US Virgin Islands Diving Recommendations

[KathyV]

Do you all by chance know how the diving is at the end of March?

I've never been there in March but I believe that @TN Traveler lives on St. Croix and he posted the message at the link below:
USVI Dive Vacation - what do we need to know?

My experiences in other areas of the Caribbean are that the water can be cold and the weather may be windy in winter. Places are more crowded and the prices are expensive because it is the high season - although things may be different this winter because of the pandemic, IDK.

If you could wait until after Easter and Spring Break (late April or May) you may have a better chance of warmer, calmer weather and water and cheaper prices; but there's never any guarantees about the weather - and if you really want to escape to a warmer climate in March - then go for it!

 

[divesergeant]

Did you mostly dive the north side or the west? Thanks!

Traffic wasn't bad at all, but there's a pandemic on so business is down - maybe that's the reason? They were doing some construction near the airport and sometimes it got bad in that area.

We dived exclusively on the west side out of their Fredriksted location. We wanted to dive north but it was too rough.

I imagine the shut down would have a lessening effect on the traffic. It could be that we just caught it on bad times.

 

[drrich2]

From researching for my 2017 trip (trip report), here's a blurb: "-----Wikipedia notes water temp.s range from 77 - 86 degrees F. Review of a range of sources indicates good to excellent viz. N2TheBlue noted the Christmas winds - seasonal winds running roughly from late Dec. through Jan. and possibly part of March, which can interfere with north coast shore diving. St. Croix is in the hurricane belt, so be aware planning late summer/fall trips."

I don't know how often March is affected; that's not the time of year my main trip was.

 

[TN Traveler]

Just checked by dive computer and water temperatures in February and March were in the upper 70's (1 dive in the lower 80's). By the end of March - water temperatures should be on the rise (we normally are headed back to the states in Mid/late-March, so no dives then). By early May the water temperature gets into the 80's.

I normally wear a Tri-Lam except for Late August to Mid November when I switch to just a skin. My wife gets chilled after an hour, so I have never had a "cold" problem. If I was doing a 1 1/2 hour photo dive with one of my other buddies, I would wear a 3 mm in Feb/March. But we normally only do a single tank dive and rarely dive 2 days in a row.

These dives were all on the West End. January thru April can be windy, so it is safer to dive the West End that is protected from the prevailing East wind.

If you want to do a North Shore dive, I would suggest an early dive out of Salt River. Winds are normally lower in the morning - check the weather predictions - the wind speed estimates are fairly good - so you can arrange trip a day in advance when winds are predicted to be lower (there are very few "calm" days, ever in St Croix).

 

[Scoooter961]

Just checked by dive computer and water temperatures in February and March were in the upper 70's (1 dive in the lower 80's). By the end of March - water temperatures should be on the rise (we normally are headed back to the states in Mid/late-March, so no dives then). By early May the water temperature gets into the 80's.

I normally wear a Tri-Lam except for Late August to Mid November when I switch to just a skin. My wife gets chilled after an hour, so I have never had a "cold" problem. If I was doing a 1 1/2 hour photo dive with one of my other buddies, I would wear a 3 mm in Feb/March. But we normally only do a single tank dive and rarely dive 2 days in a row.

These dives were all on the West End. January thru April can be windy, so it is safer to dive the West End that is protected from the prevailing East wind.

If you want to do a North Shore dive, I would suggest an early dive out of Salt River. Winds are normally lower in the morning - check the weather predictions - the wind speed estimates are fairly good - so you can arrange trip a day in advance when winds are predicted to be lower (there are very few "calm" days, ever in St Croix).

Ok thanks, My wife dives a 5 mil with a 5/3 hood vest in 82f water. Soooo, theres that lol

What dive shop do you use? I was looking at both Neptune and "SCUBA"

 

[TN Traveler]

We have used both but prefer Nep2une. Extremely friendly staff and small boats. We prefer diving from a "six pack", if we do a boat dive, and they are very accommodating as to where they dive (my favorite boat dive is just to the end of the Pier - for Seahorses and Bat Fish). We normally do a "guided shore dive" when we first get to the island, so that Paul and/or Jenny can show us where the "good stuff" is around the Pier - next time we go, I can take the camera and not waste time searching.

When we first started diving in St Croix - SCUBA was only located in Christiansted and did large boat diving on the North Side - they recently opened a shop at the Pier - but again use a bigger boat.

 

[Scoooter961]

Thanks everyone! We are staying at Sandcastle on the Beach and diving with Nep2une. Looking at renting the car from Judy of Croix.

@CharlieDontDive keep us updated on your trip as well.

 

[KathyV]

A large family gathering has caused an uptick of active covid cases in the USVI, they have 109 active cases across all 3 islands with 33 cases on St. Croix. Anyone arriving at the airports without a current test result will agree to pay for testing or will be fined and quarantined; visitors and residents are expected to follow the safety protocols.

Family Gathering of 35 Bumps Up COVID Numbers for USVI | St. Thomas Source

 

[living4experiences]

Thanks everyone! We are staying at Sandcastle on the Beach and diving with Nep2une. Looking at renting the car from Judy of Croix.

@CharlieDontDive keep us updated on your trip as well.

I am diving St. Croix in May 2021. How did you like Sand Castle on the Beach and the diving with Nep2une? I was looking at booking with both of them. Did you rent a car from Judi of Croix or Budget? Thanks!

 

[Scoooter961]

We are going in March but we did book with Sandcastle, nep2une and Judi.