Barbados; St. Lucia; St. Kitts; St Martin

[parasailor]

I welcome snorkeling and diving suggestions for these islands. I am a very avid snorkeler (no liquor/music sails) and a very novice diver.

 

thanks

[cruisingforsix]

I welcome snorkeling and diving suggestions for these islands. I am a very avid snorkeler (no liquor/music sails) and a very novice diver.

 

thanks

 

Hi .since no one is answering me I will answer you .In Barbados we swam right from shore to swim with the sea turtles and we kind of blended in with a tour group because they come around for the food .they are absolutely beautiful and they come right up out of the water. we have been to st. kitts a few time and the tour guide is named Glen .I will see if I still have his card ,if not my friend has it .we only like to do private tours as well ,usually keeping it between 4 and 6 people. We love to snorkel too and have gone on some really wonderful snorkel tours .I am going to find the names of the tour guides we used and will pass them on to you . If you know anyone who has used a camera mask let me know, lol.

[parasailor]

Thanks, C46. I appreciate it and am sorry I do not anyone who has used a camera mask--but they sure are tempting!

[Armedaneian]

In Barbados, there's an artificial reef right off Carlisle Bay Beach. We took a cab there, but many excursions go there as well. The structure holds a lot of sea life... and shipwrecks are just plain neat! :cool:

[parasailor]

Thanks--sounds great. If I go there alone, do you think my things would be safe on the beach?

[Armedaneian]

I don't remember the name of the bar/restaurant we went to, but the bartender held our stuff behind the bar for us.

[parasailor]

thanks very much and happy new year

[divinmule]

We did the following on this itinerary.

 

St Thomas Blue Island Divers- good dives with some enjoyable dive masters, great bottom times. Would dive with them again

 

Barbados- Ecodive Barbados- Awesome dives, great dive master, great bottom times, small boat but hey your there for the water not the boat. Would dive with them again for sure.

 

St Lucia- we went with the Carnival dive operator based upon reviews and it was wonderful. Small boat, small group, The Pitons! My all time favorite dive this trip. Also great bottom times. Papa Smurf was awesome as a Dive Master!!!!!

 

St.Kitts- Kenneths Dive Center- Nice folks, really good dives, great bottom times, large boat. Would dive with them again.

 

St. Maarten- went with Carribean Dive College the Carnival ship operator. Was not a group I would go with again if there was another option. They were very nice but were basically just a bunch of kids on the day we went. Which could be fine if they we the right type of kids. But these just seemed a bit lost at times. Very nice though.

The bottom times were very short and the 2 dive sites we went to were not very engaging.

I will definately dive St Maarten again but will make sure to find a different dive operator. We went with them due to some time constraints and any dives are better than none. But after all the above diving, it made for some disappointment on this stop.

 

Have fun these are great dive ports

[parasailor]

Thanks very much.

 

How challenging were the dives with Kenneth's? I have fewer than 10 dives and none in the past 2 years, so I don't want to slow an advanced group.

[divinmule]

Thanks very much.

 

How challenging were the dives with Kenneth's? I have fewer than 10 dives and none in the past 2 years, so I don't want to slow an advanced group.

 

The day we dove they were very nice dives with variable profiles. You could adjust your depth a bit depending upon air consumption and comfort. The end of the dive was done near the boat so that if it was time to end your dive. Then the DM could send you up while still allowing the others to troll around looking for critters.;)

[BillOh]

Thanks, C46. I appreciate it and am sorry I do not anyone who has used a camera mask--but they sure are tempting!

 

I have a used a camera mask a couple of times from a company called liquid vision. The newer models are improved and worth having. These have an LED inside the mask that lights up and tells you if the camera is on, in still or video mode and if its running or stopped. Earlier version you couldn't tell if it was on or off once you put it on your face.

[BillOh]

We did the following on this itinerary.

 

St Thomas Blue Island Divers- good dives with some enjoyable dive masters, great bottom times. Would dive with them again

 

I would echo that as well. This year I am on the same itinerary as the OP and am looking at my options. Probably won't dive in St Martin.

[parasailor]

thanks Billoh and Divinmule.

 

Oddly enough, 2 years ago I enjoyed diving in St. Martin with Caribbean Dive College--but the DM was very experienced. The Proselyte was a decent wreck and the Maze was very colorful. The water was very choppy, however. Octopus Diving and Acquamania receive good reviews there.

 

I will start with a refresher dive at Coki Beach Dive Shop in St. Thomas--they have a reef right offshore which reaches 50 feet, so I can just walk in and get reacclimated to diving in a very small group where I won't disrupt the dive if I have issues descending, equalizing or conserving air. At 2 dives for $70, it is also a great bargain. They also offer boat dives.

[BillOh]

thanks Billoh and Divinmule.

 

Oddly enough, 2 years ago I enjoyed diving in St. Martin with Caribbean Dive College--but the DM was very experienced. The Proselyte was a decent wreck and the Maze was very colorful. The water was very choppy, however. Octopus Diving and Acquamania receive good reviews there.

 

I will start with a refresher dive at Coki Beach Dive Shop in St. Thomas--they have a reef right offshore which reaches 50 feet, so I can just walk in and get reacclimated to diving in a very small group where I won't disrupt the dive if I have issues descending, equalizing or conserving air. At 2 dives for $70, it is also a great bargain. They also offer boat dives.

 

I hope you will come back and let us know what you think of Coki Beach. I considered going there and still follow them on facebook. They look very nice. The only reason I didn't use them was I was traveling with my non-diving wife and I couldn't find anyone to accompany us to their beach and I didn't want to leave her alone on the beach. Blue Island allowed me to pay a modest $20 to have her on the boat, and she enjoyed that.

[parasailor]

If she likes snorkeling, it is a great spot for that. If not, you might consider one of the local tour operators (Godfrey, etc) or even a cab driver who would drop you at Coki, take her on a sightseeing or shopping tour, then come back and pick you up.

 

I have only heard good things about Blue Water. Another option, if you have not tried it, is Sapphire, which (2 years ago at least) was very beautiful, not too crowded, and had excellent reef snorkeling from shore and a dive shop I have not tried.

[lunula]

We did a Caribbean cruise this past April and did some diving in some of the sites you mentioned. We found the diving better the further south we got. We brought all our own gear, it was kind of a pain since we had to clean it on the boat and hang it up on our balcony each day to dry. Also, lugging it off the boat, through security and in ports to get our ride (and then back, when all our gear was wet) was not fun. Not sure if you're going to rent gear - I hate doing that (especially a wetsuit - gross!) - but would definitely be more convenient.

 

Anyway, we had a great experience with Octopus Divers in St. Maarten. Highly recommend. We had dives set up in Barbados with The Dive Shop LTD, but had to cancel due to an injury my husband sustained in St. Lucia (not diving) and because I was battling motion sickness on the dive boats. They let us cancel our dives the day before and were really great about it.

Edited January 8, 2014 by lunula

[parasailor]

I had a great refresher dive off the beach with Coki Dive Club--very nice, responsive people. I was the only diver. Lots of fish and seeing an octopus change its shape and color to match coral was very cool. Highly recommend them for diving, discover scuba and as a place where nondivers can snorkel or relax. They also do boat dives.

 

St. Martin waves prevented anything aquatic, but enjoyed snorkeling with turtles and wrecks at Barbados; near the Pitons in St. Lucia; and off the beach in St. Kitts. The sea life at St. Lucia and St. Kitts was nowhere near as good as St. Thomas (nor was it at Barbados, other than the turtles), but the gorgeous settings are a treat.

 

thanks everyone for your kind suggestions.