Where should I NOT dive...and why?

[Matthanw]

Hi all. I'm going on a family cruise in December of 2018. I need an opinion from folks that have dove at some of the ports of call about where I should skip for diving. I won't be able to dive at every stop, so I need input from folks who have dove the locations about which locations might not have been great to dive, and why. Thanks in advance. Our ports of call are:

- Bridgetown, Barbados
- Castries, St. Lucia
- St. Johns, Antigua
- Phillipsburg, St. Maarten
- St. Thomas, USVI

 

[AustinV]

I did a nice shore dive with Coki Beach dive center, probably not the best of the Caribbean but I thought it was a nice reef.

 

[drrich2]

I did a 2-tank trip with Scuba Steve's at St. Lucia in 2014 - trip report. You can see what that was like.

I've dove 4 dives with Admiralty Dive out of St. Thomas; good dives, fairly shallow over hard bottom, good (not great) viz., as they say the 'usual Caribbean suspects' (fish life) mostly.

In recently times people have been posting some really positive reports about diving out of St. Martin, which it seemed historically people had sort of written off. Might be worthwhile to do a quick forum Search for some 1st hand feedback.

Note: Since it's a family cruise, also consider topside excursions available. If there's something you simply must do with your family only available at one island, there you go...

Richard.

 

[Clark Fletcher]

Well, if I were you, I wouldn't dive my septic tank. Why? There's some nasty xxxx in there.

Oops. Sorry I read the subject line before I read your post. Actually, my wife and I had planned to take the family to Antigua next summer. And, it was actually the reason I decided to get back into diving. However, after reading the reviews of the diving in Antigua, I was less than impressed. And, I talked to some friends of mine who are divers and Antigua was not one of their favorite places to dive. As a result, we changed our mind and are going to Grand Cayman instead.

 

[seeker242]

I've dove Falmouth Antigua a couple times. From pics it looks similar to St John's. It's nice but nothing extraordinary.

 

[Joneill]

Well, if I were you, I wouldn't dive my septic tank. Why? There's some nasty xxxx in there.

Oops. Sorry I read the subject line before I your post. Actually, my wife and I had planned to take the family to Antigua next summer. And, it was actually the reason I decided to get back into diving. However, after reading the reviews of the diving in Antigua, I was less than impressed. And, I talked to some friends of mine who are divers and Antigua was not one of their favorite places to dive. As a result, we changed our mind and are going to Grand Cayman instead.

Good choice!

 

[Silty Sam]

While visiting St. Thomas I enjoyed my dives with the St. Thomas Diving Club on Bolongo Bay