Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten & St. Thomas

[spiderwilliams]

We are looking for some current info on scuba & snorkel in Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten & St. Thomas for Dec 2012. DH is an experienced scuba diver and I love to snorkel. This is our 6th Caribbean Cruise, and we would like to try and book our own excursions instead of using the ships services. Any suggestions of tour operators would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for the advice!

 

[diversteve]

On Curacao maybe the Dive Bus. They have a cruise program for shore diving near their location. It's also a good snorkeling site (Pierbaai). Maybe a 5-10min. cab ride from the cruise port. Cruise Ship Passengers

Another option might be the 1-tank afternoon Ocean Encounters combo snorkel/dive. Snorkel Trips | Ocean Encounters Diving Curacao The main OE shop is just past the Dive Bus location, for the Varsenbaai trip you'd have to make your way to the Hilton in Piscadera Bay. From the cruise dock - 15? mins... Of the 4 dives, my 2 choices would be Varsenbaai or the Tugboat - for both diving and snorkeling. If you get to Varsenbaai there's turtles feeding in 6' south of the dock - the mgr. said they live there.

One option on St. Thomas might be Blue Island Divers. If they were diving Flat Cay you could snorkel there also - the reef starts around 15-20'. There's other sites nearby where that's possible - a lot of St. Thomas diving is shallower but IDK which. They'll pick you up off the WICO dock with their boat, if your ship moors at Crown Point, you can walk to their shop. Cruise Ship Divers

moved to the Cruise sub-forum