Which destination to dive?

[Big Kahuna]

I am on the Jewel Of The Sea, April 7th 2007 (honeymoon) for a 8 day Eastern Caribbean cruise. Has anyone dove at any of these locations and which one would be the best dive spot?

 

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

St. Johns, Antigua

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

 

[bruce-r]

San Juan, Puerto Rico

You are unlikely to be able to dive here due to logistics. The better diving is about 2 hours from San Juan. There is one operator in San Juan (I don't recall the name) that does offer diving there, but I can't comment as to the quality of either the diving or the operator. A search on this board for "San Juan" might give some relevant information.

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Compared to other dive destinations in the Caribbean, the diving in St. Maarten is marginal at best. All the dive sites are out in the open ocean, so you are at the mercy of the ocean conditions the day you are there. A big swell will make getting back into the boat difficult. I wouldn't dive there again unless the ocean was very calm, and even then I wouldn't expect much.

St. Johns, Antigua

Haven't been here and have not read anything about the quality of diving there either. That wouldn't make me think it is a great dive destination.

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

Probably the best choice of your stops. I'd definitely not go with the ship's excursion here. There are several good choices for operators here; http://www.admiraltydive.com http://www.cokidive.com http://www.sawyerdive.vi and http://www.blueislanddivers.com

 

hope this helps,

Bruce