kit at the dive centre with divers either using their own kit or renting it from Adventure Eco.
The standard of hire kit provided, while not brand new, was reasonable and appeared to be well maintained. 12litre Aluminium tanks filled to between 210-230 bars were provided. Any tanks that might have been short filled could be easily topped up from the on site compressor and bottle bank. Weights were kept in the boat. It is a short walk from the dive centre across the beach to the boat boarding point. The Adventure Eco staff made a point of carrying out the tanks for any beginners or women in the group as the surf can be a little daunting at first. Most of the men were happy to manage their own tanks. If the surf was particularly bad the Adventure Eco staff loaded the boat themselves and the divers were boarded from a more sheltered point further up the beach. The dive boat is equipped with a reasonably good boarding ladder. The boat has twin 75HP engines and can accommodate up to 14 divers at a squeeze and has a tank rack for 15 air bottles. The boat also carries a first aid and oxygen kit, and there is always drinking water available in the boat. There is no VHF radio or depth finder, but a mobile phone is carried for communications.
The water temperature was on average 28 degrees C.
My first dive was delayed until 12am due to late arrival back of the 9am dive as 2 divers on that dive had forgot to bring their fins and the boat had to return to collect them. This was unusual as I noticed for the next 2 weeks that the Instructors always double-checked whether everyone had all their kit with them.

1st DIVE
We eventually got started with a group of 10 divers of mixed experience and 2 Instructors.
After a 10-minute boat trip we tried Mount Irvine wall first but the current proved too strong and we moved around the corner to Dutchman’s Reef. This site proved to be a pleasant drift dive with about 15-20 meters visibility. We encountered what proved to be a typical dive for this area with an excellent variety of hard corals, sea fans, gorgonians and assorted sponges. Fish life consisted of all the usual reef fish, including more than 6 French angelfish, green and spotted moray, puffer fish, filefish, lobsters and a turtle. (I saw turtles on more than half of my subsequent dives)

UNDERWATER SAFETY
I did have a few problems with buoyancy as my own BCD kept slowly filling with air due to a sticking valve. I normally dive with steel tanks and I had forgot to allow for my aluminium tank “going light” as the dive progressed. Dolrick one of the eagle eyed dive leaders had noticed I was starting to struggle with my buoyancy and without prompting handed me a spare 4lb (2kg) weight from his BCD, which immediately solved my problem. I was impressed and needless to say I increased my weights on future dives from 12lb (5.5Kg) to 16 lb (7.5kg) while in Tobago.
Another added safety point is that one of the Instructors always tows a Surface Marker Buoy (SMB) on all drift dives so that the boat always knows were the dive group is and follows at a safe distance ready to pick up anyone who has a problem. This happened occasionally with the less experienced divers where one of the instructors would escort them to the surface and into the boat and then return to the dive group down the SMB line.
While diving with an experienced group you were allowed to roam freely as long as you kept the dive leader in sight. Anyone who looked to be wandering off or caught out by a change in direction would alerted by the “jingle stick” that the dive leader always carried. The “jingle stick” was also used to draw the group’s attention to any interesting fish or animals encountered. It never ceased to amaze me how seemingly effortlessly the dive leaders could keep a constant eye on all their charges, hunt for interesting creatures and navigate the reef all at the same time.

2ND DIVE & 6TH DIVE
This was to the “Maverick” (Scarlet Ibis) a 60 meter long ro/ro ferry built in 1960 in Scotland and deliberately sunk for divers. Part of the dive briefing is a video of the sinking shot by an American news crew. The wreck is marked by a permanent shot line so no need for a towed SMB on this dive. Personal SMB are a good idea if you have them, as there can be strong currents on this wreck. The wreck sits upright on the seabed at 30m with the car deck at about 25m. The shot line is at the stern and the dive consists of a swim forward across the open decks and bridge, you then descend by the forward hatch into the car deck and emerge again aft of the superstructure. The car decks are quite big (picture on Adventure Eco website) and there are holes cut in the side for light. A torch is handy though for looking in any dark corners. If anyone is uncomfortable about swimming through the wreck they can easily avoid it. There is quite a bit of fish life around and under the vessel so keep a good lookout. I spotted a small Nassau Grouper (the only grouper I saw in Tobago) and a 1m long puffer fish. Many of the larger fish hide under the stern when divers are on the wreck. I discovered this on a later dive with a more experienced group where we swam around the wreck at 30m and penetrated the engine room. I was surprised at how little silt was stirred up when we penetrated both the car deck and engine room. A spare tank is available on the shot line for anyone who runs short of air while decompressing.

3rd & 4th DIVE (SPEYSIDE)
We went with a group of 12 divers + 2 instructors (Andrew & Dion). All the divers drove up to Speyside in assortment of car transport with the spare tanks. It is a 1hr 20 minute “rollercoaster” drive where the road closely follows the contours of the Atlantic coastline. I got “lucky” and got to go in the pickup with no AC. The dive boat containing all the dive gear and tanks for the first dive went up to Speyside from the dive centre with just the boat captain and 1 crewman. We all rendezvous at the jetty in Speyside where there are toilet facilities nearby available for 1$TT.
There are numerous dive sites in Speyside just a 5-10 minute boat ride from the jetty. A site is picked according to the experience and number in the group. The weather conditions also play a major part in the choice of site. We did Batteaux Bay Reef (max 19m) and Coral Gardens (max 16 m). Expect to see double the concentration of fish life found elsewhere. We also spotted Barracuda, 3 Eagle rays and a 2-meter long Nurse shark none of which hung around long so keep your eyes peeled. On the Coral Gardens is the world’s largest brain coral, which is quite impressive about the size of VW beetle. We experienced visibility of 15-20 meters on the Speyside dives. This was only 10 days after Hurricane Ivan had hit the area.
This was Andrew’s (Instructor) first dive in Speyside after the Hurricane and he was quite shocked at the underwater damage at the Coral Gardens, especially to the barrel sponges. He was confident however that the area would recover it beauty though and the diving was still not to be missed. While we were underwater the boat captain thought he had spotted a manta ray on the surface, but I am taking this with a pinch of salt. We where given a banana and an apple for lunch, which was fine, but if you feel you need more bring your own.
Another diver and myself asked we if we could return in the boat, which was granted. The trip back was very pleasant with great views of the dive sites St. Giles Islands, London Bridge, the Sisters, as well as the Caribbean coastline. We spotted many Frigate birds; Red billed tropicbirds, Pelicans and Royal terns. We also saw two pods of Dolphins. The downside to all this free sightseeing was that we had to unload all 14 sets of tanks from the boat up the beach to the dive shop compressor.
We still managed to accomplish all this well before any of the cars got back.

5th DIVE
This was easily the worst dive of my trip. A big swell had come up overnight and was churning everything up. We checked out Arnos Vale but the visibility and conditions were too bad, so we returned to Dutchman’s reef. The visibility was about 4 meters with a strong surge running across the reef. It was difficult to believe this was the same dive I had so enjoyed just 3 days before. The reef was virtually devoid of fish which were either hiding under the coral or had moved to deeper water. We swam around vainly for 30 minutes and then finished early. Diving was cancelled for the next 2 days until conditions improved.

7th DIVE
Arnos Vale (Dollar Reef) max 12 meters
Standard reef drift dive with lots of coral formations

8th DIVE
Arnos Vale (Anna Reef) max 12 meters
Lovely Dive with steep rocky outcrops surrounded by sand.
Saw lots of large reef fish including many large angelfish. Also a large green moray out of his lair hunting.

9th DIVE
Castra (20 minutes North by boat) max 21 meters
Steep Rock Gullies with long channels of sand running up them. We were looking for stingrays but did not find any. We did see some Tarpon though. Nice Dive

10th DIVE
Culloden Reef (on the way back from Castra) max 16 meters
Nice drift with some strong currents. Great coral formations including another large brain coral 3 meters in diameter.

11th DIVE
Arnos Vale (Anna Reef) max 11 meters
We dived with a small experienced group but we were one dive mask short. One of the Instructors gave up his mask and yours truly who was now regarded as an old hand got to tow the SMB. Nice dive with one impressive stonefish.

12th DIVE
Arnos Vale (North Side) max 12 meters
Nice dive with rocky coral islands surrounded by sand. Lots of reef fish including 4 lobsters in the same hole, a very big hogfish, some eels and to cap it all off a turtle that stuck around to pose for photographs.

CONCLUSION
I did hear a common complaint that Adventure Eco never answers their e-mails but Andrew the owner has just invested in a new computer and assures me that things will improve in that area in future.
I really enjoyed the variety of dive sites that Adventure Eco offer, but if you are looking for crystal clear waters with 30 meter + visibility Tobago’s strong currents can mean this is rare occurrence. The best visibility occurs in the dry season from December to March. In my mind this shortfall is more than made up for by the abundance and variety of marine life. Adventure Eco Divers may not be the most efficient at organisation or timekeeping, but I really enjoyed their chill out style, which gets the job done with the minimum of stress (a Tobago characteristic). So come prepared with a flexible timetable and learn to enjoy the slower pace, which remember is one of the reasons you are on holiday in the first place.

[Julia C.]

That was a great read, very interesting and I don't dive.

[Rachel Harries]

Richard, what a fabulous report. I used to edit a dive magazine (not saying which one!) and that would be well worthy of publication - in fact it was blinking brilliant!. I was transported right back to those waters and into a dive boat... in my dreams.

I'm glad you had good diving - I would wish that on anyone who is kind enough to come back here and tell us about it.


Thank you.

Rachel

[Kris Munroe]

I did my PADI Open Water Certificate with Adventure Eco Divers. They were fantastic, and I would highly recommend Dion as an instructor.. I would not have passed without his support and determination that I would get through, despite the incessant rain and overcast sky that blighted my week! I do not think that you could find a better and more patient instructor in Tobago, and I am now enjoying diving to the full!

Kris

[D Sait]

We dived with Adventure Eco Divers during our recent holiday in Tobago, we were staying at the Grafton Beach Resort. We had pre booked our diving holiday with another dive centre on the island but did 2 dives with Andrew and Dion and the team. We found them to be a very professional dive centre, and friendly too.

I enjoyed reading Richard OShea's report and agree that Andrew and his team are the people to dive with in that area.

[Chris Southcombe]

Just read your report and enjoyed it very much. Looking forward to our holiday in Tobago having recently had our Maldivian holiday cancelled due to the Tsunami (We were flying out on Dec 26th). Sounds lke i will be reminded of my previous dives in Grenada and Antigua.

[Richard OShea]

Hi Chris,
Thanks for the feedback I take it you will be staying at the Grafton or LGC hotels and diving with Adventure Eco
If this is the case, say hello to Andrew, Dion, and "007" for me.
If you have any specific questions just ask.
Enjoy your trip and I hope you see a manta ray or two.
Regards,
Richard