I would appreciate opinions on which Out Island in the Bahamas has the best combination of excellent scuba diving and accomodations. We are going in November and have never visited these islands so first hand information would be very helpful.

Fly into Treasure Cay, (Abaco) take the ferry to Green Turtle Cay, stay at the Green Turtle Cay Club & Marina or the Bluff House Club & Marina and definately DIVE with Brendal's Dive Shop.

Does the Turtle Cay Club on Turtle Cay off Great Abaco have its own diving operation and, if so, why would Brendal's be better? Any opinion on these operators?

Warren,

Look into Andros--one of the "out islands" which has tremendous diving. Small Hope Lodge is top drawer--however, plush it is not. More like camp, but the food, people, and diving are worth it. There is not much to do on the island--we went there in February, so the sand and sun were plenty for us.

Green Turtle Cay is a great place to stay as well--my husband says that he had the best snorkeling right in back of the resort. We did dive with Brindel--nothing to write home about.

Look into San Salvador (heard this is great, as well as Cat Island). Both are on my list. If you like to dive with the dolphins, try UNEXSO out of Freeport. A little controlled, but then this is one of the few times I have heard of being able to dive with them--plus the shopping is terrific. There is a place to feed the sharks which is worthwhile as well.

The best snorkeling we had was out of Exuma with a free diver names Josh--a memorable experience.

Also look into the Turks and Caicos--great diving and dive shops, plus a white sand beach with the most beautiful turquoise water I have ever seen--comparable only to Anguilla. I like to dive the out islands much better than the Caribbean--the exception is Tobago. E-mail me if you wish further information. Happy diving!

Thanks for the response. We have narrowed our choices to four destinations and resorts: Bluff House Club on Green Turtle Cay, Abaco; Fernandez Bay on the Beach, Cat Island; Pink Sands on Harbour Island, Eleuthera; and Peace and Plenty Beach Inn, Great Exuma. Ideally, we want an inn with a quiet casual ambience, decent fresh meals, thriving, unspoiled reefs not far away for snorkeling and diving, basically everything. From the descriptions in guide books, these inns/islands generally appear to have these qualities, but it is difficult to make fine distinctions between them without first-hand information. With a weeks' vacation and several thousand dollars on the line, we sure would appreciate some specifics from anyone who has been to these places. Decisions, decisions...

Warren, San Salvador, where Columbus first landed in our land, has super scuba at the Riding Rock Inn Scuba Center. Short voyages, maybe 5-10 minutes for most, and 15-20 minutes at the most, to fabulous reefs. Wall diving is excellent. I didn't dive deep, my wife and I dove 45-60 feet to edge of wall, and let the other divers scare the sharks up to us! Very caring staff. If you go there, say Robert Morton says, "Hi!". He's one of their dive masters who explains in detail and with much experience and motivation, what you'll see on each dive. email me for further details.

We'll keep San Salvador in mind for our next trip. Since my last message nearly a month ago, we decided to go to Green Turtle Cay off Abaco and stay at the Bluff House Club. It would be interesting to hear from those who have been there and have been diving with Brendal at the local dive shop on the Cay. We booked one of the villas on the beach.