Scuba diving help needed (barbados vs St Kitts)

My wife and I are avid Scuba Divers and going on a southern Caribbean cruise in March. We have done a ton of research on where to dive but were hoping for experienced southern Caribbean advice. We can only afford to dive 2 locations and want to do the two best! This is what our research has said thus far:

St Thomas- snorkeling off beach just fine, diving only OKAY? Would you recommend ferrying to St Johns and snorkeling truk bay or is sapphire beach better snorkeling?

Barbados- found lots of wreck dives but no good information on whether it's a beautiful overall dive place compared to the others or if its skippable - if you have any advice we would greatly appreciate it on this location! Very hard to find good info! Would we be better off snorkeling with the sea turtles?

St Kitts- people either loved the diving or said to skip it completely. We read that there is great sea life. Help needed with advice!

St Lucia- Definitely diving! We heard Superman's Flight at the Pitons is best. Any recommendations for 2nd dive site?

**We really are having a hard time choosing between diving Barbados vs St Kitts! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I can't help yet, but were' going in December, and scheduled to dive at St. Thomas, Dominica, St. Maarten, BARBADOS and St. KITTS. We'll be returning 12-22-14. If you email me by clicking the link below, I'll be happy to share my impressions after.

Harris,

Denver, CO

I can't help yet, but were' going in December, and scheduled to dive at St. Thomas, Dominica, St. Maarten, BARBADOS and St. KITTS. We'll be returning 12-22-14. If you email me by clicking the link below, I'll be happy to share my impressions after.

 

Harris,

Denver, CO

I'd be interested in your dive in St. Maarten. My husband has dived in all the ports you are going to but St. Maarten and Barbados. We will be in St. Maarten in March and he'd like to dive there. Please come back and share your thoughts!

I've dived at St. Thomas twice (great diving!), St. Martin (awful diving), Barbados (good diving), and St. Lucia (awesome diving!). Haven't done St. Kitts, so can't give you a comparison with Barbados, sorry.

I've done St Thomas a dozen times and would not rate any better than average

8 times to St Martin and I'd go back

a couple of times to Barbados and they were nice but not special ... best part was each time we were the only ones on the dive boat ....

BUT here's what you need to remember .... I've gotten wet at the same site a hundred times ("house reef" at Sunset House) and I have had FANTASTIC dives there, and so so dives there .... and most were good dives when totaled. You can NOT predict:

visibility, sea conditions, what critters you might see

BUT these are the factors MANY use to judge their dive experience ... are these valid for a ONE TIME experience?

My last trip to Cayman the diving was so-so ... the sea conditions were VERY rough and the options limited because of that. Shore diving was out of the question 3 of 5 diving days and on the days we could, conditions were marginal with poor visibility. Does that mean Cayman diving sucks? I KNOW not .... cuz I've been there for many many weeks of great diving since the 80's .... but if this was my ONE time?

sorry for the rant, but it is a pet peeve of mine. I've no interest in diving the Kitt' in Cayman as it is a new wreck placed in an otherwise barren area ... IMO a ho-hum dive. But recently Sunset House posted pictures of a Manta that showed up during one of their trips ...... SPECIAL to the n'th degree!

On my sucky Cayman trip, our one nite dive was pretty poor until heading back and then we saw a basket star fully expanded OMG .... dd was pretty stoked about it when we got out ... but sadly no pictures as we didn't have an u/w camera on that trip . .

what am I saying? It is a roll of the dice .... but MY suggestion is to try a dive at a place you've seen NO ONE comment on! I've gotten wet in Haiti near Cap Haitian, Guantanamo, Green Turtle Cay and Cay Sal in the Bahamas ... Bimini too . . . less known is more special and you can be the FIRST to comment!

*****

a different but VALUABLE metric is comments about the dive shop you use ..... no matter WHAT the conditions at sea, how the staff treats you is a constant and I for one APPRECIATE the right kind of service.

Captain,

Truer words were never spoke. The same dive site on two different dives - maybe even on the same day - can go from being spectacular to nothing special, or the reverse.

I totally agree that sharing experiences with the dive operators is of more value. A good operator can make a trip special, and a bad one can certainly make a trip "memorable".

Harris

Denver, CO

We did many of these ports last August...

Barbados...went with Ecodive Barbados...awesome diving with Andrew..small boat but great times and dives...awesome two dives

St. Lucia...went with Ioyona divers thru Carnival...Awesome diving on Superman's flight and Grande Callie. Our group was much smaller than the private operator...awesome two dives

St. Kitts...Kenneth's Dive Center...Right near the boat...great dive times...exciting reefs...great two dives

St. Thomas...Blue Island Divers...good guys....enjoyable sites..great times..two ok dives

St. Marteen...Carribean dive college the ship operator... short times...came up with loads of air...the dm's were very nice but just seemed to be kids. was ok for two dives..but is the port I would skip if I went back or find a different operator.

We are doing the southern itin. next month. Like you we were trying to limit diving to 2 spots so we could still spend port time with non-divers as well.

We have decided on St. Kitts and St. Lucia. St. Lucia through the ship, St. Kitts with Dive St. Kitts. I have never been diving in St. Kitts, so I can't recommend anyone I haven't been with. I picked 3 dive ops based on reviews, and was limited to the one that had the availability. Our choice for St. Kitts over Barbados was that we have seen the entire island of St. Kitts and had no desire to redo anything that we had already done. So diving was a fairly easy choice. :D

We plan on spending the day in St. Thomas at Coki Beach, DH may do a shore dive or two there, so that would be another day for him.

We did many of these ports last August...

 

Barbados...went with Ecodive Barbados...awesome diving with Andrew..small boat but great times and dives...awesome two dives

 

St. Kitts...Kenneth's Dive Center...Right near the boat...great dive times...exciting reefs...great two dives

 

St. Thomas...Blue Island Divers...good guys....enjoyable sites..great times..two ok dives

Totally agree on these three ports. Diving with Andrew in Barbados is great. Max 6 divers. We also really liked our last dives in St. Kitts w/Kenneth's Dive Center and Blue Island Divers in St. Thomas. However, if you had to then skip St. Thomas for snorkeling -- try to get over to St. John to Leinster Bay. It's the best!

Following this discussion - we will be at st Kitts, Barbados, St Maarten, st Lucia in Oct 2015. I'm starting to research pvt dive ops now. :-)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Personally I was certified in Oahu, Hawaii and Haifa, Israel when I was in the Navy. I have dove the Caribbean since 2005 - most of the Islands are over picked for dive sites. I Do Not give out referrals lightly, I have found by far that Eco Dive w/ Andrew Western in Barbados was the best show going all the way around. Found him on trip advisor last year and did it in Jan. 2104, when we sailed in on the Adventure, booked him again for this Jan on the Jewel. Only word of caution is book well in advance, he is extremely popular and make sure that you confirm your dive (meaning respond to him directly after he responds to you) I have heard several people complain about not being booked - due the fact that they could not follow a simple instruction "to confirm" and personally, if someone is that stupid, I really would not want to be diving w/ them anyway. Best of luck w/ your final decision. :) Dana

Just back from our cruise. We dove St. Thomas using Blue Island Divers, St. Kitts using Dive St. Kitts, Barbados using West Side Scuba Center, Dominica using Aldive, and St. Martin/St. Maarten using Octopus Diving.

Best operator:

All five were very good. No operator had more than 7 divers on the boat. All had good staff. We had our own gear, but others were using rental gear, and that all was in good condition, and functioned properly.

The very best was Dive St. Kitts (http://www.divestkitts.com). Really excellent service from beginning to end. their price included transport from and back to the ship. A dive master that took a lot of time with a new diver that really benefited from the help.

Strong runners up for best: West Side Scuba center (http://www.westsidescuba.com) AND Aldive (http://www.aldive.com). Both also included transportation, and were extremely friendly.

Best diving: All was amazing. If I were doing the trip again, and had to eliminate one, I'd drop St. Maarten, second to go would be St. Thomas. St. Kitts, Barbados and Dominica were all too good go without.

Harris

Denver, CO

it's great getting your opinions and names of dive shops. capt BJ i'd love to know which ships you brought into gtmo, and when. i did my first 300 dives there, myself.

denver diver guy, appreciate your comments, as well.

i bring my gear and dive in every port. does everybody book with the cruise excursion company? or do you book on your own? i've done both, but really worry bout being left. thanks for your info!

i bring my gear and dive in every port. does everybody book with the cruise excursion company? or do you book on your own? i've done both, but really worry bout being left. thanks for your info!

I have done both and had always wondered why nothing was ever offered on certain Islands. Was outright lied to by the ships staff. If a shop is certified by PADI - it is safe to dive with. My conclusion w/ shops that do not operate w/ cruise lines - They 1. want to keep their rates reasonable - look at the dive operator in Nassau. 2. Have built a solid business and have repeat customers and thrive upon referrals. 3. Just do not need a cruise line telling them how to run their business and taking 33% off the top for doing nothing with no guarantee of even sending in one customer.

For two years now, I have booked my dives through Trip Advisor and have had the best dives ever and will continue to do so, helping to support the local economy instead of building the coffers of a corporation that is turning more and more greedy with everything that they place their hands upon.

thanks for the info!

thanks for the info!

Ops, I failed to mention that on Jan. 8th 2015, in Barbados, I dove w/ Andrew Westin - owner of Eco Dive Barbados for the second year in a row and made arrangements for next Jan as well. You may read my post on Trip Advisor - I have to wait two months to post this trip. Dana

How is EcoDive for beginner divers? I have a friend who is cruising to Barbados and she and a friend just learned to dive. It's been five years since I dove there, so I can't make a recommendation on my experience.

How is EcoDive for beginner divers? I have a friend who is cruising to Barbados and she and a friend just learned to dive. It's been five years since I dove there, so I can't make a recommendation on my experience.

Andrew is an extremely professional. He walks everyone through the dive before ever entering the water and pays particular attention to the newbe's, I also dove with him last year as well as a few days ago (Jan 8th) and there were four newbe's in the group. He will only dive w/ a max of 6 divers and that makes all the difference. I have been diving since 1985 and have found Andrew at Eco Dive the most professional, out of all instructors ever encountered. I do not give out referrals lightly and having dove w/ Andrew twice - he has earned my respect. Dana

Sounds good to me, thanks!

With regards to diving with the ship's excursion vs. privately, my husband has used the ship's dive excursion only when there could be a time issue, such as in Belize. That's a really long tender ride and then another boat ride to the dive sites, so he dives with the ship to ensure he makes it back on time. In most other places he dives privately for all the reasons noted by others.

Just wanted to come back and say that we went with Dive St. Kitts in St. Kitts. It was pouring on and off that day, but that was the best diving of our week. We also did a shore dive at Coki Beach and went through the cruiseline in St. Lucia. I could have done both dives on the River Taw wreck and had a fantastic day. I can only imagine how nice it would have been if the weather was good and the sun was out! The operator was fantastic and we will definitely go back to dive with them again.

St Lucia was nice, but I should have left my camera on the dive boat for Superman's flight. That drift was a little fast and nothing to really take pictures of. Still a nice day of diving.

Thanks for the report! We've booked with Dive St Kitts for later this year. Kenneth's Dive Center in St Kitts had been highly recommended on the scuba board, but nobody there would answer our inquiries.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I don't understand how you could not get pictures at Superman's Flight. Yes, it is a drift drive, but some of the most beautiful pictures I've ever taken are from there. It's a breathtaking place to dive.

With regards to diving with the ship's excursion vs. privately, my husband has used the ship's dive excursion only when there could be a time issue, such as in Belize. That's a really long tender ride and then another boat ride to the dive sites, so he dives with the ship to ensure he makes it back on time. In most other places he dives privately for all the reasons noted by others.

Ditto!

Most times go elsewhere if time permits. Although research who the cruise line uses. Every once in a while they have a really good operator that makes for a great trip. For example in St. Lucia we dove with the ship operator based upon all the great reviews on tripadvisor and we were not disappointed.

I don't understand how you could not get pictures at Superman's Flight. Yes, it is a drift drive, but some of the most beautiful pictures I've ever taken are from there. It's a breathtaking place to dive.

We had not so great weather and poor vis. We also seemed to have a stronger than normal current. I did get a few when we first dropped in, but after that it was just better to enjoy the ride.

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app