Saint Martin Dive Ops / sights?

[Ulfhedinn]

the owners life ended tragically.

Aye

 

[jonhall]

Two more dive ops I considered when I thought about doing a couple of dives off of the cruise ship early 2020:

Dive St. Martin (which was Octopus) is located in Bobby's Marina around Great Bay. One of the places to find parking. Some good restaurants within a short walk.

Dive Adventures and Aqua Mania may be one and the same. Located in Simpson Bay and has a beach pickup in Little Bay at Divi Little Bay Resort near Phillipsburg - when I refer to Phillipsburg which covers a large area, I'm referring to the shops/restaurants along the boardwalk around Great Bay. To be fair, there are some really good restaurants around Simpson Bay also.

@Murphy in NC When you asked about sights, did you mean dive sites or sights around the island?

 

[ScubaMarc]

Last month I was in SXM for 8 days, dove 5 days with www.divesintmaarten.com. I was very happy with them. After the captain knew our dive capabilities, they gave us freedom to go mostly on our own as long as we all see each others bubbles. Took us to the normal sites and tried very hard to take us to less dived sites when conditions was working with us.

 

[Murphy in NC]

Hi Murphy! Info about the Dutch side's diving spots can be found on the environmental management organization's diving page, which has a lot of helpful resources. I am living in St. Maarten and know a bit about the current situation.

I am a new diver, but I dive with SXM Divers out of Cole Bay and have heard good things about Ocean Explorers in Simpson Bay. I am unfamiliar with the French side operators but I think most English-speaking divers go with a Dutch side diving shop anyway.

Pretty much all diving here is done from a boat and the Man of War Shoal Marine Park is the most popular area for diving by far. My experiences at Proselyte Reef, Fish Bowl, and Carib Cargo have been great, but there are beautiful spots outside of the park such as the Gregory and Moonscape. I don't know many spots on the French side besides Creole Rock and Basse Espagnol, but they exist. Generally, diving is thought to be better on the Dutch side anyway. Always plenty of fish, frequently sea turtles and sharks, etc.

Let me know if I can elaborate or help out further! Would be happy to.

SBRI Thank you. reviews look good for SXM however I don't see a website or the website is not dedicated to SCUBA?

 

[Murphy in NC]

Two more dive ops I considered when I thought about doing a couple of dives off of the cruise ship early 2020:

Dive St. Martin (which was Octopus) is located in Bobby's Marina around Great Bay. One of the places to find parking. Some good restaurants within a short walk.

Dive Adventures and Aqua Mania may be one and the same. Located in Simpson Bay and has a beach pickup in Little Bay at Divi Little Bay Resort near Phillipsburg - when I refer to Phillipsburg which covers a large area, I'm referring to the shops/restaurants along the boardwalk around Great Bay. To be fair, there are some really good restaurants around Simpson Bay also.

@Murphy in NC When you asked about sights, did you mean dive sites or sights around the island?

Dive sights specifically, topside ... who cares? joking,

just worried about the dive sites

 

[jonhall]

Dive sights specifically, topside ... who cares? joking,

haha

As I wrote in my first post, there were several small wrecks we dove out of Simpson Bay with Ocean Explorers.

Ocean Explorers Dive Center home to the best shark diving

I think the wrecks are worth diving as there is different life around and in each. Since it was just shark week, OE also does a shark dive - you can see quite a few sharks (nurse and reef) just diving around Great Bay, but if you want them swimming around and next to you, the shark dive is an experience.

 

[oceanava]

SBRI Thank you. reviews look good for SXM however I don't see a website or the website is not dedicated to SCUBA?

There is no website just dedicated to SCUBA. The Nature Foundation website is the closest you'll get, and there's no information on the French side (though there are a few diving sites there!). But, I can answer most questions you have about it or ask around since I am on-island. There are many sites to choose from outside of the Marine Park and I've really enjoyed diving there.

The coral formations next door in Saba are definitely larger and more beautiful, but I actually found that the species richness and abundance in St. Maarten waters is better based on my week diving in Saba. For sure there are always sharks on-site, and there are several wrecks -- The Gregory, Remorquer, The Bridge, and Porpoise are all quite nice.

 

[Murphy in NC]

There is no website just dedicated to SCUBA. The Nature Foundation website is the closest you'll get, and there's no information on the French side (though there are a few diving sites there!). But, I can answer most questions you have about it or ask around since I am on-island. There are many sites to choose from outside of the Marine Park and I've really enjoyed diving there.

The coral formations next door in Saba are definitely larger and more beautiful, but I actually found that the species richness and abundance in St. Maarten waters is better based on my week diving in Saba. For sure there are always sharks on-site, and there are several wrecks -- The Gregory, Remorquer, The Bridge, and Porpoise are all quite nice.

SBRIS,
I spoke to one of the operators and they advised me conditions are very rough this time of year. Not really interested in a rough ride or bad conditions, what do you think of SABA or one of the neighboring islands ?

 

[jonhall]

@SBRIS will most likely have more current info on getting to Saba. Before Hurricane Irma in 2017, I had talked myself into attempting the trip over to Saba for the day during a 2 week trip we had planned. Pre-pandemic, there were 2 options of getting there - 90 minute ride on ferry through what some had described as some rough waters or a 17 minute plane ride with the thought of being worried about elevation after diving. Plane was more expensive, but could get you there to catch dive ops going out early. Ferry, as I recall, seemed like details had to be worked out to get there in time for an op to take you out.

One nice thing about St. Maarten is that there are plenty of dive sites, so repeating sites is unlikely. Tintamarre Island, on the French side, has a few dive sites also - it's just a couple minutes away. Someone else might be able to chime in on if the dives are worth finding an op that will go there.

 

[Murphy in NC]

@SBRIS will most likely have more current info on getting to Saba. Before Hurricane Irma in 2017, I had talked myself into attempting the trip over to Saba for the day during a 2 week trip we had planned. Pre-pandemic, there were 2 options of getting there - 90 minute ride on ferry through what some had described as some rough waters or a 17 minute plane ride with the thought of being worried about elevation after diving. Plane was more expensive, but could get you there to catch dive ops going out early. Ferry, as I recall, seemed like details had to be worked out to get there in time for an op to take you out.

One nice thing about St. Maarten is that there are plenty of dive sites, so repeating sites is unlikely. Tintamarre Island, on the French side, has a few dive sites also - it's just a couple minutes away. Someone else might be able to chime in on if the dives are worth finding an op that will go there.

I asked because one of the dive shops that I contacted mentioned very bad conditions this time of year. I thought it odd as no one on Scubaboard mentioned bad conditions. I was always under the impression that summer was good minus hurricanes.

SBRIS lives there hopefully can provide additional info