Cruising to St Thomas & Tortola

[zzgo]

I will be cruising on the Carnival Legend for my honeymoon in late September this year (2006). Does anyone have recommendations for good snorkel & diving operators in St Thomas and Tortola? I've been lurking on SB for some time, and I've read some good things about Blue Water Divers: http://www.bluewaterdiversbvi.com and UBS: http://www.scubabvi.com. When I checked their sites, they mention Tortola, but does anyone know of a good place in St Thomas? Since my wife (to be) is not a diver and this IS our honeymoon I am looking for a place that has snorkeling along with the diving. If I disappear for a few hours each stop on our honeymoon, it'll make for a short marriage
Thanks in advance,
-Bill C

 

[BurBunny]

Stuart Coves in St. Thomas offers afternoon 1-tank dives where they also take out snorkelers. That would be my recommendation there for a combo experience.

 

[diversteve]

DiveIn at Sapphire Beach offers both. Since they only have one boat, my guess would be that they bring snorkelers along on divetrips but I don't know since there were only divers on our trip. http://www.diveinusvi.com/

Coki Beach also does diving, snorkeling and Snuba. The diving there is pretty marginal though. http://www.cokidive.com/

re: the previous post - Stuart Cove's is in Nassau.

 

[mike_s]

In St Thomas, Most of the cruise boats use Coki Beach as their "beach break excursion" for shore dives and snorkle trips. I've dove there before and it' was "ok" but not great. It's a gentle slope with light coral that goes down to about 40 feet. in the 8' to 20' you'll see snorklers also, but they mostly fade away after about 10'.

DiveInn is at the Saphire Beach Resort. The snorkling at this resort is very good. They have about 1/2 mile of beach with a reef right off shore that is a very easy swim. They have a watersports shack on the beach, but I don't know if they do shore diving there. (they took us to Coki Beach for a shore dive for example). They do have a marina and a dive boat onsite also. They might do dive/snorkle boat combo trips. One thing about dive in was that rental gear was included at no extra charge. (but I don't think they gave a discount if you had your own gear either though).

Each of these is about a 20 minute ride from the cruise boat docks. taxi's are the easiest way. In 1997 a taxi from this area to the cruise boats ran about $12-$16 each way. (i'm sure it's gone up slightly since).


In BVI, the 'cool wreck' to dive is the HMS Rhone. Google it for more info.
The 'cool' place to snorkle is the "Baths" on virgin gorda. Don't bother trying to dive that, just snorkle it.

 

[cleung]

I'll also put the recommendation for Coki Beach. That's where I took my ex-girlfriend for one of her first snorkel experiences which resulted in her taking the scuba course later.

 

[Scuba Laura]

Coki Beach is a good place to do both diving and snorkeling, if you don't mind being harrassed by the locals trying to sell you a chair or braid your hair. You also spend so much valuable time traveling to and from the beach since it is located on the other side of the island. Admiralty Dive Center has access to the same dock as the cruise ships and offers dive sites for both the divers and the snorkelers.

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi BurBunny,

When did Stuart Cove set up an op in St. Thomas and where is it located?

Thanks,

DocVikingo

 

[BurBunny]

Doc, oh, probably about the same time I had an extreme blonde moment there.

Sorry, meant Chris Sawyer. Still S and C as the initials.

 

[King Kong Matt]

Sorry, meant Chris Sawyer. Still S and C as the initials.

I've been out with Chris Sawyer' operation dozens of times and have nothing but really nice things to say.

If there is one "negative" (and this might or might not be depending on your perspective) is that they really hand-hold you. You are diving with the guide, on their profile, under their supervision, etc. That never bothers me but I am sure it would bug some folks.

The flip side of being hand held is that...well...you are hand-held. You don't ever have to touch a tank...ever. Your only job is to sit back in the sun and enjoy.

http://www.sawyerdive.vi/