heading to st thomas Havensight area please advise

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nuts4corals

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Messages
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Location
NY
# of dives
200 - 499
I will be heading down to st thomas Havensight area in august for 6-7 nights and would like to get some diving in... can anyone recommend a good all inclusive hotel that is family freindly with divers packages (diving included with hotel).

Otherwise please advise with who to dive and who to stay away from and why. any and all infor would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for all of your help...

:)
 
oh wife does not dive... i am the only one that does. so need a place that cater to both. any advice is appreciated. ty
 
 
thanks for the info so far as i will be looking into it in detail.

I should also ask... the diving in general. What type of diving is present at that location? I am a once a year vacation type diver. i dive to see the corals and wildlife in the ocean. I do not like wreak, or deep diving at all. tried it, not for me. I prefer drift diving...I prefer my dives between 40-70 feet deep. Am i going to find this type of diving there or is it more technical. I have just over 100 dives so i'm not a beginner but since I don't dive every week I take it easy and don't like to push it.

please give me an idea. thanks
 
I would suggest that you look through the STDC web site. They have descriptions of the dive sites that they go to. Overall, diving in STT is pretty easy. Most of the dive sites are in the 40' to 60' range. There are a few that exceed that, but not many. There are no wall dives to speak of in STT. Mostly reefs. Plenty of fish and wildlife. The folks at all the dive centers cater to vacationing divers and work hard to accomodate the divers' wishes as well as staying within their capabilities and comfort level. After all, they want repeat customers!
 
are there any other all inclusives that you recommend so I have something to compare it to??? I'm not crazy about the place, seems but want to look further into other hotel destinations.

I like what i see on the diving company web site and will look into it further.
 
Sapphire Beach Condos has an optional dive package. They do have a really nice beach. And one restaurant on-site. Dive-In is located in their lobby with their boat in the marina a short walk across the parking lot. We didn't stay there so I have no idea about the rooms/restaurant. We did a couple of nice dives off Grass Cay on the East End. Hotels and Resorts, US Virgin Islands - St Croix and St Thomas vacation lodging and accommodations from Antilles Resorts

There's about 1/2 dozen restaurants nearby in Red Hook. Including Molly Malone's one of my favorites - went there twice.

btw, their Pavilions and Pools property hasn't been updated since the 70's. We spent a day there relaxing and waiting for friends to arrive. Decent enough, small bar area but no dining options. And inland so no beach. Each villa has a tiny fenced pool in the courtyard - actually it is the courtyard.

Why are you looking at the Havensight area? That's the cruise port and the last place I'd want to be for a relaxing time...lol.
 
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Sapphire Beach Condos has an optional dive package. They do have a really nice beach. And one restaurant on-site. Dive-In is located in their lobby with their boat in the marina a short walk across the parking lot. We didn't stay there so I have no idea about the rooms/restaurant. We did a couple of nice dives off Grass Cay on the East End. Hotels and Resorts, US Virgin Islands - St Croix and St Thomas vacation lodging and accommodations from Antilles Resorts

There's about 1/2 dozen restaurants nearby in Red Hook. Including Molly Malone's one of my favorites - went there twice.

btw, their Pavilions and Pools property hasn't been updated since the 70's. We spent a day there relaxing and waiting for friends to arrive. Decent enough, small bar area but no dining options. And inland so no beach. Each villa has a tiny fenced pool in the courtyard - actually it is the courtyard.

Why are you looking at the Havensite area? That's the cruise port and the last place I'd want to be for a relaxing time...lol.

yeah I'm looking at that area because i have a wedding to go to and the people getting married ... guess what, are on a cruze ship and so i wanted to get some scuba in between, LOL. any suggestions on onother location thats fairly close by that we wouldn't have to spend a fortune taking a cab everywhere? i'm not planning on renting a car, should i be?
 
A couple of options:

Bluebeards Castle is a mile - or closer - to Havensight. It's on a hill in town. The picture is from my balcony - zoomed in slightly.

However I just read a post on their website about extensive renovations currently underway and a mgmt. company change on the timeshare side so you might want to check on it. Resort rooms were small but nicely furnished. Mine had a small couch, table for 2 and dbl bed. Their restaurant has a great view of the harbor. They also have a big pool/bar area that we found entertaining.

The Marriott at Frenchman's Reef is (I'm guessing) about a mile east of Havensight. They have a dive op onsite. Maybe a mile farther east is the Bolongo Bay Resort and St. Thomas Diving Club.

From Bluebeards to the airport was about a 10min. cab ride. Under $10 IIRC. It's easy to find a cab at Havensight and by both ferry ports - downtown or the East End. A one way shared ride out to the East End cost us $20pp from the airport. Airport to the Marriott should be about $10 also.

We didn't find a lot of other resort options near Charlotte Amalie - we went to the BVI's but needed to overnite both ways. There were a couple Best Westerns near the airport but most resorts seemed to be clustered along the East End from what I saw.
 

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hey thanks diversteve... thats some great info. i'll be checking that out. Now all I have to figure out is what the heck are the kidos gonna do? they are young! 6 and 4
 

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