Tjack
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Saint Martin Diving Trip Report, May 4-6, 2010
As part of a Saba trip I decided to check out St. Martin diving for a day as I was flying in and out of there anyway. St. Martin has wrecks while Saba has none. The white sand bottom provides a lot of light as well so the diving here is quite different from Saba. The number of DM’s from St. Martin day tripping to Saba for diving would indicate that Saba has the superior diving. Overall I was glad I did a day of diving on St. Martin and would have liked to do one more.
Initially I was planning on staying in Phillipsburg / Simpson Bay area to be close to the airport during a 2 night layover, but on such a small island this was a moot point. The cheapest hotels I could find on line for St. Martin were in Phillipsburg, but I ended up getting the best deal on lodgings in Grand Case.
I had booked diving with Octopus Divers due to the glowing reviews here on Scubaboard. Sally at Octopus found me a great room at Les Alizes right on the water in Grand Case for US $60 a night. I am so glad I went with Octopus because they led me to stay in the funky little beach town of Grand Case.
St. Martin locals sugested I just rent a car which worked out great. At US $35 a day from Tropical at the airport I saved on transportation. Cabs are expensive and not so convenient on St. Martin. This is a small island, driving distances are short. The drive from Grand Case to the Airport took under 40 minutes early morning, If the bridge is up this can slow things down considerably.
Octopus divers is a friendly little shop located in Grand Case on the French side. They focus on a lot of resort courses and OW certs. A two tank boat dive runs $85. They seem to dive the whole island, we did two wrecks on the Dutch side. The French side reputedly has the best reef diving, especially off of Tintamarre Island.
The first wreck was the Propose, a tug boat which a couple of dive shops from the Dutch side planted without a permit in the 90s. This wreck is totally intact with schooling Jacks around the wheel house and big Southern Stingrays in the sand near by. There are good penetration opportunities on this wreck. Max depth was 90’ temp was 83 degrees.
After a short 40min interval which limited our bottom time on the second dive, we headed over to another nearby wreck.
The second wreck was the Gregory, a motorized barge which tortoised on her way down in a storm. Not much to look at from above, but underneath forms a cavern full of glassy sweepers. There is also patchy reef all around her providing some interesting wildlife as well. I found 6 Flamingo Tongues on one sea fan near the Gregory. Max depth 60’ temp 83 degrees.
After the natural tranquillity of Saba, St. Martin is a nice change of pace. Phillipsburg is a cruise ship port with lots of jewelry shops, casinos and night clubs. Grand Case is a cool little beach town with great food and a laid back vibe. Another option would be to stay at Pelican Beach in Simpson Bay and dive with Dive Adventures which shares a dock with the Edge Ferry to Saba.
Overall St. Martin is a resort destination where people might do a resort course or a day of diving as a diversion from their beach vacation. This is not a dive destination but worth diving for a day or two. St Martin might be a fun place to do an OW cert as conditions are easy for beginner divers. More experienced divers might get bored after a couple of days. All in all would stay in Grand Case and dive with Octopus divers again.
As part of a Saba trip I decided to check out St. Martin diving for a day as I was flying in and out of there anyway. St. Martin has wrecks while Saba has none. The white sand bottom provides a lot of light as well so the diving here is quite different from Saba. The number of DM’s from St. Martin day tripping to Saba for diving would indicate that Saba has the superior diving. Overall I was glad I did a day of diving on St. Martin and would have liked to do one more.
Initially I was planning on staying in Phillipsburg / Simpson Bay area to be close to the airport during a 2 night layover, but on such a small island this was a moot point. The cheapest hotels I could find on line for St. Martin were in Phillipsburg, but I ended up getting the best deal on lodgings in Grand Case.
I had booked diving with Octopus Divers due to the glowing reviews here on Scubaboard. Sally at Octopus found me a great room at Les Alizes right on the water in Grand Case for US $60 a night. I am so glad I went with Octopus because they led me to stay in the funky little beach town of Grand Case.
St. Martin locals sugested I just rent a car which worked out great. At US $35 a day from Tropical at the airport I saved on transportation. Cabs are expensive and not so convenient on St. Martin. This is a small island, driving distances are short. The drive from Grand Case to the Airport took under 40 minutes early morning, If the bridge is up this can slow things down considerably.
Octopus divers is a friendly little shop located in Grand Case on the French side. They focus on a lot of resort courses and OW certs. A two tank boat dive runs $85. They seem to dive the whole island, we did two wrecks on the Dutch side. The French side reputedly has the best reef diving, especially off of Tintamarre Island.
The first wreck was the Propose, a tug boat which a couple of dive shops from the Dutch side planted without a permit in the 90s. This wreck is totally intact with schooling Jacks around the wheel house and big Southern Stingrays in the sand near by. There are good penetration opportunities on this wreck. Max depth was 90’ temp was 83 degrees.
After a short 40min interval which limited our bottom time on the second dive, we headed over to another nearby wreck.
The second wreck was the Gregory, a motorized barge which tortoised on her way down in a storm. Not much to look at from above, but underneath forms a cavern full of glassy sweepers. There is also patchy reef all around her providing some interesting wildlife as well. I found 6 Flamingo Tongues on one sea fan near the Gregory. Max depth 60’ temp 83 degrees.
After the natural tranquillity of Saba, St. Martin is a nice change of pace. Phillipsburg is a cruise ship port with lots of jewelry shops, casinos and night clubs. Grand Case is a cool little beach town with great food and a laid back vibe. Another option would be to stay at Pelican Beach in Simpson Bay and dive with Dive Adventures which shares a dock with the Edge Ferry to Saba.
Overall St. Martin is a resort destination where people might do a resort course or a day of diving as a diversion from their beach vacation. This is not a dive destination but worth diving for a day or two. St Martin might be a fun place to do an OW cert as conditions are easy for beginner divers. More experienced divers might get bored after a couple of days. All in all would stay in Grand Case and dive with Octopus divers again.
