best place for Discover Scuba

[momK]

We will be in the Caribbean(Caribbean Princess) January 2012. My dh and ds are divers, and would like me to try (I'm a snorkeler). We'll visit St. Marten, St. Lucia, Grenada, Bonaire, Aruba, St. Thomas, Tortola, Antigua, Dominica, and Barbados (in that order). Which would be the best place to take a Discover Scuba class, and with what operator (ship, private, etc.).

 

Thanks!

[Railwaylass]

I did one in St Thomas quite some time ago while on a Carnival cruise - probably 20 years ago. I was really disappointed with what there was to see - which was nothing. It was like being in a bathtub. No fish, no coral. There was a lone sea urchin on the white sandy bottom and the dive master went down to bring it up to the surface. We all thought he was going to impart some info about the creature so we followed him up. But he didn't say a word, just broke it open and ate it raw! Ack! So, that left nothing to look at, lol!

 

The only other thing that we saw other than bathwater and the white sandy bottom was a local guy standing on a rock, in water up to his waist, having a very good time solo, if you know what I mean - wink wink! Not something that you expect to see as you are swimming along underwater!

 

I don't know if all of St Thomas is barren like this (at least where beginners are taken) or if we just were unlucky with the location/operator that was chosen - it was a ship's excursion. We had been on a discover dive in Hawaii the year before and the contrast was unbelievable - fish everywhere, fed a moray eel and had a blast! St Thomas was a real letdown after that.

 

Based on my own experience I would suggest choosing to do your dive at another port. But I am sure that there are other folks on here that have more experience with the local operators, ones that might take you to better St Thomas dive sites.

[jimw]

Bonaire license plates say Divers Paradise on them, that's pretty close and Bonaire would be a very good choice. There's a dive shop at Flamingo Beach Hotel near the dock that would be good or many other choices a short taxi ride away. We stay and dive at Capt Don's Habitat and like them a lot.

 

I also liked a dive we did a few years ago at Coki Beach on St Thomas with Coki Dive. We saw a lot of fish and some coral there and the cost was minimal--rent a tank and weights and go a few feet to the water. Nice dive! I think it was $10. for a tank. We had all other gear. The folks who are already certified might like it as well but they would like the dive out front at Capt Don's a lot more!!

[Middleager]

Coki Beach in St. Thomas is a great place for Discovery Scuba. It is easy shallow shore dive from the beach. Coki Beach Dive Club is right there, and conducts good DS classes. My relatives/friends went on that and enjoyed it.

 

I'm certified and I went for boat diving with the owner Pete a couple of times, and they were all great.

 

Afterwards you can still stay at the beach and enjoy "beaching" for some time and/or take an island tour.

[bconley351]

I did a Discover Diving while in Barbados several years ago. We did classroom and pool at their shop, then they took us to dive around a wreck. That was pretty cool and I certified the next summer. My DH was already certified (as was the father of another newbie), and he enjoyed the dive with me.

It's possible in Aruba they might take you to the German freighter wreck, that is shallow enough that some friends snorkeled over it last Feb. We dove over it last Oct.

[Stevesan]

I did a Discover Diving while in Barbados several years ago. We did classroom and pool at their shop, then they took us to dive around a wreck. That was pretty cool and I certified the next summer. My DH was already certified (as was the father of another newbie), and he enjoyed the dive with me.

It's possible in Aruba they might take you to the German freighter wreck, that is shallow enough that some friends snorkeled over it last Feb. We dove over it last Oct.

 

There's a gajillion fish at that wreck. Never saw so many fish in one place in my life!!!:)