Help me chose a dive: St martin; La Romana; Catalina, St Kitts, Antigua

[milami]

Hello,

I am going on a cruise alone for the first time, i love diving could you help chose one or two destinations where diving is best on these stops :

I am sailing next week with costa and reviews online are either old or confusing. I have dived a lot in Asia and i am a fan of big stuff, sharks, turtle, whales...

Thanks a lot in advance.

 

Jour 1 • Pointe a Pitre

 

23:00

 

 

Jour 2 • Philipsburg SM

13:00

18:00

 

 

Jour 3 • La Romana

13:30

 

 

 

Jour 4 • La Romana

 

07:00

 

 

Jour 4 • Ile Catalina(DOM)

09:00

13:00

 

 

Jour 5 • St Kitts

13:30

21:00

 

 

Jour 6 • Antigua

08:00

18:00

 

 

Jour 7 • Fort de France

10:00

21:00

 

 

Jour 8 • Pointe a Pitre

[omeinv]

I've not been to the Dominican Republic, so I'm no help there. 

 

Antigua, the diving is far fro the port.  It's on the south side of the island, near English Harbor.  It's nothign to rave about, and not worth the expense and hassle of making the trip down there. 

 

St. Marten, the diving is better, but the operator I used to use, Octopus Diving, has changed hands since the hurricain, and is no longer reliable.  If you can find a good operator there, it may be worth considering. 

 

St. Kitts has good to great diving. IN the past I've used Dive St. Kitts, but they now have several cruise line conracts.  If they've contracted with your cruise line, they won't take you as an independent customer.  I'll be diving with Pro Dive there  in a few days, so I'll be able to give you a complete review.  THus far they'e been very good with the pre-dive communication. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[milami]

Hello Harris,

 

Thank you so much for these infos. i might skip Antigua and st Martin then and just dive in St kitts, i have to check if they have a contract with Costa cruises. I will be on a boat tomorrow evening so i can't get your reply, i dont wanna pay 1000€ for an internet connection, i havent cruised in years and (10 years) and  can't believe they are still charging for internet like if it is 1999 :))

 

[omeinv]

I suspect Dive St. Kitts will be contracted to Costa, since Costa is part of Carnival Corp.  I'm sure Pro Dive will be able to help. If Dive St. Kitts can accommodate you, they are good too.  Both provide port pick-up and return.

 

Harris

[omeinv]

I can now report that Pro Divers in St. Kitts is indeed a great dive operator.  They made a great day's diving easy and fun.

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[scorpluvsdolphins]

On 1/16/2019 at 3:00 PM, omeinv said:

I can now report that Pro Divers in St. Kitts is indeed a great dive operator.  They made a great day's diving easy and fun.

 

Harris

Denver, CO

Thanks for reporting back. How much was it?  Do they limit the bottom time?  How many divers on the boat?  

Thanks

[omeinv]

6 hours ago, scorpluvsdolphins said:

Thanks for reporting back. How much was it?  Do they limit the bottom time?  How many divers on the boat?  

Thanks

I believe the total was $106.00 for a two tank dive.  I have my own gear, so it likely is more if you use their equipment.  The provided gear looked good. 

 

The depths are fairly moderate, but the only limit is they requested divers ascend from the first dive at 60 minutes (I actually had 62).  The second dive was slightly deeper than the first (I know it's supposed to be the other way around).  That dive I had 54 minutes. 

 

The Pro Dive boat is at the marina that is a short walk from the ship, so it couldn't have been more easy.   All around, a great day. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO