Discover Scuba in St Thomas

[mitsugirly]

We just booked 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). We were told that coming around the corner at Coral World is a lot of drift type action and once you get around it, you're fine.

 

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.

 

So far Aqua Marine is too expensive: $140/pp

Aqua Action is $90 so not bad. They dive at Secret Harbour it says. Anyone know if diving from the beach there is any good?

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.

 

Any others that I'm missing?

 

Thanks in advance.

[topspot]

We have snorkeled from the beach at Secret Harbor.  We have snorkeled from beach at all of the beaches you mentioned.  We recently returned to snorkel at Secret Harbor after having gone there about 6 years ago and decided  Secret Harbor is the best of the choices.  Since I can't dive anymore I do like to snorkel every chance I get.

 

Hope this helps

 

Edited January 8, 2020 by topspot

[mitsugirly]

Has anyone ever used St thomas scuba and snorkel?

[DarkJedi]

We have Aqua Marine booked for our next cruise, since they go out by boat and not a beach dive it should be much easier than a shore dive. Diving from a boat means the captain can pick the best spots based on the current weather and sea conditions.

 

If you really enjoyed your discover scuba though, I would suggest getting certified. Many more options, and less money. For the Discovery at AM you get pool instruction and 1 dive for $140, as a certified diver you get 2 dives for $120.

[mitsugirly]

On 1/8/2020 at 8:58 AM, topspot said:

We have snorkeled from the beach at Secret Harbor.  We have snorkeled from beach at all of the beaches you mentioned.  We recently returned to snorkel at Secret Harbor after having gone there about 6 years ago and decided  Secret Harbor is the best of the choices.  Since I can't dive anymore I do like to snorkel every chance I get.

 

Hope this helps

 

 

 

How do you rate the snorkeling at Secret Harbor? Is there a lot of coral and fish to be seen? The dive shop there said that it's a sandy bottom (which means you usually won't see a lot of coral) and that it had "some" reef and juvenile fish. It didn't sound too exciting to me and I'm just not sure what there is to be seen. They said it was a shallow dive of about 20'.

 

 

15 hours ago, DarkJedi said:

We have Aqua Marine booked for our next cruise, since they go out by boat and not a beach dive it should be much easier than a shore dive. Diving from a boat means the captain can pick the best spots based on the current weather and sea conditions.

 

If you really enjoyed your discover scuba though, I would suggest getting certified. Many more options, and less money. For the Discovery at AM you get pool instruction and 1 dive for $140, as a certified diver you get 2 dives for $120.

 

Yea the $140 price is a lot more than what we normally pay for a DSD. We do the DSD in one port on every cruise (so about 3x a year). Not really interested in getting certified at this time.

[topspot]

17 minutes ago, mitsugirly said:

How do you rate the snorkeling at Secret Harbor? Is there a lot of coral and fish to be seen? The dive shop there said that it's a sandy bottom (which means you usually won't see a lot of coral) and that it had "some" reef and juvenile fish. It didn't sound too exciting to me and I'm just not sure what there is to be seen. They said it was a shallow dive of about 20'.

 

The best snorkeling the last time we were there, was to the left as you face the water (this area had more corals) or to the right as you face the water (this area was rocky)   The area between the two was sandy bottom.  We have seen turtles, octopus, rays here.  The "fish life" is what I'd call "the usual suspects" that you see in the Caribbean.

  The area to the left where saw the corals was more shallow.  It's hard to judge depth but I didn't think it was deep enough to dive here maybe 10-15 feet deep.  

  I rate the snorkeling at Secret Harbor, the best that fits our needs out of the places we have been in St. Thomas.  I've been reading your reviews since you started....you need to get yourself on a cruise to Bonaire, now that is some great snorkeling and diving.

[mitsugirly]

26 minutes ago, topspot said:

 

The best snorkeling the last time we were there, was to the left as you face the water (this area had more corals) or to the right as you face the water (this area was rocky)   The area between the two was sandy bottom.  We have seen turtles, octopus, rays here.  The "fish life" is what I'd call "the usual suspects" that you see in the Caribbean.

  The area to the left where saw the corals was more shallow.  It's hard to judge depth but I didn't think it was deep enough to dive here maybe 10-15 feet deep.  

  I rate the snorkeling at Secret Harbor, the best that fits our needs out of the places we have been in St. Thomas.  I've been reading your reviews since you started....you need to get yourself on a cruise to Bonaire, now that is some great snorkeling and diving.

 

 

Would you say the fish/coral/area is better than Coki? (Since you said you've been to both)

 

Yea Bonaire is on my bucket list. It's just hard to find cruises going there when we cruise. Some day I hope.

[topspot]

Sorry, never been to Coki.  Just Sapphire, Secret Harbor and Lindquist

[mitsugirly]

3 hours ago, topspot said:

Sorry, never been to Coki.  Just Sapphire, Secret Harbor and Lindquist

 

 

Oh, you had originally said "we have snorkeled at all the beaches you mentioned"  (Coki, Sapphire Beach, and Linquist) so I thought you had been there. 

 

 

 

Can anyone that has been to Coki and Secret Harbor compare them for me?

[PAcruiser19372]

Are you going to be trying Coki again?  I sound like you, will do a discover scuba, have no interest in getting certified, am content with a DS on a cruise at one port and was thinking i was going to do DS at Coki since my wife could sit on the beach while i was in the water.  Going to have to re-think this now  😞

[mitsugirly]

2 hours ago, PAcruiser19372 said:

Are you going to be trying Coki again?  I sound like you, will do a discover scuba, have no interest in getting certified, am content with a DS on a cruise at one port and was thinking i was going to do DS at Coki since my wife could sit on the beach while i was in the water.  Going to have to re-think this now  😞

 

 

It is either going to be Coki or Secret Harbor. I'm just trying to decide at this point.

 

Why do you say you are going to have to rethink it now?

[PAcruiser19372]

27 minutes ago, mitsugirly said:

 

 

It is either going to be Coki or Secret Harbor. I'm just trying to decide at this point.

 

Why do you say you are going to have to rethink it now?

You had mentioned how your husband had struggled there.  I'm 62 and out of shape but have enjoyed my discover scuba but not looking for anything that present a real challenge or is dangerous if you know what I mean. 

[mitsugirly]

4 hours ago, PAcruiser19372 said:

You had mentioned how your husband had struggled there.  I'm 62 and out of shape but have enjoyed my discover scuba but not looking for anything that present a real challenge or is dangerous if you know what I mean. 

 

I've been on several treads, different areas, and also in contact with Coki and everyone seems to say it's very calm there and have never experienced what we did that day. Coki replied to me with " 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."

[PAcruiser19372]

Thanks, makes me feel better.  I did the helmet dive/walk there on my baby steps to scuba and I remember walking and holding onto the railing and being pushed around a little.  I'll probably stick to the plan and just be proactive and ask them that day about the current and if they think I will be ok that day.. Thanks again!