Overall impressions from first visit to St. Croix

[bpevans]

Thanks for the review! A shop told me they have their "Christmas Winds" from late December into mid-Feburary that can make the sea a bit sporty around that time.

My girlfriend & I are headed for our first St. Croix trip in a few weeks and can't wait. She's a new diver and completing her OW referral at Sweet Bottom Dive center so your comments were reassuring there for her. Of shops we called, they were by far the most helpful right off.

The pier dive looks great, I'll def take my partner on that one once she's certified for a easy intro dive. While this isn't a full-blown "dive trip", I'll probably get in some dives on my own. Any advanced sites you'd put on a short list to see for me? I'm fine with a long surface swim and/or deeper sites.

 

[parachute]

Very glad to see your review, as I've been curious about St. Croix as a dive destination. Here's a prior thread on discussion of St. Croix as a dive destination for others interested.

A few thoughts your review brought to me:


2.) Some new divers may be surprised to learn sharks aren't a bug, they're a feature, and many divers have to deliberately seek destinations they're apt to see them. For example, in 8 trips to Bonaire, I never saw one!

Richard.

Hi Rich,

If you want to see sharks at Bonaire, you've got better odds on the East coast. I've seen a few nurse sharks during dives with Bas Tol.

 

[drrich2]

Good to know. I did a dive at Cai with him and it was great; didn't see sharks, but I don't consider Bonaire a 'shark destination.' On the other hand, when I had a trip to Morehead City, NC, sharks (sand tigers) and wrecks were what it was about (as opposed to coral reefs). It's important to judge a destination on its own merits.

Richard.

 

[scubadada]

...Sadly I have seen cruelty to animals in the Bahamas and elsewhere in the Caribbean - and around the world - and it makes me sick. Even when you are hungry and killling to feed your family, why do some people feel it necessary to torture the poor animal before killing it? I am sorry that you had to witness that.

We toured Cairo and other fantastic Egyptian locations after spending a week on a fabulous liveaboard on the Red Sea. We decided to take a cart horse tour out to the pyramids and it was a nightmare. The horse was old and sick and moved slowly with labored breathing. The driver kept beating the horse. We said "don't beat the horse we are not in a hurry; we will get out and walk for awhile!" But he kept beating the horse. I wasn't looking at the amazing Pyramids or the vast Sahara because I was worried about the horse, and he wouldn't stop beating it.

Finally I had enough and said "Listen Buddy! You hit that horse one more time and you're not getting any tip from us!" And miraculously he immediately quit hitting the horse! But I am sure that he started beating it again as soon as we left. I still think about that poor horse although I am sure that it is dead by now. My memories of the wonders of Egypt are tainted by thoughts of that poor, tormented animal.

Cruelty to animals is not unique to St. Croix but I wish that it was a more rare occurrence everywhere in the world!

My wife and I recently returned from a 2 week, part land, part Nile boat cruise, of Egypt. The cruise boat company recently quit visiting Edfu in favor of Esna because of the mistreatment of horses. Apparently, the horse cart folks had a monopoly on transportation of visitors to the Temple of Horus and commonly mistreated their animals as described above. I was very glad to hear that the cruise company had taken this stance. Voting with one's pocketbook can be an effective tool rather than simply accepting intolerable behavior. We passed on the camel ride at the pyramids also, many of these animals looked old and beat up, quite sad

 

[Brodydog]

Do you know if any of the St. Croix dive ops offer valet diving? We are getting older and find it helpful to have assistance with lugging the heavy gear.

S.C.U.B.A. (St Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventure) does valet diving and I highly recommend them. They tag everything you want to leave with your name and the amt of weight you wear. Then they'll have it set up and waiting on you for your next trip out along with your weight already set up. I was very impressed with their set up, service and friendliness. Their main office is in Christiansted but they also have a satellite location in Frederisksted so you get to dive the Salt River area and then you can also go over and dive the Fredericksted Pier and surrounding area.

 

[They call me Tater]

N2theBlue also does all the work for you. I have heard good things about most of the shops there.
1 week to wait.

 

[jonhall]

Nice review! A couple of things to add. As of about 4-5 yrs ago, there is also the Captain Morgan rum distillery that provides a tour. Haven't done that one, but does provide something else to do.

A couple of restaurants to try are Tavern 1844 in Christiansted and The Lost Dog in Frederiksted. Read about The Lost Dog in a scuba diving magazine years ago, and now go anytime I'm in St. Croix. Decent pizza with red or white sauce. Coconuts Beach Bar, in Frederiksted, can serve up some great food also.

For anyone who has not read earlier reviews, some by me, the west side of island (Federiksted) has calmer water, if that makes a difference to you, and wrecks, which I didn't see mentioned in this thread. The Rosa Marie freighter is a 100 ft. deep wreck site (not penetrable) where some time is also spent at a shallower tug. The visibility is generally better also.

If diving the pier, be sure to swim a little east of it near the shore. In Dec. of 2012, it was loaded with starfish. Of course, they may have migrated.

 

[morecowbells]

bpevans, You made a great decision with Sweet Bottom Divers. I would probably say my favorite dives were 1.Cane Bay(facing ocean in front of Cane Bay Divers and going left). 2. Frederikstead Pier for the small critters and magnificent colors. They are as polar opposites as dive sites can get! I followed Wunderground for weather reports. When the forecast calls for calm waters, dive the hell out of the north shore. Save the windy days for the pier.

jonhall. We did not dive any of the wrecks. While I will on the rare occasions participate in them, I am not crazy about overhead environments, plus as a shore dive I heard it is a 25 minute swim out. Too bad I missed the starfish near the pier.

They Call Me Tater: I am dying to read your trip report! Is this your first dive in St. Croix?

 

[They call me Tater]

Cowbells, not my first trip and I promise a review. Nothing but good on the first so we are thrilled to go again. I am already thinking of more things I want to do than I will have time for.....

 

[drrich2]

Do shore divers there use dive flags?