Stuart Cove's Company History

Prior to opening his first dive operation, Stuart Cove captained a diving / snorkeling boat for Club Med. In the summer of 1977, Stuart landed a job as stunt / safety diver on the James Bond feature film "For Your Eyes Only" starring Roger Moore and Carole Bouquet. During the filming of this job, Stuart's skills as a "shark wrangler" and dive instructor quickly stood out. By the end of the shoot he had established himself as a competent U/W production support coordinator.

"For Your Eyes Only" allowed Stuart to put enough money in the bank to buy his first dive boat. In 1978 Stuart used that boat and began to run his own dive business on the island of New Providence. That boat docked and left from the canal behind his fathers house on New Providence. Back then, Stuart offered a single 1-tank dive each day. If he was lucky enough to take out 20 divers that was considered a great day! However, it also meant spending the rest of the day and part of the evening filling each of the 20 tanks one at a time from an old, slow compressor.

That one boat operation proved successful and Stuart Cove built a good reputation for offering quality services on New Providence. As a result of that reputation, in 1983 the Lyford Cay Country Club invited Stuart to assume the responsibilities for managing their watersports concession, in addition to continuing to offer the regularly scheduled dive trips. Stuart Cove now offered water-skiing, banana boat rides, and other water sport activities to club guests. Divers who were not members of the club were picked up in Stuart's shuttle bus and brought to the club for their dives. Upon completion of the days diving activities they were returned to their hotel.

This growth resulted in the purchase of the first custom 54 foot flat top dive boat named "Black Coral". During the several years that went past while operating out of this location, Stuart Cove grew to become one of the leading dive operators on New Providence Island and continued to achieve outstanding customer service. This feat is especially significant when you consider that Stuart was serving two diverse clients, divers visiting New Providence Island on vacation and Lyford Cay Country Club members utilizing watersports and diving services from their private club.

The second significant event during this time period occurred when Stuart hired a childhood friend with whom he grew up, Michelle Berlanda. Stuart's achievements in managing dive operations and customer service were equaled by Michelle's ability to manage the business operations. Together they laid down a strong infrastructure for the business to grow on.

In 1983 Stuart and Michelle, reinforced themselves as the leading underwater film production coordinators on the island during the filming of "Never Say Never Again". This Bond thriller starred Sean Connery and Kim Bassinger. This time Stuart was the lead underwater coordinator. As part of those responsibilities Stuart personally certified Mr. Connery and Ms. Bassinger as divers in order for them to complete their rolls. In addition, Stuart choreographed underwater fights and again led the "shark wrangling" team.

In 1992, Divi Hotels sold the South Ocean Golf Beach & Dive Resort and as a result the property was left without a dive operator. With a strong reputation already established and a successful business already operating just a few miles away, the new owners sought out Stuart Cove to assume the dive operations at the hotel. In order to implement this expansion, 3 custom dive boats were purchased. In addition, a new larger air storage system was obtained. A full retail boutique opened, and a host of other equipment required was purchased in order to create one of the Caribbeans leading dive centers.

In 1994 Stuart and Michelle acknowledged the strength of their teamwork and made their relationship permanent by becoming husband and wife. In the spring of 1996 the team grew by one with the birth of their son Travis. In 1998, Stuart & Michelle were blessed again with the birth of daughter Sasha.

With all of the growth since 1978 one of the things that we are the proudest of, is that almost everyday customers at Stuart Cove's will see and be greeted by the bosses, Stuart & Michelle Cove, who insist on maintaining a hands on management style by being directly involved with their customers and seeing that they experience the adventure of a lifetime.