Which So. Carib. Itinerary for Scuba

[Seaside2358]

For those of you who have been to these places would you choose Aruba & Curacao Southern route or go with Barbados & St. Lucia for the best scuba diving? We currently have two cruises booked and have until 11/27 to decide which one we want. Thanks for your input...

[E. Lee DeGolyer 3rd]

I don't know enough about the diving possibilities at Barbados and St. Lucia to help you. I chose the Carnival Destiny's 7 day cruise out of Aruba because I could dive before I embark, then hopefully dive again at St. Thomas, then again at Dominica.

 

My one dive excursion at Aruba involved diving the Antilla wreck, which was a lot of fun. The visibility was nice, I enjoyed going into the freighter (in and out of the cargo hold), and watching how the marine life was transforming the wreck. I understand that there are other nice dive sites at Aruba and hope to try them.

[bruce-r]

Curacao has excellent diving, considerably better than the dives I did on Aruba, IMHO. Haven't got to dive the other 2 islands, yet.

[BullinOhio]

Where else do they stop? Barbados and Curacao are both pretty good (I would give the nod to Barbados out of those two). Have not had the opportunity to dive St. Lucia or Aruba yet. If you stop in Dominica, the wall South of the dock is a MUST DO.

[Porchbeers]

My wife and I dove St. Lucia earlier this year. It was fantastic. The visibility was great, awesome sealife, etc. I have not dove the other spots.

[GABulldog]

My husband and I are on the Carnival Legend in Jan. Who did you dive with in St. Lucia. My husband is a certified diver of 33 years and is looking forward to the opportunity to dive on this cruise.

[Arubalisa]

Of the ports mentioned, dh and I have only dove Aruba. With that being said, the diving in Aruba is not bad, but it is no Cozumel or even Florida.

The Antilla, as another poster mentioned, is "THE" big attraction. There are some other wrecks and reefs which makes for easy dives but over the last 10 years, no matter what time of year, visibility is not reliable.

[penny3333]

It sounds like you haven't booked your cruise yet. If you can find an itinerary with Bonaire, Curacao, Grenada, or Dominica you will experience some great dives. Champagne beach/reef in Dominica is beautiful, there are some good wrecks in Curacao, Flamingo Bay in Grenada is amazing, and the Mushi/Mushi snorkel/dive in Bonaire was great. Anse Cochon in St. Lucia is nice, but the clarity of the water in Dominica and Grenada was better, to me. We enjoyed Antigua, however, even though the water was clear it was loaded with jelly fish. I was talking to the captain of our catamaran in Antigua and he told me the snorkeling/diving was better in Barbuda which you can make in a day in port. Best wishes!

[Capt_BJ]

Dove 3 of 4 a few times (so nice to work on ships down there...)

 

a) the conditions at any particular time, plus the particular site, plus wx etc etc can make todays great dive stink tomorrow

 

however if I was picking based on my experiences...

 

Curacao, Aruba, St L, Barbad ... in that order.

 

Curacao dives have offered nice variety

 

Antilla on Aruba was great, other dives OK

 

St L were 'nice typical island dives'

 

and Barb (one time) on par with the Keys - probably based on a poor choice of dive shop/charter but I was referred and took a shot.

 

Cura and Aruba have been multiple trips which I looked forward to. St L not on my routes often, and Barb I just haven't been motivated to dive more (altho getting away from the port area is probably the key)