Southern Caribbean SCUBA

[crock921]

I am doing a b2b s. car cruise, and am wondering hat islands are best for scuba, and which are best for the attractions. my futuer dw is not a diver, so i cant hit every port. we will be in st. thomas twice, st. maarten twice, aruba, curacao, antigua, st. lucia, and barbados. any info would be great. also, are there any available charters that offer snorkeling as well? this would be me more SCUBA time :rolleyes:.

 

I plan on doing st. thomas and st. maarten at least since we will be doubling up...just looking for advice on the other ports.

[FliLady]

Definately dive Curacao, it was one of my best wall dives and some of the most colorful coral and sea life I have seen! I wasn't a big fan of St. Martin, due to the rough water and lack of life and visability. Aruba has some great wreck diving, such as the Antilla which you can actually penetrate. In Aruba, I dove in the morning, and then rented a jeep and toured the entire island the rest of the day. It's small enough, where you can do both.

[crock921]

snorkeling in st thomas was not spectacular either so i am hoping the diving there is better

[BethV114]

Try http://www.private-diving.com/. They are not much more than the group boat trips, but are entirely private. My sister and I have already booked them for our AOS trip in September. The nature of the private charter may allow you to Scuba while your wife snorkels.

 

Does anyone have any tips on Scuba in St. Maarten, or should we just stick with Curacao (and, if so, can you recommend someone). Thanks! :D

[scottydawg]

I would skip the diving in St. Maarten as advised above. I would strongly encourage you to dive in St. Lucia and Barbados. The diving in St. Lucia is VERY beautiful and Barbados has some excellent walls that rise like pinnacles to give a very surreal feel while diving. I have photos of St. Lucia I will share if you want to contact me (My underwater camera stopped working in Barbados).

I can give you the names of dive operations there that I enjoy for St. Thomas, St. Lucia and Barbados if you would like my input. They will pick you up at the cruise dock and take care of everything for less money then the cruise ship (usually).

[Jacqueline]

If you are going to Grenada I would highly recommend it. The diving there is as good as anywhere I have been on a cruiseship (including Bonaire).

[crock921]

I would love to see pics and get any info you have. I dont see your email address, but you can contact me at crock921@gmail.com I will be out of town until wed, but will be able to reply after then. Thanks a lot. It sounds like I will not be diving st maarten

 

I would skip the diving in St. Maarten as advised above. I would strongly encourage you to dive in St. Lucia and Barbados. The diving in St. Lucia is VERY beautiful and Barbados has some excellent walls that rise like pinnacles to give a very surreal feel while diving. I have photos of St. Lucia I will share if you want to contact me (My underwater camera stopped working in Barbados).

I can give you the names of dive operations there that I enjoy for St. Thomas, St. Lucia and Barbados if you would like my input. They will pick you up at the cruise dock and take care of everything for less money then the cruise ship (usually).

[crock921]

Try http://www.private-diving.com/. They are not much more than the group boat trips, but are entirely private. My sister and I have already booked them for our AOS trip in September. The nature of the private charter may allow you to Scuba while your wife snorkels.

 

Does anyone have any tips on Scuba in St. Maarten, or should we just stick with Curacao (and, if so, can you recommend someone). Thanks! :D

 

there prices are VERY reasonable. I have already contacted them about booking a trip in October. Thanks for the referral. Have you used them before?

[scottydawg]

Email with link sent ;)

[crock921]

Those pics make st thomas look awesome. I would love to dive with turtles. it seems like you had pretty good viz at both locations too.

[bruce-r]

As others have said, scuba diving in St. Maarten is less than spectacular.

 

I really enjoyed my dives with http://www.admiraltydive.com in St. Thomas. I did their 3 tank dive trip. St. Thomas UW photo gallery

 

I would also definitely choose Curacao. I went with http://www.caribseasports.com/ and had a great time. They are based at the Marriot and I think your future DW can hang there while you go dive. I have read good things about http://www.the-dive-bus.com/ and I think they'd be the best choice for both of you. Get her to do the Discover Scuba dive and get her interested in being certified.

 

I'd also try to dive St. Lucia. Those tall mountains you see above the water make me think that the underwater structure is just as dramatic.

 

I'd probably skip diving in Aruba. I just wasn't all that impressed; Curacao was considerably better IMO.

[scottydawg]

Here's some diving recommendations for St. Thomas and St. Lucia I have been happy with in the past...

 

There are two in St. Thomas I recommend.

Here's the one we used: http://www.blueislanddivers.com/

And these folks are also great (some of the best actually): http://sawyerdive.vi/

 

In St Lucia: http://www.divefairhelen.com/

[gvre]

We have dove all the ports except Aruba. We like St Thomas and have dove with Chris Sawyer 3 times.

 

St. Lucia go with the Frogs, or Divefairhelen. Both OK, we dove with Frogs twice.

 

St Martin, forget it. Great place to buy stuff cheap.

 

Barbados, we have dove twice. We used Dive Barbados.

My opinion of diving here is rather boring. I would save my money for.

 

Curacao, we dove with Caribbean sea sports. Great OP.

Very nice diving.

 

Antigua,

we dove with Carlo at Antigua Scuba center. http://www.antiguascuba.com

A neat location at Nelson Boatyard an old English Naval Fort.

The diving was OK. Carlo the DM was kinda kooky. He took us out to the dive site and said, OK you guys go dive with out me, stick along the reef wall and watch the current. Well I was kinda paranoid about diving a new site without a good briefing. My wife told Carlo he was going too because she wasn't sure he would be there when we surfaced! Any way it was an interesting dive as it was a face of a large cliff where huge block on rock had fallen off over eons creating a nice coral wall and caves. There was a strong surge, about half way through the dive he left us and signaled us to swim around about 10 minutes latter we found the mooring line but there was no boat attached to it.

This was about 45 minutes into the dive so we decided to surface. As we did another dive boat came up an anchored on the mooring line. We then saw Carlo about 150' away and he came and got us.

The reason he left us was because that mooring line does not belong to him, but the other dive operator and he is not suppose to use it. That's why he want us to dive without him in case the other dive operator came to use it he could leave.

Anyway if your an advanced diver or better I would use him again we had a good time.

[Mescubamom]

I can give you the names of dive operations there that I enjoy for St. Thomas, St. Lucia and Barbados if you would like my input. They will pick you up at the cruise dock and take care of everything for less money then the cruise ship (usually).

 

Just read your post and was wondering if you could let me know who you used for dive ops. My husband and I stopping at those locations on our trip in Nov.

Thanks

Alice

[crock921]

thanks for the info. I am surely skipping st. marten. I will dive st thomas a cople times hopefully, and will think about the other islands. We will see how it works out. thanks for all of your help and suggestions.

[scottydawg]

Just read your post and was wondering if you could let me know who you used for dive ops. My husband and I stopping at those locations on our trip in Nov.

Thanks

Alice

 

I listed the shops above for our dives with the exception of Barbados. In Barbados we dove with: http://www.divehightide.com/

[w&k]

Daddymac-

 

We have done quite a bit of diving down in the Southern area of the Caribbean, and if you do a search on my ID, you will come up with reviews on the operations listed below.

 

You HAVE to do Curacao with Suzy & Mark at The Dive Bus http://www.the-dive-bus.com. ...and take Bruce's advice and have DW try the Discover Dive. It's a wonderful, laid back environment, and no boat to worry over.

 

I love the diving in Barbados, and we have been three times with John & Mary at Dive Barbados http://www.divebarbados.net. Great folks, and great diving.

 

Aruba has absolutely gorgeous water, and our choice for diving is Clive at Dive Aruba http://www.divearuba.com.

 

In St.Thomas, we dove with Blue Island Divers a couple of years ago. Nice boats and good folks, although I did not care for the rough exposure of the first dive site. The shop and boats are right across from the ship if you dock at Crown Bay. http://www.blueislanddivers.com Admiralty Dive and Coki Beach also get high marks in St. Thomas.

 

We tried St. Lucia with the shorex because of our strange port time on the Empress of the Seas (we could not make the departure time for Dive Fair Helen). Rushed and spendy, but the dives were nice...what there was of them. Someone posted a review on the board here for a hotel with diving, but I can't remember the name offhand (maybe Island Divers?)

 

St. Maarten we have never tried, as the good dive sites tend to be exposed and I would rather stay on shore that get roughed up climbing in and out of the water.

 

We had a unfortunate experience with Dive Antigua (no pickup, no dive, no refund), but there are reviews that range from great trip to being left alone underwater. Hopefully, a consistent cruise-friendly operator in Antigua will emerge soon, as the water is so pretty.

 

Have a great trip wherever you dive, and don't forget to let us know about your dives when you come back!

 

Wendy

 

dive pix

http://community/webshots.com/user/wendyandkeith

[crock921]

looks like i lucked out! I think my future DW is going to get open water certified before our southern carib. b2b, so we will be able to dive st thomas and all of the other places everyone has recommended. I am beginning my dive planning already!

[crock921]

Daddymac-

 

We have done quite a bit of diving down in the Southern area of the Caribbean, and if you do a search on my ID, you will come up with reviews on the operations listed below.

 

You HAVE to do Curacao with Suzy & Mark at The Dive Bus www.the-dive-bus.com. ...and take Bruce's advice and have DW try the Discover Dive. It's a wonderful, laid back environment, and no boat to worry over.

 

I love the diving in Barbados, and we have been three times with John & Mary at Dive Barbados www.divebarbados.net. Great folks, and great diving.

 

Aruba has absolutely gorgeous water, and our choice for diving is Clive at Dive Aruba www.divearuba.com.

 

In St.Thomas, we dove with Blue Island Divers a couple of years ago. Nice boats and good folks, although I did not care for the rough exposure of the first dive site. The shop and boats are right across from the ship if you dock at Crown Bay. www.blueislanddivers.com Admiralty Dive and Coki Beach also get high marks in St. Thomas.

 

We tried St. Lucia with the shorex because of our strange port time on the Empress of the Seas (we could not make the departure time for Dive Fair Helen). Rushed and spendy, but the dives were nice...what there was of them. Someone posted a review on the board here for a hotel with diving, but I can't remember the name offhand (maybe Island Divers?)

 

St. Maarten we have never tried, as the good dive sites tend to be exposed and I would rather stay on shore that get roughed up climbing in and out of the water.

 

We had a unfortunate experience with Dive Antigua (no pickup, no dive, no refund), but there are reviews that range from great trip to being left alone underwater. Hopefully, a consistent cruise-friendly operator in Antigua will emerge soon, as the water is so pretty.

 

Have a great trip wherever you dive, and don't forget to let us know about your dives when you come back!

 

Wendy

 

dive pix

http://community/webshots.com/user/wendyandkeith

 

 

Wendy, do your ec. the shore diving in curacao or are the guided trips better? As I have said above, my dw will be OW cert by the time of the trip

[w&k]

Daddymac-

 

Definitely do the guided dive with Suzy and Mark at The Dive Bus Hut. It's an absolutely gorgeous part of reef, right on their doorstep, and your guide can help you spot the hard-to-see goodies. We haven't actually made it all the way to Car Pile yet...we have too much to look at on Pierbaai reef on the way.

 

Here's a link to their website page about cruise folks. http://www.the-dive-bus.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=438 Basically, get some fun folks together, catch a cab, and head out there for the day.

 

We usually post on the thread for the sailing, find more folks on other dives, and find a couple more in the bars.

 

I'll spoil my next review...last dive we had a school of SQUID (!!!) come check us out. Our diver from California also spotted an octopus. Pretty cool!!!!

 

Have a great time & tell everyone that Wendy & Keith the 'serial cruisers' say Hi!

 

Wendy

 

dive pix

http://community.webshots.com/user/wendyandkeith

[LexusIS350]

wewill be on the AOS with you on 10/14.

we just got offof the AOs a week ago. my wife got scuba certified on the ship. they are one of the voyager class, which has a dedicated dive shop. they have dives at almost every port of call. also instruction, and duty free equipment onboard the ship for sale.

when you get the shore ex info online as the cruiose gets closer yuou will see. hope to meet you while aboard. register for the meet and mingle.

 

bob

[bruce-r]

wewill be on the AOS with you on 10/14.

we just got offof the AOs a week ago. my wife got scuba certified on the ship. they are one of the voyager class, which has a dedicated dive shop. they have dives at almost every port of call. also instruction, and duty free equipment onboard the ship for sale.

when you get the shore ex info online as the cruiose gets closer yuou will see. hope to meet you while aboard. register for the meet and mingle.

 

bob

You folks should get together and plan to dive together. You'd be able to charter your own boat. Then you'd be able to set the departure time, pick the dive sites, and maybe take a few snorkelers is any non-divers wanted to go with you.

[crock921]

yeah, i was just going to say that we should get together and plan a couple dive trips. I found some good deals and have been looking into a couple things already. Lex..how experienced are you? I have only been diving for about 7 years and if my future wife gets certified, these would rpetty much be her first dives outside of class. I do most of my diving on ship wrecks inthe great lakes with a dry suit, so I am really looking forward to warm weather and a shorty 3mm

[FuzzyMelton]

Daddymac,

 

Just got back from a s. car cruise, went diving in St. Thomas, Bonaire and Aruba.

 

Check out my website with my pictures from Bonaire and Aruba. Got the camera in St. Thomas after we dove, so nothing there.

 

http://web.mac.com/fuzzymelton

 

I loved Bonaire and we shore dove at Divi-flamingo. We dove with Fly-n-Dive in ARuba and they were great!

[bruce-r]

Check out my website with my pictures from Bonaire and Aruba. Got the camera in St. Thomas after we dove, so nothing there.

If you could, please give a bit of info about the camera you got.