St. Martin Recommendations?

[Joe from MN]

Heading to St. Martin mid-/February to mid-March. Has anyone used Bubble Shop for diving? We’re staying in the Orient Beach area and they are the closest.
Thanks!

 

[BigDaddyGlad]

Reviving this old thread to ask: if I'm only in St. Maarten for the day on a cruise, is the diving worthwhile, or is Maho Beach a better experience?

We've been to the island a few times, but typically either take a cab to Orient Beach for the day, or just walk around the downtown shopping area. We've never dived the island, and we've never been to Maho.

 

[jonhall]

is the diving worthwhile, or is Maho Beach a better experience?

Starting with Maho Beach - bigger crowds, pay for lounge chairs. This is the beach where planes pass overhead. Small planes aren't too exciting - if a big jet flies in (which it didn't do when we were last there) that would be pretty cool. Some people like to stand on the beach near the end of the runway when big jets takeoff - wind is strong enough to blow some people over - in retrospect, not extremely safe. Maho is also farther away than other beaches that are pretty nice and a taxi would be pretty expensive. Simpson Bay is closer and has some nice beach areas. Even closer is little used Little Bay Beach, just east of Belair Beach Hotel and the next bay over from Great Bay where the cruise ships come in. Used to have white sand, easy to walk into, and calmer water because it's protected in the bay. Won't be crowded like Maho or Orient Beaches. Could snorkel, but not much to see.

You can walk to a dive op from the cruise ship pier. Dive sites will be outside the Great Bay - they're not too bad. Likely to see reef/nurse sharks on most dives. There is one shipwreck, the Proselyte, in the area, but there are only pieces (cannons, anchors, ballast, etc...) scattered around - not an actual ship. Since you're there for 1 day, you could go to 2 decent sites. Divi Little Bay is not a good dive site, IMO, so I would suggest making sure that's not one of the sites you go to. It is a protected marine park with stuff (helicopter, airplane,..) placed in the area at about 30'. Might be a good snorkel for some.