Dive Review of ScubaTech Dive Center/Calabash Hotel in
Grenada

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ScubaTech Dive Center/Calabash Hotel, Jul, 2013, by Lenore Neigeborn, NJ, US ( 2 reports). Report 7356.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	My husband and I stayed for a week at the Calabash in July and dove with ScubaTech, which is on the premises. We had a fantastic stay - everything was perfect! Hotel: Our plane arrived several hours late - after the restaurant closed - so they left us fruit, wine and sandwiches in our room on arrival - that was really thoughtful and much appreciated. We selected this hotel because we wanted to be at a small resort, on a quiet beach, and have a Scuba shop on-site. The combination of the Calabash Hotel and ScubaTech Dive Center was perfect! We opted for a Pool Suite, which was pricey, but FABULOUS! We had our own private pool and patio behind our room, along with a front porch overlooking the beautifully manicured grounds and beach. The pool area was sunny from morning through mid-afternoon, and the front porch was shady all the time. There just wasn't enough time to relax everywhere! Our suite included a sitting room and separate bedroom with a great big four poster bed - really comfy! The bathroom was spacious and included a spa tub and dual sinks, though we never used the tub because we had our OWN POOL! There was a TV and stereo in the sitting room, along with a mini-frig and lots of shelf space with power outlets for charging our gadgets ( Americans: don't forget to bring converters!). Breakfast was served every morning on our porch. Each day we left our order and timing, and each morning, right on time, our table was set with white linen and everything we ordered. I had a tropical fruit plate with my eggs and bacon every day - my husband gobbled up the nutmeg pancakes. The fresh, French-pressed coffee was fantastic. Mid-week there was a cocktail party at Bash's Restaurant, hosted by the family that owns the hotel and the folks from Bash's. Drinks and hors d' oeuvres were lovely and we chatted with Mark B. and our hosts. Mark suggested some great local dining options. Many of the guests we met have been coming to the Calabash for years. The beach was lovely and quiet - there were plenty of lounges and options for sun or shade. Bash's Restaurant is right on the beach and was a great option for lunch and drinks - not open for dinner, though. Dinner at the Calabash is at Rhodes Restaurant. The hotel has an option for a meal package, but we like to try different restaurants and sample local cuisine, so we only ate here once, on our last night. It's a scrumptious dining experience - next time we'll eat here more than once! Diving: We spent a week - too short - diving in Grenada with ScubaTech, which is on the beach at the Calabash Hotel where we stayed. We specifically wanted to dive with a shop that was near our hotel, so I spent alot of time learning about the locations and facilities of the dive shops on Grenada. Ultimately, ScubaTech met all my requirements, including a dive jetty (no wading out to the dive boats with your gear!), nitrox availability, and beach/hotel location. It was definitely the right choice! We booked the "Experienced Diver Package" which included 5 days of 2-tank dives (we wound up adding a 6th day plus a night dive), a boat trip to Fish Friday, a dinner with Joachim and Sabine (shop owners), and a rebreather introduction (alas, we didn't have time for that due to our other commitments). The dive boat easily handled our needs - sometimes it was just my husband and I with our excellent dive guide Aki (did I spell that right?), and other times there were 1-4 other divers. The boat was never crowded and when there were more than 3 divers, we were split into 2 groups with our own guides. The nitrox fills were always a neat 32%. Dives were about 60 minutes - sometimes even longer - based on our air consumption. Surface intervals were on the boat, in a protected bay for an hour. Dive sites were selected based on our experience - including several wrecks. Depths ranged from 110 feet to 30 feet, depending on the reef/wreck. The corals and reef were very healthy and abundant. There weren't tons of fish, but there was lots of life. We saw several nurse sharks, turtles, octopus, barracuda, moray eels and sting rays. along with the usual cast of Caribbean characters, unfortunately including lion fish. There were alot of spotted drums, juvenile and adult, which was nice. The wrecks were really the highlights. Also, the night dive on Shark Reef was fantastic! It was a wild ride in the current, but we saw EVERYTHING: sharks, turtles, cuttlefish, rays, giant lobsters, crabs, and of course, the ever present sleeping parrotfish! Joachim and Sabine took great care of us and our gear - all we needed to do was peel off our wetsuits and rinse. At the shop, there was a gear area for hanging our suits and a room we could use to charge our lights. On Friday nights, a town in the north called Gouyave hosts a giant party, Fish Friday. Sabine and Joachim run the dive boat to bring guests up to Gouyave, which was a really nice sunset boatride, replete with rum punch and snacks! There are many booths selling all sorts of fish concoctions and rum drinks. We tried just about every dish they sold! It was definitely worth the trip!
Websites	ScubaTech Dive Center Calabash Hotel
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Caribbean, Hawaii, Galapagos, Komodo, Fiji, Palau, Indonesia, Australia, Cocos, Maldives, Thailand, etc
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-85°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	50-90 Ft/ 15-27 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No deco - let guide know at half tank
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
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	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Dive shop had locked room for recharging and storage

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Dive Review of ScubaTech Dive Center/Calabash Hotel in Grenada

ScubaTech Dive Center/Calabash Hotel, Jul, 2013,

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 ScubaTech Dive Center/Calabash Hotel in
Grenada