adurso
Contributor
Does anyone know anything about Sugar Bay Resort, good or bad, and diving in the area?
Sugar Bay Resort and diving?
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ScubaDubaDave
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Coki Beach Dive center is nearby, good for a quick shore dive, looks like they have a small boat now too. Red Hook Dive Center for a bigger boat. Haven't been there since Chris Sawyer closed. Sugar Bay resort has nice views, beach, and pools.
Do you mean the Wyndham Sugar Bay?
ScubaDubaDave
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It's not Wyndham anymore.
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Another option is Dive In at Sapphire Beach resort - maybe 1/2 mile south of Sugar Bay. Most operators in that area dive off the Cays nearby,
We did a shallow drift off Grass Cay once and then moved to another site I've forgotten nearby. On the other side of Grass Cay is Congo Cay - off it's east end is Carval Rock, one of the better dives in that area.
Red Hook is a boat harbor so typical stuff is nearby. Maybe a dozen? restaurants by now. We liked Molly Molones, it's just across from Red Hook Diving.
The other thing you can do from that area is take the car ferry from Red Hook over to St. John. Takes about 1/2 hr. and there's snorkel beaches and diving there also. The ferry runs till after dark IIRC.
I think one of the St. John operators does the Rhone in the BVI's also. It's an all-day trip with 2 dives on the Rhone (front and back are separated). Bring your passport.
We did a shallow drift off Grass Cay once and then moved to another site I've forgotten nearby. On the other side of Grass Cay is Congo Cay - off it's east end is Carval Rock, one of the better dives in that area.
Red Hook is a boat harbor so typical stuff is nearby. Maybe a dozen? restaurants by now. We liked Molly Molones, it's just across from Red Hook Diving.
The other thing you can do from that area is take the car ferry from Red Hook over to St. John. Takes about 1/2 hr. and there's snorkel beaches and diving there also. The ferry runs till after dark IIRC.
I think one of the St. John operators does the Rhone in the BVI's also. It's an all-day trip with 2 dives on the Rhone (front and back are separated). Bring your passport.
scubadivingsteve
Registered
We just got back from St. Thomas 3 weeks ago. I was only at Sugar Bay for 1 1/2 hours while waiting on a snorkel tour to St. Johns. We didn't get to do the tour it was canceled due to rain the night before?! The resort was nice and not crowded.
We stayed in a condo at Sapphire Beach. They were doing construction on the building next to ours, with hammer drills running all day, it was major construction. The restaurant was closed no reason given. Dive in was the op onsite. I tried to schedule some dives with them but I was a single diver. They were berating me for asking them to take the boat out for only one person when I walked off. Seemed strange out of the whole resort I was the only one interested in diving.
There is a beach there the wind blew constantly and subsequently there was seaweed and trash on the beach. They cleaned it every morning but within a couple of hours it was dirty again.
It was a 15-20 minute walk to Red Hook, there were several shops and restaurants and a dive shop there. The walk is along a busy road with no shoulder for a portion of the distance. Cabs are, well, a crap shoot. Some are helpful and nice, others are mad you bothered their card game for only 2 people. They charge per person and most are 1 ton vans that are geared toward the cruise ships. There is a open type shuttle that runs most every where for 1$. At Sapphire Beach it stops at the main road at the top of the big hill. This is a big hill when you are dragging a bag of diving gear up it. The Red Hook Dive Shop was Great. I did three boat dives and a night dive with them. They were very professional, and safety conscious. The diving itself off of adjacent cays was not great. The reefs were stressed with algae, small fish in moderate numbers, very few large fish. Vis was 75-90 feet. 3-4 foot seas except for night dive. There were 2 different boats at Sapphire Bay that did BVI tours. Good luck scheduling with them. Most places were all or nothing. Helpful and pleasant, or belligerent and argumentative. There was more good than bad but I am too old and do not tolerate bad attitudes when I am trying to give people money for the advertised service/product without special requests. When the bare minimum is too much to ask I don't return.
We stayed in a condo at Sapphire Beach. They were doing construction on the building next to ours, with hammer drills running all day, it was major construction. The restaurant was closed no reason given. Dive in was the op onsite. I tried to schedule some dives with them but I was a single diver. They were berating me for asking them to take the boat out for only one person when I walked off. Seemed strange out of the whole resort I was the only one interested in diving.
There is a beach there the wind blew constantly and subsequently there was seaweed and trash on the beach. They cleaned it every morning but within a couple of hours it was dirty again.
It was a 15-20 minute walk to Red Hook, there were several shops and restaurants and a dive shop there. The walk is along a busy road with no shoulder for a portion of the distance. Cabs are, well, a crap shoot. Some are helpful and nice, others are mad you bothered their card game for only 2 people. They charge per person and most are 1 ton vans that are geared toward the cruise ships. There is a open type shuttle that runs most every where for 1$. At Sapphire Beach it stops at the main road at the top of the big hill. This is a big hill when you are dragging a bag of diving gear up it. The Red Hook Dive Shop was Great. I did three boat dives and a night dive with them. They were very professional, and safety conscious. The diving itself off of adjacent cays was not great. The reefs were stressed with algae, small fish in moderate numbers, very few large fish. Vis was 75-90 feet. 3-4 foot seas except for night dive. There were 2 different boats at Sapphire Bay that did BVI tours. Good luck scheduling with them. Most places were all or nothing. Helpful and pleasant, or belligerent and argumentative. There was more good than bad but I am too old and do not tolerate bad attitudes when I am trying to give people money for the advertised service/product without special requests. When the bare minimum is too much to ask I don't return.
OP
adurso
Contributor
Thanks for the info everyone
Quick word to the wise: not especially advisable to do that particular walk at night.
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