1 Month (June 2014) on St. Thomas

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The_Grrrrr

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Messages
12
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Location
Scottsdale, AZ
# of dives
50 - 99
I arrive on the island June 1 and will be telecommuting from my rented condo at Sapphire Beach for the first two weeks, then on vacation for the remainder of the month. Red Hook Dive Center has been strongly recommended by some friends who are local, and it's close to Sapphire Beach, so I'll probably go with them for the most part. I would like to do some BVI dives as well and I really want to do some wreck diving. I'm not exactly sure which sites are must-see and if I will need to use a couple of different operators in different areas to hit them all, so please advise if you have thoughts. I am new to diving, with only my certification dive under my belt, but am planning to get about 20-30 tanks in on this trip, and advance my skills around a few specialties like wrecks, night diving and photography as well as my AOW cert. I am pretty open to any suggestion as far as this trip goes, so fire away with ideas, thoughts and recommendations.

Thank you,

Matt
 
We rented a condo a little north of Sapphire Beach also so I'm a little familiar with the area. I second the Red Hook recommendation.

Carval Rock is a good site - reef starts at 15'. Congo Cay is a good alternative if you can't dive it (weather conditions). Cow/Calf Rocks is one of the signature sites south - both are pretty shallow. Grass Cay was OK also, turned into a shallow drift dive for us. Probably didn't ever get below 40' on that dive.

Coki Beach is also a shallow shore dive. Coki Dive is on-site there. We got caught in a wicked current one afternoon past the Coral World outfall pipes so don't do that. Unless you (like us) want to climb out and walk back. The Coki DM was just getting ready to get us with the jetski when we walked up. Forgot to tell us that could happen...

You can dive the Rhone in the BVI's with Low Key on St. John on Wedsneday. It's the signature BVI dive. Very interesting - about 70' max. Most is shallower. One of our group only had about 10 dives and she managed. Low Key Watersports - Diving in St. John, US Virgin Islands Bring your passport...

The ferries run early/late enough so you can do that all in one day. Even the car ferries if you have one. Need to reserve the 6AM ride. Virgin Islands Ferry Schedule

You could also drive into town one day and go out with Admiralty or Blue Island Divers. They're going to focus on sites SE of Charlotte Amalie that Red Hook may not normally get to. Lots of shallow wrecks in that area. http://www.blueislanddivers.com/02_sites/divesites.html
 
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Wow, thanks for the quick reply and the good info. Looks like Low Key Watersports has a lot to offer and will very likely play significantly into my plans. Great tip!
 
I was in St. Thomas for 10 days this past February and really enjoyed it. Beautiful island and the views are fantastic. I did 10 dives with Aqua Marine dive center. I loved it because they only take 6 divers max per trip and are a small very personable shop. I think you will get a real good variety of dives with the amount of diving you are doing, and the dive shop will take you where the weather is cooperating anyhow, so just go with their recommendations day by day depending on winds, etc. You will have a great trip!
 
Molly Malone's was a good bar in Red Hook. Sadly it may be gone - or at least their Facebook page is. You'll know when you get to Red Hook Dive - it's 20' away...
 
I recommend blue island divers for wrecks. These guys go to more different wrecks than any other S T op.

Plus it's right next to an after dive bar right on the crown bay marina dock. Also the mooring for the water taxi to Water Island and honeymoon beach!
 
Dove recently with Blue island Divers small outfit no cattleboats and really a great crew.

Stay away from underwater safari they are big with the cruise boats run cattle dives and personally cancelled my dive with no notice and worse no apology
 
Thanks for the tips everyone... The anticipation is building and only a couple days left before I leave. Can't wait! As an added bonus, US Airways managed to upgrade me all the way there based on my status. That never happens to me!
 
+ 1 for Aquq Marine! Wolf and Ana run a great operation, and safety and customer satisfaction are paramount. Enjoy your time on island.
 
I will be curious to hear of your dives and time staying on St Thomas, as I am in the process of trying to figure out where to live part of the year in the Caribbean, and the US Virgin Islands are on the short list to look into. We would like to visit St Thomas and St Croix next year and look around, to see which is the better option. Any thoughts you (or anyone else on the board) has about these 2 islands is greatly appreciated!
 
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