Diving in St Thomas while on Cruise ship

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AstridWilson

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Messages
54
Reaction score
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Location
North Carolina
# of dives
100 - 199
Arriving in Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas via Freedom of the Seas Cruise Ship at 7AM and must be back on boat by 5PM. Last time we were in St Thomas on a cruise was 1999 and we took an excursion to St John for snorkeling. I see that Royal Caribbean has an excursion for $129 that reads “Explore a sunken shipwreck and a vivid coral reef on a two-tank tour for certified divers in St. Thomas’ crystal waters. After presenting your "C" card, you'll descend into the warm Caribbean waters to explore a sunken ship and a stunning coral reef alive with sea turtles, stingrays, and tropical fish.”

I also saw where Blue Island Divers www.blueislanddivers.com/index.htm will pick you up from the cruise ship and do a 2 tank dive for $130.

Does anyone know who Royal Caribbean uses as a Dive Shop?

Has anyone used Blue Island Divers from a cruise ship?

I figure if we do a morning dive, we still have the afternoon to explore St Thomas a little after lunch.
 
I do not know which dive op is the current ship's op, but the last three times I used the ship's excursion, they took us to the same two dive sites. The dive boat anchored in the same spot for both dives, with a really crappy, broken up, piece of junk/shipwreck on one side of the boat, and a very nice reef on the other side of the boat. The shipwreck sucked, and the reef was very nice, but that was before the very hard hits St. Thomas took from hurricanes Irma and Maria. On a stop in St. Thomas in February, I took a pass on diving because my wife wanted to snorkel at St. John's underwater national park, which turned out to be a total waste of time. I do not know what that underwater park looked like prior to the hurricanes, but now the little reef in front of Trunk Bay is awful. Please post how the diving is at St. Thomas and what dive op you used.
Thank you.
 
Call Red Hook Dive Center or Aqua Action. You will need to get off the the ship and catch a cab to the shop. Two tank dive then rinse your gear and eat lunch. Take another cab back to the ship. I lived in St Thomas until last year and dove with both dive ops.
 
I have read some negative comments here also about the cruise operator for one of the lines. I believe the same shop also provides diving for the Marriott guests. You might find more info here:
ScubaBoard - Cruises Forum

IMO Red Hook or Aqua Action are too far east if you're looking to do something else that afternoon. With traffic (there will be some) it could be 45mibs. plus each way. Also it's a fairly pricey cab ride. If you do try it, get a cab - not a shared ride van as they'll drop people at resorts along the way - Red Hook itself is one of the farther east points,

If you use Red Hook Dive, they're located harbor front and there's several restaurants within a block or so including one above the shop.

The other Charlotte Amalie choice is Admiralty Dive - they're a few minutes west of the cruise port and pick you up by van. Their shop is in a area with some shops/restaurants across the street from their boat so you can look around the area and they'll give you a ride back later. Scuba Diving St Thomas | Charlotte Amalie | Admiralty Dive Center

I have not used either in town shop but my hotel room looked down on the cruise pier so I saw where Blue Island picks up - that couldn't be much easier.
 
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We used Admiralty from a cruise and they couldn't have been better. Excellent dives, washed our gear for us and got us back in plenty of time.
 
Arriving in Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas via Freedom of the Seas Cruise Ship at 7AM and must be back on boat by 5PM. Last time we were in St Thomas on a cruise was 1999 and we took an excursion to St John for snorkeling. I see that Royal Caribbean has an excursion for $129 that reads “Explore a sunken shipwreck and a vivid coral reef on a two-tank tour for certified divers in St. Thomas’ crystal waters. After presenting your "C" card, you'll descend into the warm Caribbean waters to explore a sunken ship and a stunning coral reef alive with sea turtles, stingrays, and tropical fish.”

I also saw where Blue Island Divers www.blueislanddivers.com/index.htm will pick you up from the cruise ship and do a 2 tank dive for $130.

Does anyone know who Royal Caribbean uses as a Dive Shop?

Has anyone used Blue Island Divers from a cruise ship?

I figure if we do a morning dive, we still have the afternoon to explore St Thomas a little after lunch.
On your cruise in 1999, was it the week before the year 2000? If so, we may have been on the same snorkeling tour to St. John.
 
I have used Blue Island several times over the years, both on cruises and while staying on the island. Personally, I will use them again when I go back this fall. Depending on which pier the ship uses they will either pick you up or you will walk to the boat(300-400 yards). I have always been emailed with directions several weeks in advance.
 
If you dive with Red Hook Dive center , try a little place across the street for lunch - Duffy's Love Shack !
Great food and drinks . Have a good time !
Sea Dwellers
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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