best spot to scuba for beginner?

[mamabas]

Hi! We are going to Half Moon Cay, St.Thomas, San Juan and Nassau. I want to try a scuba excursion, I've never been before. Any suggestions for the best place to go between these options?

Thanks for ANY help!:confused:

[shepp]

Hi! We are going to Half Moon Cay, St.Thomas, San Juan and Nassau. I want to try a scuba excursion, I've never been before. Any suggestions for the best place to go between these options?

Thanks for ANY help!:confused:

 

 

I've never dived in any of those places, but I'll be in St. Thomas, and have booked a beach dive with the Coki Beach Dive Club, which also runs programs for beginners, including instruction. The reef at Coki Beach (which I've heard can get really crowded) is supposed to be great, the outfit has gotten favorable reviews, the man in charge has been easy to deal with, and there's even a toll-free phone number.

[bruce-r]

I've never dived in any of those places, but I'll be in St. Thomas, and have booked a beach dive with the Coki Beach Dive Club, which also runs programs for beginners, including instruction. The reef at Coki Beach (which I've heard can get really crowded) is supposed to be great, the outfit has gotten favorable reviews, the man in charge has been easy to deal with, and there's even a toll-free phone number.

 

Well, maybe for a shore dive, it's good, but it doesn't really compare to some of the boat dives in St. Thomas.

 

http://www.cokidive.com is the website for the on-site dive operator, and it really is a good choice for a Discover Scuba dive, especially if you are traveling with other people and want to stay together as a group.

[Middleager]

I did two boat dives with Coki Beach Dive Club at St. Thomas this Aug. At first I thought it might not be very good, but booked it because Coki Beach is supposed to be good for snorkeling and my BIL could take a intro scuba there.

 

The two boat dives turned out to be great. The first dive and Grassy Caye, after coming out of some big rock swim throughs, we met up with several thousands of small fish. The owner Pete said there were anchovies, or also sardines. It was quite amazing. We stayed there several minutes, and after another swim through, met up with several thousands again. Don't know if it was the same group, or they were all over.

 

When I got back and told my wife, she said they also encountered something similar while snorkeling.

 

 

I heard there's no scuba diving at the private island of Half Moon Cay. In Sany Juan, there is no good diving nearby. We flew to San Juan for a week before our cruise and I went diving at La Paquera (south Puerto Rico) and Desecheo Island (just west of PR). They were good dives.

[bruce-r]

I heard there's no scuba diving at the private island of Half Moon Cay.

I think that is correct. Being a private island, unless the cruise line decides to offer a dive excursion again, it isn't going to happen.

[DiveCruiser]

Bonaire is #1 then St Thomas

[scubaran]

Hi! We are going to Half Moon Cay, St.Thomas, San Juan and Nassau. I want to try a scuba excursion, I've never been before. Any suggestions for the best place to go between these options?

Thanks for ANY help!:confused:

 

Hi,

 

First off, that's right, no diving in HMC. They used to do a 1 tank dive a few years ago (actually it was a pretty good dive with lots of eels, fish and creatures) but when I inquired last they said the operator came in from Eleuthra in the Bahamas every day and they stopped coming due to the few divers who would dive there.

 

St. Thomas, definitely a great place to dive and Nassau is a good second (I like Stuart's Cove. When I went there last we did a wall dive followed by a dive on two intentionally sunk wrecks.).

 

Randall

[islandwoman]

I want to try a scuba excursion, I've never been before.

Never? You mean you're not certified, right? You can't just go scuba diving without training. You might be able to find a "discover scuba" excursion, but you'll spend most of your time learning to use the equipment and have very little time for enjoying the underwater world.

If you have time before you leave, I suggest that you take a scuba certification course at your local dive shop. Then you'll be ready to enjoy the "certified diving" excursions on your cruise.

Of your choices, I'd recommend St. Thomas and Nassau. I haven't dived in San Juan.

[gmcrow]

There is a dive in San Juan, but it is NOT a beginner's dive. Kind of a weird dive along and over a jetty behind the Normandie Hotel among the rocks and old tires. Sea life was good, including resident sea horses. Karen with Caribe Aquatic adventures is one of the best dive guides you'll ever meet, BUT vis is bad and surge is STRONG. Everything else in PR is too far away for a day in port. Give Stuart Cove's a try in Nassau, but we also recommend getting the certification before your cruise.

[H20life]

I've taken part in several Discover Scuba course/dives while in port via cruise ship and highly recommend the experience. About an hour is spent on instruction (some on land, some in a pool or shallow water) and then another 45-60 min diving. It's not as efficient as being certified beforehand, but I think it's a great way to try diving. It might help you determine whether you want to invest the time and money necessary to get certified.

[scubadiver888]

Hi! We are going to Half Moon Cay, St.Thomas, San Juan and Nassau. I want to try a scuba excursion, I've never been before. Any suggestions for the best place to go between these options?

Thanks for ANY help!:confused:

 

I have not been to Nassau but I have gone diving at St. Thomas. It is a good location to dive. For your first dive I would recommend taking the Discover Scuba shore excursion offered by the ship. The operators most ships use in St. Thomas tend to take care of all the 'not fun' part of the dive.

 

As seasoned divers, many are looking for something 'better'. If you haven't gone diving before, most the underwater experience is going to be pretty good in the Caribbean. What a new diver is looking for is someone who will make the above water experience really good.

 

The Discover Scuba shore excursion in St. Thomas will give you a good above water experience.

[helo driver]

Last year we did the Discovery Scuba dive with Coki Divers in St. Thomas, if you go down the discovery scuba route, I recommend them, they made it fun and were less expensive than the ship (plus we were able to control the time and spent the rest of the day snorkling and enjoying the beach....DD and I "caught the bug", got certified locally when we got back.