St. Maarten Diving

[Searanger]

Not much positive that I can find on the boards. I'm in St. Maarten in a couple of weeks and just wondering if the diving is worth it? The day before, I'm in St. Thomas and diving with Blue Island Divers. These are the only two ports I will have an opportunity to dive. So would really like to do both, but don't want to waste my money if it's that bad.

[bruce-r]

Very underwhelming is how I would describe it. It would depend on the ocean conditions the day you are there. If it is very calm, I'd consider it. If the ocean has big swells, I'd skip it. All the dive sites are out in the open water.

[cal2632]

Searanger - Give us the scoop on Blue Island Divers when you return. I'm thinking of using them on our next cruise and would be interested to hear what you think.

[w&k]

We went with Blue Island Divers for our trip on the Zenith in November. With a bit of searching, you should find some more reviews.

 

Great boat, awesome staff, but rough water.

 

Let us know how your trip comes out!

 

Wendy

 

 

dive review thread

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=121707

 

dive pix

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

[Hilary]

We went with Blue Island on December 25 and really enjoyed them. Great dive sites, water was calm, and the staff was excellent. Enjoyed the people on the boat and had a great time. Would definitely book with them again.

 

I haven't heard much good about diving in St. Maarten, but if that's your only other port to dive in, go for it! As long as you know the truth about diving there, you won't be disappointed or surprised if conditions are less than ideal. Then again, you could hit it on a perfectly calm day and have a fabulous dive!

[rl]

I echo Bruce R. If the seas are rough, skip it. Dove St. Maarten last year on RC cruise excursion. Dive was ok but water was rough. Getting there and getting out of the water were no fun.

[kathalinamarie]

We dove with Divi Little Bay. We had almost skipped St. Maarten altogether as far as diving was concerned because of all the poor reviews. We were very pleased. If you want a technical high powered kind of dive, it won't work for you. If you want a nice simple pleasant dive with pleasant service, check out Divi Little Bay. http://www.littlebaywatersports.com/divecenter/index.html

[KazinSD]

We dove with the Scuba Shop - Dive Safaris when we were there and although the surface was very choppy, the dives were great. We dove an old wreck, the HMS Proselyte, and another area close by that had a couple of swim throughs and some column formations. Very nice crew, would gladly dive with them again.

 

http://www.thescubashop.net/

[Searanger]

Thanks for the impute everyone. I will certainly post a report when I return as we are lacking St. Maarten dive reports.

[Gonedownlately?]

Are you by any chance sailing on the Adventure of the Seas for your trip? We've been considering an AOS itinerary for next Spring. It stops in St. Thomas, St. Marteen, Aruba, and Curacao: is that your plan? If so, I'd be very interested to hear about your experience.

 

Have a great time!

[Searanger]

Gonedownlately...No not on the A.O.S. Sailing the Constellation out of San Juan on it's Transatlantic. Only have St. Thomas and St. Maarten in the Caribbean before we head east.

[Gonedownlately?]

Have a great adventure, and thanks!