Help deciding on Dive Shop

My DH is an advanced scuba diver who has been searching for the best group to dive with in St. Croix. We have made several calls to different dive shops, but no one seems to stand out. He would like to do a two tank dive that includes a wall dive but doesn't get him back to the ship too late in the afternoon. We would like to go to a beach before leaving the island. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!!

What type of dive do you want to do? There's a wall dive at Cane Bay, a wreck dive on the west end and some nice open water boat dives from Salt River and Christiansted. We lived on St. Croix for many years and all the dive shops are very good (PADI 5 star) with great dive masters. We have gone SCUBA diving on other non US Caribbean islands and safety was not at the same standards.

I just re-read your post and see that your DH wants to do a wall dive. Cane Bay Dive Shop or Anchor Dive Shop are closest to the wall. Cane Bay is closest to ship and the Cane Bay beach is right there. Anchor has the advantage of being able to come back to the shop at Salt River (where Columbus landed) between dives. This is nice if you don't like hanging out on a boat for your safety interval between tanks.

Do you feel that the wall is a "must do" for divers who have only one day on the island or are there other places that are better? He would love to go somewhere that dolphins are often seen.

We lived on St. Croix 16 years and only saw a school of dolphin once while sailing our boat from Christiansted to Buck Island. Whales and dolphin would most likely be spotted migrating in Dec-Feb. There are not areas to dive where you will be guaranteed seeing them. You will mostly see rays, turtles, barracuda, lobsters and assorted fish (tangs,parrot fish etc) The wall is amazing because the coral and sponge growth is vertical. There is also a good chance of spotting nurse sharks (docile) under some of the ledges.

If you all enjoy the water and don't want to SCUBA, I would recommend an excursion to Buck Island. It would be a beach stop for part of the time and a snorkel trail for the other portion. There are several charters from Christiansted to Buck Island. Here are a couple of photos I took on Buck Island.

Thank you for all of the information. The wall sounds like a great dive for my DH.