Caribbean cruise tour... I need some dive recommendations!!

[Cohoona]

Hey all!


One of my college buddies and myself (both divers) are taking a cruise out of Puerto Rico on the 10th of Feb. and we are looking for some suggestions for which places to dive. This seemed like a great idea, as: 1. cruises are awesome, lots of variety! 2. I have never been to any of the islands that we are stopping at, so I can get an idea of where I might want to come back to. I think of it like a sampler platter and 3. It's the caribbean, and for the $$$ it should be fun.

So here's my delima. We will probably end up doing a 2 tank dive on 3 of the islands, but since I have never been to any of them I dont know which ones I should book. We are both bringing our own dive gear (dont try to talk me out of this one) and both of us are AOW.

One thing I have reservations about is booking through Royal Caribbean, because some times it may not be the best dive, and it is just through whoever has a partnership with the cruiseline. So dive op recommendations are appreciated as well.


Here's the list of ports:

San Juan, PR (probably will not dive here, just tour the bacardi distillery and bum around)
St. Croix
St. Maarten
St. Johns, Antigua
St. Lucia
Barbados

If by any chance anyone is on this cruise as well, hit me up!

Kyle

 

[SOFDiver]

Best dive location on your list is St. Maarten, but diving there will likely cause you to miss a trip to the nude beaches on the French side of the island. Barbados is also nice. Conditions at St. Croix can be a problem at times due to currents. I have booked dives through cruise lines and on my own, considering your ports don't know if you can do better on your own. Remember, if you are booked through the cruise line they won't leave you behind if the trip runs late.

 

[stcroixscuba]

Of the islands you've named I would do St. Croix, St. Lucia, and then maybe St. Maarten, in that order. In the name of disclosure I will mention that I own a dive shop on St. Croix so I have vested interest in you choosing our island, not on in the hope that you'll choose us, but also in knowing that with whomever you choose to dive with you're going to be blown away by how good the diving is and hopefully be back here on Scubaboard to tell everyone about it.

St. Croix has walls and a very healthy reef system (the largest living reef of any of the Caribbean islands and the second longest barrier reef in the Caribbean). St. Lucia also have very good diving and I love the beaches on the french side of St. Martin.

Despite the mention of currents, in reality that's something that almost never happens here and when it does it is seldom a very strong current.

You are smart to book your diving independently of the ship as you’ll save money and have much better diving.

We have two custom dive boats available for you. Both are fully U.S. Coast Guard inspected vessels.

Our west end dive boat Scuba Dos departs from directly off of the cruise ship pier at 9:30am and 1:00pm for two tank dives along the west end wrecks and reefs. You will be in sight of the cruise ship at all times if that's something that worries you. The west shore is the leeward side of the island so it's almost always flat calm there and all dive sites are 15 minutes or less from the pier.

Our north shore dive boat Reliance departs the Christiansted Boardwalk (about 30 minutes from the Pier) at 9:30a on cruise ship days (normally 8:30am) for a two-tank dive trip along the wall and reefs. Shuttles to Christiansted from the ship typically run around $16. That trip returns around 1pm'ish which gives you plenty of time to get back to the ship. You'll even have time to have an adult beverage and lunch on the Boardwalk before heading back.

If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to let me know. I want to do whatever I can to help you plan a wonderful day of diving on St. Croix.

 

[Tool Belt]

Don't miss St Croix. I have dove St. Croix, St Marten and Barbados. Of those three ST C was easily the best, Barbados the worst. ST M was ok.

 

[jimbodives]

Hey Kyle,
We did a cruise out of San Juan in Jan (before I was OW certified ) and stopped at all these islands too.
If you are not diving in Barbados, as recommended by Toolbelt, you should do the 'swim with the sea turtles'. This was a great outing. A little crowded in the water at times but a great experience with the turtles and a good opportunity to get good close up pictures of the turtles.

 

[scubadiver888]

No good diving in San Juan. The good dive sites are a far ways from the cruise port. If you are spending a pre or post cruise stay then you can head for the south side if the island for a dive.

I have not been to St. Croix but I hear a lot of good things about it. Definitely a dive island I will give a try some day.

I have been diving in St. Lucia and throughly enjoyed it. I dive in St. Lucia any chance I can.

I have been diving in Barbados and really don't think I'll dive there again. My wife doesn't dive and said the topside of Barbados was great. Next time I'm there I'll be spending my time top side.

For good dive ops, just search here or cruisecritic.com for the port names and "dive op". You should find good (and sometimes bad) ops being mentioned.

There is also a site called Shoretrips.com that people have used to arrange shore excursions for, rather than using the cruise ship.