A buddy and I dove with Chris Sawyer on their regular Friday trip to the RMS Rhone over Memorial Day weekend. The Rhone itself was an interesting dive, especially the fairly intact bow section of the ship, which was our first dive. It's not often that you get to dive a shipwreck from the 1860s, so I am glad that we made the trip. The ride to and from the dive site did take what seemed like an eternity, however, especially with the pit stops for passport checks in both directions.
As for Chris Sawyer's operation, my feelings are mixed. The staff was pleasant enough and the boat was nice, albeit a little cramped with 11 divers and three staff members on board. No complaints about the quality of the rental gear or the lunch which was provided during our surface interval. Unfortunately, the dive master we had (who shall remain nameless) earned two black marks in my book. First, the allowed dive time for each dive of approximately 30-35 minutes was laughably short. In both instances, the dive master was busy making his way to the surface while I had plenty of gas and bottom time remaining, which is a huge disappointment given the time spent getting to and from the dive site. Second, the dive master did a very poor job of navigating the wreck. Instead of taking our time moving meticulously and methodically through and over the wreck, we were led back and forth in what seemed a scatter-shot manner. In fact, on the stern portion of the dive, the boat captain indicated that we would make it to the props, but our dive master never took us all the way to the back of the stern, not for want of gas or time, but seemingly for lack of a plan.
Those complaints aside, I would recommend the Rhone to any diver visiting the Virgin Islands. And for those who opt for Chris Sawyer, be sure to print out and take the 10% off coupon available on the website with you as it will save you $17.50.