Diving St. Martin

[mzhibbs]

We may be considering diving while in St. Martin next Oct. I orginally planned to do the ship's dive in Nassau but it seems it's no longer being offered on the Mariner. Any advise as to dive opperators and diving experience here.

Thanks!

[Hilary]

I have yet to hear enough good about diving in St. Martin to make me want to do it. There are such gorgeous beaches there and so many other things to do, that diving falls by the wayside. The thing I hear consistently is that the diving is typically out in the ocean and subject to current and surge. The reefs aren't reported to be in great shape, so the diving on other islands is considered superior.

[bruce-r]

I did the ship's dive there in Dec. 2000. The dive op was Dive Safaris, an OK operator. The diving, however, left a lot to be desired. All the sites are in the open ocean, so you are at the ocean's mercy. For me, the ocean wasn't kind. 6-8 ft swell, poor vis, and a strong surge even at 55ft. I wouldn't dive there again unless the ocean was dead flat calm, and even then I wouldn't expect much. YMMV of course.