Weekender to Grand Bahama Island

The beach had nice white sand and was not overcrowded. The area around the infinity pool did get somewhat crowded during the late morning/early afternoon, but even then the pool was not very crowded and a single person can still find a lounger.

Quick Tips:

The water is cold, so if you're diving and have a wetsuit, definitely bring it. Also, in general if you go in the fall/winter, bring a sweatshirt, because the evenings can get cool. And I highly recommend the dolphin dive, as it's really one of those experiences that you will probably never find again.

Best Way To Get Around:

If you stay in Lucaya, walking around is the best. However, if you want to go to the international bazaar or downtown, they have minivan-type buses that you can take for .

I did an American Airlines package to the Westin. It worked out to about $300/night. The hotel was beautiful, beach front, with a gorgeous infinity pool. It also had a very cold but pleasant lap pool for guests away from the hub of the infinity pool, which was very nice for a workout.

The style of the hotel is ultra-modern, with a little wear, but overall very well maintained. The Westin has the newer chain beds that make for a very comfortable night's sleep. As I said, there was some noticeable wear on the hotel, but overall the rooms were clean and tastefully decorated (meaning the tropical theme wasn't overbearing). The hotel oddly forgot to put somethings in our room such as the typical bathrobes and slippers, but we didn't really need them, so it was not a true loss, but it was a little surprising.

The location is perfect, though. There's not much on GBI, and almost everything "touristy" and worth doing/eating was across the street from our hotel. For what I was doing, I'm not sure it was worth the price. However, it was a family trip and other members of my family took greater advantage of the amenities offered. For something more economical, I think the Sheraton next door may be a better choice, since the amenities were the same; the walking distance was just shorter.

Overall, I think that the Westin is great for families and people who don't want to walk too far for their entertainment.

I did two two-tank dives, the shark dive and the scuba dolphin dive, with UNEXSO. The diving was decent. With Bahama diving, you don't get beautiful reef systems with lots of small fish; what you do get is big animal encounters.

UNEXSO is a very well put together, somewhat commercial operation. It doesn't really do the cattle boats for scuba, though that may be also because there just so many tourists on GBI that they can run boats of 40 divers. If they have enough divers, they're good about splitting up the divers by skill level. Though, when I dove Theo's Wreck, there was a girl that definitely shouldn't have been diving it because she didn't remember how to clear her mask and panicked at 80 feet. They have lockers where you can store your stuff and my wetsuit dried faster in their storage areas than in my hotel after I was done diving.

Shark diving was fun. They do a one-tank dive where you kneel on the floor of the ocean and their shark feeder feeds the swarms of Caribbean reef sharks that come by. One of the highlights of this dive is that the feeder actually put one to sleep and walked it up and down the line so that you can actually touch the shark.

The Dolphin Dive was great. UNEXSO has 17 trained dolphins; you go diving with two. During the dive, you get to pet and play with the dolphins. The trainers can get the dolphins to spin you around and kiss you, which is a very unique, fun experience. It's a little on the pricey side, but most trained dolphin experiences are.

Overall, I had a great time diving with UNEXSO. If I were to go back to GBI, without a doubt I'd dive with them again.