Dec 24th sailing caribbean question

[hollywoodguy]

We are sailing out with Celebrity and are novice open water divers, port in which we are sailing are Barbados, St Lucia, St Maarten, St. Kitts, and St. Thomas. Which are the Dives spots not to miss??

[omeinv]

Good News!

 

You can't miss with those as your choices.

 

Barbados has a number of deliberately sunken wrecks, and generally great diving. The dive operator I use there is West Side Scuba Center (http://www.westsidescuba.com). Peter and Heather there will arrange for transport from the pier and back. The Carlisle Bay Marine Park is usually the second dive. There are at least six sunken bots there, at very shallow depths. They use it for a second dive, and even though it's very tame conditions, it's a fun and interesting dive.

 

I've only been to St. Lucia once, and didn't dive when we were there. However, we'll be there in November and have booked with Scuba Steve's. They get high marks, but it's reportedly important to pay the extra for the premium dives, to get over by the Pitons and into the better conditions. All that being said, I can't yet give a recomendation for either the diving (although by all accounts, and the little bit of snorkeling I did last time there, it should be great); or the operator. One thing with Scuba Steve's is they do not refund if the ship doesn't make the port (or for any other cancellation reason on your side). So it's vitally important to have travel insurance if you book with them, or be willing to accept that risk.

 

St. Maarten I use Octopus Divers (http://www.octopusdiving.com). They were good last time, and then they only had a location on the French side, so there was a lengthy cab ride to get there. Now they have a location on the Dutch side right at the port. Since I've not dove that side yet, I can't comment on the diving, just the operator, but I do give them high marks. I'll be there on our November cruise as well, so I'll have more info then,

 

St. Kitts has one of my favorite operators in the world, Dive St. Kitts (http://www.divestkitts.com). The diving is great, nothing specifically fantastic just that general Caribbean great diving. However, they do a great job making sure everyone has a good time. When we were there last there was a very new diver on the boat and he was having issues. The divemaster took time with him not just to get through the dive, but to be a better diver. That guy was also on the cruise, and later told me that those two dives, with the extra help, convinced him not to give up diving. They also provide for transportation from the pier and back.

 

St. Thomas you have a bunch of options. If you choose an operator right in Charlotte Amalie (the port city), you will get wreck dives for sure. There are a bunch of deliberately sunken ships there, and a few accidental wrecks as well. The diving is fun, and the operators pick up immediately adjacent to the pier. We've used Blue Island Divers on the that side (http://www.blueislanddivers.com). They did a fine job. If wrecks aren't your thing, or if you want to see a different part of the island, we've also used Aqua Marine St. Thomas (http://www.diveaquamarine.com). They provide transportation to their location that's about 5 miles from the port. The diving there is quite nice. Somewhat more moderate depths. For some reason known only to them they use 72 CF tanks, rather than the 80 CF that you see most places, so if you're someone who goes through air more quickly you could end up with a shorter dive there. Overall I'd go back to them on a return to St. Thomas, but either would serve you well.

 

If I were to rate the places (since most people aren't like me, and willing to dive in every port of a cruise) I'd say: Tie for first Barbados and St. Kitts then St. Maarten, then St. Thomas.

 

Harris

Edited September 25, 2016 by omeinv

[smokinmike]

Superman's Flight, off the Pitons on St. Lucia, is a spectacular drift dive. Did it a couple of times when the Star Clipper and Royal Clipper were still doing their on-board dive op.

 

 

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