fellow cruisers i need your help!

[chenning]

ok i made this thread because i really couldnt find elsewere what i was looking for ok my question is....i will be going to st thomas for the very first time and i was planning on doing the coral world/helmet dive...now i was just talking to someone who went to st thomas for a week, not by cruise, and said that you are able to snorkel in pretty much the same area as where the helmet dive takes place outside of coral world....now this dive would cost me 91$ and basically what im asking for is your opinion? for those of you that have snorkeled there, or have done the helmet dive would u do it again? or could u have seen the same thing from snorkeling and saved yourself the 100 bucks? ive thoroughly researched the dive and how the snorkeling is both in the forum and online, so i basically have a good idea of what they both will have im just having alot of trouble deciding if its actually WORTH the money or not, thanks alot any input would be much APPRECIATED!!! i cruise in a month!!

[sailor05]

I was next to this place last week on a Snuba excursion and seen the helmet divers on the bottom of the ocean floor. I went back and forth between that and the Snuba and I am glad we did the Snuba instead. On the helmet dive they basically go down to a chain that goes around in a big circle taking you around a small area within coral world. In Snuba you actually get some freedom to go where you want to within about 50 feet of a floating set of air tanks. It was awesome and simple to do.

 

To answer your question, when we finished with the Snuba, they allowed us about an additional 45 minutes of snorkeling. We did this right up to a set of buoys surrounding Coral Worlds area. We could see everything just fine. The only difference is with the helmet dive you would have the sensation of being under the water. But you would be able to see the same things from the surface.

[The Islander]

The Coral World helmet dive is done in the Coral World facility. You enter the water from the bridge that connects the land based park area to the underwater observatory. The dive is around the outside of the underwater observatory. It is possiable to snorkel at Coki beach which is next to Coral World. Doing the helmet dive at Coral World and snorkeling at Coki aren't the same experience. Helmet dive you are walking on the ocean floor, upright as if you are walking on land... but under water. There is marine life to be seen on the helmet dive. If you aren't a frequent snorkeler then you will likely be impressed. If you do snorkel a lot or are a diver however then you likely would have seen much better as far as marine life. Thought the walking under water was pretty cool and that was the highlight. :) Hope that helps. There are other threads with reviews of the helmet dive on this board, try doing a search. Otherwise hopefully others post comments.

 

--Islander