St. Maarten or St. Thomas? Which is a better place to scuba?

[NewCop26]

I am leaving for a cruise in just a couple weeks and want to know where everyone thinks the best scuba diving is at? I just received my PADI certification and this will be my first dive since the test. I will have ports in St. Maarten and St. Thomas. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!! :)

[CruiseKing]

I am leaving for a cruise in just a couple weeks and want to know where everyone thinks the best scuba diving is at? I just received my PADI certification and this will be my first dive since the test. I will have ports in St. Maarten and St. Thomas. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!! :)

NewCop26,

If you're new to diving there's nothing better than getting all the experience you can. Warm water diving is great for that. I have dove both and loved each of them. I say why not dive both ports.

Safe Diving,

[bruce-r]

IMO St Thomas has the better diving by a wide margin. If you are traveling with a mixed group of divers and non-divers, I'd recommend http://www.cokidive.com at Coki Beach. If you want better diving though, you'll want to do some boat diving. http://www.admiraltydive.com/ or http://www.sawyerdive.vi/ would be good choices.

[Hilary]

I definitely agree with Bruce-r that St. Thomas will be a much better choice. St. Maarten isn't know for being a good dive spot, and it can be downright miserable when the seas aren't flat. You're better off enjoying the beach in St. Maarten and diving in St. Thomas.

 

We dove with Blue Island Divers in St. Thomas and had a great time. Very good operation and we'd dive with them again in a heartbeat. Both Blue Island and Admiralty will pick you up and drop you off right at the cruise dock (literally in front of the ship), so for convenience they are really great (no taxi rides, etc.).