Good dive sites around St. Thomas?

[mlbcruiser]

Can anyone tell me of any good dive sites (other than the ones done by Coki Beach) that would be doable when in port for one day on a cruise? My DH dives and didn't seem too interested in the Coki Beach dive. He has only been diving 3 yrs. but has been to some pretty good places, such as Grand Cayman, Bora Bora, Cozumel (a few times) and a number of other places incl. some locations in the caribbean and other places that weren't all that great. He isn't THAT particular but does want to see some PRETTY fish or coral, or some cool wrecks. Also, can anyone recommend any good dive operators in St. Thomas? Thanks!

[Gdawgs]

We just got back from our first cruise. We had booked an excursion which takes you to St. John's Trunk bay which is supposed to be excellent snorkeling(I'm not sure about diving). Unfortunately, the excursion was cancelled due to poor visibility. Many people went to Coki instead, but we went to Saphire beach(as recommended in Frommers) which was beautiful. This was our first time doing real snorkeling(other than swimming class in high school), and we thought it was great, lots of beautiful fish. Since it was our first time, we have nothing to compare it to however.

 

The people who went to Coki later said that it was extremely crowded(again as Frommers mentioned), with 100s of people, so it wasn't all that enjoyable. On Saphire, there were maybe a dozen of us out there snorkeling, so it was great.

 

There is also a little shop on Saphire where you can rent the equipment, $5 for 1 hour, $8 for 2 hours, or $10 for all day(again, snorkeling, not diving), which was pretty cheap I thought. They also watch over your valuables while you are out.

 

From what I've heard, Trunk Bay is really amazing, so I'd do that if possible. Otherwise, as I mentioned above, I would highly recommend Saphire over Coki, just because of the crowds.

Taxi ride to Saphire is $10 per person each way.