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Discover SNUBA-Nassau Excursion


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Hey fellow RC cruisers!

Question for anyone that has done or heard any reviews of the Snuba (not scuba) excursion in Nassua port-thoughts on the experience (worth it) and what can we expect?

Little background: Heading to Nassau/Labadee on NOS in April.  I already got a bungalow for my friends and I on Labadee, but we are still deciding what to do on the Nassau stop which is the first port of call. With what I've read from others about how Nassau is usually a "stay on the ship" type of port stop and the advisory for safety, I'd rather stick to an RC sponsored excursion or stick to the bars/shops close to pier.  Not overly worried about anyone messing with 4 dudes, but better safe than sorry.

One of my buddies (all of us are guys in mid 20s) already has his heart set on Snuba Excursion, but I have my reservations on it.  I've read mixed reviews on the experience from other ports, so I'm not sure how much I can put into that.  I just worry that it will be a let down and for the price of $135pp, it's quite an investment for an excursion when I've read that they lump snorkelers, scuba, and snuba all together and you only get like 20 mins in a 5 hour excursion.  It's actually one of the most expensive options, I'd hate for it to suck when that money could be better spent on other excursion(s) and plenty left over. 


Please let me know if anyone has any experience with this excursion and thank you as always for your insight that has made planning our first group trip a lot easier. 

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I've done the snuba in St. Thomas.  Won't do it again.  Now that could be that I am a certified diver and this just didn't cut it.  I did it because my wife and brother in law wanted to try it.  We were tied to a single take with 6 hoses.  The person doing the excursion was in scuba.  They wanted everyone to keep up but the person running it kept way ahead of everyone and kept signaling for them to catch up, I was in the lead and was pulling everyone along.  Not fun.  The air lines were about 10 feet at best so don't think you're going deep.  And yes, I think we only had about 15 minutes maximum, other than that we had snorkel equipment to keep you occupied while the other groups was doing snuba.    Actually, my wife and I did a discover scuba excursion in Cozumel and that was better.  Don't know if they offer that in Nassau. 

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That's similar to all the rest of the stories I had heard, cool experience but not worth it for the time.  For being a 5 hour excursion, 15 minutes of underwater time is a waste, especially at that price point. Appreciate the review @arebee

If anyone has a more positive experience, please let me know. I'm just going to present the group with the info I have and let them decide from there.

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  • Kyle_cardinalsfan51 changed the title to Discover SNUBA-Nassau Excursion
  • 2 weeks later...

I've taken this excursion and I wouldn't say it was great. There were several people all hooked up to the same tank so you couldn't wander too far. There were also a ton of other people in the same area snorkeling so it wasn't the best. At one point, I'm pretty sure my hose has somehow messed up because I started to get very little air. After looking at it for about .2 seconds, the guide just handed me some snorkeling stuff and sent me away. I'm guessing this must happen fairly often from the way it happened. Also, we've been to quite a few places to dive and didn't find Nassau anything special. There was some trash in the little bit of reefs that were there. Most of it seemed grey and dead. 

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Hi Kyle, a group of us did the Snuba at XCarte Mexico about 8 years ago. Super cool experience, you have a very heavy dive like helmet placed over year head and it sits on your shoulders. Due to the weight you sink/ climb down a ladder to the bottom, about 20 feet down. Your air hose floats up to the top for air and is monitored by many snorkelers and scuba people. You WALK the ocean floor with full view due to the round glass like helmet as the fish swim all around. They feed the fish & the fish swarm all around you, and you buy an excellent photo if that is still done. The group of us walked the ocean floor in a large ne, between parallel bars to keep steady and high fived each other around the bend/ turns. It was expensive, but we were already in the park & paid extra for it. Highlight of our trip and the only photos we were willing to pay for. 

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15 hours ago, RTripp said:

Hi Kyle, a group of us did the Snuba at XCarte Mexico about 8 years ago. Super cool experience, you have a very heavy dive like helmet placed over year head and it sits on your shoulders. Due to the weight you sink/ climb down a ladder to the bottom, about 20 feet down. Your air hose floats up to the top for air and is monitored by many snorkelers and scuba people. You WALK the ocean floor with full view due to the round glass like helmet as the fish swim all around. They feed the fish & the fish swarm all around you, and you buy an excellent photo if that is still done. The group of us walked the ocean floor in a large ne, between parallel bars to keep steady and high fived each other around the bend/ turns. It was expensive, but we were already in the park & paid extra for it. Highlight of our trip and the only photos we were willing to pay for. 

Isn't this Sea Trek, and not SNUBA?  I've looked into both and they are a bit different (and I TOTALLY want to do Sea Trek soon).

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20 hours ago, RTripp said:

Hi Speednoodle, XCarte Mexico, eight years ago it was called Snuba, might have changed by now, clear bubble like helmet with full view of surroundings , air hose coming out of top.

 

Ok. Now the Snuba gear isn't the full helmet - it's more of a mouthpiece that's attached to hoses. The Sea Trek is the full helmet (at least all of the excursions that I've seen).

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On 3/27/2019 at 3:21 AM, SpeedNoodles said:

Isn't this Sea Trek, and not SNUBA?  I've looked into both and they are a bit different (and I TOTALLY want to do Sea Trek soon).

I have done a Sea Trek (kind of) at a place called Discovery Cove near Sea World in Orlando.

It is a very cool experience and I would love to do it in the ocean!

1 hour ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Ok. Now the Snuba gear isn't the full helmet - it's more of a mouthpiece that's attached to hoses. The Sea Trek is the full helmet (at least all of the excursions that I've seen).

But, you are correct about the differences.

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