Scuba Shops In Southern Caribbean?

[patti627]

Does anyone have recommendations for scuba shops to book scuba excursions with in St. Thomas, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire, and Aruba instead of doing the cruise excursion? Has everyone had good luck with independent companies, not getting left after the ship leaves port, etc? Thanks. Patti

[fredthecarman]

Just wanted to make sure you got a reply. LOL:D

[patti627]

Just wanted to make sure you got a reply. LOL:D

Fred,you are so funny!!!!

Patti

[scubamargie]

We love Nature Island Divers in Dominica ( http://www.natureislanddive.com ). They always pick us up at the pier. Usually just a few divers on their boat. You will LOVE the diving there! :) In St. Thomas we use Chris Sawyer ( http://sawyerdive.vi/ ). A first class operation, although the diving in St. Thomas is no where near as good as Dominica. You'll need to take a taxi to Red Hook if you use Chris Sawyer (I think about $16 round trip per taxi).

 

We've used various dive operations in Aruba, but none that I can whole-heartedly recommend. Even the ship's dive excursion was sub-par in my opinion. I'd check on the scubaboard.com to see who's popular these days. In Greneda we've used Eco-Divers, but that was 5 years ago so again, check with scubaboard.com. We've never had a problem with being left when we booked our own diving, and actually prefer going it on our own because it's usually cheaper, and the group is smaller. That said, if we have less than 5 hours in port we usually do book with the ship just to avoid transportation issues that could cause us to be delayed. We'll be diving in Greneda this November, so if your cruise is after that I'll post who we used and what we thought of them. Have fun!

[bruce-r]

For St. Thomas, I like http://www.admiraltydive.com and for Aruba I've gone with http://www.divearuba.com

 

Bonaire is a shore dive destination. You should be able to find a resort to dive at once you get there if you are unable to arrange something ahead of time.

 

You might find this comparison between diving with the ship's excursion VS going on your own to be worth reading.

[patti627]

We love Nature Island Divers in Dominica ( http://www.natureislanddive.com ). They always pick us up at the pier. Usually just a few divers on their boat. You will LOVE the diving there! :) In St. Thomas we use Chris Sawyer ( http://sawyerdive.vi/ ). A first class operation, although the diving in St. Thomas is no where near as good as Dominica. You'll need to take a taxi to Red Hook if you use Chris Sawyer (I think about $16 round trip per taxi).

 

We've used various dive operations in Aruba, but none that I can whole-heartedly recommend. Even the ship's dive excursion was sub-par in my opinion. I'd check on the scubaboard.com to see who's popular these days. In Greneda we've used Eco-Divers, but that was 5 years ago so again, check with scubaboard.com. We've never had a problem with being left when we booked our own diving, and actually prefer going it on our own because it's usually cheaper, and the group is smaller. That said, if we have less than 5 hours in port we usually do book with the ship just to avoid transportation issues that could cause us to be delayed. We'll be diving in Greneda this November, so if your cruise is after that I'll post who we used and what we thought of them. Have fun!

Thanks so much for the recommendations. I'm looking forward to hearing what ohers have to say prior to my March '08 cruise.

Patti

[jimw]

We made a shore dive at Coki last week, very nice. If you have your own gear, just rent a tank and weights for $10. and go. It was a nicer dive than I expected and may be one of the best places to do a Discover Scuba. Living coral and a nice array of tropicals coupled with good visibility in the water made for a dive that was well worth it. I understand the cab ride is about $20.

 

As for the other destinations, we did a Grenada dive on the wreck Bianca C several years ago with someone on the dock, can't recall the name. The second dive was on the way back to Grand Anse Beach and the shop--very nice, seemed untrod upon. Lots'o fish.

 

On Bonaire take your pick, shore dive or catch a boat trip to Klein Bonaire a half mile away. Maybe cab out to Habitat and dive out front, eat in the restaurant, swim in the pool, dive some more, etc. About a $10-12 ride and $5. to dive at last notice--lunch seaside, outdoors; in the sun or shade, ahhh......

[patti627]

We made a shore dive at Coki last week, very nice. If you have your own gear, just rent a tank and weights for $10. and go. It was a nicer dive than I expected and may be one of the best places to do a Discover Scuba. Living coral and a nice array of tropicals coupled with good visibility in the water made for a dive that was well worth it. I understand the cab ride is about $20.

 

As for the other destinations, we did a Grenada dive on the wreck Bianca C several years ago with someone on the dock, can't recall the name. The second dive was on the way back to Grand Anse Beach and the shop--very nice, seemed untrod upon. Lots'o fish.

 

On Bonaire take your pick, shore dive or catch a boat trip to Klein Bonaire a half mile away. Maybe cab out to Habitat and dive out front, eat in the restaurant, swim in the pool, dive some more, etc. About a $10-12 ride and $5. to dive at last notice--lunch seaside, outdoors; in the sun or shade, ahhh......

Jim, that Bonaire dive sounds wonderful!! What is Habitat exactly? We'll have our gear except tanks and weights, of course. How can we get more info about this place?

Patti

[Loves_Dogs]

In St Thomas we used Coki Beach Dive Club, they were great and I would use them again in a heartbeat. Here is their website (they have a link for cruise ship divers):

 

http://www.cokidive.com/about_us.htm

 

Have a great cruse and safe diving!

[bruce-r]

Jim, that Bonaire dive sounds wonderful!! What is Habitat exactly? We'll have our gear except tanks and weights, of course. How can we get more info about this place?

Patti

 

google is your friend: Habitat Bonaire it is the first link.

 

Coki beach is a good choice in St. Thomas if you are doing a discover scuba dive or are traveling with non-divers and want to stay together, but the actual dives there are not as good as the dives you'd be able to do if you did some boat dives IMO.

 

click the photo to see my St. Thomas Underwater Photo gallery.

[patti627]

We love Nature Island Divers in Dominica ( http://www.natureislanddive.com ). They always pick us up at the pier. Usually just a few divers on their boat. You will LOVE the diving there! :) In St. Thomas we use Chris Sawyer ( http://sawyerdive.vi/ ). A first class operation, although the diving in St. Thomas is no where near as good as Dominica. You'll need to take a taxi to Red Hook if you use Chris Sawyer (I think about $16 round trip per taxi).

 

We've used various dive operations in Aruba, but none that I can whole-heartedly recommend. Even the ship's dive excursion was sub-par in my opinion. I'd check on the scubaboard.com to see who's popular these days. In Greneda we've used Eco-Divers, but that was 5 years ago so again, check with scubaboard.com. We've never had a problem with being left when we booked our own diving, and actually prefer going it on our own because it's usually cheaper, and the group is smaller. That said, if we have less than 5 hours in port we usually do book with the ship just to avoid transportation issues that could cause us to be delayed. We'll be diving in Greneda this November, so if your cruise is after that I'll post who we used and what we thought of them. Have fun!

Hi Brian and Margie! Thanks for the info. I spent 10 days diving in Dominica with Dive Dominca, and I'd dive with them again, except that they don't pick you up, (supposedly very short walk to the hotel they leave from, the Fort Young) and the dive leaves 45 minutes after docking. I don't know that that's enough time to get there. I've heard sometimes it takes up to an hour to get all the people off. So I guess it looks like Nature Island for us. I heard about this sculpture garden that's underwater in Grenada. Saw video. Looks very very cool. It's Dive Grenada that gives the tour, contact Phil. I've emailed him several times, is very nice. They do a 2 tank dive including a reef and the sculpture garden. Let me know where you go in Grenada. Have a wonderful trip. Patti

[patti627]

google is your friend: Habitat Bonaire it is the first link.

 

Coki beach is a good choice in St. Thomas if you are doing a discover scuba dive or are traveling with non-divers and want to stay together, but the actual dives there are not as good as the dives you'd be able to do if you did some boat dives IMO.

 

click the photo to see my St. Thomas Underwater Photo gallery.

Bruce, if you had to eliminate one place from our itinerary (St. Thomas, Dominica, Grenada (we were thinking of doing the underwater sculpture garden there), Bonaire and Aruba) as far as diving, which would you suggest? I'm concerned that we're just going to be too pooped to enjoy the cruise doing all of them. Thanks.

Patti

[bruce-r]

Bruce, if you had to eliminate one place from our itinerary (St. Thomas, Dominica, Grenada (we were thinking of doing the underwater sculpture garden there), Bonaire and Aruba) as far as diving, which would you suggest? I'm concerned that we're just going to be too pooped to enjoy the cruise doing all of them. Thanks.

Patti

 

That's a hard call. I haven't been to Dominica or Grenada so I have no information about the diving there. I would definitely dive Bonaire, then I'd see if any of the other island had some non-diving thing that interested me more than diving and pick that.

[bye-seaya]

Does anyone have recommendations for scuba shops to book scuba excursions with in St. Thomas, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire, and Aruba instead of doing the cruise excursion? Has everyone had good luck with independent companies, not getting left after the ship leaves port, etc? Thanks. Patti

 

Hi Patti - We stayed in Dominica for a week last year at Castle Comfort Dive Lodge and had a fantastic experience with their diving staff. The dive sites were AWESOME and the crew was great.

 

It is a family owned business where they value their guests safety, preserving their natural marine reserve, while providing an excellent diving experience. This is not a fancy resort - but a VERY nice, clean respectable operation. Where pride in ownership is evident.:)

 

Reggie was the dive master on our boat, Jefferson assisted Reggie on the dives and Stinger was the captain of the boat.

 

Castle Comfort Dive Lodge offers shore diving from their dock or boat excursions to close by dive sites.

 

You would need to contact them to see if they work w/in the cruise ship schedules of departure to ensure you arrive back to the ship in time. I'm guessing they might - as they are located in Roseau - the capital of Dominica - not far from the cruise ship port and may get a lot of folks off of the cruise ships looking to dive. But you would need to confirm that with them!

 

Check out: www.divedominica.com or www.castlecomfortdivelodge.com

 

Good luck and enjoy! - Mari-Jo

[patti627]

Hi Patti - We stayed in Dominica for a week last year at Castle Comfort Dive Lodge and had a fantastic experience with their diving staff. The dive sites were AWESOME and the crew was great.

 

It is a family owned business where they value their guests safety, preserving their natural marine reserve, while providing an excellent diving experience. This is not a fancy resort - but a VERY nice, clean respectable operation. Where pride in ownership is evident.:)

 

Reggie was the dive master on our boat, Jefferson assisted Reggie on the dives and Stinger was the captain of the boat.

 

Castle Comfort Dive Lodge offers shore diving from their dock or boat excursions to close by dive sites.

 

You would need to contact them to see if they work w/in the cruise ship schedules of departure to ensure you arrive back to the ship in time. I'm guessing they might - as they are located in Roseau - the capital of Dominica - not far from the cruise ship port and may get a lot of folks off of the cruise ships looking to dive. But you would need to confirm that with them!

 

Check out: www.divedominica.com or www.castlecomfortdivelodge.com

 

Good luck and enjoy! - Mari-Jo

Hi Mari-Jo!

We stayed at the Castle Comfort a couple of years ago also, and had a fantastic time! It turns out that they (Dive Dominica) are the scuba operator that the cruiseline uses! So we'll go with them. One day we'll go back to stay at the resort. We were there when they were filming Pirates of the Caribbean II, and Johnny Depp waved at us when he passed on the road. It was neat seeing where they were filming (the rope bridge, etc). Do you know anything about the diving in Aruba?

Patti

[bye-seaya]

Hi Mari-Jo!

We stayed at the Castle Comfort a couple of years ago also, and had a fantastic time! It turns out that they (Dive Dominica) are the scuba operator that the cruiseline uses! So we'll go with them. One day we'll go back to stay at the resort. We were there when they were filming Pirates of the Caribbean II, and Johnny Depp waved at us when he passed on the road. It was neat seeing where they were filming (the rope bridge, etc). Do you know anything about the diving in Aruba?

Patti

 

Hi Patti! That is too cool that you saw them filming Pirates of Caribbean! Not to mention Johnny Depp. :eek:

 

I am a novice diver and have not gone to any other location besides Dominica. I did my classes up here in MA prior to the trip and got my open water done down in Dominica.

 

We went with a group from a dive shop up here, who has trips all the time and this was their third time back. Most of the divers were advanced and/or instructor level. Only three of us were beginners.

 

I did it to be able to dive with my college age son - who went on the trip too and was already certified (going for his advanced). I wanted to be able to talk to him about things other than "naggy" parent stuff. :p

 

It worked - we had a blast! And now he is well on his way to being a really good diver, getting his advanced cert. and taking trips all over to have some good clean fun with other folks who love to dive! :) He recently dove in Roatan, HO and had a great trip. I would like to go there some time....

 

I hope to go again our upcoming cruise in March - but need a refresher class.

 

Hope you have a great trip!:) Let me know how it turns out!! - MJ

[patti627]

Hi Patti! That is too cool that you saw them filming Pirates of Caribbean! Not to mention Johnny Depp. :eek:

 

I am a novice diver and have not gone to any other location besides Dominica. I did my classes up here in MA prior to the trip and got my open water done down in Dominica.

 

We went with a group from a dive shop up here, who has trips all the time and this was their third time back. Most of the divers were advanced and/or instructor level. Only three of us were beginners.

 

I did it to be able to dive with my college age son - who went on the trip too and was already certified (going for his advanced). I wanted to be able to talk to him about things other than "naggy" parent stuff. :p

 

It worked - we had a blast! And now he is well on his way to being a really good diver, getting his advanced cert. and taking trips all over to have some good clean fun with other folks who love to dive! :) He recently dove in Roatan, HO and had a great trip. I would like to go there some time....

 

I hope to go again our upcoming cruise in March - but need a refresher class.

 

Hope you have a great trip!:) Let me know how it turns out!! - MJ

Good morning, MJ!

That's wonderful that you went diving with your son! I took my now almost 23 year old son to Cancun when he was 15, and he tried diving. Didn't work due to being unable to equalize very well.

Where is your March cruise to, and with which cruiseline? We're going on the Emerald Princess to the southern Caribbean on the 15th of March. Looking forward to the cruise and the diving.

Aren't you proud of the Red Sox?! Even with such a boring Series, I was thrilled. I lived in Brookline summer of '73 to start my Master's Degree at BU. But I was a Red Sox fan long before that.

Have a wonderful day.

Patti

[bye-seaya]

Good morning, MJ!

That's wonderful that you went diving with your son! I took my now almost 23 year old son to Cancun when he was 15, and he tried diving. Didn't work due to being unable to equalize very well.

Where is your March cruise to, and with which cruiseline? We're going on the Emerald Princess to the southern Caribbean on the 15th of March. Looking forward to the cruise and the diving.

Aren't you proud of the Red Sox?! Even with such a boring Series, I was thrilled. I lived in Brookline summer of '73 to start my Master's Degree at BU. But I was a Red Sox fan long before that.

Have a wonderful day.

Patti

 

Hi Patti! We are cruising on Celebrity's Constellation March 21 to southern Caribbean and can not wait!

 

I have trouble equalizing too and it is not fun. I can understand where your son is coming from. I think for me, a refresher course will be the way to go - hopefully to help me work through that issue.:) If not - I may be just snorkeling and will need to be happy with that.

 

Yes - we love the Red Sox! Who knew they would ever win the World Series!! And now that series is done - we can look forward to our March cruises! Have a good one. - MJ

[patti627]

Hi Patti! We are cruising on Celebrity's Constellation March 21 to southern Caribbean and can not wait!

 

I have trouble equalizing too and it is not fun. I can understand where your son is coming from. I think for me, a refresher course will be the way to go - hopefully to help me work through that issue.:) If not - I may be just snorkeling and will need to be happy with that.

 

Yes - we love the Red Sox! Who knew they would ever win the World Series!! And now that series is done - we can look forward to our March cruises! Have a good one. - MJ

MJ, my husband and I did the eastern caribbean last March on the Constellation. We had a terrific time!

March just can't come soon enough for me. Which other cruises have you done? Do you have a favorite cruiseline?

Patti

[bye-seaya]

Hi Patti - We have only been on one other cruise besides the Constellation. Last year we went on the Crown Princess in early March (I think ...seems like a lifetime ago!) to Southern Caribbean. I never thought I would like cruising - and OMG we LOVE it!!!

 

We had a great time on Princess - we went w/ my brother and sister-in-law. It was a 7 day cruise. The ship was beautiful. Our waiter and asst waiter were AWESOME, as was our room steward. They made our trip fantastic!!! I can not say enough about the genuine heart felt service they provided.

 

I have to say I do like Celebrity better. There are very subtle differences - and just a matter of opinion - take it with a grain of salt. Because we had a great experience in both!!

 

Too bad our cruises don't overlap - we could wave to you at one of the common ports!!! :D