SCUBA-help! St Maarten, San Juan, Labadee

[JWMom]

Cruising on Liberty in March 09 with stops in title. I'm starting to get overwhelmed with planning excursions and wonder about these stops! My DH and two DS (12, 15) and BIL would like to Scuba at some point (not certified). My sister and her two littles ones and I will make other plans. It looks like St Maarten would be the main option but with who? I try to steer away from ship excursions b/c they are overpriced and overcrowded. Has anyone used a private company on the island? If you have used ship, how was it? Any scuba in San Juan or Labadee? My sister and her crew and I would probably do a tour with Bernard while they are scubaing. Thanks so much for any help! Any other advice for activities at these ports would be appreciated.

[cccole]

If we had to choose one place to scuba on your itinerary it would be St. Maartin. I have planned scuba excursions for my family on several Caribbean cruises and San Juan and Labadee were not considered great. This is just my experience. I think the water around St. Martin is beautiful!!! Cherie

[unavox]

St. Maarten is the only choice. With no one having their certification card, you are pretty limited to discover scuba/resort courses. There are some places that will offer it, but if it is their first adventure, I would recommend staying with the ship excursion.

 

The ship excursion will get them to where they need to be and get them back in time. Also, booking through the ship, you don't really need to do much research other than who the line does their course thorugh.

 

Only mho.

 

Enjoy your cruise!!!

[John Y]

I booked 2 dives (Feb 09- Celebrity Solstice) through ShoreTrips for St Maarten. They hooked me up with Scuba Fun http://www.scubafun.com/index.html.

ShoreTrips http://www.shoretrips.com/

[CVL105]

I think you will be limited no matter where you go because they aren't certified. I also don't remember what the minimum age is for diving, but there certainly is one. I would do more research before you book anything. Good luck!!!

[Loves_Dogs]

I did the Discover Scuba in St Maarten. I signed up for the excursion through the ship (Carnival) and I think they used Dive Safari. I have a certificate at home with the name of the dive shop but I am at work right now and can't check.

 

It was a wonderful experience and I highly recommend it. That excursion sparked my addiction to scuba diving. I signed up for classes at my local dive shop to get certified shortly after I got back home.

 

There is no scuba diving in Labadee, which is why I dont care to ever go back :-) ......

[TheVegasMan]

On St. Maarten I dove with http://www.stmaarten-activities.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=14&Itemid=49 and the diving was good.

 

Here's a video of a turtle we saw in the waters off St. Maarten.

 

 

If it fits with your cruise schedule and budget I recommend taking the ferry to Saba and diving there. http://www.sabadeep.com/ e-mail them to see if they offer the Discover Scuba course, it's not listed on their website.