Need Scuba Review of St. Thomas W/Royal Caribbean

[K&Lcruiser]

Looking For info on scuba with Royal Caribbean in St. Thomas, i.e. what type of dive do they offer /small group or large/ would someone recommend using their service or book your own / what time frames do they run/ how is the shipwreck dive, depth ,vis, temp / Is anyone cruising RCCL Mariner of the seas that is planning on scuba diving on 16/ March /2008 - 23/ March /2008. Can anyone also recommend a place where divers &non-divers can enjoy in one setting to accomodate both parties. MSDT PADI Instructor looking for the easy way to go down & get wet on such a short trip:cool:

[bruce-r]

Looking For info on scuba with Royal Caribbean in St. Thomas, i.e. what type of dive do they offer /small group or large/ would someone recommend using their service or book your own / what time frames do they run/ how is the shipwreck dive, depth ,vis, temp / Is anyone cruising RCCL Mariner of the seas that is planning on scuba diving on 16/ March /2008 - 23/ March /2008. Can anyone also recommend a place where divers &non-divers can enjoy in one setting to accomodate both parties. MSDT PADI Instructor looking for the easy way to go down & get wet on such a short trip:cool:

 

For a mixed group, I recommend going to Coki Beach. You can rent gear from http://www.cokidive.com and do a shore dive there. They also offer discover scuba dives for the non-certified and you can accompany them on the dive.

 

I'm thinking that you are an experienced diver and you really want a couple/three decent dives at aren't with a large group of inexperienced once-a-year cruise divers on a cattle boat, doing follow the lead dives of predetermined bottom times. You'll want to make your own arrangements. I like http://www.admiraltydive.com and their 3 tank dive trip. To be honest, I haven't gone with any ship's dive excursion in St. Thomas, so I can't really offer any info about it. It actually could be a decent trip, but it could be a cattle boat.

 

If you are looking for other divers on your sailing, the best place to look is your sail's roll call. HERE

 

I'd also recommend putting more line breaks in your posts to make it easier for the reader to find all the different questions.

[K&Lcruiser]

Thanks for the info bruce-r. Have been to cokibeach in 2003 it was o.k.

just trying to find other options to have family & friends join in but looks like this will be solo.

 

How does admiraliity work with solo divers, do they mix you with another group or do you have to charter a boat with them, that could be costly for one diver.

 

any other info you could pass along would be great.

[gmcrow]

We dove there in Dec. 2006, and did not enjoy it much. Read our complete review at http://www.cruisedivers.blogspot.com .

[K&Lcruiser]

Hi gmcrow,

 

thanks for the input, read your reveiw. I noticed your first dive was to 42ft & 2nd dive to 57ft was this correct? Just F Y I being an instuctor, that all dives should be deepest first then shallow to prevent DCI . So with that being said your dive profile should have been 57ft time?/ surface interval time ?/ then 42ft time? / 15ft 3min safty stop / exit. I would also say if you could remember what oganization they were affilated with you can contact that organition Like (PADI,Naui,etc..) and complain about not following standards & procedures.

["Like To Cruise"]

Hello We just dove with RCCL this past Sept. Their tour was with Underwater Safaries, in St. Thomas. This was our first dive booking through the ship, the location was in a cove and the diveboat was crowded and in poor condition. We did dive in groups of 9 with a master diver to guide, he was great. On the first dive on a shipwreck water temp 87 vis only 60ft at a max debth of 34ft. The ship wreck, not much left of the ship, broken into several parts on a rocky bottom. However, we did see a very large sea turtle, the highlight of the first dive. After sit and moving the boat 20-30 yards started the second on the coral reef reef in good cond but looking up they moved snorklers into the cove and covered the surface. I would suggest looking elsewhere if you want less crowded dives and better reefs. Than with the ship at this location unless they have switched who they book with.We did talk with the people at Seatrek about this tour. We would suggest going though RCCL and diving in St. Maarten. The coral reefs and variety of fish were fantastic. Tour was through Scuba Fun. They were very professional and went out of there way for you!

[bruce-r]

Thanks for the info bruce-r. Have been to cokibeach in 2003 it was o.k.

just trying to find other options to have family & friends join in but looks like this will be solo.

 

How does admiraliity work with solo divers, do they mix you with another group or do you have to charter a boat with them, that could be costly for one diver.

 

any other info you could pass along would be great.

 

As the only diver in my family, I've never had trouble going on a dive trip as a solo. I can dive with just about anyone who goes slow enough and doesn't touch the marine life. For Admiralty, they have small boats so it will be a small group of divers. You just join in with the others on the boat that day. The day I went, the owner Laura was on the boat and I did 2 of the dives with her. The first dive was the WIT Shoal with quite a bit of current, so it's considered an advanced dive. Most people went thru their air pretty quickly, so it was a fairly short dive, about 30 minutes. The second and third dives were longer with much less current so they were more relaxed.

[byrdbrain55]

I just got back from a cruise in December and dove with Admiralty Diving in St. Thomas. I am a relatively new diver (20 dives) and had been planning on diving in Grand Turk and Tortola but because of Tropical Storm Olga, plans changed. On short notice, a fellow diver on the ship arranged for three of us to dive with Admiralty.

 

They picked us up at Crown Bay and took us to their boat. There was a total of 7 divers and 2 dive masters. I was a solo diver, since no one in my family dives. They put one dive master in the water in front and the other in the back with all the divers in between. We dove the Miss Opportunity (hospital ship), 96 ft for 29 minutes, water temp 79 degrees. I saw my first sea turtle and barracuda here. Then we did a drift dive called Francisco's Drift, 45 feet for 48 minutes. There was quite a bit of current and the visibility was not that good due to the storm but at least I got to dive.

 

I was a little surprised that we were not put into buddy pairs but everything went well and no one had any problems. The two-tank dive cost $90, and I had all of my own equipment. I liked the fact that it was a small boat and not a huge group. They did a good job and I enjoyed both dives. This was my first boat diving experience, first warm water diving, first wreck dive (we got to penetrate and swim through the wreck), etc.

[K&Lcruiser]

I just got back from a cruise in December and dove with Admiralty Diving in St. Thomas. I am a relatively new diver (20 dives) and had been planning on diving in Grand Turk and Tortola but because of Tropical Storm Olga, plans changed. On short notice, a fellow diver on the ship arranged for three of us to dive with Admiralty.

 

They picked us up at Crown Bay and took us to their boat. There was a total of 7 divers and 2 dive masters. I was a solo diver, since no one in my family dives. They put one dive master in the water in front and the other in the back with all the divers in between. We dove the Miss Opportunity (hospital ship), 96 ft for 29 minutes, water temp 79 degrees. I saw my first sea turtle and barracuda here. Then we did a drift dive called Francisco's Drift, 45 feet for 48 minutes. There was quite a bit of current and the visibility was not that good due to the storm but at least I got to dive.

 

I was a little surprised that we were not put into buddy pairs but everything went well and no one had any problems. The two-tank dive cost $90, and I had all of my own equipment. I liked the fact that it was a small boat and not a huge group. They did a good job and I enjoyed both dives. This was my first boat diving experience, first warm water diving, first wreck dive (we got to penetrate and swim through the wreck), etc.

thanks for the input byrdbrain55 sounds like you had a great time.

 

have one other question ? After your dive did Admirality return you to the same pick up site or did you have to arrange some other transportation to the ship.

[KJHorton]

Byrdbrain, can you tell me about penetrating the hospital ship? Was it a fairly open wreck or were there dark, narrow passages? Overhead environment? I recall reading somewhere when someone was uncomfortable with that wreck but I can't remember who they were diving with.

 

Thanks.

[bruce-r]

After your dive did Admirality return you to the same pick up site or did you have to arrange some other transportation to the ship.

They will drop you off at the ship after the dives, or you can go back to their shop if you want then take a taxi back to the ship in case you want to shop in town or buy a t-shirt from them.

[Scuba Laura]

The Miss Op is an awesome wreck dive, and yes is penetrated. There are large openings (windows) for anyone to get out if wanted. There is one hallway which is dark and not-so-narrow. With a "sweeper" divers have their choice as to if they want to penetrate the whole thing. I believe this was the case with Erin's post.

 

The Wit Shoal is world known and should never be missed if possible! Of course, because it is out in open water, the possibility of a current can make it an advanced dive. I'm sad that so many people talk about the Rhone and the Wit gets little publicity. She is old, in tact, and has loads of color and life. The history behind her is enough to take advantage of and experience.

[byrdbrain55]

After the dives, they returned us to the ship. It was door to door service and done with a smile.

 

Like I said before, I am a fairly new diver and I was a little leery about penetrating the ship but it was fine. I didn't want anyone to think I was being a wimp, especially since I was the only girl. The hospital ship has a lot of open doors (or windows?) so if you want out, you can get out. In fact, you go through three or four separate rooms. The last passage is fairly dark and a little narrow. I used my flashlight in the last part. You can exit the ship before going through the last passage if you want. The divemaster in the back will exit with whoever doesn't want to finish the last part of the ship. I had no problems doing the dive and never felt like it was scary, at all.