Cruise Diving

[Chuxter]

We are going on a cruise in May stopping in St. Thomas and St. Maarten which do you feel s the better diving and do you know of a good shop to use ? We don't really plan on using the places aligned with the cruise.

 

[DiveMaven]

We went on a cruise 2 years ago that included both islands. Everything we read said to save our money and not dive St. Maarten. Instead we spent the day at Orient Beach and enjoyed the activities there...lots of fun!

St. Thomas is a good diving location. We booked with Blue Water Divers and had a great experience with them. They picked us up literally in front of the cruise ship dock and provided great service. While we were waiting for our boat, we talked to the folks at Admiralty Dive and were impressed with their boat and customer service, and we've heard great things about them since. I'd book with either of them without hesitation. They're also both used to working with the cruise line schedules, so you wouldn't have to worry about missing the boat.

 

[regul8r]

I wouldn't say that the outfits aligned with the cruise would be bad.. I am going to Grand Turk and Nassau next week.. both the companies I contacted about dives.. told me to book through the ship as they are the ones that are handling the cruise I am going to be on.

 

[divedadepths]

ive never dove at st Thomas, but i have dived st. maarten. If ur gunna dive there, wich i dont have much to compare it to but it wasnt bad, definetly go with dive safaris. They have one location a few hundred yards in on the pier, but if ur gunna dive nitrox, go to the simpson bay location. If you dont dive, go to maho beach. They have a cool beach bar and you can watch the planes come in.

 

[dl348]

I would choose St. Thomas over St. Maarten, and can recommend Underwater Safaris. I believe their website is www.diveusvi.com Enjoy yourself

 

[Chuxter]

Thanks for all the help so far. My buddy is in the Air Gaurd and just got back from St. Thomas and got to dive with Admiralty while he was down there. He really liked them and talked to them about diving when we are down in May. Supposedly they will work with the cruise schedule and pick you up and drop you off at the dock. sounds like a winner so we will see when we get there.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

Thanks for all the help so far. My buddy is in the Air Gaurd and just got back from St. Thomas and got to dive with Admiralty while he was down there. He really liked them and talked to them about diving when we are down in May. Supposedly they will work with the cruise schedule and pick you up and drop you off at the dock. sounds like a winner so we will see when we get there.

Took a cruise and dove both.

St. Thomas:
Underwater Safaris - Dropped us in the same spot as the snorkel trip. 60 ft for the first dive on a pile of rocks... very little real life... VERY unimpressed. Second dive was the location where the snorkellers were in the water. It was a very small partial wreck.

Over all impression - Not impressed with the dives that were done within the time frame of the cruise.


St. Maarten:
I am guessing you will be in Philipsburg? That is where most of the cruise ships make berth.

Dive Safaris with Capt. Bobby Keough
Bobby's Marina
Philipsburg, St. Maarten, N. A.
Phone: 011 599-542-9001
email: divesafaris@caribserve.net
http://www.divestmaarten.com/philipsburg.htm

Two drift dives between 50-65 ft. 1st dive - Fish Bowl 62ft max. Amazing veriety of sea life and coral. I didn't want to leave.

2nd dive - The Maze. To this day, I remember it as one of my favorite dives of all time! (I have 40+ dives in Cozumel, and live in mid Fl. with more than 500 dives). I thought there was abundant life on dive 1. This one had even more varieties of sea life. Turtles, rays, eels, large tropicals were all in abundance! You wind your way through the coral that spans from 15 ' below the surface to the bottom (50-60 ft) in a maze of coral. Every turn is something new.
---

Given the choices and my experience with dives based on cruise ship schedules, there is no question as to which dives I would make again.

I have been looking at rentals on St. Maarten for vacation since returning from the criuse.

 

[diveborg]

That just goes to show you how 2 people can have totally opposite experiences. I dived both St. Thomas and St. Maarten while on a cruise too. I had a very positive experience diving at Coki Beach with www.cokidive.com On the other hand, I did the ship's dive excursions, with Dive Safaris being the dive op and those two dives rank near the top of my list of sucky dives. I would certainly never plan a land vacation there if diving was my primary interest.

In 2 weeks I'll be on another cruise with a stop in St. Thomas. I'll be diving with http://admiraltydive.com/ on a 3 tank trip. I purposely chose a cruise itinerary that did not stop in St. Maarten because the dive experience was very disappointing the first time.

 

[CAPNVINNY]

St Thomas try Chris Sawyer,they are the best!!! their site is http://www.sawyerdive.vi/

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

...On the other hand, I did the ship's dive excursions, with Dive Safaris being the dive op and those two dives rank near the top of my list of sucky dives.

Could you add information for my benefit as to "sucky"? I would really like to know.