Southern Caribbean Reference! Celebrity Cruise Ports Scuba info

[CaptainVacation]

Nice to "meet" you all!
My husband and I are new divers (open water certified Naui Sept 2014) and are traveling to the Caribbean on the Celebrity Eclipse (Nov 29, 2015). Here is info that I found regarding scuba. Disclaimer: these are my notes after checking trip advisor reviews, independent scuba company websites, scubadive.com, and scubaboard.com. I am just posting them here because it is a lot of work, and I was hoping to find such direction myself. I hope it helps you! So this info is for reference only! I have no connection or experience with any of these companies or dives.


Miami: embarkation port, didn't do much research here
TripAdvisor Diving Highly rated: southbeachdivers.com


Aruba: Antilla wreck and Pedemales torpedoed oil rig
TripAdvisor Highly Rated: HappyDiversAruba.com


Curacao: - one day in port some recommend: Directorsbay and Tugboat or Vaersenbay and Snakebay. Mushroom Forest and Alice in Wonderland (Playa Kalki) are supposedly boat dives and far from port. Superior Producer is a deep dive, which the cruise ship will be docked over. Some popular dives are overrated, so lesser known remote and secluded dive sites like Shon Mosa and No-name. Also available and accessible, underwater marine park coral reef in Puerto Mary, Sea Aquarium Park.
TripAdvisor Highly Rated: Bas Harts Diving


Grenada: Not so good as far as I can tell… drift diving, Wrecks - Bianca C, Veronica L, Shakem, Minesweeper (strong current - advanced?) Purple Rain on Carib side OR Shark Reef on Atlantic. Also, Underwater Sculptures Park scuba may be your thing.
TripAdvisor Highly rated: scubatech-grenada.com


Barbados: Not so good as far as I can tell… mostly shallow. Stavronikita 140’, Berwyn (Carlilse Bay) 25’
TripAdvisor Highly Rated: ecodivebarbados.com


St. Lucia: Not usually chosen as dive spot but good dives available!
mostly shallow (West coast) Virgin Cove, Rosamond Trench? Fairyland?
wall / Drift dives - Superman’s Flight under Pitons, Petite Piton?
wrecks - Lesleen @ Anse Cochon (Anse Chastanet Reef) in Soufriere
TripAdvisor highly rated: scubastevesdiving.com


Antigua: WIT Shoal (where?), Carvel Rock (too strong currents?), Grass and Mingo Cays (gentle sloping reef), Sail Rock, Salt River - East vs. West?


St. Kitts: 20 sites - near shore reefs, River Taw wreck, Paradise reef (Coral Canyon), Nevis Island - Western Shore and Channel diving
TripAdvisor highly rated: prodiversstkitts.com


St. Maarten: some say seas can be rough, some say diving not great, many say skip
Proselyte Ship wreck from 1801 Shallow dive
TripAdvisor highly rated: scubafundivecenter.com


Some of these blogs / companies / country tourist websites have more info (and some dive maps) available on their websites. However, companies say that it is hard for them to guarantee diving at specific sites due to weather and other conditions.


Most of these dive companies rates range from $95 - $140 per 2 tank dives based on equipment rental, etc. Some dive companies will pick up / drop off at the cruise terminal.


Good luck!
Mandy

 

[diversteve]

Your Antigua listing is actually for St. Thomas - Antigua is a completely different island farther south. Wit Shoal is a known wreck/dive site south of Charlotte Amalie - the main town and cruise port.

Porto Mari on Curacao is actually just a dive site like the others you listed there. Plus the Sea Aquarium is like a small SeaWorld - the only "dive" there is a snorkel for the kids. There's a perspex window in the tank with small holes in it so they can feed the turtles/sharks on the other side. Mushroom Forest is a boat only dive due to the cliffs nearby but Alice in Wonderland is about the best shore dive on Curacao IMO. And 45mins. drive from the port.

If you don't see this within the 24 hr. edit window to make the corrections, contact me or any Moderator to do so.

I've also taken the liberty of moving this post to the Cruises forum.

 

[robint]

Trip Advisor is for non-divers to find trip information. ScubaBoard is the place to find information for DIVERS. If you go up on the board, there are HUGE forums for each destination, full of information about each place and diving there. Don't waste your time with Trip Advisor for a dive trip review.

 

[flots am]

Curacao: "Superior Producer is a deep dive, which the cruise ship will be docked over. "

It's unlikely that you would get to dive anywhere near the ship. It's a restricted area because they don't want anybody screwing with the ship and don't want the ship to turn anybody into chum.

Curacao: Highly Rated: Bas Harts Diving

I've never used them, but like The Dive Bus quite a bit. Last time I cheked, tanks and weights were ~$20 or so.

> Grenada: Not so good as far as I can tell…

Grenada was OK. Not spectacular, but if I was already there, I'd certain do a few dives.

St. Kitts: 20 sites - near shore reefs, River Taw wreck, Paradise reef (Coral Canyon), Nevis Island - Western Shore and Channel diving
TripAdvisor highly rated: prodiversstkitts.com

My favorite is Dive St. Kitts, and they have some really nice, easy diving right near the shop, so you don't even need a long (or any) boat ride if you don't want one.