New Member traveling to St. Maarten

[bmartin]

Hello,

I will be traveling to St. Maarten in a couple of weeks and am trying to find the best dive operation to use. I will be staying in Orient Bay so it is not close to some of the big operators located in Phillipsburg or Simpson Bay. I heard about a good operation located in Grand Case called Octopus Dive Shop but that will still involve renting a car. Also, heard of a shop walking distance to where I am staying called Neptune Divers but I don't know much about them. I am also not sure of the difference between diving from Grand Case or Orient Beach or if boat travel time is so short that they go to the same sites.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Brad

 

[Strikezone NC]

Do not miss this dive.... one of the best locations in the world. Send the night if you can!
Great! easy fun ..... Use SABA Deep!!!!

 

[getwet2]

Never dived in SXM, everytime I get to SXM I usually head over to Saba for my diving, you can take the plane or use the ferrie which is called The Edge. Saba Deep is a great outfit to dive with and the diving is awesome.

 

[rpdecomp]

brad, i am presently in trinidad and tobago working as a commercial diver in the shipping industry; my company recently acquired some work over on sxm; was to go this weekend but only the owner went; hopefully i can get there soon...please tell me more about it when u return...i look forward to hearing from you....

 

[shoturtle]

St. Martin is more of a snorkel and party island, the food is great because of the French influence. Think they can claim more Cordon Blu grads per-capital then anywhere else. For local fare, goto johnny under the tree. I would rent a car to visit the whole island french and dutch side.

For diving ferry over to Saba.

 

[bmartin]

That looks nice and I have heard diving is great in Saba. I just can't desert my family for that many hours so am still trying to find an alternative in St. Maarten.

Thanks for replying.

 

[bmartin]

Thanks for the reply. I will probably be stuck on St. Maarten since i can't ditch my family for that long and I am the only diver. How long is the Ferry ride to Saba? Any idea of the cost?
Thanks for replying.

 

[bmartin]

Thanks for the advice. Wher is Johny Under the Tree?

 

[marcaumarc]

We've been diving in St. Martin/Sint Maarten many times and we just got back. Octopus Diving in Grand Case (which is pretty close to Orient Bay, 10 min. drive or less with no traffic) is our favorite. The couple who bought the dive shop last year are really nice and really conscientious about equipment and such. Depending on conditions, they go to a bunch of sites, from Tintamarre and the Grand Case area to the various wrecks and other sites on the Dutch Side, plus some new locations between St. Martin and Anguilla.

Email me if you want any other info. Check out the web page in my profile for more info about them and our trip.

And, since I didn't see any reply, johnny b under the tree is between simpson bay and marigot on the main road. there are also tons of lolos (local bbq places) in grand case which will be closer to where you are staying.

 

[bmartin]

Just got back and I did dive with Octopus. They were excellent and have developed a great reputation. Best dive was Circus that is only accesible a few times a year because of the wind and underwater surges preventing access to the small underwater pass throughs. Lolos in Grand Case were great too. We at at Skys the Limit.