looking for GPS waypoints + descripts for USVI and BVI

[shoelessone]

Hello there, I am new to this forum, and am hoping I might be able to find some help.

Basically, my family is taking a huge trip (we dont do these things often - once every 7 years or so) to the British Virgin Islands and the US Virgin Islands, and we are renting a 49' yacht for 7 days of diving.

Basically, I am in charge of finding places for my family to dive, with descriptions and HOPEFULLY GPS coords so that we can easily find them. We will be driving the yacht ourselve, so we will hopefully be mooring/anchoring the yacht while we dive. There will be 6 of us diving.

if anybody knows any great resources for this type of information, PLEASE let me know - as is I purchased "The complete dive guide: the carrabiean: US Virgin Islands/British Virgin Islands (and peurto rico as well i believe). Still, I dont believe this book has GPS coords, so if anybody can help out, i'd really appreciate it!

Thank you very much!!

p.s. another big thing: I am looking to rent a 35mm camera/housing for the 7 days we are there, anybody know any place in particular that is relatily cheap that I can do so at? Thanks!

 

[shoelessone]

oh! also, while we have all of our own equipment, for obvious reasons we are not going to be bringing tanks - i am wondering the best place to rent tanks for a week also - we will most likely be filling up at different locations, deppending on where we decide to dock/etc.

Thanks again!

 

[zboss]

Basically, I am in charge of finding places for my family to dive, with descriptions and HOPEFULLY GPS coords so that we can easily find them. We will be driving the yacht ourselve, so we will hopefully be mooring/anchoring the yacht while we dive. There will be 6 of us diving.

All BVI dive areas (well most of the common ones) are moored and easily located. Just pick up a BVI dive book... you really won't need GPS coords. You simply go to where the dive flag is in the book and look for the moorings... they have different colors for different types of boats - commercial, charter, dingy.

p.s. another big thing: I am looking to rent a 35mm camera/housing for the 7 days we are there, anybody know any place in particular that is relatily cheap that I can do so at? Thanks!

Rainbow Visions Photo Centre (284-494-2749) has cameras to rent but they can get expensive over a number of days. BTW - I think they did the photography in that book you bought.

 

[zboss]

oh! also, while we have all of our own equipment, for obvious reasons we are not going to be bringing tanks - i am wondering the best place to rent tanks for a week also - we will most likely be filling up at different locations, deppending on where we decide to dock/etc.

Thanks again!

There are places to rent tanks throughout the BVI... but you pay a "per day" tank rental and a "per fill" tank rental with the first fill being free. This means that on day one your cost for a tank will be like $5 but day two it will be maybe $5 for possession of the tank and $5 to fill the tank at someplace that didn't rent the tank.

Some dive shops will also bring new tanks to your boat if they are in the area.

These figures here I am just pulling out of my rear but you get the point.

An alternative is to do rendevous diving in which the dive boat finds your boat and picks you up in the morning and drops you off after the dive. This way - you also get the experience of a guided tour an don't have to worry about the tanks at all.

Kate Braun of UBS is great... Keith of Blue Water Divers is also great. Mike at Sail Caribbean... Well - just about all the dive companies down there have something to offer.

 

[shoelessone]

sweet, thanks for the advice!!

So I am assuming that as far as directions to dive sites go, the book I got should suffice? any other publications/reading you recommend I do before I go?

BTW, looks like I am going to be missing you by about 2 weeks (we are heading down in a month).

Thanks for the help!

oh, as far as the rendevous idea - i think my family is really looking forward to doing everything on our own time, sort of diving when we feel like it, etc, etc, so I dont think that would work. still, something to keep in mind

OH! one more qurestion: any ideas as to the best 2 or 3 night dive locations?

Thanks again, I really appreciate the help, and I know my family will as well

-Kev

 

[zboss]

So I am assuming that as far as directions to dive sites go, the book I got should suffice? any other publications/reading you recommend I do before I go?

Yes - the book you have has more than enough dive sites listed. I have been diving the BVI for 20 years and still haven't been to a few of the sites. I find that I have a few favorites I like to do many times. For every dive site that is listed in the book, there are eight which are not.

OH! one more qurestion: any ideas as to the best 2 or 3 night dive locations?

The Rhone is an excellent night dive - BUT - trust me when I say you will not be staying there overnight. If you stay at Cooper Island, the Mary L and Pat make great night diving, but be careful... if the current catches you someone will have to pick you up in St. Croix. No kidding.

I wouldn't necessarily count the rendevous diving out - UBS dive center is pretty good at fitting your schedule. If you stay up in the North Sound (Virgin Gorda), Dive BVI is right there.

I would strongly recommend that you do at least a day dive on the site you plan on night diving in order to become acquainted with it. In lieu of that I would still say "dive with a shop."

 

[shoelessone]

Yes - the book you have has more than enough dive sites listed. I have been diving the BVI for 20 years and still haven't been to a few of the sites. I find that I have a few favorites I like to do many times. For every dive site that is listed in the book, there are eight which are not.



The Rhone is an excellent night dive - BUT - trust me when I say you will not be staying there overnight. If you stay at Cooper Island, the Mary L and Pat make great night diving, but be careful... if the current catches you someone will have to pick you up in St. Croix. No kidding.

I wouldn't necessarily count the rendevous diving out - UBS dive center is pretty good at fitting your schedule. If you stay up in the North Sound (Virgin Gorda), Dive BVI is right there.

I would strongly recommend that you do at least a day dive on the site you plan on night diving in order to become acquainted with it. In lieu of that I would still say "dive with a shop."

awesome again, thanks for your help, i appreciate your expertise (spelling?).

Ok, so as you said you have a couple of dives you do over and over again... anything you can recommend? My family is all going, including my little sisters who are 13 and 15 and dont have much dive experience (in fact, for one of them it will be her first dives besides her OW for her C). I'd personally like to do at least 1 reck, and I am sure she would as well - we will most likely be trying to AVOID currents as much as possible, as most of the time we wont have a charter to follow us.

As far as the night dive issue goes, we dont need anything huge/advanced, my sisters (and the rest of my family most likely) will appreciate anything, the experience of diving at night will in itself be wonderful for them. in other words, fighting with a current would not be prefered, and a shallowish dive might be best (anythign you might recommend around 30-50 feet?).

I am sorry for asking so many questions, but I know that even a book like the one i purchased cant even begin to make up for advice from somebody who has lots of experience in an area. thank you very much!

 

[shoelessone]

oh also, i dont have much of a feel for this, what do you mean when you say "you wont be staying there overnight" in regards to the rhone? you mean our yacht? or do you mean we wont be sleeping in the water overnight, or... (sorry, i am new to this "dive on your own" thing, i'm sort of used to charters, or smaller shore dives/dives from our boat to "simple" recks in the great lakes, etc

 

[zboss]

Based on what you have just told me - I would say that it's lunacy for you guys to go diving on your own.

1) if something goes wrong - you will need more than one experienced diver to handle it.
2) you really won't enjoy your dives as much because you'll be trying to figure out where to go and how to get back
3) I would also say - don't go night diving. Leave the lights at home. Your family simply does not have enough experience.

As far as the Rhone goes - you can get some rollers and strong currents through there - hence why a ship was bashed against the rocks there. It is not a protected anchorage, there is no night life there, and as such you won't be anchoring there.

 

[wjbrandt]

Where are you picking up your vessel?
I work at at dive shop in St Thomas and we do rental gear for VIP and TIP. If you are interested contact us on the web www.sawyerdive.vi. I think we can help with the information you are looking for.