Cruise to S.Caribbean - Dive Questions

[scottydawg]

I am taking a cruise to the Southern Caribbean at the beginning of January and hoped to get some input from all of you.
I am looking for two types of advice:
One of the things I am looking for is the type of advice I used to give my friends when I lived in the Caymans. They would come in on a cruise ship and I would take them to do shore dives to Devils Grotto/Eden Rock from Parrots Landing. Cost usually was about $15 for two dives. In a similar experience, when I have been on a cruise that stopped in St. Croix I just rent gear at the dive shop by the pier and go on a nice dive for about $10. The cruise was charging $99 for the same dive.
The second thing I am looking for is if there is a dive that's a don't miss on one of the islands I am going to. We would probably like to dive on two or three of the islands and then do some beaches for snorkel and relaxation the rest of the time. I also would love advice on that if you have any input.

Here is our itinerary:
Mon, Jan 01
Philipsburg, St. Maarten Docked Arrive 7:00 AM Depart 5:00 PM
Tue, Jan 02
Castries, St. Lucia Docked Arrive 9:00 AM Depart 5:00 PM
Wed, Jan 03
Bridgetown, Barbados Docked Arrive 7:00 AM Depart 5:00 PM
Thu, Jan 04
Basseterre, St. Kitts Tendered Arrive 10:00 AM Depart 5:00 PM
Fri, Jan 05
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas Docked Arrive 7:00 AM Depart 5:30 PM

 

[lazyturtle]

No matter what you do, don't be lazy and book anything through the cruiseship. It only screws the locals, while the ship makes a ton of $$ for being a middleman.
Of the places listed I only dove in two of them:
St. Lucia: The diving was pretty good down by the Pitons (I think that's on the other side of the island though, no idea how long a ride from where the ship docks).
St. Thomas: The diving is ok, not great. Megans bay is a nice beach execpt when cruise ships are in port, then it's CROWDED! Try and find someone who will take you to the WIT Shoal (deep wreck). AVOID the twin barges (cruise ship dive hell, often 30-50 divers on two small barges).

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi Scotty,

What "lazyturtle" says. Make your own arrangements as cruise ships not only tend to rip you off but often set you up with cattle boat ops.

As for "don't miss" dives, given the very limited scuba window imposed by your cruise itinerary, dive sites will be dictated by multiple factors including the time available, weather and sea state conditions, where others on the boat want to go/are appropropriately skilled to go, where the boat went the previous day and what the crew feels like doing.

Suggested dives/ops on your itinerary:

Philipsburg, St. Maarten. Skip the diving here as it's simply not worth it given your other scuba opportunites over the following days.

Castries, St. Lucia. A good op and one that's set up for cruisers is Dive Fair Helen (an affectionate old local name for St. Lucia) (http://www.divefairhelen.com/). The Southwestern dive sites, like around Soufriere Bay, tend to be the best.

Bridgetown, Barbados. Check out Hightide Water Sports (http://www.divehightide.com/home.html). Old Haroon is a real good guy. Definitely try to make out to the SS Stavronikita.

Basseterre, St. Kitts. Docking at 10:00AM & departing at 5:00PM cuts the dive day pretty thin after disembarking/embarking is taken into account and the diving is pretty so-so. Might want to pass on scuba.

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. Check out Chris Sawyer's (http://www.sawyerdive.vi/) and definitely try to make it out to the wreck of the Rhone.

Helpful?

Do have fun.

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[scottydawg]

LazyTurtle and Doc I want to thank you both for you input. I did a search (imagine that) after posting and it would appear that many threads validate exactly what you said. I am going to contact the above organizations and let you all know how it goes.

 

[BillNH]

Hey Scottydog

Sorry to hijack your thread, but we are cruising the end of February also. We are going to be in St.Thomas 2 days, Tortola 1 day, and Samana 1 day. I want to dive in St.Thomas and Tortola. As other posters mentioned there are trips scheduled by cruise ship but they are expensive. I want to schedule my own dives before we leave. They do however have a trip scheduled to dive the Rhone in Tortola. They want $120.00 per person for a two tank dive. If you get any good information on St.Thomas post it up and I'll do likewise...

Bill

 

[scottydawg]

I will let you know, I'm going to making calls next week and thanks!

 

[diversteve]

The Rhone from Tortola is easily possible. And worth it, it's one of the best wrecks I've ever been on - and I'm not a wreck fan. It's remarkably well preserved for how old it is. It's done as two dives as the bow and stern are far enough away from each other that most boats move to the other set of buoys during your SI.

The Rhone from St. Thomas with Sawyers is an all-day trip. And they only do it on Fridays. It's 20-30 minutes by cab each way from Charlotte Amalie to Red Hook on the East End where Sawyers leaves from.

I don't see how you could possibly do that in a 7-5:30 window without possibly missing your departure. If you decide to try it, bring your passport, the Rhone is in the BVI's so you clear immigration both ways.

A lot of the cruiseships dive Coki Beach on St. Thomas. I wouldn't bother, it's good for beginners but there's not much reef or anything else there - not much deeper than about 45' before it flattens out into sand. They do Snorkeling and Snuba there for non-divers.

I'd book a regular trip with Sawyers, or with Blue Island Divers. They're located at the Crown Bay Marina in Charlotte Amalie. Some of the cruise ships dock right there, but most dock at WICO by the Havensight Mall (gee, I wonder why..) Blue Island Divers can also pick you up off the dock at WICO.

 

[scottydawg]

Sawyers is doing the Rhone on Fridys and couldn't fit us in with the cruise schedule which is understandable so we are going with Blue Island. Thanks for all the advice everyone!

 

[mike_s]

I didn't think that you'd have time to do the Rhome in your time window and get back to the ship with enough time cushion. Cab ride, boat ride, clear BVI customs, dive, boat ride, clear USVI customs, cab ride back to boat. It's a complete full day.

In St Thomas, there are only a few things to do.

1. go shopping. But you'll find the shops to be the same trinkets sold on the rest of the islands.
2. go sit on the beach. You'll find that the same as the other islands. their beaches are ok, but nothing better than any other place.
3. go take island history tour. Your mom would be proud of you for this.
4. go dive.

I think you'll find this an easy choice on St. Thomas.

The only thing I wouldn't say to dive is the shore excursion on Coki Beach. It's OK but kinda boring. It's well worth the extra few bucks to do a boat dive on St Thomas.

Hope that helps.

-Mike

 

[Crawl79]

In St. Kitts http://www.prodiversstkitts.com, Auston is the guy he has been on the island for years and his wife is a local. He is a great diver and has nice boats, last I heard he had a new boat coming in but I haven been there in about 8 months. I have been diving with them for a few years and wont consider anywhere else.