Anybody dove St. Barts?

[korikancha]

Hi! My wife and I are planning a trip to St. Barts (St. Barthelemy) in January. She is a very novice diver, and I have only a year experience (although quite a year!). I was wondering whether anybody in the forum had experience diving in St. Barts and could comment on that? Thanks!

 

[CSD1129]

Hey!
I dove in St.Barts about two years ago. The diving isn't hard...and pretty shallow (About 50 feet).

I dove with West Indies Dive. I liked them, nice boat, staff, etc. The diving in Saint Barts is pretty similar to Sint Maarten (They're 17 miles apart). It's not worldclass diving, but its better than home!

St.Barts is such an awesome place. I stayed at Emauraude Plage in 2004. The Hotel was nice (located close to nikki beach) We didn't stay a whole week...just a night (we were staying in Sint Maarten for two weeks). I really enjoyed riding around the island, shopping, etc. St.Barts seems so much more French than the French Side of St.Martin.

Enjoy your trip!
-Christine

 

[korikancha]

Hey!
I dove in St.Barts about two years ago. The diving isn't hard...and pretty shallow (About 50 feet).

I dove with West Indies Dive. I liked them, nice boat, staff, etc. The diving in Saint Barts is pretty similar to Sint Maarten (They're 17 miles apart). It's not worldclass diving, but its better than home!

St.Barts is such an awesome place. I stayed at Emauraude Plage in 2004. The Hotel was nice (located close to nikki beach) We didn't stay a whole week...just a night (we were staying in Sint Maarten for two weeks). I really enjoyed riding around the island, shopping, etc. St.Barts seems so much more French than the French Side of St.Martin.

Enjoy your trip!
-Christine

Thanks! My wife and I chose St. Barts (never been there...) because we thought she would enjoy the shopping, restaurants, etc, between dives (she is not as crazy about diving as I am ). From your post, it looks like we made a good choice! I will enjoy the restaurants, but the shopping is another matter...

I think we will enjoy the relaxed diving, even if it is not the best reef... I am used to diving in the Northeast (well, getting used to...) and she needs a slow, relaxed dive experience, so St. Barts will be pretty good for us...

 

[CSD1129]

Thanks! My wife and I chose St. Barts (never been there...) because we thought she would enjoy the shopping, restaurants, etc, between dives (she is not as crazy about diving as I am ). From your post, it looks like we made a good choice! I will enjoy the restaurants, but the shopping is another matter...

I think we will enjoy the relaxed diving, even if it is not the best reef... I am used to diving in the Northeast (well, getting used to...) and she needs a slow, relaxed dive experience, so St. Barts will be pretty good for us...

SXB is really a great place. I'm also a northeast diver (hey we're practically neighbors I'm from NJ!)so compared to the cold and the lack of viz, diving is great! St. Barts was some nice, relaxing diving. I really enjoyed it.

Shopping is great! (Or maybe you don't want to hear that ) If you aren't into shopping you should check out "Le Select" (Aka Cheeseburger in paradise). Its a nice bar/restuarant situated in Gustavia (by a lot of stores). It's a nice place to relax with a drink/lunch. It's a well shaded area (thanks to a bunch of beautiful old trees!).

I wish I were going back! Have an excellent trip.

 

[korikancha]

SXB is really a great place. I'm also a northeast diver (hey we're practically neighbors I'm from NJ!)so compared to the cold and the lack of viz, diving is great! St. Barts was some nice, relaxing diving. I really enjoyed it.

Shopping is great! (Or maybe you don't want to hear that ) If you aren't into shopping you should check out "Le Select" (Aka Cheeseburger in paradise). Its a nice bar/restuarant situated in Gustavia (by a lot of stores). It's a nice place to relax with a drink/lunch. It's a well shaded area (thanks to a bunch of beautiful old trees!).

I wish I were going back! Have an excellent trip.

Thanks for the good wishes! I am sure we will enjoy the trip! I will (try to remember to) let you know how it went when (if?) we get back (but that is sometime in January...)

Where do you dive up here? I (try to) go often to Dutch Springs, in PA, for practice, and started going out on boats (only twice so far :sad: ) to some of the local wrecks (the Iberia on the "Eagle's Nest" and the Pinta on the "Jeanne II").

 

[CSD1129]

I haven't been to dutch in over a year...but that's my local destination. It's great this time of the year (no one's up there!). I'm trying to get up there before it closes. I've been doing more caribbean diving than Dutch Springs lately (and I'm not complaining ). I spent two weeks in Sint Maarten in August...got 9 dives in.

DS isn't great but I've done some good dives there. I hate the silver commet. All the instructors make fun of me, but it's too cold there!

I like wreck diving...thinking about getting wreck certified but I want to wait it out. I also want to do rescue and eventually Dive Master.

 

[korikancha]

I haven't been to dutch in over a year...but that's my local destination. It's great this time of the year (no one's up there!). I'm trying to get up there before it closes. I've been doing more caribbean diving than Dutch Springs lately (and I'm not complaining ). I spent two weeks in Sint Maarten in August...got 9 dives in.

DS isn't great but I've done some good dives there. I hate the silver commet. All the instructors make fun of me, but it's too cold there!

I like wreck diving...thinking about getting wreck certified but I want to wait it out. I also want to do rescue and eventually Dive Master.

Hi! We came back from St Barth a couple of weeks ago, and have been missing it since!
As you said, the diving was not great, but it wasn't bad either. We dove with Plongee Caraibes, based in Gustavia. Unfortunately the weather was a little rough (it was very windy all week), and my wife didn't feel too well on the boat, so we got only three dives. The last one was the best, as we went to a place they considered "not for beginners" (they had OW people on the other dives), and we saw a monster lobster (really, even accounting for the water distortion, it seemed HUGE!).