Well I had almost a week on the island, but in truth I was getting dived out already having done a heap in Grenada. But I couldn't miss the opportunity to dive with Mantas, well they were quite frequent once upon a time.
Tobago is a sizeable island with poor roads which means to dive the whole Island you must deplace yourself. The most well know diving spot is Speyside in the north east where the currents are FUN this is no drift diving this is do I have a jet pack on my back ! also it used to be common to see Mantas here and they have some huge brain coral and the quality of the coral is some of the best I have seen in the caribbean. But to live in Speyside there are a few options, I elected to stay and dive with the Manta lodge. The rates were fair considering the hotel has a pool and the rooms comfortable with balconies sometimes. It is also home to Tobago Dive Experience whom were fun to dive with indeed, something which got me into the whole diving thing once upon a time and something which isn't always present. I can't stand those shops who just provide the diving and are not very animated or talkative.
I would have loved to have stayed for a week, but unless there are other divers it could get a bit boring and limited up there. There is no cash point. There is a town called charlotteville I think 15 minutes away which is lovely and makes for a good excursion. But this is not like the south where the tourism is concentrated around the airport.
Diving is also good on the south side but in my opinion not as good as Speyside. I wanted to get to the sisters but its a site half way down Tobago on th Caribbean side, that is also supposed to be special. Do you know about diving there ?
I really want to do some of the st vinent and the Grenadines dive sites now. If you have done that Id like to hear.
Reply by Fontaine
So to answer your question about the best way to dive the grenadines, as someone who lived in the Grenadines for about four months I would seriously advise you to stay away from all liveaboards and private yachts, diving from a sailboat is a pain in the butt, plus it costs the operators more money if you dive so they minimize your diving. If you are serious about diving and want to do it proplerly forget about sailing and dive from the land based shops. You can get to all the islands by ferry and it is very easy and cheap, trust me you will get much more for your money if you stay on land. I never once saw the liveaboard Wind Dancer as they hang around the Grenadan Grenadines (and dont even come up to Carraicou), there are no liveaboards for the St. Vincent grenadines except for private yachts, which basically just hire the local land based shops to come and pick you up from your yacht and take you on one or two dives, they just charge you more for it, they need to make there commission. If your an avid sailor and have plenty of money then go for it, but if you prefer diving over sailing then stay land based.