st croix vs st thomas

[nuts4corals]

so which island has better divin? st crois or st thomas... going in august... please advise. have a wedding to go to in st thomas. how do I get over to STT from st qroix? are ther any all inclusive resorts in st qroix anyone can reccomend? dive op? thanks

 

[diversteve]

You could take the Smith's Ferry - it's 90mins. one way. Virgin Islands Ferry Schedule
A couple of years ago I read that it may be seasonal so check with them as Summer is off-season in that area.

There's the Divi Carina Bay. They have one of the Cane Bay dive shops on-site. I've never been there.

 

[wjbrandt]

Going back and forth for diving is not that easy and costly. If you are going to spend a few days on each island you will find it better. Depending on where you are staying in STT will offer different dive options. The Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort offers an all inclusive plan and you can dive with Red Hook Dive Center. St. Thomas Scuba Diving - Red Hook Dive Center
Have fun.

 

[mitsuguy]

You have two choices for transport between the islands - the Sea Plane or the Ferry... The Ferry is a power cat - very stable, very fast (30 knots), and makes the trek in an hour and a half - $90 roundtrip. The seaplane (which also now runs flights airport to airport), is a 20 minute flight and is $75-$85 each way...

Diving is much better in St. Croix. It's not bad in St. Thomas, its just better in St. Croix. We literally have dive instructors come from STT to STX to fun dive for a week at a time, because they prefer it here, but live and work there. But don't stay at Divi if you want to dive. It's a beautiful resort, but it's on the South shore, and all of the diving is on the North and West end, which means at least a 45 minute drive (windy roads)... The North shore consists of really healthy coral and the wall, which drops pretty dramatically to over 3,000 feet deep less than a mile from shore and works its way to 13,000 feet pretty quickly as well... just a few hundred yards from shore (which makes shore diving easy) is the top of the wall, in 20-40 feet, depending where you are, it drops at a 60-75 degree angle past recreational depths to around 170ish, then its a straight drop down well past technical diving limits...

 

[Rhone Man]

I was always told "St Thomas for wrecks, St Croix for walls and reefs". But I have never dived in St Croix, so I can't fully confirm.

 

[rashdecision]

I was always told "St Thomas for wrecks, St Croix for walls and reefs". But I have never dived in St Croix, so I can't fully confirm.

I dove St. Thomas in September and just returned last week from St. Croix. You are about right on target. St. Thomas is predominately wrecks (and some really good ones) and St. Croix's highlight is the wall. If you go to St. Croix, don't miss Cane Bay and Cane Bay Divers. It is absolutely amazing, the dive shop is well maintained and it is shore diving to the wall. Pro's to Cane Bay are that you basically can dive with a guide whenever you want. The have dives going out constantly and their montra is "we dive when you want to". If you go to St. Thomas you will spend most of your times on wrecks and they are great although some of our second tank dives were on reefs and they were nice. If you don't already have plans then look into Blue Island Divers on St. Thomas. Everyone (including me) that I have seen dive with them has a man crush on the dive operation there. I dove an entire week with them and they are very professional and well trained and we had a blast.

 

[mitsuguy]

I dove St. Thomas in September and just returned last week from St. Croix. You are about right on target. St. Thomas is predominately wrecks (and some really good ones) and St. Croix's highlight is the wall. If you go to St. Croix, don't miss Cane Bay and Cane Bay Divers. It is absolutely amazing, the dive shop is well maintained and it is shore diving to the wall. Pro's to Cane Bay are that you basically can dive with a guide whenever you want. The have dives going out constantly and their montra is "we dive when you want to". If you go to St. Thomas you will spend most of your times on wrecks and they are great although some of our second tank dives were on reefs and they were nice. If you don't already have plans then look into Blue Island Divers on St. Thomas. Everyone (including me) that I have seen dive with them has a man crush on the dive operation there. I dove an entire week with them and they are very professional and well trained and we had a blast.

Did I meet you last week? I'm Cody, from Cane Bay...

 

[bsumner]

It is correct that the best dives in St. Thomas are wrecks, but having visited both, I would choose St. Croix for the better boat diving and shore diving.

Anchor Dive Center runs an excellent operation in Salt River. Their boat rides are five minutes from the best dives on the North Shore. If you purchase a package with them, you get free nitrox or free air cylinders for shore diving.

I would add that the Frederiksted Pier is one of the best dives in the Virgin Islands, not to be missed. On that dive, we have seen numerous octopus, squid, scorpionfish, lobsters, eels, seahorses, etc. Nothing large, but everything else you can imagine.

 

[mitsuguy]

It is correct that the best dives in St. Thomas are wrecks, but having visited both, I would choose St. Croix for the better boat diving and shore diving.

Anchor Dive Center runs an excellent operation in Salt River. Their boat rides are five minutes from the best dives on the North Shore. If you purchase a package with them, you get free nitrox or free air cylinders for shore diving.

I would add that the Frederiksted Pier is one of the best dives in the Virgin Islands, not to be missed. On that dive, we have seen numerous octopus, squid, scorpionfish, lobsters, eels, seahorses, etc. Nothing large, but everything else you can imagine.

Nothing against Anchor, but the best dives are more than 5 minutes from their dive center... Salt River is a couple of nice dives, but the more impressive wall is best between the point East of Cane Bay and Ham's Bluff. The closest of these dives, Pavilions, is 4 miles from the mouth of Salt River... That means at least a 20 minute boat ride. The wall in this area is a steep slope that drops to over 3000 feet deep... Around 130 feet, there are flats at Salt River and no real drop off below that for a little distance...

 

[rashdecision]

Did I meet you last week? I'm Cody, from Cane Bay...

Not sure Cody. My wife and I (Annette and Rob) came in for a day of diving while on our cruise with the Adventure of the Seas on Saturday. My wife was doing her final 2 open water checkout dives and I dove with her on the wall. I believe our divemasters name was Lisa. She was absolutely fantastic with my wife, very patient, and a great person for her to close her dives out with. We were the couple that had the hickup with the rest of our group coming out from the cruise ship. Apparently there were a few large groups from the cruise ship that snagged up all the spots on the van coming out and our friends (with my children in tow) couldn't come out to the beach with us.
Ive only dove the wall in St. Croix but I have logged dives all over the caribbean and south pacific and can not recall a more beautiful collection of coral and wildlife with the possible exception of Moorea near Tahiti. Great shop at Cane Bay and it was recommended to us by DJ and Annabelle at Blue Island Divers in St. Thomas. Whenever another dive shop recommends a peer, I listen and was greatful I did. I recommend your dive op without hesitation.