Discover scuba in St. Maarten

[uscgjoker]

We are planning the discover scuba through Carnival in St. Maarten. The reason is it says you can see shipwrecks. Granted we are not trained and have no desire to enter a shipwreck, but we think it would be something cool to see. Has anyone booked this dive and what did you think?

[lbrooks34]

Been diving to St. Maarten. Skip it. Enjoy the beautiful beaches instead. In my opinion, it is best to Discover Scuba at your local dive shop in a pool before discovering scuba in an ocean. St. Maarten is NOT a dive destination. That is, most divers do not book dive trips to St. Maarten, but prefer locations such as Cozumel and Grand Cayman.

[christoria]

Is it worth it to scuba in St. Thomas?

[uscgjoker]

Thanks for the input! I have discovered scuba in Play Del Carmen, and really enjoyed it. I could probably get my open water Cert by the time we go, but my wife wouldn't be able to. Thats why we would choose the one in ST Martin

[mrsfuzzmo]

We did a Discover Scuba in St. Maarten about 3 years ago. We did Orient Beach for a few hours first then off to DS. It was a VERY quick learn, about 20 minutes of simple instructions and then off on the boat to the dive site, which was just up the coast. We did our testing in the water, which took about 30 seconds each and then we were off. We dove to about 20' deep and it was fun, but not nearly as fun as snorkeling on a reef. There wasn't much to see there. Yes, it's supposed to be a wreck, but it was just a few pieces of old boat that were sunk there. An anchor, and a chain if I remember correctly and a few other things. We enjoyed it and are glad we did it, but have had many opportunities to do it again and have opted for other things.

 

I've also done a DD in St. Thomas at Coki Beach a few years earlier and it was much better there than in St. Maarten. Lot's more to see. Not telling you not to do it, just giving my opinion on the site.

[christoria]

Thank you. These posts have helped very much. I have decided to snorkel in St. John, off the catamaran.

[uscgjoker]

They have helped alot, Thankyou for your input

[Scorp100]

We've been snorkeling at Coki on 2 different cruise trips. Saw a spotted sting ray (don't know the correct name? leopard maybe) There is a lot of fish near the aquarium/reef there. We had a blast - you don't even need to get out of the water to be served a frosty beverage! Go early as the beach fills up - then go shopping later, if you had that on your agenda.

 

We also did Trunk Bay - it was "OK". Beach was beautiful, but snorkeling was just as good at Coki. Just our opinion. That was back in 1999.

 

Cheers!