I recently took a trip to the Bahamas and stayed on Paradise island at the Comfort Suites. We did not rent a car so after reading several positive reviews about this snorkle/dive outfit I was excited. For the price... I got what I paid for. I was picked up at my hotel and taken on a snorkling excursion. Here's how It went... you'll see the shortcomings.

We were told to wait outside our hotel at 8:00AM - we were picked up around 8:10 AM and there were already about 20 people on the bus..... what time did they have to wake up???? We went to about 4 other hotels after ours where others were picked up. We then drove for about an hour through tons of traffic to the other side of the island where their outfit is located. They are located on a nice dock with facilities a little store and a small food stand. After getting off the bus you then go in to pay or present your voucher and they tell you (depending on what trip you booked) which boat to get on. We were on snorkling and there were about 20 people on our boat. We were given fins and a mask an the boat went out promptly. It was overcast out and we didn't bring towels (Bad move!!!) and we basically froze the whole ride out there. The boat goes about 50MPH and is was very rocky on our trip. We anchored at one spot we got out and snorkled for about 30 mintes where there was a sunken cesna plane and not alot of fish to look at. I wasn't impressed. I could see the other boat (divers) parked about 30FT off in the distance. We then got back on the boat and they drove out to sea for about 15 minutes (we were wet and frozen now) only to return to pretty much the same spot we just were only about 30FT away (where we saw the dive boat). We got out for 30 minutes and saw pretty much the same fish... but there was more rock and coral.... still not impressed. After getting back on the boat we drove around for another 15 minutes to the shark area. They throw food in the water so you see the sharks come up along with more of the boring grey and yellow fish we just saw. Then they encourage you to get in after seeing that. By the time they get the rope in the sharks are gone so not a big deal getting into the water. All you do is hold into a rope squished up next to the person who went in front of you and put your mask into the water. They let you do that for about 5 minutes (you're within arms reach of the boat) and then you get right back on the boat. Then you return back to their dock. Here's where it starts to suck more. You sit on their dock for about 45 minutes until all the boats return (we were the first back) You then wait for the next bus-load of people to come in for the afternoon tour. Then it's a free for all - you just choose any bus to get on and tell the driver what hotel you are at. There's no organization so if all 30 people are at different hotels and ships well guess what you're doing all afternoon...... Yup you guessed it - you're stopping at all 30 hotels and the ships.... at least that's what we did. Getting through downtown Nassau when there are 5 ships in port - NOT FUN. We were the 2nd to last couple to be dropped off in paradise island after about an hour and 30 minutes on the bus. We were starving at that point and wasted away a whole day out of our 4 day stay in the Bahamas. All in all - the price was great but be prepared for alot of down time and remember a towel!!!!!

My wife and I were only in Nassau for a couple days and wanted a great snorkel trip - this was it. There are several reasons we enjoyed it so much:

1.) Professionalism: Stuart's Cove was great about communicating with us before we arrived. The staff on the busses and at the counters treated you like they were glad you were there and not just another tourist. The boat staff were not hung over off-color personalities like we have encountered elsewhere. We tipped them, but did not see anyone else do this - they certainly deserved it. Maybe the built-in gratuities at the resorts make people tip less in the Bahamas.

2.) Safety: It is nice to know that the boat captain (Toaz?) was carefully looking over the group and checking the attendance sheet before leaving each site. The bigger size of the group made us feel safer but there was plenty of room to get far away if one wanted to.

3.)Quality: We took another expensive snorkel trip witha smaller outfit on an out-island...and enjoyed Stuart's Cove more. They feed the fish daily and that attracts a lot of fish that otherwise are more scarce. The colors of the fish are amazing! Unless you are a pro-snorkeler, you will find that this is a shocking crystal clear water expereince.

If you are in Nassau or any Bahama island - I doubt you could beat this experience. The low price and convenience are just a bonus.

From the get go, this place simply excelled in professionalism!
From friendly & informative staff about reservations, times, places, to the higly qualified, professional, friendly, and oftentimes humorous instructors, I was made to feel very comfortable and at ease doing my checkout dives.

I'm sure many are a bit nervous their first time in the ocean, especially in rough seas, but Vivian was quite patient and thorough when going over all the procedures, and made me feel very much at home, not to mention she's the cutest damn Puerto Rican in miles of blue water!
Can hardly wait to come back and do the shark dive with this crew!

I was reluctant about booking this dive operator after reading some of the negative reviews. My reservations were unfounded. The staff were fantastic. The operation was efficient and organized. Equipment and boats were in good repair.

I am a certified diver, and my 15 year old was doing her referral checkout dives. I dove on 2 tank morning dives each morning from monday to friday. My daughter's checkout dives were tuesday and wednesday morning. Then we did an afternoon shark dive on thursday.

One reviewer had falsely suggested that I would not be buddied up on the dive boat. There was of course no problem finding a buddy on the boats. The 2 tank morning dives all featured a first dive led by a dive leader, then the second of the two tank dives had a dive leader available to follow, if you chose to.

For my daughter's checkout dives, she rented gear which appeared to be in reasonable condition. (It's a very busy dive operation, so some wear and tear seemed reasonable for rental gear.) There was four students doing checkout dives, 2 instructors in the water with them, and a drywatch boat captain (Ullen). Another father (who was a certified diver) and I were also on board and dove together on self-led dives. Everything was fun and safe. Max depth for the kid's checkout dives was ~30 feet , but near a wall for the other father and I to explore.

My daughter was so confident and enthusiastic after diving 2 days with Ryan and Britney, that she asked if we could also go an afternoon shark dive. Prior to visiting the Bahamas, I'd never planned on going on a shark feeding dive. Everyone that I had talked to from monday to thursday that had participated in it was so positive and enthusiastic about it that I just had to try it too. I gave my daughter and wife one night to sleep on it, then next afternoon we took the plunge. One of the most memorable experiences ever. It was fantastic!

If there is a negative side to this operation it is that it is busy. The free shuttle from the hotels were nearly full each morning. Check in was crowded. Some boats were crowded. (On the shark dive I think there were 30 people on board the boat.) Also, because there were so many on the shark dive boat, the 1st shark dive on "shark wall" it was crowded underwater trying to follow the dive leader. In retrospect, 1 crowded dive out of 12 doesn't seem too bad.

Overall, I felt this operation provided excellent value for the product they provided. The dives were fun and interesting. I felt that safety and professionalism were important to the divemasters. The staff provided great customer service. The gear and boats appeared in good repair.

As a side note, the grill here serves the best cheeseburger in the Bahamas, and they're reasonably priced too!