St. Martin or nowhere - Diving???

[kmcg8r]

OK I need some opinions!! We leave this Saturday on Liberty of the Seas which stops in St. Martin, Labadee, and San Juan. If we dove, the only option would be St. Martin. I have read thread after thread regarding diving in St. Martin and am torn because none sound THAT great! I see a lot of posts which say the diving is awful, no visibility, etc. but then some that say it was good. This will be my 3rd dive since certification and my boyfriend's 1st since he got certified. We would book directly with the cruise line (RCCL) for this particular excursion for $132. For those who have dove in St. Martin, what time of year did you go and what were your opinions? This would be on Feb 3. I am hoping that those who did not enjoy it much went at a different time of year!

 

We both really want to go, he completed certification specifically for this reason. But reading some of these posts have made me more hesitant.

 

Please share your thoughts!!!

 

Thanks!

[jamga02]

Hello! I have not dove St. Maarten, but I think you should remember that diving in the Caribbean is usually so much better than anywhere local to the states! And how many times do you get to go on a cruise and/or dive somewhere warm! Go ahead and book it, because if you know you will probably regret it!

[TheVegasMan]

I dove with Aqua Mania in July 2008, the diving in St. Maarten was good. The visibility was 50-60 feet, water was warm and the people were very friendly. Click on the link for a short video of a St. Maarten turtle. There are other dive videos I and others have posted on www.youtube.com if you use the search function.

 

 

My video is all blue as I didn't have a red filter when those videos were taken.

[bruce-r]

I hate to say this, but for someone wanting to scuba dive while on a cruise, you make an unfortunate choice for your cruise.

 

The thing about diving in St. Maarten is that just about all the dive sites are out in the open ocean which means that the diving conditions are totally dependant on the conditions the day you are there. If there are large ocean swells, as there was the day I was there, diving conditions will be marginal and getting back into the boat will be much less than ideal.

[Dive Master]

I agree with Bruce---not a good cruise choice for diving.I have been to St. Martin on 3 occasions and each time the water has been rough.The better dive sites are in the open ocean.Not an idea situation for your first dives.That being said, I did enjoy diving there.HMS Proselyte is an interesting wreck and the shark dive was pretty good. Make sure to take something for seasickness (I wear the patch) and take a safety sausage to signal the boat. The last time I was there we about had a mutiny on the boat because I wanted to do the second dive.Most divers were very sick and just wanted off the boat--I paid darn good money and I wanted my second dive.Even some of the DM's were sick. I think I pretty much did Proselyte reef by myself and I made sure to stay down as long as possible--I know that was bad of me !!!!

[gmcrow]

We were in St. Maarten in December. Vis was bad, 15-20 feet, but the water was flat calm. It was a beautiful day and we still enjoyed the dives, as did a young couple doing their 3rd and 4the dives since certification. The previous year we had vis around 40 feet and had wonderful dives that included finding an octopus out in the open and a seahorse. Just the opportunity to be in the water is good enough for us. St. Maarten probably has a greater tendency toward less than perfect dives than many ports, but imperfect dive conditions can happen anywhere. I couldn't go all that way, spend all that money, and NOT dive. http://www.cruisedivers.blogspot.com

[kmcg8r]

Yeah, I guess it was done a little backwards on my part. We didn't plan the cruise to go diving, but it just fell into place that way with the deal that we found and the dates available. Our next cruise we will plan better I guess!

 

Thanks for the info. I am now leaning more towards not going. Any other opinions out there?

[scubaran]

Yeah, I guess it was done a little backwards on my part. We didn't plan the cruise to go diving, but it just fell into place that way with the deal that we found and the dates available. Our next cruise we will plan better I guess!

 

Thanks for the info. I am now leaning more towards not going. Any other opinions out there?

 

Yep, depends if you take lemons or make lemonaide. In my case, there's 3ft of snow on the ground and it was -14F when I walked the dog this morning. Short of a hurricane I'd probably get wet and dive. $132 may sound expensive but you signed up for a sport that requires 1,000s of dollars in equipment. You'll want to fill up those log books eventually and you won't develop good diving skills on the balcony of a ship. So if you feel comfortable (and you should work with the boat divemaster), my opinion is to go for it. However, if it seems like you're putting a square peg in a round hole or it all seems too overwhelming don't. And if you decide to dive but find yourself over your head when you get in the ocean, don't be embarrased, just get back to the boat. We've all been there and done that. BTW, my first dives after my certification (many years ago) was a shore entry wreck dive with underwater scooters. It was difficult at first but I got the swing of it all before 1/2 way through the dive. Let the group know what you decided and if you go, be sure to report back how you did.

 

Happy sailing (I cruise in two weeks (with a dive in Grand Turk)) :D,

Randall

[TheVegasMan]

Randall,

 

I hear the diving in Grand Turk is great. I didn't get a chance to dive there, I snorkeled instead. But some people on my boat said the diving in Grand Turk was better than St. Thomas, where I found this

and

.

 

Joe

[scubaran]

Randall,

 

I hear the diving in Grand Turk is great. I didn't get a chance to dive there, I snorkeled instead. But some people on my boat said the diving in Grand Turk was better than St. Thomas, where I found this

and

.

 

Joe

 

Yep, my third time diving there. Lots of life, good reefs and a great dive company. :) I'm actually going to both ports this time but the wife gave me a choice of diving only one so of course I took GT.

 

R

[bruce-r]

I hear the diving in Grand Turk is great. I didn't get a chance to dive there, I snorkeled instead. But some people on my boat said the diving in Grand Turk was better than St. Thomas

Believe them.