St Croix Anniversary Trip Oct 2020

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Dove St Croix from a liveaboard many years back, but our experience was that the pier was neat because there are many critters coming out like lobster and octopus and dives were forever because of shallow depth but the rest of the dives on that side were underwhelming (not many fish, groups of coral heads but otherwise not a lot). Cane Bay side was much better with lots of coral and more critters. We saw hammerhead shark.

You might have more time to visit other sites on the pier side but that was our experience.
 
I just read yesterday that USVIs are reverting to phase 2 COVID-19 precautions.

“Beginning Monday, August 17, 2020, all non-essential businesses and churches are ordered to cease operations and the public is ordered to stay at home unless shopping for food, seeking medical services, or conducting core life services”

Are the islands still open to tourism? @mwall04 can you please comment if you are still on the island?
We aren't scheduled until October. Hopefully we'll be able to get there
 
We aren't scheduled until October. Hopefully we'll be able to get there
I hope you can make it! Good luck.
I would make contingencies on how to get a PCR COVID test result back within 5-7 days, as if they open back up, I suspect, they will continue to require that.
 
I just read yesterday that USVIs are reverting to phase 2 COVID-19 precautions.

“Beginning Monday, August 17, 2020, all non-essential businesses and churches are ordered to cease operations and the public is ordered to stay at home unless shopping for food, seeking medical services, or conducting core life services”

Are the islands still open to tourism? @mwall04 can you please comment if you are still on the island?

Sorry for the delayed response.

I can confirm we (the entire US Virgin Islands) are in the middle of a mandatory, 2 week “stay at home” order from our Governor due to COVID. The current order expires next Monday, but it subject to extensions if the number of infections here don’t start to drop. Besides closing all non-essential businesses, there are also significant restrictions on tourism. From my understanding, all hotel and AirBnb reservations during this period starting last Wednesday were canceled for tourists and they were restricted from taking new reservations. On top of that, we’ve had travel rules in place for about a month for travelers from states with high COVID positivity rates that required proof of negative tests within several days of travel or face a 14 day quarantine.

We get updates twice a week (Monday and Thursday) from the Governor on COVID, so hopefully some of these restrictions will be pulled back soon. I don’t think we are worse off than other areas, but since we do receive a lot of travelers and don’t have many large medical facilities, caution is appropriate. We (St. Croix) did have an outbreak of cases last month due to a number of workers coming into the states for our refinery). About the time that was past, St. Thomas had a large outbreak. I suspect (only my opinion), our “Stay at Home” order will be extended past next Monday until our number of new daily positive test results declines. However, I don’t see it as a persistent issue and the government and population take it seriously.

For those that have fall reservations, I wouldn’t be anymore concerned about travel here than anywhere else. I would just keep up to date on where we are at with cases and restrictions.
 
Just checking into Scubaboard after a short break while we were moving and noticed this post. My wife and I recently moved to St. Croix, so if you have more questions or need more input, let me know.
let me know if you have any questions or need any recommendations.

Oh, I definitely am going to bookmark this! I'm a professor and have learned that my college has decided that we will not do in-person classes in Spring 2021, but remain online. For that reason I was exploring the idea of doing an extended stay in St. Croix at minimum for a month.

It's just me, a 47 year old woman (and if I decide to stay more than one month I'd bring my pup.) So I'm not going to have any dive buddies down there initially. I was wondering if the pier is anything like diving the Blue Heron Bridge in Rivera Beach, Florida where it's easy for people to meet other folks for diving -- so many people do the shore dives there that you meet people quickly.

I was hoping to do some re-con over a long weekend in October, but I guess I'll have to play it by ear and watch what your governor says about "stay at home" orders.
 
Oh, I definitely am going to bookmark this! I'm a professor and have learned that my college has decided that we will not do in-person classes in Spring 2021, but remain online. For that reason I was exploring the idea of doing an extended stay in St. Croix at minimum for a month.

It's just me, a 47 year old woman (and if I decide to stay more than one month I'd bring my pup.) So I'm not going to have any dive buddies down there initially. I was wondering if the pier is anything like diving the Blue Heron Bridge in Rivera Beach, Florida where it's easy for people to meet other folks for diving -- so many people do the shore dives there that you meet people quickly.

I was hoping to do some re-con over a long weekend in October, but I guess I'll have to play it by ear and watch what your governor says about "stay at home" orders.

We are officially back open for business in the US Virgin Islands. The only restriction is you must have proof of a negative COVID test within 5 days (I think) of travel or a positive antibody test within the past 6 months. Otherwise you need a test when you arrive or face a 14 day quarantine.

It is relatively easy to meet other divers. The pier is a good place and Cane Bay is another where numbers of shore divers congregate.
 
We are officially back open for business in the US Virgin Islands. The only restriction is you must have proof of a negative COVID test within 5 days (I think) of travel or a positive antibody test within the past 6 months. Otherwise you need a test when you arrive or face a 14 day quarantine.

It is relatively easy to meet other divers. The pier is a good place and Cane Bay is another where numbers of shore divers congregate.

Thanks for the info! It sounds like all the dive outfits in the Frederiksted are reputable? I've not read anything negative about any of them -- any one that locals like to support more than others? (I've encountered places where the locals refuse to get their tanks filled because those outfits are the only ones that fill for known poachers, or bad owners, etc.)
 
Thanks for the info! It sounds like all the dive outfits in the Frederiksted are reputable? I've not read anything negative about any of them -- any one that locals like to support more than others? (I've encountered places where the locals refuse to get their tanks filled because those outfits are the only ones that fill for known poachers, or bad owners, etc.)
I’ve never heard anything negative about any of the dive operations on the island.
 
I am curious about the pier, have heard a great deal and looking to visit soon.

What about folks fishing line/hooks, doesn't that pose a problem?

I ask as the website stated there are many folks fishing the pier.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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