OP
jmcgilroy
Contributor
Thanks, I had to change gears and book Belize (Ramon's) due to Statia's COVID rules. Hopefully, a change will be not long-off.
St. Eustatius (Statia) Recommendations?
- Thread starter jmcgilroy
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doogisar
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My wife and I went to Statia twice in 2019. Both great trips. We dove with Golden Rock Dive center. Small Operation, Owners Sarah and Dave are very knowledgeable and the shop has their own filling station. They can also do Nitrox. At that time we staying at the Orange Bay hotel. But as of Covid they have closed. We will be back in Nov 2022 but this time were staying at the new resort on the island but diving again with Golden Rock Dive center. The flight on WinAir is painful as others have said. Make sure you watch your baggage get loaded onto YOUR plane. My wife's bag did not make it and there is not much for shopping on the island and a small store/grocery for feminine products. Their baggage fees are ridiculous, We have flown on similar planes in Little Cayman and Belize and didn't have as much fee's. Yes there is a ferry, but I can't comment on it since I have not used it yet. Statia is an amazing little island with amazing local population. Make sure you talk with the little tent restaurant at the dock for the lobster dinners. The diving is also excellent. We did not have much current when we were there in Sept. Definitly make Statia one of your dive vacations. Saba is right next door and the same plane stops at each place in a route to the islands then back to St Marteen. From what I hear, Saba is Deep with Pinnacles and alot of current as times. Not much on the island and much like Statia most people live on top of the island as they were once volcanic islands.
doogisar
Registered
I will post back on here and let everyone know how it went. As well as Immigration. I just got word that as of Nov 1st St Marteen is no longer requiring the Health Questionnaires. We will so as we get there on 4 Nov.
doogisar
Registered
Hello All, Well here goes. First: No Covid Questionnaires Required. We arrived in St Estatious on 4 Nov, We bought 2 bottles of liquor from Miami Duty free. The bag was not sealed and upon arrival to St Martin they confiscated it. One was a nice Scotch. We get to St Estatious and the GR Resort didn't tell them we were coming in. so we called the resort from the airport. 1hr later they showed up. The resort is nice, the grounds are very nice and manicured. The onsite restaurant "Breeze" was very good for Breakfast and Dinners. The rooms were very well thought out and tons of space for all your things. Kitchen was good enough to cook what ever you wanted with all the pots/pans, plates,utencils. Dishwasher, Microwave.
There is not much to do at the resort, unless you like Yoga, The Pool, Tennis, Basketball, they even have a PuttPutt little golf course. But there is not any beach and it is a bit of a walk to the Ocean. But the View from the resort is really nice. Excellent Staff, Excellent Service. Decent water pressure and good hot water.
Its about a 15 min shuttle to the bottom of the island where the two dive ops are located.
Oh, the Shuttle service is a bit slow but they will take you where ever you want and pick you up when your done for FREE. The drivers even turn down tips.
The Old Gin House has really good food and also has rooms if they are available, they were booked for our time frame. The Orange Bay Hotel is our preferred but they are closed and not sure when or if they will reopen. There is a restaurant at the pier called the Boardwalk I think, Also really good food but closed on the weekends.
The weather was not on our side. Day one, Rain, 4-6' waves and vis was noticeable impacted. Day two was canceled due to Rain and Winds. Day three we dove, again same as day 1 conditions. We called it quits, grabbed the next flight out to miami and the following day went to Cozumel MX.
While in Miami, we confronted the same Duty Free location. They said that sealed bags are not required for St. Martin. We still argued the point and they are refunding us the cost of the loss.
Cozumel,MX Weather has been great all days, water conditions are excellent. Currents are light. Last nights night dive provided 3 Octopi 2 in the open plus many crabs and spotted lobsters. Last dive day is coming up, but it was the correct decision to pull an audible instead of wasting our vacation time on poor diving conditions. Usually the diving there is really good. They said early Summer is the best time to go for weather. Maybe we will do that in the next year or so. Enjoy the read and hope it helps someone out when thinking about going to St. Estatious. Anyone new to the forums, there a tons of Cozumel Threads to spend hours reading thru if you have the time.
There is not much to do at the resort, unless you like Yoga, The Pool, Tennis, Basketball, they even have a PuttPutt little golf course. But there is not any beach and it is a bit of a walk to the Ocean. But the View from the resort is really nice. Excellent Staff, Excellent Service. Decent water pressure and good hot water.
Its about a 15 min shuttle to the bottom of the island where the two dive ops are located.
Oh, the Shuttle service is a bit slow but they will take you where ever you want and pick you up when your done for FREE. The drivers even turn down tips.
The Old Gin House has really good food and also has rooms if they are available, they were booked for our time frame. The Orange Bay Hotel is our preferred but they are closed and not sure when or if they will reopen. There is a restaurant at the pier called the Boardwalk I think, Also really good food but closed on the weekends.
The weather was not on our side. Day one, Rain, 4-6' waves and vis was noticeable impacted. Day two was canceled due to Rain and Winds. Day three we dove, again same as day 1 conditions. We called it quits, grabbed the next flight out to miami and the following day went to Cozumel MX.
While in Miami, we confronted the same Duty Free location. They said that sealed bags are not required for St. Martin. We still argued the point and they are refunding us the cost of the loss.
Cozumel,MX Weather has been great all days, water conditions are excellent. Currents are light. Last nights night dive provided 3 Octopi 2 in the open plus many crabs and spotted lobsters. Last dive day is coming up, but it was the correct decision to pull an audible instead of wasting our vacation time on poor diving conditions. Usually the diving there is really good. They said early Summer is the best time to go for weather. Maybe we will do that in the next year or so. Enjoy the read and hope it helps someone out when thinking about going to St. Estatious. Anyone new to the forums, there a tons of Cozumel Threads to spend hours reading thru if you have the time.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I inquired with Golden Rock Dive Center a couple of weeks ago about best months to go there. Here's what she said: "May is one of my favorites where the sea warms up and calms down and the juveniles start up! But all through July is very nice. Not September due to the peak hurricane season."
The WinAir headache is giving me a bit of hesitation, so I'm looking at the ferry, but you can't book on their website because it shows "no availability" indefinitely into the future. I emailed them and they said they're working on their website and you have to call a make a reservation.
The WinAir headache is giving me a bit of hesitation, so I'm looking at the ferry, but you can't book on their website because it shows "no availability" indefinitely into the future. I emailed them and they said they're working on their website and you have to call a make a reservation.
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