Hey ODDJobUno...Yellow Bird in Barbados?

[Dueller]

OJU...did you book directly with Yellow Bird? Or package it with flights? If you don't mind me asking, what was the rate?

Also...have you any recommendations on Costa Rica...particularly the Carribean side?

[ODDJOB UNO]

yes i called yellowbird direct. now heres the deal on my flights. i set it up thru wells fargo due to my "points-100K" getting me (2) free round trips anywhere on the planet.


now being in phx and wells fargos infinite brilliance we were booked:

1) phx-dallas/ft.worth

2) dallas/ft.worth to orlando

3) orlando to miami

beat to hell/burnt out lugging (3) underwater cameras and strobes and all scubbee gear minus scuba tanks for (2) people we died in the raddison(miami) for that night ,then got on flight direct to barbados.


soooooooooooooooooo....................with that very painful GIANT PITA behind me. book direct to miami,THEN direct to barbados.


only (2) HUBS in the carribean. puerto rico and barbados. if ya can find a direct from where yer at to barbados that would be best.


now i went in sept for my b-day(hurry-kane season ) and it was about $80 bucks a night USD. if yer not into nightlife barbados style i do not recomend the yellowbird. it is loud and they DO PARTY TIL DAWN.


the other HOT POO place in the CRANE HOTEL. gonna be pricey and its on the atlantic side. yellowbird on carribean side. crane is 10 stars POSH and 1 of the top 10 beaches on planet. problem thou is its in the boonies as far as nightlife/food/groceries etc.


other hot poo ticket is get a GUIDE! aka a native. was THE HOT TICKET as far as seeing tourista stuff and non tourista stuff. had so much fun drinking banks beer while driving with him, i cant EVEN IMAGINE renting a car and suffering thru their traffic. we took the same guide multiple days.


carlisle bay/bridgetown harbor there are a TON of wrecks to dive on. the hilton there is on the grounds of the old fort and you will see the walls and cannons.


when(not if) i go again i will go for 3 weeks minimum. 2 weeks was not ENOUGH, it was that cool. bring a pair of slacks and a golf shirt(dress din -din), 5 pairs of shorts,buy all yer t-shirts there and pack very very light cuz you will be bringing cool stuff back.


AND DO NOT MISS OUT ON BANKS BEER/MT. GAY RUM TOUR/DIVING/and EAT THE HELL OUT OF THE FLYING FISH!

[ODDJOB UNO]

p.s. i would fer sure bring dive booties and a .5mm wet suit .


our secret at the yellowbird since im a cheap ass, was we walked to grocery store, bought a ton of goodies to munch on(orange food groups) gallons of banks beer and mt gay rum and since we had a OFFEN(oven) and a micro wave and a refrigerator life was good and very cheap. i would fer sure have AIR CONDITIONING in any room ya get. it can get damn humid and warm,at least in sept.


also dont miss the CONCORDE on static display. the only carribean stop for the concorde was barbados ever. wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy cool.


also the ruins of the HALO tests(high altitude launch) from gerald bull(look him up) is still there. this was bulls test site for launching payloads including nuklar rounds into SPACE! aka the giant assed cannons that saddam had to launch shells at israel. bull was murdered by the mossad in a belgium elevator.


the NOAA hurry-kane hunters is also based there at the aeropuerto.


i will tonight dig out some pics. there is this clown street vendor that was "framed" and sent to prison. he is on the boardwalk hawking these stoopid ass wire made people of various types. he has TATOOS all over his face. after about 20 rums and beers he was real interesting to listen to him spout off about how corrupt the world and all the governments were. will NEVER FORGET HIM, he was such a laugh. if he is still there ya cant miss him. LMFAO just thinking about him.

[ODDJOB UNO]

[ODDJOB UNO]

as i said. i could spit into the ocean from my room. the restaurant to the left is where i had my b-day din din. 10 stars on the food. had to drag my dead ass all the way to where the boat is to go diving. rough man real rough.

[ODDJOB UNO]

crane beach

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me chasing a tortuga

[ODDJOB UNO]

the tattoo dude what a freak azoid

[ODDJOB UNO]

dive boat at its mooring behind me. from my room. somebody has to to do this. it might as well be ME! the BEST diving i have EVER DONE IN 34 years of diving. barbados makes hawaii look like a poo hole underwater!

[ODDJOB UNO]

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[ODDJOB UNO]

get the CD by POCO and listen to the song "BARBADOS". i can play a mean ass george grantham, break my cymbals/waste my skins, rendition of the song after a few banks beers and some mt gay rum.


if after hearing the song,drinking some banks beers,eating some flying fish, and ya havent figured it all out.......................im sorry i just cant HELP YA!

[ODDJOB UNO]

do not miss the bridgetown museum. you will find there a real honest to gawd NAZI TORPEDO that was in a string of vier torpedoes(VIER TORPEDOES LOS!) launched at a zig zagging freighter heading into bridgetown harbor during the "happy days" enjoyed by das U-BOTES early in the war.


story goes U-BOTE saw freighter zig zagging and gave chase with deck gun. harbormaster opened torpedo nets for freighter. freighter got in harbor and harbor master closed nets.

U-BOTE HERR KAPTAIN was pissed off as a mo-fo and let loose "VIER TORPEDOS LOS" and (2) hit nets and blew them to hell, the next (2) torpedoes went into harbor and (1) ran up on beach and the other (1) blew the freeking bow off the freighter and it sank in the harbor. we dove on that bow. the freighter was raised and a new bow installed and then sailed off into history and was sunk once and fer all off of either greenland or iceland by another torpedo while on the murmansk run.



mucho mucho U-BOTEs blown to hell in surrounding waters. non diveable but lots of history around there and a ton of wrecks. just up from st lawrence gap (yellowbird hotel/motel/notell) along the coast is a fairly long large reef that sank a french freighter that we dove on also. it is a drift dive and the dive boat dumps yer ass in the water and ya drift for about a mile along reef and then the dive boat picks ya up. on that day we had a squall move in and had about 3-4 ft waves at surface. so another REAL SMART IDEA is to have DIVE SNAUSAGES!(dive sausages about 4-6 ft inflated so if ya get lost the dive boat can see you in the swells.


as always when yer diving with a nikonos V and a strobe and a digital with a strobe it is a GIANT PITA! but anywhere on barbados the sea conditions and the currents were nothing really to worry about and depths were generally described as by us as diving in a "baby pool" no hairy stuff/no decom dives/no B.S. to deal with. just generally drift dive and BLAST AWAY with yer cameras.

the worst day of vizability was about 65-75 ft.


best time for pictures unta wata was from about 10am to 2pm along southwestern reefs. beach dives are simple, no bad surf unless on atlantic side.

[ODDJOB UNO]

our next trip will be booked phx to miami. miami to barbados.

spend a few days then take a ship/puddlejumper over to some of the other islands. st. lucia/martinique/grenadines to name a few.


3 weeks minimum if not a freeking month! some of the nicest people i have EVER MET! never had a problem,never an argument,never a rip off. very very cheap living. and i could move there in a heartbeat and NOT MISS NOTHING for the rest of my daze on this planet.


never saw anything poverty wise that bothered me, never any fear anywhere day or night.

there is (1) porschen 911 on the island the guide said, but i never got a picture of it.


barbados has the following distinctions to its credit:


1) the most LITERATE country in the world per capita.

2) the most educated country in the world per capita

3) the PUREST WATER on the planet because it is a LIMESTONE island unlike most islands in carribean that are volcanic.

4) the only island in the carribean basin that exports MORE than it imports.

5) crime is almost a VIRTUAL ZERO in comparison to most islands in carribean basin.


and (thank you god) the home of MT.GAY RUM! the OLDEST RUM DISTILLARY IN THE NEW WORLD! serving GROG for over 300 freeking years!