Where to dive (Southern Caribbean)

[Dgonza]

Hello, I am looking for suggestions on what ports would be the best to dive. Which dive operators would you recommend? I am looking to dive in two ports. We will be in St Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Kitts and Puerto Rico. I went diving at Coki Beach when I was in St Thomas last time. Thanks for your help.

[CVL105]

I dove in Barbados...it was ok. It was a VERY shallow dive almost right off the shore. I did get to see seahorses, which was really neat though!

 

I heard Dominica is GREAT! I've been told it's very unspoiled.

 

And I can't comment on the others, but am interested to know as I'm planning my honeymoon and am thinking about a similar cruise and a week vacation at Sandals in either St. Lucia or Antigua the week after the cruise. I will base the location based on diving! :o)

[Dgonza]

Great! Thanks for the reply. I read some good things about Dominica. Right now I am leaning to dive in Dominica and St Lucia.

 

Congratulations on the upcoming wedding/honeymoon. So the location is based on diving huh? Wow I see where your priorities are...lol ;) So when is this land based honeymoon? We dont cruise until May 31st. If you go after that, then maybe I can fill you in on my diving excursions. If you go before that then maybe you can fill me in.

[CVL105]

Our wedding is November 7th, but we're waiting a week to go on our honeymoon because one of my good friends is getting married the 13th in FL. So we'll leave straight from FL to go on our honeymoon. I was thinking of doing the cruise first, Nov 14-21, and then the land vacation directly after, Nov 21-28. Two weeks, wooo hooo!!! It took some convincing of my Fiance, but he eventually agreed after some pressure from me and my mom! haha

 

As for basing our decision on diving, I just love it! And my fiance just got certified this past November on our trip to Cozumel, so he's excited to go again. I figure most Sandals resorts are probably the same in terms of service, food, etc...so might as well base it on where the diving is going to be better. I think we're leaning towards St Lucia though, he seems to think it "just sounds better"! haha

[cruisin 07]

I did the southern caribbean cruise last Apr with the same ports. I dove St Thomas (shore dive), Dominica, St Kitts and St Lucia all 2 tank dives booked independant of the ship. If I had to pick only 2 ports to dive again it would be Dominica and St Lucia. Don't forget your camera.

[Dgonza]

CVL105: Ok well I will let you know how the diving is in St Lucia, since I am leaning that way. Especially since I was leaning that way before and now Crusin07 recommends the two that I was contemplating. So you convinced your Fiancee to do the week cruise then a week honeymoon huh? You women have your ways dont you....lol My fiancee wants to have a semi big wedding...it will be her first marriage. We live in San Antonio, tx. She wants to get married in her home town (Corpus Christi) I want to get married right here in San Antonio....I just think it would be easier. Plus my closest family has to drive 8hrs and the furthest ones have to drive 16 hours just to get to San Antonio. Then to drive to Corpus Christi is another 2.5 hour drive....there are too many of them so flying is not an option. Anyway back to diving....lol

 

Crusin07: Thanks for the recommendations. I have heard great things about Dominica. I think I am going to go with my first instinct and dive in Dominica and St Lucia. I also book all my excursions independently. Which dive operators did you use in Dominica and St Lucia? How was the diving in St Kitts? I have been to St Kitts 1 other time and did not like it one bit. We just had a beach day there. Thanks again for your suggestion.

[CVL105]

I was on a cruise to Dominica but did a hike to a waterfall instead. We booked through Levi Baron at http://www.Bumpiingtours.com. He was seriously awesome!!!!

 

His website says you can book diving through him too. I'm not sure if he does the dives, or if he recommends you to someone, but either way you may want to check in with him. My family loved our tour with him. If you don't dive there, do a hike with him. We did the hike to Sari Sari Falls, and that was our favorite part of the cruise for all of us.

[Dgonza]

Its funny that you mentioned that because I was looking at taking a hike with Levi to Trafalgar falls and I cant think of the other names right off hand. At any rate it was about a 5 hour tour. I was pretty hyped about it.......but then I heard the diving in Dominica was pretty awesome!! So I think I am going to do that instead. I am still a few months away so I have time to make all these fun decisions....lol

[afiremedic323]

I loved St. Lucia, It was great, the best diving I have ever done, however I will be in Bonair in a month and herd it will give St. Lucia a run for her money. we went with the cruise ship tour in St Lucia called " Scuba St lucia " they were great too. have fun, On a side note if you can try and get cert before you go and you can enjoy the dive, and you dont have to do mask skills, donning and dofing your gear, setting up you tank etc.

[sddiver]

DGongza

 

I can only speak for Barbados(OK diving, but not great) and Dominica(great diving but also great for other things) We dove with Nature Island Dives

 

http://www.natureislanddive.com/index.html

 

They are in Soufriere, about a twenty minute cab ride from the port in Rosieu? It is where the marine park is located with most of the best diving on the Island just minutes from their dock. The diving is exceptional for corals/sponges/little things. There was not a lot of big life as I believe that like most caribbean islands the locals have over fished the area.

 

If you are torn between diving or doing some of the other options(falls, gorges ect) consider doing both. We did a single tank dive early and arranged a tour later in the morning for the divers and non divers in our group. Two tanks would have been great, but the hours available did not work out. Plus the falls/gorges activities go up in elevation. Given the nitrogen load from a single dive/no diving the day before, we were comfortable doing this, two tanks may have added to much risk. I don't remember the elevations, but they were not real high ~ 3000 feet or less?.

 

No matter what you choose, it's a really cool place both for diving and other activities.

 

Have fun

 

Rich

[Dgonza]

Firemedic: Thanks for the enthusiasm about St Lucia. I Think I am going to stick o my original thoughts and dive in Dominica and St Lucia. I have been certified so no need for me to waste time doing the drills. My fiancee on the other hand will be doing a discovery course.

 

Sddiver: Thanks for the info and the thowing out the idea of doing both a dive and a hike. I will have to look into that. That is definatley an option. The hike I was looking at was about 5 1/2 hours with Levi from bumpiingtours. So I may have to look at another alternative...or like CVL105 mentioned that Levi does diving tours too. So I can see about having my dive and hiking too.

[gmcrow]

Don't miss St. Lucia. We have used Dive St. Lucia and Frogs Diving. Both provided adequate service. Diving is awesome. Our complete review and photos are at http://www.cruisedivers.blogspot.com

[jamga02]

If you dive any of the two ports, I second everyone else in suggesting Dominica and St. Lucia. Dominica was amazing with great vis and unspoiled sites. St. Lucia was amazing! Saw a yellow frogfish!!!! Loved it, but still slightly below Bonaire and Dominica.

[w&k]

My first choice would be Dominica - you absolutely must dive there!.

 

If you are docking in Roseau, go with Nature Island Dive. http://www.natureislanddive.com/index.html

 

If you are docking in Cabrits, go with Cabrits Dive Center. http://www.cabritsdive.com/

 

We have been with both, the diving is simply fantastic, are so are the folks.

 

In St. Lucia, we went with the ship's excursion (Scuba St. Lucia), and we were unimpressed, to say the least. We spent all day shuttled all over the island by taxi and boat, had very short, time limit dives, and they did not want to let us eat because we didn't bring dry clothes. If you search this board, you will find folks have been with other operations there, but I don't recall the names offhand.

 

I love St. Kitts, and we always dive with Kenneth's Dive Center. We will be returning for our 5th time in March. http://www.kennethsdivecenter.com/ Their website seems to be down at the moment, though. Their E-mail is kdcsk@yahoo.com

 

In Barbados, we have been diving with John at Dive Barbados, and he is awesome. http://www.divebarbados.net/. Last time we were there, he was working with The Dive Shop Ltd. http://www.divebds.com/staff.php

 

We had a really bad experience in Antigua. Never again. You can read more on our website - http://www.freewebs.com/wendyandkeith

 

Have a great trip!

 

Wendy

[Dgonza]

Great thanks for all the info. I read your review. Sorry to hear about your Antigua disaster.

[w&k]

I love St. Kitts, and we always dive with Kenneth's Dive Center. We will be returning for our 5th time in March. http://www.kennethsdivecenter.com/ Their website seems to be down at the moment, though. Their E-mail is kdcsk@yahoo.com

 

I had an E-mail from Vajai at Kenneth's Dive Center this morning - their website is indeed down at the moment, but they can be contacted by E-mail through kdcsk@yahoo.com.

 

Also, I have a bunch of dive photos on webshots if you want to take a look through them, and a blurb on my website for an upcoming cruise if you might find that useful.

 

Wendy

 

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

 

http://www.freewebs.com/grandprincess-02-27-09

[sea-shell2]

A company called Dive Dominica took us out to Champagne Reef - but they will basically take you wherever you wish.

Safety is paramount with them, they are great guys and know the BEST places - just tell them what you would like to see.....

 

They took me snorkelling for the first time a couple of weeks ago and they really were a great bunch of guys.