St. Martin/Nassau/St Thomas Cruise & Dive

[billeelou]

First time in the Eastern Caribe. Doing the Carnival (pod people) Valor on the 22nd -29th of October. the three stops are Nassau, I know Stuart Cove is the "best" in the Nassau area- but I'll take other suggestions- St thomas is the blank canvas and I 've heard St. Martin/Martaan is not worth doing....but I am willing to hear other people's opinions....Dive ops make the trip ...

Let er rip!!!!!:lol:


Thanks

 

[mike_s]

You really don't have a choice in Nassau besides Stuart Cove. most of the rest of the shops are out of business. Nassau Scuba center went under last year, yet Neal Watsons page also references them as Nasau Scuba centre now also. Maybe someone else can give a better answer.

If you want to dive Stuart Coves, check their pickup schedule from the cruiseboat and see when your boat comes in and if you can make their schedule.

Other stuff to do in Nassau is basically the standard cruise boat stuff. tours, shopping, etc. Atlantis resort is neat and a short taxi ride away.



On St Thomas, the stuff do is is pretty much like Nassau. Tours and shopping. Only reason I'd go back there is to use it to fly into and catch a ferry to the BVI. The shore diving site there for the cruise lines is Coki Beach. it's ok. nothing great but nog grand by any means. A boat dive would be much better in my opinion on St Thamoas.

 

[King Kong Matt]

St thomas is the blank canvas...Dive ops make the trip ...

I've been to St. Thomas a number of times and always dive with Chris Sawyer Diving Center.

In my experience, the service is great, the staff is super-friendly, and everything runs as it should. My only caveat (and this may be a plus or a minus depending on your perspective) is that they cater mostly to vacation divers - they handle the gear, load the tanks, set things up, etc. I never cared particularly because I'm allergic to lifting tanks and all other forms of manual labor as it is, but some people might find that a turn off.

Really, IMHO, St. Thomas diving is severely underrated...

 

[billeelou]

My spousal unit is/will be a newly cert. diver, so nothing in the way of "hard" am I looking for. The Cadillac treatment will go a lonnnnng way in making her comfortable.

any suggestions on Diving st Martin?

 

[BurBunny]

any suggestions on Diving st Martin?

Skip the diving, spend a day shopping and beaching it Not my favorite island for diving - way down the list. Often subject to currents and waves.

In addition to Chris Sawyer in St. Thomas, I'd recommend Blue Island Divers for cruisers. I like St. Thomas Diving Club, but wouldn't really go with them as beginners. Admiralty would be another option, though haven't gone with them personally, so can't say as much for a new diver. I'd definitely contact Chris Sawyer first.

Looking at Nassau, really Stuart Coves is your choice. They are the cruise ship vendor as well, which as a new diver could be a good thing for you here. For the cruise ship groups, they tend to be more oriented toward newer divers and those who dive infrequently. It's the more experienced divers coming in on the ships who have more difficulty in scheduling one day's diving with their preferred parameters.

 

[mike_s]

BTW... you book direct with Stuart Coves and save a bundle over the cruise boat price.

 

[diversteve]

Your choices on Nassau are Stuart Cove's or Bahama Divers - www.bahamadivers.com. Or a private charter. From what I've read competition from SC shut everyone else down. SC is on the other side of the island from Nassau so they shuttle you both ways. BD is near the bridge to Paradise Island so closer. But their morning trip leaves at 8:30.

On St. Thomas, we dove Coki Beach. I thought it was pretty marginal, but maybe ok for a beginner, it's shallow with a sandy beach entry. Not a lot of reef there though. Coki Beach Dive also has a really tiny boat so although it limits the dive to six or less, it looked like a backroll entry also. Coki Beach is about 10min farther than Red Hook on the East End, so if you're going to go out there, you might as well dive with Sawyer's in Red Hook. The one interesting thing about the Coki Beach area is that you get a glimpse of local island life while there.

Personally I'd go with Blue Island Divers, they'll pick you up at the cruise dock with prior arrangement. http://www.blueislanddivers.com/cruiship.htm
And you won't spend an hour both ways to/from Red Hook so you'll have more time to look around Charlotte Amalie.

 

[mike_s]

My suggestion on Coki Beach is that if you're a brand new diver, it'd be a good place for you. But otherwise, you didn't spend all that money on the cruise and vacation to dive at a "marginal place" (as sjspeck describes it).

So do a boat dive with one of the other operators. The Red Hook area is a good place to dive. Lots of huge cavernous valleys in the reefs, some swim throughs, etc. Last time I was there, about 6 years ago, it was about a $12-$15 cab ride to Red Hook. But some of the boat operators might also pick up (if you ask them or have large enough group)


For Bahamas, the best advantage of using Bahama Divers is that it's a quick ride over from the cruise pier. Stuart Coves is clear on the other side of the island. (However, that's where most of the better dive sites are).

 

[5615mike]

Both times I have been in St. Martin we dove with Dive Safari. A friend has a house in Guana Bay on the Dutch side and Phillipsburg was close for us. Your dive shop will depend on which side of the island you dock. The diving there is ok, not great, but better than not diving at all. Hard bottom of all the sites we dove was about 50'. If you can make Saba.........thats the ticket!! Have a great time.

 

[billeelou]

My wife is very nervous type and I don't think I have a calming affect on her, so the easy dive is probably the way to go. I appreciate all the suggestions, BTW we arrive in Nassau at 7 am so a 8-30 am departure would not be out of the question....if the trip to the dive ops was fairly short, does anyone else have any experience with Bahama Divers?:huh: