Had a blast in st Maarten

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Alurpal

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Location
Asheville, NC
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Stopped at st Maarten on a cruise and I made sure to book a two tank dive. I used dive adventures and their boat picked me up at divi resort which is a 10min taxi ride from the port at Philipsburg.

The seas were big, 6+, but the sea gods made it worth while as the reef at the proselyte wreck was teaming with life. Reef sharks everywhere, multiple eagle rays, huge green moray and massive anchors and old cannons encrusted with coral.

We saw a reef shark following the tail of an eagle ray closely almost in a teasing manor. Never scene anything like it.

Unfortunately, we had to call it after the first five dive because our dive master injured his ribs real bad when trying to catch the mooring ball after a huge swell lifted and slammed the bow down.

This was my first international trip bringing my own gear and it was totally worth it as I was able to approach the poor conditions with one less thing on my mind being comfortable with my gear config.
 
Reef sharks everywhere, multiple eagle rays, huge green moray and massive anchors and old cannons encrusted with coral.
Sounds great, which raises some interesting questions. I've visited St. Maarten/St. Martin several times on cruise stops, but never dove there. It's not discussed as a dive destination often on ScubaBoard, and when it is, people may ask for a recommended dive op, and whether diving on the French or Dutch section is better. The impression I got from discussion by others was that it's a fine place to dive if you happen to be there, but not compelling as a dive destination vs. alternatives.

But what you describe sounds like a really good dive. That's one dive on one site and one day, but it's not so unlike other reports. Reef sharks are a common inclusion in reports on diving that island, and sharks are something many divers desire to see, that aren't common at all Caribbean destinations.

As a cruise port, the island has a range of formal topside excursions, and it's seen as one of the big shopping ports. In fairness it also looks arid, hot and sunny, a bit 'scruffy' (albeit there's dense vegetation in places) and...yet arid/hot/sunny/scruffy doesn't keep people away from Aruba, Bonaire or Curacao.

I wonder why St. Maarten/St. Martin does feature more strongly as popular Caribbean dive trip destination? It seems to join St. Thomas as a place people dive when their cruise ship stops there, rather than a place divers go for a week long dedicated dive trip.
 
I’m thinking the exact same thing. I was expecting a mediocre dive based on the previous reports but it really was a great dive. Maybe the stars just aligned for me. The dive master gave a “mind blown” hand signal when we saw the shark following the ray and he said it was one of the best he’s experienced, so I’m thinking this could have been the exception rather than the norm.

We were about to head to the “maze” dive site next that supposedly offered interesting swim through rock formations so I’m definitely up for diving st Maarten again.
 
it is true that st maarten is not well know for diving. and they do not seem to promote the island for diving either.

as someone who has been several times, i can say for sure that i see more sharks there than anywhere else i have been. along with lots of rays, turtles, grouper, and even tuna.

cozumel is always considered a great dive destination to compare other to. and the southern coral formations are pretty great there. but i almost never see large animals when diving there. to be honest i have always considered coz diving to be mediocre.

would i rate st maartens reefs as high as curacao? no. not from the reefs i saw in curaco.
but the diving is pretty good in my opinion. there are a couple of nice wrecks sites, and the site they dive close to st barts os very cool. moon hole i believe it is called.

i would not suggest it to anyone expecting to do three boat dives a day plus a shore dive because it just would not be appropriate. go to roatan, curacao, bonaire, cayman, or coz etc for that.

but when you add up the good diving, the abundance of fantastic beaches, the many food options, shopping, excursions etc etc, not to mention it is right next to saba (know for its diving), st barts, and anguilla, it is hard to find any other destination that has so much variety.

i am glad you enjoyed you time with dive adventures. they always have a great crew. and soniet (swaney) is probably the best boat captain i have ever been diving with.

i hope the DM is ok. was it the young blonde guy that got hurt? kind of a california surfer dude?
 
i hope the DM is ok. was it the young blonde guy that got hurt? kind of a california surfer dude?
Middle aged gentleman, ex commercial diver and tech instructor who dove a sweet worn in backplate and wing. I’m going to call and follow up in the next few days.
 
We had the same experience with 3 days of surprisingly good diving in St Maarten. We were told they couldn’t normally dive the sites we did, and we lucked out. Good viz, healthy patch reefs, and lots of sharks. Way better diving than off the LOB that got us there. And the island was also pretty interesting, not the sort of place we usually vacation but we enjoyed it.

I still wouldn’t plan a deficated dive trip there, but definitely give it a shot if there anyway.

OTOH a friend dove there, I think on a cruise stop. Many years ago when everyplace in the caribbean was probably better than now, and he had a pretty low opinion.
 
that def was not nathan then. pls let us know how he is. hope he didn't break any ribs.
 
I've been to St Maarten on several dedicated dive trips with my own equipment. Always enjoyed the diving. The reefs and wrecks are short boat rides away and the island has a lot to offer between dives including nice beaches. It's also a short ferry or plane out to Saba for even 'better' diving.
 
I've been to St Maarten on several dedicated dive trips with my own equipment. Always enjoyed the diving. The reefs and wrecks are short boat rides away and the island has a lot to offer between dives including nice beaches. It's also a short ferry or plane out to Saba for even 'better' diving.
This is good to hear. We're headed there in a couple of weeks. We have 5 days of two-tank morning dives scheduled with SXM Divers. We made it a "dive trip" because over the last couple of years, we have been using our vacations to the Caribbean to visit islands we are considering for retirement. While doing so, we're trying to get in some decent diving to see how that factors in. We've been impressed with the Dutch islands so far, so we decided to check out Sint Maarten.
 
I've been to St Maarten on several dedicated dive trips with my own equipment. Always enjoyed the diving. The reefs and wrecks are short boat rides away and the island has a lot to offer between dives including nice beaches. It's also a short ferry or plane out to Saba for even 'better' diving.
My wife and I are scheduled to go early next year for a couple of weeks. (I dive, she doesn't) Your reports are most encouraging. Have you done any diving in the French half of the island?
 
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