St. Vincent dive operator?

[w&k]

I am looking for a 2-tank dive off the Grand Princess in March 09 for 4 divers - two old hands and 2 newer folks.

 

I'm seeing two operations listed on the web: Dive St. Vincent, and Indigo Divers.

 

Searching the boards here, I see some folks have been to St. Vincent, but I don't see the operators listed.

 

Thanks so much for your help!

 

Wendy

 

http://www.freewebs.com/grandprincess-02-27-09

[SantaAna,CA]

I've been to St. Vincent twice and I like these people alot. Kay is the person I dealt with, and dove with. Was very happy with them. If the conditions are right, you can even swim through a bat cave!

 

If you go *smile* tell her Jane the Dive Ninja says hello. (She called me that because I wore my black hood along with my full black wetsuit!)

 

Jane :D

[w&k]

Jane- Did Indigo Divers pick up the cruise ship, or did you have to catch a cab?

 

Thanks!

 

Wendy

[SantaAna,CA]

When I came into St. Vincent on Seabourn (I was on that particularly itinerary twice), both times we docked. Indigo came by with the boat and picked me up. Couldn't be any more convenient!

 

Jane

[w&k]

We are now booked up - Kay answered my E-mail immediately, and we are good to go for our group of 4.

 

DH found out that he needed cataract surgery just after I posted this, and I wanted him to be done before I got too far into arrangements.

 

Thanks so much - the photos on their website are just awesome, and I'm really looking forward to diving with Kay and her crew.

 

Wendy

[SantaAna,CA]

Wendy, have a great time. I envy you, I loved St. Vincent and Kay is just great (the boat is beautiful too). If you remember, please give her my regards.

 

Jane

[w&k]

I just now went looking for this review, and realized that I had written it, but not posted it. :(

 

We had an AWESOME time, and hope to return. :D

 

Sorry it took me so long...

 

Wendy

 

 

 

Dive review – Indigo Dive, St. Vincent

March 7, 2009 (Grand Princess)

 

Rating of 1-5 stars:

Overall *****

 

People *****

Equipment ****

Diving **** (Anchor Reef **** 76ft/56min The Pinnacle ***** 54ft/58min)

 

I originally found the recommendation for Indigo Divers right here on the Scuba and Snorkeling board. My E-mails were answered by Kay, the owner. We had several E-mails back and forth while we got all the details set up. All equipment is included in the dive price – no need to haul your gear. The gear is nearly new, and well maintained, but the BCs I saw were not integrated.

 

This was a new island for me – we walked off the gangplank, maybe 75 feet through a little section of local shops, and we were on the dock – about a 3 minute walk from the ship to the pickup point. The Hurricane that went through last summer had done a fairly good job of tearing up the side of the dock area, and the island was having unprecedented wind from the wrong direction, so the harbor looked a bit like a washing machine. Kay and her two crew motored up to the dock area, and she came up onto the dock to take care of the paperwork while the crew figured out the best way to get all of us onto the boat. We ended up climbing first onto the ‘Pirates’ boat, and then from that boat onto the “Touch of Glass.” The center section of the boat is glass-bottom, so the boat can handle mixed dive/snorkel groups and sightseeing.

 

Note: when attempting a maneuver similar to this, take off your gear backpack. It’s quite entertaining for everyone to watch you stagger around. Luckily, the ‘Pirate’ that assisted me was a very strong fellow and kept me from doing any damage to myself or going for an early, unscheduled dive.

 

We had 7 divers total as one had become ill the evening before, and the boat was quite comfortable once we got ourselves and all our stuff distributed, as 5 of us had hauled complete gear. Unfortunately, as I mentioned previously, we had wind. Lots of wind. From the opposite direction as normal, which caused a wind tunnel effect down the island, and gave us a bit of a damp and bumpy ride to the first dive site. I had requested Anchor Reef, which turned out to be quite a distance up the coast. Kay’s crew did a superb job of keeping us as dry and comfortable as possible given the sea state.

 

When we arrived, the crew brought our BC’s and tanks over to the side in the front, and we shrugged in and flipped over the side. I descended to the sandy bottom, and started playing with hermit crabs and blennies and surfing in the surge under the anchor line. Two of our folks were having a little problem with their weight belts, and Kay did a great job of getting them sorted out and comfortable before they descended. When everyone got on the bottom, we followed Kay out onto the reef edge. It was a beautiful reef, but the viz was quite low and snotty (~35-40 ft) because the sea had everything stirred up. We took a tour all the way around the reef, and landed back at the starting point just as our heavy breathers were ready to go up. The rest of us tootled around on the reef edge for a bit before going up. I never even bothered turning on my camera for this one. I would sure love to go back when the water is good, though.

 

Kay had brought drinks and snacks, and we hung out for awhile nibbling and slurping, and the crew fellas changed over the tanks since we were at anchor in a protected spot. We then headed back south towards the ship to our second dive site. When we got to Kay’s planned site, the other dive operation on St. Vincent was already there, so Kay continued around the point to a dive called the Pinnacle. We hooked to a buoy, and I looked over the side down into a fairyland of colors and textures.

 

WAHOO! 100 foot viz! That’s more like it! I flopped off the boat so fast I didn’t even stop to click half my buckles, and had the camera warmed up and ready to go before I hit 10 feet. I added a new critter to my list – I had never seen pencil urchins before, and there were lots of them waggling at me. There were also lots of delicate brittle stars, and itty bitty shrimp, crabs and blennies in the folds of the sponges. What an incredibly awesome dive! Definitely in my top 10. I really didn’t want to come up, but eventually everyone else ran out of air, and we did have to get back to the ship.

 

When we returned to the dock, the security folks there allowed us to pull up to a little docking area inside the checkpoint to get off the boat, so we were sheltered from the wind by the ship, and were able to get off the boat without problems.

 

It was a wonderful day, and we hope to return and dive with Kay again!

 

Check out the photos at http://community.webshots.com/user/wendyandkeith

 

Wendy

 

Here's a little guy just lounging around