I've been watching you STXers and so I know I will get some good advice here. My wife and I like to combine our two passions, sailing and diving and we try to find places with a reasonable mix of both. Every year one of our trips is over Thanksgiving and this year we are picking up a boat in St Thomas and, since we've seen most of the rest of the area, tradewinds permitting, we plan to hop down to St. Croix for a few days of diving.
We'll probably stay 3-4 full days and would fill most of that time diving. We'll probably base mostly in Christiansted because the harbor looks pretty much all-weather, but we may make a jaunt to Fredericksted and perhaps Buck Island on the way out (yes, I know about the permitting to stay there). We would like to do a mix of diving on our own and diving with local outfits. With regard to the latter, if it's part of the gig, we enjoy a good guide that can show us the local stuff and orient us to a site, but we don't need or want a babysitter. I will have my camera with me and we will want some time to set our own pace and go our own way.
So what I'm looking for is a hit list tailored to my "special needs," which are (1) a desire to do some diving on our own (shore, from our boat or our dinghy); (2) the fact that we will not have a car and so if we need to get somewhere (ie, not near our boat) we will either have to rely on a shop to pick us up or on public transport; (3) we want a shop(s) that is not too paternalistic.
Some things of particular interest:
1. Are there any good spots we can dinghy to right near Csted harbor?
2. Are there some spots where I could take the sailboat and anchor to dive?
3. Are taxis okay with carting people around with their scuba gear? Do they charge extra for that?
4. Does it make more sense to arrange transport with a shop (seems like the going taxi rate for anyting I want to do is $24 each way).
5. Some dives I'm pretty sure I want to do are Salt River, Cane Bay, and Fsted Pier (day/night). Time for quite a few more!
BTW, just to incense you a little, I want you to know that I posted my plans on the Cruiser's Forum (for sailors) and got a number of snooty responses about how dangerous the place is and why would I ever want to go there. Bunch of frightened rich kids with expensive toys and a perverted sense of the world. Never fear, I beat them into submission with probing questions and actual facts -- your honor is intact! When I called them out it seemed like the loudest had never even been there. Truly sad.
I look forward to a more positive, meaningful discussion here, and I'm really looking forward to the trip.
Thanks in advance!
We'll probably stay 3-4 full days and would fill most of that time diving. We'll probably base mostly in Christiansted because the harbor looks pretty much all-weather, but we may make a jaunt to Fredericksted and perhaps Buck Island on the way out (yes, I know about the permitting to stay there). We would like to do a mix of diving on our own and diving with local outfits. With regard to the latter, if it's part of the gig, we enjoy a good guide that can show us the local stuff and orient us to a site, but we don't need or want a babysitter. I will have my camera with me and we will want some time to set our own pace and go our own way.
So what I'm looking for is a hit list tailored to my "special needs," which are (1) a desire to do some diving on our own (shore, from our boat or our dinghy); (2) the fact that we will not have a car and so if we need to get somewhere (ie, not near our boat) we will either have to rely on a shop to pick us up or on public transport; (3) we want a shop(s) that is not too paternalistic.
Some things of particular interest:
1. Are there any good spots we can dinghy to right near Csted harbor?
2. Are there some spots where I could take the sailboat and anchor to dive?
3. Are taxis okay with carting people around with their scuba gear? Do they charge extra for that?
4. Does it make more sense to arrange transport with a shop (seems like the going taxi rate for anyting I want to do is $24 each way).
5. Some dives I'm pretty sure I want to do are Salt River, Cane Bay, and Fsted Pier (day/night). Time for quite a few more!
BTW, just to incense you a little, I want you to know that I posted my plans on the Cruiser's Forum (for sailors) and got a number of snooty responses about how dangerous the place is and why would I ever want to go there. Bunch of frightened rich kids with expensive toys and a perverted sense of the world. Never fear, I beat them into submission with probing questions and actual facts -- your honor is intact! When I called them out it seemed like the loudest had never even been there. Truly sad.
I look forward to a more positive, meaningful discussion here, and I'm really looking forward to the trip.
Thanks in advance!