BVI Diving Advice

[yakivet]

I am planning on cruising the BVI in July.. this is our second trip to the BVI but my first time diving there. We’re renting our own boat so we have some flexibility… however, of the 8 of us going, only two are divers (a few others will snorkel). I’m trying to work in at least 3 dives…. I know I wanna dive the Rhone but want to choose two other dives that fit into our tentative schedule. Our group has a tentative itinerary by day as follows:

1. Day 1 leave St Thomas
2. Tortola (BVI check-in) and then on to Jost.. we may stop at Cane Garden in here somewhere
3. Anegada
4. Dogs and then anchor @ Virgin Gorda
5. Cruise along the southern islands and moor at Roadtown
6. St John
7. Head back to St Thomas

Now my questions:

1. What other two dives should we prioritize?
2. For all three dives, can anyone recommend dive shops/locations?
3. Our schedule is only tentative… do I absolutely need to make reservations with the shops prior to the trip (I will probably contact them ahead of time and directly ask them the same question)?

I realize that it might make more sense to dive the Rhone while the boat is in Tortola since it seems most of the dive shops are there (although I think there is one on Peter Island). I’m just looking for any practical advice that will help with planning and/or make it more enjoyable…….

Thank you in advance… I can’t wait!!!!!!

Looks like your getting some great advice, and some fantastic pics of the Rhone. My wife and I stayed in Tortola and dove for 10 days in 2003. We dove with Blue Water Divers http://www.bluewaterdiversbvi.com/ Each day we'd leave Nanny Caye on Tortola and dive. Many trips we'd rendezvous with other boats and pick up divers for the day. Their boats were fast, their Dive Masters very attentive, and their boats were on time. Ken :42:

 

[sail4hire]

Hello from the BVI's! I'm working a sailing charter cat down here this season, and my advice is don't plan too much in advance. Certainly where you want to go and when. Right now it's blowing 25knots out of the NE and gusting to 30, with a heavy North swell running. So places like Cane Garden Bay are way out of control....
the dive shops down here run a little bit on island time. i would try and get in touch with them when you clear in to the islands and can get an idea of what the weather is like.
Sail Caribbean Divers is indeed a good outfit and visits the Rhone quite frequently. Though I have been caught with a class of Discoverey Scuba students who cannot go below 40'. The divemaster worked with me, but we did not go anywhere near the bow. If you have not been on the Rhone, you should go take a look. You can do it off your own vessel, while your snorkeling friends can also have a look. But you will get a lot more from it if you go with a local outfit. Even if you rendezvous off your boat at the site.
Another option is one called UBS Divers. They run a couple of small powerboats that do rendezvous diving and are very reasonable. They can pick you up somewhere and take you for a very good dive nearby while your friends enjoy your boat and nearby snorkeling. Feel free to PM me for more info...... Glenn

 

[VGdiver]

I don't think you can go wrong when diving in the BVI. The Rhone always has something new for you to see (hammerhead last July), whales (right now) and an amazing variety of color and life. I've got 100s of dives on the Rhone and it never gets old.

Jeff

 

[huskychemist]

Dove the Rhone in December...it was a GREAT dive. (Of course, I'm only on dive 45...but it was a dive site I want to get back to.) I went with Sail Caribbean Divers, they've been mentioned before. They were a top notch outfit. I'd dive with them again in a second.

There are mooring buoys by the Rhone for private vessels...so you don't have to be with a charter, but I'm guessing you'll see more that way. The surf was quite big the day I was there, so snorkeling would have been tough for novices (like me...I was uncomfortable on the surface, felt better once I descended) but there were people snorkeling from one of the boats there.

Just my $.02

 

[Gregz]

I just dove the Rhone about 10 days ago. I was on a sailing cruise around the islands for a week with my soon to be wife and friends. We only got 3 dives in on the week, but as some have mentioned, the snorkeling around the islands is incredible. The first dive we did was the Rhone bow section (85 ft). Visibility was easily 80 ft. + as there was a current that was in. Fish life was incredible and the coral, etc. on the boat was amazing. We penetrated the bow as someone else mentioned and I wouldn't advise doing it unless you have someone who has done that before. Not that big of a deal, but pretty dark... super exciting. The pictures that ScubaGal posted are dead-on! That school of fish in the photos was there two weeks ago and keeps getting attacked by bigger fish which force the school to burst (fantastic shots). Our second dive was at Coral Gardens (30-50 ft) which was tranquil and beautiful to say the least. There is apparently an airplane there, but our divemaster was unable to find it (no big deal, the sea life down there was so worth it). We had planned to do a dive at I think Diamond Cove or something, but the vis wasn't so good so we instead went back to the Rhone (two of our friends had to back-out of the first dive). The second time down we didn't penetrate it as before, instead exploring things like the glass port window (that was mentioned before - really cool), a silver spoon stuck under two massive parts of the ship, the prop, etc... there's a lot of ship, but remember, it's the carribean... and it went down in the late 1800's... Horrific story one must look up. The passengers were all tied down to their beds in the storm which is why they died!

Anyway, I absolutely loved the dives and will be posting some pictures soon. I used the disposable cameras (I didn't want to risk ruining my brand new Canon SD550 on this trip and glad I didn't). The disposable worked, but most of the picture quality at 80 feet was poor... Those pictures above are great!

Greg

 

[chester]

I just wanted to thank everyone for the advice... most of my ttime during the past few weeks has gone into planning my trip for next weekend to Key Largo and Crystal River (diving 2/23, 2/24, and 2/26 in Largo with SilentWorld and on 2/26 with Capt. John @ Crsytal River). But I really do appreciate all of the info you each have provided...

For the BVI trip (based on advice given here), we've decided to utilize the rendevous service when we get there (how cool is that?)... but still haven't determined which shops and which dives to do yet. But I have decided to include the Rhone... I just can't go there and not dive that one. So, I still need to pick the 3 or 4 other dives (and the lds').... I will be looking for more info as the trip nears (it's in July/August)... I'm really excited about returning to (and finally diving) the BVI's.

Thanks again everyone! This board is sooo cool. :14:

 

[VGdiver]

Chester,

Be sure to check with us when get closer to Virgin Gorda. During the summer months, there is a better than not chance that we can get you out to the Chikuzen. I've been able to take folks out there 7 times in the last 3 months. Before this, I've only done it 4 times. Dove it yesterday morning and enjoyed eagle rays, cobia, pompano, and hundreds of barracuda. We even saw a humpback whale breaching on the way out!

We try to do the Chikuzen on Thursdays and Fridays out of our VG shops.

Jeff

 

[LBR]

We dove the Rhone last week and thought it was an amazing dive, the best day dive while we were there. Great vis and tons of fish life. I'll be posting a more detailed report of our trip sometime soon.

 

[Nitrodog]

Out of Tortola, Blond Rock, Painted Walls and Alice in Wonderland are supposed to be good as well.

 

[asoares]

Diving the BVI is great. Although I dont scuba I freedive. Check out Dive BVI dive center. Dive sites? The Rhone, Invisibles, Chikuzen, and beach reef diving from Anegada, thats where Im from. http://www.divebvi.com/dive_sites.htm When in Anegada, dine at Neptunes Treasure for the best broiled lobster with lemon butter sauce on the island!!! Call ahead before 4:30pm for reservations on vhf 16.