Antigua scuba diving

[Planer's Edge]

Does anyone have any input as to the quality of diving in Antigua?

 

Is it worth the dollars or is it a waste of time? If it is worth the time...do you have any recommendations of shops to contact?

 

Yes, I know I should post this in the "Scuba Diving" area. I already have posted it there and a few others places.

 

PE<---that eliminates at least one inappropriate response...

[Antiguan]

you can find some nice dives here for sure, but i would not think you could do this through the ships. Do a search for Aquanaut divers. "One eyed john" runs it and although it may not look like a state of the art facility, john and his dive sites are top notch. They are on the volcanic side of Antigua and there are some neat walls and caverns to be seen. There is a $50-70 round trip cab ride to him tho.

A little closer are both Jolly Dive and a brand new one.....Indigo divers. Paul has been involved with Jolly Dive since the early 80s i think and the guys at indigo have been working for various dive shops for years as well. Both will dive off cades reef where the water is usually clear. I dived there 3 weeks ago and it was very colourful even at about 70 feet.

good luck. Listen, when you are sitting back behind your computer and its raining or even snowing, you will say that it was worth it! Go for it.....its only money.

[Planer's Edge]

I did not mean for my "worth it or not" to sound so flippant. After re-reading my original post it did sound a little crass.

 

Thank you for your response. I guess I am a little concerned because I have tried to contact evey dive shop I could find around St. John and NOT a single response has come back. Is this some kind of vacation season or are they just not interested in new business?

 

I will keep trying but am feeling a little ignored.

 

PE

[MaraGirl]

You do not say when you are coming to Antigua - September is a 'slow' month here and some of the shops do close for some part of the month for a vacation.

Try emailing - you may get better response.

 

I did hear that Aquanaut (which is located in English Harbour) is closing for September (email: aquanaut@candw.ag) . AntiguaScuba is the other dive shop located in English Harbour is open, see their website - www.antiguascuba.com - for some info on dive sites in the area, their email is info@antiguascuba.com.

It's owned by a chap called Carlo and the gear & boats are in good nick.

 

For Cades Reef - it is Jolly Dive (www.jollydive.com) or the new one Indigo Divers.

 

The northern part of the island is served by Dive Antigua (Big John) but rumour has it that he is retiring - his website is http://www.diveantigua.com .

 

Good Luck

[Planer's Edge]

We will be in Antigua on November 9th arriving aboard the Norwegian Jewel.

 

I have tried emailing various dive shops with no response. I guess I will have to keep trying until I get a response.

 

PE

[BronzedGoddess]

When are you going?.....

B

[Planer's Edge]

When are you going?.....

B

 

As my post above yours states...November 9th

 

PE

[dorsalfin]

The new dive shop mentioned previously is

 

Indigo Divers

 

Their website is indigo-divers.com

and their email is info@indigo-divers.com

 

Good luck and enjoy diving in Antigua - the underwater world is incredible!

[mrtractor]

place for newbies to dive in Antigua????....

 

We are on the Jewel with Planersedge and are getting certified this weekend. We would like to set up for a coupld of dives this cruise if we can and Antigua is the first place we have the opportunity.Since we go to Antigua first, we want to set something up there in the event of bad conditions in St. Thomas. We didn't go through all this certification stuff for NOTHING!!!!

 

We are hoping we can find a nice stress free, relaxing, interesting dive to do on Antigua that will keep us coming back for more!!

 

Any suggestions???????????????????

 

MrTractor<----------thinks SCUBA is pretty cool, so far :eek: ...............

[MaraGirl]

Pillars of Hercules in English Harbour is a good dive for all levels. What makes it nice for newbies is that you can start quite shallow and gradually go deeper. Good corals, sponges, fish, etc. There are 2 dive ops in English Harbour - AntiguaScuba Center (http://www.antiguascuba.com, email: info@antiguascuba.com) or Aquanaut Divers (email: aquanaut@candw.ag).

English Harbour is also the location of Nelson's Dockyard, so not only can you go diving but you can get sightseeing done as well.

[mrtractor]

That sounds just like the place we're looking for. I hear all the dives in Antigua are boat dives. Is that true?

 

MrTractor<---------------doesn't know if he'll like boat dives until he tries one............

[MaraGirl]

I'm pretty sure that none of the ops on the island offer shore diving. Both AntiguaScuba & Aquanaut dock their boats in English Harbour, so it takes less than 5 minutes from the dock to the Pillars dive site as it, basically, at the entrance of the harbour.

[MaraGirl]

I'm pretty sure that none of the ops on the island offer shore diving. Both AntiguaScuba & Aquanaut dock their boats in English Harbour, so it takes less than 5 minutes from the dock to the Pillars dive site as it, basically, at the entrance of the harbour.

[w&k]

Thanks to all!

 

We are stopping at Antigua on the Empress of the Seas next March, and would like to do a 2-tanker.

 

Does anyone know if any of the operators will pick up from the ship (best scenario) or how much a taxi might be to get to any of the dive boats?

 

Just thought I would ask to see if anyone knew before I started E-mailing.

 

Wendy

[MaraGirl]

As it stands today, none of the ops pick up at the cruise ship dock. Assuming that fares do not go up due to the hikes in the price of gas, expect to pay

approx $25 USD each way. That price covers up to 4 passengers. I recommend that you check with the ops as some do offer dive/taxi packages.

[w&k]

I was doing some more digging and found a dive shop right in St. John's - Deep Bay Divers. http://www.deepbaydivers.com

 

Has anyone had any experience with them? They actually mention cruise divers on their website & the boat looks pretty good.

 

Thanks so much for the tips!

 

Wendy

[MaraGirl]

Sorry to have to tell you this but Deep Bay Divers is no longer in business - surprised the site is still up.

[w&k]

It seems like trying to dive here is turning into quite a project.

 

Will check back in later... anyone that has success, please post.

 

Thanks for all your help MaraGirl!

 

Wendy

[mrtractor]

.....reputable dive operators in the town of St. Johns Antigua? We'd like to start our dive there even if there is a little boat ride involved. That gives us a chance to talk about our dive, familiarize ourself with the equipment and have a nice scenic ride back.

 

MrTractor<----------thinks that is a good plan........

[MaraGirl]

Mr Tractor,

Sorry but there are no dive shops in St. Johns. Deep Bay Divers was in St. Johns but they closed their doors in early 2005. I, generally, tend to shy away from recommending a particular dive shop as every diver has their own likes/dislikes and that influences their "stamp of approval". However, I think in your case (yes, I'm going to break my rule), you have 2 choices as I see it. Either dive with AntiguaScuba in English Harbour or Jolly Dive in Jolly Harbour. Both are going to require a taxi ride. AntiguaScuba has small groups and a no rush attitude which means you will be given that oppurtunity to familiarize yourself with your equipment even with the short ride to the dive sites. Jolly will have a longer boat ride than the English Harbour dive ops and that will also give a chance to sight see and prepare. Does that help ?