Diving in the BVI

[MauritiusDiver]

Hey,
At the begining of March 2009, some buddies and I are going to the BVIs to charter a bareboat yacht. 2 of us are scuba divers and would like to dive at least a couple of times over the weeks period. I have 2 questions:

Firstly, he will have his open water certification and I will be a rescue diver by that time. I have been diving for some time and feel very comfortable in the water. I just wanted to know if there were any laws or regulations of sorts stopping us from just jumping off the boat and going for the dive. Must we get a guide? I only ask because I know there are some funny laws in the BVI. Can anyone comment?

Also, at that time of year, what kind of a wetsuit would be good? Will a 5mm full suit be ok or will it be overkill? anyone have any experience in the BVI?

Thanks for the help.

 

[dpbishop]

5 MIL will be overkill unless you really chill fast. I dove in a swimsuit when I was there in September and was fine. Here are a couple of recent threads with some good information:


http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/lesser-antilles/183183-heading-bvi-two-weeks-suggestions-2.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/lesser-antilles/229305-diving-suggestions-bvi.html

 

[bjohnston11]

There are no rules on having a guide. Just show your cards to rent the tanks. We were there the first week of may and water temp was 80-81.

Have a great trip. We bareboated a cat. If i can help PM me.

Fletcher Johnston.

 

[TSandM]

Most of the sites are reserves, and have permanent moorings, which is nice. We did a week in the BVI off a crewed charter boat a couple of years ago -- HERE's my report of the trip.

 

[jenlaur]

i just got back Saturday from a week in the BVI. We chartered a crewed cat that included diving for the week, as much as we wanted to dive. It was awesome. Fortunately for us I did lots of research on dive sites because our captain was poorly informed on local sites. We did a total of 4 dives and would have done more if the wind had not picked up so much toward the end of the week. If you wan to dive with nitrox be aware that it is not too easy to find there, only a couple of places sell it. We only used 2 nitrox each and the rest was air. There are lots of nice reefs and some pretty cool wrecks there. I know of no laws or regulations that you need to be concerned about. We only had to show our cert cards. I am very cold natured and used a 3mm. Hubby used his 3mm shorty. We were both comfortable. Good luck and have a great time! Contact me if you want more BVI info.