Timeshare Folks - Where Do You Go To?

[JoeTPhilly]

Grand Cayman, St Marteen, St Thomas, Hawaii through RCI & Disney.

Is St. Thomas any good for diving? I usually trade into Aruba so my girlfriend and family have things to do. I go diving in the morning every other day or so and then meet up in the afternoon. My mother's husband has maintained timeshares in St. Thomas but hasn't used them since the death of my mother. I could use the timeshare so I am curious about the diving. Thanks.

 

[drrich2]

Is St. Thomas any good for diving?

Only got 4 dives there, and 2 were training dives, so take with a grain of salt. My impression was diving over flat bottom around 40 feet deep, give or take, maybe 50 foot viz., warm water, decent reef, some typical Caribbean sea life. Well worth diving when I was there; not a place I've been driven to purposefully seek out.

I don't think you'll find many week long dive reports for St. Thomas here, which seems to get a decent amount to dive traffic in relation to being a high volume cruise ship stop.

None of which means it's bad. It's known as a big Caribbean shopping destination, I believe it's said to have good beaches, and you can take a ferry to St. Johns (known for beautiful beaches and snorkeling) and St. Croix (which seems to have a better rep. for diving?). Being a big cruise port, you've got a lot of entertainment excursion options.

The dive op. I used in St. Thomas as Admiralty Dive Center, and we were very pleased with them.

Bear in mind cruise divers (which I was) are new to the dive op. each day, and might be unlikely to be taken to more demanding or more delicate sites, since the staff don't know what kind of divers they're dealing with.

@Corrinado posted this:

St Thomas, Secret Harbor Beach Resort​

 

[JoeTPhilly]

Only got 4 dives there, and 2 were training dives, so take with a grain of salt. My impression was diving over flat bottom around 40 feet deep, give or take, maybe 50 foot viz., warm water, decent reef, some typical Caribbean sea life. Well worth diving when I was there; not a place I've been driven to purposefully seek out.

I don't think you'll find many week long dive reports for St. Thomas here, which seems to get a decent amount to dive traffic in relation to being a high volume cruise ship stop.

None of which means it's bad. It's known as a big Caribbean shopping destination, I believe it's said to have good beaches, and you can take a ferry to St. Johns (known for beautiful beaches and snorkeling) and St. Croix (which seems to have a better rep. for diving?). Being a big cruise port, you've got a lot of entertainment excursion options.

The dive op. I used in St. Thomas as Admiralty Dive Center, and we were very pleased with them.

Bear in mind cruise divers (which I was) are new to the dive op. each day, and might be unlikely to be taken to more demanding or more delicate sites, since the staff don't know what kind of divers they're dealing with.

@Corrinado posted this:

St Thomas, Secret Harbor Beach Resort​

Thanks!

 

[kinoons]

My family owns a Diamond resorts (guess it’s Hilton now) timeshare on the west coast of Maui. We go every odd year. It’s nice because the two year break is just enough to make going back pleasurable. There is a good amount of shore diving off west Maui, so it’s convenient as well.

 

[Jersey]

Is St. Thomas any good for diving? I usually trade into Aruba so my girlfriend and family have things to do. I go diving in the morning every other day or so and then meet up in the afternoon. My mother's husband has maintained timeshares in St. Thomas but hasn't used them since the death of my mother. I could use the timeshare so I am curious about the diving. Thanks.

Not great, but beats sitting on a beach drinking frou-frou frozen drinks! I probably have 80+ dives around there, because I took a consulting engagement few years back spent a lot of time there. Most of the tourist sites are shallow, hard bottom, not a lot of coral, more boulders. Patch coral. I did see a lot of sharks! Much repetition on sites because they were easy and that's where they took the cruise shippers. Dog, Cow, Calf, Ledges of Little St James were the shop go-to's. Some decent stuff in the cays between St Thomas and St John. French Cap was the exception, but in a year only got out there once. Deep, 90 foot, pinnacle maybe 10-15 miles offshore.

The beaches are lovely and free, so if you have access to low cot or free lodging via a family timeshare, the fam can sit on the beach you go do a 2 tank morning dive. Pretty much what I did last August - mom and stepdad wanted to go there and they aren't getting any younger. I booked a couple beachfront condos and my nephew came along as my dive buddy. We'd dive in the morning and take mom and Bill to a named beach or St John in the afternoon.

Be aware they drive on the left and the roads are pretty dicey - not a flat stretch on the island. Rocky and mountainous. It's expensive. Car rental, food prices just crazy (and I'm used to New York and Wash DC creazy prices). Only the alcohol is cheap. I prefer the East End - Red Hook area - lots of restaurants, ferry to St John, lovely beaches. Red Hook Dive Center always took good care of me.

 

[scubadada]

Grand Cayman, St Marteen, St Thomas, Hawaii through RCI & Disney.

We had a really great time share on Grand Cayman from 1996-2004, when it was blown down by Hurricane Ivan. It was at Indies Suites, now just north of Klimpton Seafire. Was underinsured and lost to the hurricane, no help at all from the civilized Grand Cayman government as was owned by a Cayman privileged. Became dorms for the offshore Cayman medical school. We wrote off Grand Cayman as a civilized country. What a scam. We got our money out of it, later investors did not.

 

[sabbe]

Not as exotic as all the previous but we’ve been to Pompano Beach to Ft Lauderdale, FL 5 times using RCI. Can get a timeshare there short notice just about every week of the year. It being 1 days drive from home also makes it appealing. Wife and I can pack a ton of toys for the week.

 

[Jcp2]

We had a really great time share on Grand Cayman from 1996-2004, when it was blown down by Hurricane Ivan. It was at Indies Suites, now just north of Klimpton Seafire. Was underinsured and lost to the hurricane, no help at all from the civilized Grand Cayman government as was owned by a Cayman privileged. Became dorms for the offshore Cayman medical school. We wrote off Grand Cayman as a civilized country. What a scam. We got our money out of it, later investors did not.

Well, it is an offshore tax haven, the ultimate scam.

 

[living4experiences]

St. Maarten, Grand Cayman, Mexico, Hawaii, Fiji

 

[Para Goon]

St. Maarten, Grand Cayman, Mexico, Hawaii, Fiji

You got my attention...where in Fiji?