Where to dive?

[mitsugirly]

We are thinking about booking a cruise and coming back to St Thomas. We did a Discover Scuba at Coki last time and LOVED it but the water was less than gentle during our dive. I'm not sure if it's normally like that (my hubby ended up giving up and had to be pulled back to the beach from being so worn out).

 

The other times we have been here we have also went to Coki, also Sapphire Beach, and Linquist.

 

Is there another place to do a Discover Scuba that might have more gentle water that's not going to wear us out trying to see anything?

 

Let me know what dive shops are available.

 

Thanks in advance.

[jstewie23]

I have not dove in St Thomas, but will be there for a few days in July, so I have been researching dive shops. Aqua Marine seems to be a good dive operation. https://www.diveaquamarine.com/

 

Might be worth posting in the Scuba/Snorkeling forum...I always get great info from there. 

[Ms411]

I checked Aqua Action and they don't have a Discover Scuba on their website. Coki's water is usually pretty calm and there isn't another dive shop that's on the beach like Coki and Secret Harbor.

 

Other dive shops are Red Hook Dive Center, Blue Island Divers, and Admiralty Dive Center.

 

[mitsugirly]

On 1/4/2020 at 3:52 PM, jstewie23 said:

I have not dove in St Thomas, but will be there for a few days in July, so I have been researching dive shops. Aqua Marine seems to be a good dive operation. https://www.diveaquamarine.com/

 

Might be worth posting in the Scuba/Snorkeling forum...I always get great info from there. 

 

Wow, they charge $140 for the DSD. That' a heck of a lot more than Coki. :( 

 

Good idea about posting in scuba section. I'll try that too.

 

On 1/4/2020 at 4:21 PM, Ms411 said:

I checked Aqua Action and they don't have a Discover Scuba on their website. Coki's water is usually pretty calm and there isn't another dive shop that's on the beach like Coki and Secret Harbor.

 

Other dive shops are Red Hook Dive Center, Blue Island Divers, and Admiralty Dive Center.

 

 

I found it on there on the front page with a link. They are $90, so not that bad. Thanks and I'll check them out a little more.

 

When we were at Coki, you had to go out and around a corner (out by Coral World) and that's where it was hard. They told us just getting around that corner is always the worse. So, I just assumed it's always like that when diving there? I broke my leg/foot/ankle and have had 2 surgeries and can't straighten it, so I can't have anything strenuous as far as water if possible. That's why I'm looking for something calm.

 

Red Hook is $169 so a little expensive. I can't seem to find a website for Blue Island. I don't see DSD listed for Admiralty.

[Ms411]

Can you post the link for Aqua Action Discover Scuba? I'm posting using my phone so I miss a few things on this small screen.

 

The industry was negatively impacted by the storms because so many dive boats were damaged, but it's recovered quite a bit this season based on what I've read. I used to see Admirality and Blue Divers in the Crown Bay area before the storms.

 

I think that "around the corner" at Coki takes you out of the Cove into open ocean which is unpredictable. I've only done SNUBA and the helmet dive at Coki and they were both in the Cove.

 

[mitsugirly]

On 1/8/2020 at 5:50 AM, Ms411 said:

Can you post the link for Aqua Action Discover Scuba? I'm posting using my phone so I miss a few things on this small screen.

 

The industry was negatively impacted by the storms because so many dive boats were damaged, but it's recovered quite a bit this season based on what I've read. I used to see Admirality and Blue Divers in the Crown Bay area before the storms.

 

I think that "around the corner" at Coki takes you out of the Cove into open ocean which is unpredictable. I've only done SNUBA and the helmet dive at Coki and they were both in the Cove.

 

 

 

https://www.aadivers.com/

 

Where does Aqua Action take you to? They are not located on the beach?

[Ms411]

Aqua Action is on Secret Harbor beach but I don't know if they do the Discover Scuba from the beach. I checked one place years ago and they started you in the pool.

 

[Ms411]

Imo, their website is kind of vague because it doesn't say Discover Scuba. I see it's offered under the Certification links.

 

https://www.aadivers.com/discover

 

[Russ Lomas]

I think you had a bad day at Coki for weather/currents.  We dove there last March and had no issue with the currents.  It was quite calm.  Two of my daughters did their first two open water dives there getting their certification, including my daughter who was 10 at the time and she had no issues.   You will not find any price comparable to Coki for the Discover Scuba offering.

[mitsugirly]

On 1/11/2020 at 8:56 AM, Ms411 said:

Imo, their website is kind of vague because it doesn't say Discover Scuba. I see it's offered under the Certification links.

 

https://www.aadivers.com/discover

 

 

Yea, the front page says "Not certified yet? Explore the underwater world. No experience necessary"  This indicated to me that it was a Discover Scuba Dive. When you click on that, it takes you to that DSD page to sign up.

 

They responded and said that we could do a shore dive. I'm wondering if it's there in front of the dive shop and what the reef looks like.

[mitsugirly]

On 1/12/2020 at 8:01 PM, Russ Lomas said:

I think you had a bad day at Coki for weather/currents.  We dove there last March and had no issue with the currents.  It was quite calm.  Two of my daughters did their first two open water dives there getting their certification, including my daughter who was 10 at the time and she had no issues.   You will not find any price comparable to Coki for the Discover Scuba offering.

 

It just makes me wonder since they made that comment about how we were "going around the corner" and that's why we were catching that drift and hard to swim in. It made me think it was like that all the time.

 

I know that the Aqua Action is $90 and Coki is $85. They are the 2 cheapest. Everyone else is talking about $185 and so on. I don't know what makes their dives worth so much more. 😕

[mitsugirly]

Their response (AA) was:

 

Yes, we dive right off the shore here in Secret Harbour. It is a shallow reef maxing out at about 20 feet has a sandy bottom with rays and hermit crabs while the rocks have some coral and all sorts fish life including juveniles as we are in a sanctuary here so fish breed in our harbour.

 

 

This makes me think there isn't much of a reef there since they mention "sandy bottom" and "juveniles". Hmmm...I'm not even sure about this.

[Russ Lomas]

6 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

 

It just makes me wonder since they made that comment about how we were "going around the corner" and that's why we were catching that drift and hard to swim in. It made me think it was like that all the time.

 

I know that the Aqua Action is $90 and Coki is $85. They are the 2 cheapest. Everyone else is talking about $185 and so on. I don't know what makes their dives worth so much more. 😕

I cannot speak as to Aqua Action, but part of the reason that Coki is cheaper is that they do shore dives.  If you request to do a discover scuba with Coki, there is an addition cost (I think it was about $30 more).  My family was very happy with Coki for first couple of open water dives for their certification last March.  They completed their dives in Barbados for their certification.  They were boat dives and they were considerably more expensive.

[mitsugirly]

2 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

I cannot speak as to Aqua Action, but part of the reason that Coki is cheaper is that they do shore dives.  If you request to do a discover scuba with Coki, there is an addition cost (I think it was about $30 more).  My family was very happy with Coki for first couple of open water dives for their certification last March.  They completed their dives in Barbados for their certification.  They were boat dives and they were considerably more expensive.

 Aqua Action is a shore dive for this particular DSD as well and they're only $5 more.

 

We were very happy with Coki when we were there last time as well. It was our very first DSD. Since then we've done at least 3 a year. The DSD is $85. I'm not sure what the $30 more is you are talking about? Please elaborate. I did like that they took pictures of our dive and everything although I do my own it's nice to have a different perspective as well (although they had the camera on the wrong setting during our dive and they turned out a horrid green). LOL

 

I was just worried about the current. I don't want my hubby to not make it this time around since last time he had to be pulled back to shore because the current was just too much for him and he gave up.

[Russ Lomas]

16 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

 Aqua Action is a shore dive for this particular DSD as well and they're only $5 more.

 

We were very happy with Coki when we were there last time as well. It was our very first DSD. Since then we've done at least 3 a year. The DSD is $85. I'm not sure what the $30 more is you are talking about? Please elaborate. I did like that they took pictures of our dive and everything although I do my own it's nice to have a different perspective as well (although they had the camera on the wrong setting during our dive and they turned out a horrid green). LOL

 

I was just worried about the current. I don't want my hubby to not make it this time around since last time he had to be pulled back to shore because the current was just too much for him and he gave up.

If I remember correctly, the $85 you are referring to is to do the Discover Scuba program with Coki divers, which some of our group did last year and were quite happy with the experience.  These dives were all shore dives.  If you wish to go out on a boat to the reef, they will take you for an additional charge, of what is about $30.

[mitsugirly]

On 1/16/2020 at 4:12 PM, Russ Lomas said:

If I remember correctly, the $85 you are referring to is to do the Discover Scuba program with Coki divers, which some of our group did last year and were quite happy with the experience.  These dives were all shore dives.  If you wish to go out on a boat to the reef, they will take you for an additional charge, of what is about $30.

 

Yes, that's what I said $85 for the Discover Scuba...which is what we are doing and what I ask about in my OP.  My only concern was the current being too strong and I was looking for another place (around the same price) that would suit us a little more. I need something fairly gentle. I've been through h3ll and back over the last 5 months (breaking my leg in 4 places & chopping off my ankle, surgery with plates and screws and fusing my tibia and fibula together, 3 blood clots, an infection with a second surgery to scrape the infection out and still looking at a 3rd surgery. I've been in a wheelchair for 3+ months and just started walking about 2 months ago. I still have the fractures, but they are healing). I need calm water and nothing that I'm going to be fighting a current, which was my concerns with Coki and our experience last time. I don't have full range of motion in that foot with a fin.

 

 

So....

 

Has anyone had experiences with Secret Harbor and shore diving? They said it was a shallow dive (around 20') but I need to know if I'm going to see anything worth seeing or should I just try Coki again? They said a sandy bottom and juvenile fish, which doesn't sound like the best scuba experience to me.

 

I'm finding it VERY hard to find any videos of the area snorkeling or diving. The one's I have found are terrible footage and doesn't really give me a good sense of what it's like there.

 

 

[Ms411]

I don't think there are coral reefs on the Secret Harbor side of the island. I think there are online maps that show where coral reefs are worldwide. 

 

I think somebody offers a Discover Scuba at Trunk Bay on St John. That might be a better experience for your family if you don't want to do Coki again.

 

[mitsugirly]

On 1/8/2020 at 5:50 AM, Ms411 said:

I think that "around the corner" at Coki takes you out of the Cove into open ocean which is unpredictable. I've only done SNUBA and the helmet dive at Coki and they were both in the Cove.

 

 

On 1/12/2020 at 8:01 PM, Russ Lomas said:

I think you had a bad day at Coki for weather/currents.  We dove there last March and had no issue with the currents.  It was quite calm. 

 

 

 

 

I did ask Coki about the water conditions when we were there and their response was:

 

The current you talked about is caused by the tidal change created by  the moon. The strength of the current will vary from day to day, month to month. The instructor might have gone too far down the reef since Coki’s current can be tricky often there is little or none at all. It is rare that that it is too strong to swim against.

 

 

So I guess my options are to dive with them again or Secret Harbor. But SH just has me worried that we won't see much.

[Ms411]

Here's a YouTube video. Only one I saw when I did a search.

 

 

 

[Russ Lomas]

22 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

I did ask Coki about the water conditions when we were there and their response was:

 

The current you talked about is caused by the tidal change created by  the moon. The strength of the current will vary from day to day, month to month. The instructor might have gone too far down the reef since Coki’s current can be tricky often there is little or none at all. It is rare that that it is too strong to swim against.

 

So I guess my options are to dive with them again or Secret Harbor. But SH just has me worried that we won't see much.

I went to Secret Harbour a couple of years ago about 3 months after the hurricanes hit.  It was my first time there.  I enjoyed my day there.  We did not bring snorkeling gear with us (which is unusual for us).  The water was reasonably clear and we could not really see anything that made me wish we had brought our snorkel gear.  That said, I later read that the more interesting stuff to see was to the right side by the rocks, where we did not go, so it does not mean that there is nothing to see, but we just did not see it.

 

As for diving again with Coki, I know you can also pay a bit extra (I think it was about $25) for them to take you out on the boat to do a Discover Scuba dive.  Best deal on the island still is the shore diving with Coki.

[2PinaColadas]

According to my DH, who is an experienced dive instructor and has been diving in St.Thomas numerous times with various dive shops (Aqua Action, Red Hook, Coki, and Jost)

 

He says-- Coki is not normally rough.  He has done a few shore dives there and never experienced rough water.  He loves the visibility there and normally sees a lot of sea life.  

 

Red Hook has a great 2 tank dive, but probably is not what you are looking for.  Great to do if you are staying on the island or have more time.   Fun group. 

 

Aqua Action he said was very professional and he enjoyed the dives.  The shore dive was "very shallow" but worth doing.  He prefers their boat dives. 

[mitsugirly]

On 2/13/2020 at 12:43 AM, Ms411 said:

Here's a YouTube video. Only one I saw when I did a search.

 

 

 

 

 

Well now, that was pretty amazing if that was Secret Harbor. If that what it looks like, I would be happy with that. Thanks so much for sharing what you found. I wonder why it didn't come up when I searched.

 

 

On 2/13/2020 at 7:20 PM, Russ Lomas said:

I went to Secret Harbour a couple of years ago about 3 months after the hurricanes hit.  It was my first time there.  I enjoyed my day there.  We did not bring snorkeling gear with us (which is unusual for us).  The water was reasonably clear and we could not really see anything that made me wish we had brought our snorkel gear.  That said, I later read that the more interesting stuff to see was to the right side by the rocks, where we did not go, so it does not mean that there is nothing to see, but we just did not see it.

 

As for diving again with Coki, I know you can also pay a bit extra (I think it was about $25) for them to take you out on the boat to do a Discover Scuba dive.  Best deal on the island still is the shore diving with Coki.

 

Thanks for the info and your thoughts.

 

22 hours ago, 2PinaColadas said:

According to my DH, who is an experienced dive instructor and has been diving in St.Thomas numerous times with various dive shops (Aqua Action, Red Hook, Coki, and Jost)

 

He says-- Coki is not normally rough.  He has done a few shore dives there and never experienced rough water.  He loves the visibility there and normally sees a lot of sea life.  

 

Red Hook has a great 2 tank dive, but probably is not what you are looking for.  Great to do if you are staying on the island or have more time.   Fun group. 

 

Aqua Action he said was very professional and he enjoyed the dives.  The shore dive was "very shallow" but worth doing.  He prefers their boat dives. 

 

Glad to hear that Coki is normally not rough. Several people have said this to me and it makes me feels better.

 

I have read really good reviews about Aqua Action and their professionalism. Good to know he agrees. They did say their shore dive is 20 feet but if that 20 feet has good things to see, I would be happy with that. When he says "well worth doing" can you ask him to elaborate as to why? Like did he see the things that is in the video someone posted above? If so, I would definitely love to go there.

[O2B@Cagain]

Mitsugirly: The video is all of boat dives. The first part is the Ledges of Little St James (aka Jeffery Epstein's island "St. Jeff's") and the second is off Cow Rock, part of a formation called Cow and Calf. I highly recommend Red Hook Dive Center, they also go to these spots. Their boat is docked, so you don't have to get in the water to get on the boat, like at Secret Harbour. I do think the best off the beach dives are at Coki.

[blue_water]

Mitsugirly, Great feedback from PinaColadas2 - very helpful! You have a couple options and can try the one you don't choose on a future cruise!

 

[mitsugirly]

18 hours ago, O2B@Cagain said:

Mitsugirly: The video is all of boat dives. The first part is the Ledges of Little St James (aka Jeffery Epstein's island "St. Jeff's") and the second is off Cow Rock, part of a formation called Cow and Calf. I highly recommend Red Hook Dive Center, they also go to these spots. Their boat is docked, so you don't have to get in the water to get on the boat, like at Secret Harbour. I do think the best off the beach dives are at Coki.

 

Well darn. I was very hopeful once that video was posted. I know that their DSD off the boat is $185 (so basically $555 for our family of 3 and also my oldest daughter and my grandson brings a total to $925 which is just too much). YIKES!

 

Diving with Red Hook is almost as expensive at $169pp=$845  Again, a little (well a lot) more than what we are willing to pay or the amounts we normally pay (even for a boat dive).

 

It looks like we might just have to stick with Coki again, but I'm ok with that as long as we don't experience the same rapid water we did last time, which everyone has told me (even in different threads) that it is not normal there and pretty calm.

 

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and comments. I really appreciate it.