St. Kitts Recommendations

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Scubagal

Contributor
Messages
470
Reaction score
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Location
Omaha, NE
# of dives
500 - 999
Looking for recommendations for a dive trip for our scuba club to St. Kitts in 2021. Any input is appreciated!
  • Bird Rock Beach Resort diving with Dive St. Kitts
  • Sugar Bay Club diving with Kenneth's Dive Center
  • Marriott St. Kitts diving with Pro Divers St. Kitts
 
Dived with Pro Divers St Kitts a couple of years ago and they were very good. Visited Ona cruise ship so was just for one day/two tanks but impressed with their service and safety.
 
Hopefully you are not traveling to St. Kitts specifically to dive. I did two days of diving there and was somewhat disappointed. I also discovered nitrox is nonexistent, so unless something has changed over the last year you will probably be diving air. I apologize for my negativity and sincerely hope your experience will be better than mine.
 
Have you considered a liveaboard trip for your dive club or are there non-divers in the group? We did the Caribbean Explorer trip and dived both Saba and St. Kitts. We enjoyed the Saba diving better but a lot depends on what you want to do topside if you take a land-based trip. There's only one tiny, remote, black sand beach on Saba, but there is a rain forest at the top of the island.
 
Austin at pro divers was great. I dove with him 3days prior to getting on the Caribbean explorer. He allowed me to bring a spear for lion fish culling as well. He also picks up at hotels and drops off afterwards.
 
Looking for recommendations for a dive trip for our scuba club to St. Kitts in 2021. Any input is appreciated!
  • Bird Rock Beach Resort diving with Dive St. Kitts
  • Sugar Bay Club diving with Kenneth's Dive Center
  • Marriott St. Kitts diving with Pro Divers St. Kitts
I will leave others to comment on the dive shops (only fair I think).
But I will comment on the hotels you mention.
These are 3 very different standards of hotel, this is reflected in the prices / location / facilities.
You are not comparing "eggs with eggs" here.
The Marriott and Sugar Bay Club are in the heart of Frigate Bay with the bars and restaurants within walking distance.
Bird Rock beach really means a taxi ride to anywhere outside the hotel.
You might also want to consider Timothy Beach Resort (who do dive packages) which is actually on Frigate bay "Strip" and Ocean Terrace Inn does dive packages (But this is on the edge of town).
 
I can't speak to the diving. Visited on a cruise ship stop. As a cruise port, it's got excursions so topside should offer some non-diving things to do. Fairview Great House was kind of neat, but I preferred the grounds of Romney Manor for lush, attractive vegetation. The 'pose with a monkey' thing seems popular and can be fun. It's a hilly island and scenic.

Fairview Great House:

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Romney Manor grounds
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Topside:
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Monkey shot with our daughter:
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Thank you for the responses. I should have provided more details. We typically have non-divers in our group so a liveaboard won't work. I realize the hotels are not apples to apples but was hoping someone who had stayed at one or more could share their experience. We were looking for a destination that we can get to with a single connection from our area. Many in our group have already been to the following destinations, some multiple times: Bahamas, Bonaire, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cozumel, Curacao, Grenada, Roatan/Utila, St. Lucia, St. Martin, and Turks & Caicos. We realize St. Kitts isn't necessarily known for diving, just hoping for something different topside. Thanks again.
 
St Kitts is a beautifully scenic island especially for individuals that have mostly visited “flat” caribbean destinations. We were there for a conference at the Marriott but did not stay there. I can tell you that the resort was lovely, clean and well maintained.

Like many of the caribbean islands there is obvious poverty.

Rent a car and tour the island including Brimstone Hill Fortress and Romney Manor ^^^. They drive on the wrong side of the road :p but the roads are fairly simple (not a lots of round a bouts, etc). Consider hiking the volcano. At 60 I decided not too but if a few years younger...

Definitely drive to the south end of the island. Absolutely breathtaking vista and make sure to do the crossing for a day touring Saba.

Expect and plan for long lines at the airport for your return flight. Make sure you watch out the plane window both times for the view of the volcanic islands in that area.
 
We stayed at the Marriott for a couple nights before boarding the Explorer. The Marriott was nice and pretty much exactly what you would expect from a Caribbean Marriott on the beach. We did it for some beach & umbrella drink time and didn’t dive with a local op. Wasn’t impressed with the dives we did around there from the Explorer, no idea if going with a local op would have provided anything better. (Sometimes the case if a LOB is limited by which moorings can handle it.) There are some interesting sights on land.

Hard to imagine picking St Kitts for a trip for a dive club but sounds like you’re looking for a new place and you’ve hit most of the usual suspects. There’s other interesting little islands out there but one connection makes it harder, or even 2 if they’re reasonable. Have you looked into St Croix? Barbados?
 
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