Bahamas Stuart Cove Shark Diving

Hello again,

Today I am going to talk about a short dive trip I took back in 2007.   The flights were through Funjet vacations and the price was very reasonable for the 4 day trip. We stayed at Breezes Bahamas for 4 days on a last minute trip.  The resort was nice but could use updating and the food could have been better.  It is an all-inclusive resort with plenty to do.  This resort is in the super club category meaning they have every activity you would want to do and some you would not want to do.  They even had a trapeze that you could go on.  With that being said I was not impressed with all the activities and seemed to be to much.  I did enjoy some great games of beach volleyball and met some great people while we were there.  Please do your research on Tripadvisor for all your vacations it is a very useful tool and just remember some people just complain about everything.  I am not that picky but I do expect a clean room and decent food.

 

Pool Area photo provided by the Bahamas.net

 

 

Breezes Bahamas

 

 

Now on to the part of the trip that made everything worth while the diving.  Stuart Cove was the dive operation we used and they were excellent and very professional.  There is a dive on a wreck that is in the movie Into the Blue we went on and was not much to see but the flat wreck and sharks.  We saw reef sharks every dive and the most exciding the shark adventure dive Stuart Cove has available.  The dive is in about 40 feet of water and they take you down and put all the divers on the bottom in a circle and bring in a box of fish heads and start feeding the sharks in front of you and the next thing you know there is around 30 to 40 sharks around you.  Below is a video of the shark adventure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is not me on the dive but it is the same dive and was worth the trip.  After the dive they let you look for shark teeth on the bottom and most divers were able to bring home 1 or 2 shark teeth.  If you want to dive with sharks then put Stuart Cove Bahamas on your bucket list. 

 

 

As for the island it self I found it not to be on my top list but it is a very nice vacation and there is plenty to do.  I was not able to go to Atlantis Paradise Island Resort.  I have heard it is very nice but on the pricey side. 

 

Thank you for reading my posts and please fell free to ask any questions

 

Tim





Orlando Florida vacation

Welcome To Tims Traveling Tips,

A couple weeks ago I took a quick trip down to Florida to visit Universal Studios Orlando.  First I would like to talk about how I booked this trip.  I always do my research and do my best to find the cheapest price but still staying at a quality Resort.  I tried Expedia, Travelocity, Delta, and Spirit to book the trip and found they were all close to the same price.  I moved the trip a day each way to see if the price would go down but that did not work.  How I finally got the best price I booked the flight and hotel with Spirit (since I am a 9 Fare Club member I saved on flights) then I purchased the universal tickets from Universal Studios Orlando and then booked a rental car through Budget car rental and used my AARP card to save 25% of the car rental.  I saved $250 off the price of this trip just by doing these couple things.

 

 

This is Universal's Cabana Bay Resort where we stayed.  I would recommend staying at Cabana Bay if you are planning on going to Universal Studios for a couple reasons.  First is that to get to the park there are shuttle busses that leave every ten minutes and is a short ride.  Second by staying at the resort you have access to the parks one hours before the general public is allowed to enter.

 

 

 

 

Now lets talk about Universal Studios.  There are two parks and the main attraction at both parks are the Harry Potter worlds.  Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade are very well done area of the parks and you can take a short train ride on the Hogwarts Express to get from one to the other.  They are in different parks so it is important to get the park to park tickets when you purchase them.  Here are a few pictures I took at the park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a short ride to visit Kennedy Space Center which is an hour ride from the resort.  It was worth the trip and is something everyone should visit at least once.  They have various exhibits and a tour of the grounds that comes with the admission. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This was a good short trip and the price was not bad but the food prices at the resort and the parks are expensive.  You can always find something for a reasonable price but I like to eat so I did spend some money on eating out. 

 

Thanks for visiting My blog and I hope I helped someone save money on their vacation.

 

Tim

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Traveling to Curacao

 Welcome to Tims Traveling Tips,

Today I would like to share some tips on Curacao.  A few years ago I spent a week on the Island which is located near Aruba and Bonaire.  Before I book any vacation I always do my research over the internet with Trip Advisor or just doing a google search.  Once I find where I would like to stay come the searching for the best price.  In the past we would have to have used a travel agent but today everything is available online.  For this trip I booked through CheapCaribbean. 

 

We stayed at Sunscape all-inclusive resort which turned out to be an excellent choice.  The food was excellent especially at the specialty restaurants.  The buffet was always a good choice for breakfast; my favorite was the fresh made omelets.  For lunch there is a bar close to the beach and they made the best grouper sandwiches.







I chose not to dive with the onsite dive shop and dove with Curiour2Dive which picked me up each morning and drove to different dives sites.  All the diving in Curacao is close to shore due to the drop off 100 feet from shore.  I always am looking for something I have not yet seen underwater and in Curacao I wanted to see a frogfish.  Hans Pleij is the owner and dive master on all my dives.  He did his best to find a frogfish but we came up short on this trip.  Two days after I got home Hans sent me a photo that he found a frogfish. 

Lion fish are evading the Caribbean.  They are from the South Pacific and Indian Ocean

Tiny shrimp

Sea Horse

Watched this seahorse for 20 minutes.  Great picture thanks Hans.

Tim Z. floating over the reef

 

This is the frogfish we looked for 8 dives and could not find him.  Hans found him 2 days after I left. 
 

 I recommend taking the day trip to Klein Curacao which is an hour boat ride each way to a secluded island that has an amazing beach and lunch is provided.  There is an abandoned light house in the middle of the small island.  There is also a ship wreck wash up close to shore on the far end of the island all within walking distance.  The pictures below were taken by Tim Z.



Cozumel vacation and diving

Welcome to Tim’s Traveling Tips Post. 

My favorite place to visit is Cozumel Mexico.  It’s not the most expensive and the diving is one of the best locations in the world.  We booked our trip through Funjet vacations since it was the best price and stayed at the Iberostar Resort.  The rooms are on the small size but clean and how much time do you spend in the room on vacation.  This is an all-inclusive resort so all your food and drinks are included.  Being an all-inclusive you will always find something to eat.  The specialty restaurants are good and the buffet has a large variety to choose from.

 

I have been on a few trips to Cozumel and have found Dive With Martin to be the best diving operation on the island.  They pick you up on the dock at the hotel and you are diving in less than ten minutes.  Some of the best diving sites are close to the resort.  I dove five days two tanks each day and would be back at the resort by noon and still have the rest of the day to spend with the family. Check out Dive With Martin's website for prices and booking details at http://www.divewithmartin.com/

Here are some of my underwater pictures from the trip.

Thought this was a cool picture

Dive with Marin boat usually only 4 to 6 divers.  Not overcrowded.

Green turtle

Green turtle with two French angelfish

Toad fish only found in the Cozumel area

Nurse shark

One of my favorites swam right to me

Can you find the Scorpion fish?

How about here it's easier to find center of the picture blends in good

Another one of my best pictures.  80 feet down by the entrance of Devils Throat

Devils Throat entrance 80 feet at the beginning and 130 feet at the end of the swim through

I hope you enjoy and come back for other traveling tips and underwater pictures.

Here is a link to my blog Tims Traveling Tips