St Thomas and St Maartin/Martin dive ops that the cruise lines use?

[claymore]

I am going on a cruise on Royal Caribbean in April and am wondering what dive ops this cruise line uses on these stops and what the quality of the dives and shops are?
I have been disappointed with most of the dive ops that I have used through the cruise lines.
Any recommendations for shops I could contract on my own with?

Thanks for any information.

 

[diversteve]

For St. Thomas the ship operator hasn't gotten the best reviews here.

Two better options are Admiralty Dive Center or Blue Island DIvers - both pick you up off the cruise dock. On the slight chance your ship docks at Crown Point Marina instead of the cruise pier (some do) Blue Island is walking distance. Otherwise they pick you up via boat at the WICO cruise dock. This map gives some idea of the dives possible - http://www.blueislanddivers.com/02_sites/divesites.html

 

[Bratface]

I agree with DiverSteve. I live in St Thomas and the two dive shops mentioned are the closest to the cruise ship docks. The other shops are around the East end of the island which makes it difficult to get to the boat on time. I have dived with Admiralty and Blue Island and can recommend them. Call to let them know you want to get on the boat.

 

[ScbaMom]

I am going on a cruise on Royal Caribbean in April and am wondering what dive ops this cruise line uses on these stops and what the quality of the dives and shops are?
I have been disappointed with most of the dive ops that I have used through the cruise lines.
Any recommendations for shops I could contract on my own with?

Thanks for any information.

If you are stopping in St Thomas contact Aqua Marine. They are the best on the island. I have been down there three times and have never been disappointed. Ana And Wolf are the owners and the nicest folks you will meet. They keep their groups small so they can provided a personal experience.

 

[rick00001967]

i believe the closest shop to the cruise ships in st maarten is Octopus diving. they took over the location formerly operated by carribean dive college. octopus gets very good reviews. the problem usually with cruise ship diving is the dive boats can be overcrowded and the price can be too high

 

[Steve_C]

Couple years ago did a couple dives in St. Thomas with dive op arranged as part of a cruise with Norwegian Cruises. 99% of time when traveling even on business I bring my own regs, masks, computers if I know I will be diving. On this trip there were several cruise boats in and the shop ran out of regs. I got to dive since I had my regs with me. Several others from our boat could not go out. Due to the number of folks there were some delays so they cut the dives a little short. Maybe 40 minutes each. But pleasant.