Has St. Maarten Reopened For Diving?

[bobroo]

So, in planning my diving for an upcoming March cruise; it includes a stop in port at Phillipsburg, At this point even Royal Caribbean is not offering a scuba excursion.

Has anyone dove in St Maarten recently/post hurricane?

 

[claymore]

I contacted Octopus Diving about diving in March and they replied to wait until mid January to check on reservations. I will be there on the 8th and am hoping things are running by then. The rest of the stops on the cruise do not look to promising for dives.

 

[dbnewton]

I contacted Octopus Diving about diving in March and they replied to wait until mid January to check on reservations. I will be there on the 8th and am hoping things are running by then. The rest of the stops on the cruise do not look to promising for dives.

I hope it works well for you. Octopus is a good operator but St Martin is not much of a dive destination. I was there in Jan 2015, had a lot of fun and Octopus runs well and is accommodating so you should have the best chance of good diving with them. But it is still St Martin.

 

[claymore]

I hope it works well for you. Octopus is a good operator but St Martin is not much of a dive destination. I was there in Jan 2015, had a lot of fun and Octopus runs well and is accommodating so you should have the best chance of good diving with them. But it is still St Martin.

I dove with them a couple of years ago on a cruise and enjoyed the dives. Sint Maarten is not the best diving in the caribbean but there are worse.
At least it is warm water and good vis. My normal diving is drysuit and 20’ vis at a good site.

 

[jonhall]

No clue who is up and running, but try emailing Scuba Fun. They are (were) a little closer to the cruise ships than Octopus. They were good about responding to emails before the hurricanes.

The nice thing is, if you get to dive in St. Maarten at a dive op in Great Bay (where the cruise ships go), that's where the better diving is, IMO.

 

[ScubaJill]

My local shop there, located in Simpson Bay, is open for business and has been for at least a month. I don't know what dive op your ship coordinates with, though.

 

[claymore]

My local shop there, located in Simpson Bay, is open for business and has been for at least a month. I don't know what dive op your ship coordinates with, though.

We are on Holland America Eurodam and it appears that Holland America is not offering any SCUBA excursions on this cruise.

It appears that your shop is probably to far away from the cruise ship pier to work with the time frame that I have.

 

[jonhall]

It appears that your shop is probably to far away from the cruise ship pier to work with the time frame that I have.

Ocean Explorers, who many people like (I dove with them in 2014 and had a good time), is located in Simpson Bay. It would be about a 25 minute drive from the cruise ships. Saw several wrecks in the area they dive.

Our fall 2017 trip didn't happen due to the hurricanes. Not sure when I'll have the chance to go back, but decided if I was ever on a cruise that stopped there, I would use any op that would pick me up at the cruise ship (otherwise I'd probably use Scuba Fun.) Dive sites are a short boat ride away and that leaves time to go to one of the good restaurants along the marina and/or boardwalk. Of course I'm picturing Phillipsburg as it was. Beautiful place!

 

[David Hedeen]

Any update of the diving there, I read about the owner of octopus. Wife and I are looking to dive when we are there in August