Dive op review-Nassau, St. Thomas, Tortola

[Hilary]

We just got back from our 11 night cruise aboard Celebrity's Horizon and I wanted to write a short review of our dives and operators that we booked with.

 

In Nassau we booked with Nassau Scuba Centre and were not disappointed. They picked us up on schedule in front of the cruise dock and transported us all the way to the other side of the island. Must have been a 30 minute drive since we picked up one extra person at a hotel on the way. When we arrived at their shop, we did paperwork while they finished getting the boat ready, and we were onboard and on our way in about 30 minutes. Unfortunately for us, we were there when there was quite a bit of tidal current, so our first dive on a wall was cut short since we had to fin back to the boat against the tide and sucked our air down pretty quickly. Water was 71 degrees and viz was about 40-50'. Since the current was stronger than they had thought, they moved the boat and told us that we wouldn't be doing the dive previously planned and instead we were going to all do the shark dive! Holy smokes it was amazing!!! We were in the water with no less than 30 6-8 foot Caribbean Reef sharks who were in our faces, bumping us, and generally treating us like rock formations. I shot an entire roll of film and got some amazing shots.

 

A few days later we arrived in St. Thomas for our dives with Blue Island Divers. While waiting for Blue Island's boat to pick us up at the cruise dock, we watched no less than 50 people board a boat for the ship's dive excursion! There were 3 ships in port and all apparently contracted with the same operator and were combined on 2 cattle boats. I admit until that moment in time I didn't understand what a true cattle boat was, but now I certainly do!! Blue Island picked us up a few minutes later and 10 of us boarded the boat. It was a little crowded at first on the boat, but once we all settled into our spots, it was fine. Our first dive was one I had requested, the Navy Barges. We dropped down on the first wreck and had a great time exploring it for awhile, swimming around and through it. Then we swam over to another one and did a bunch of great swim throughs, looked at all the growth, etc. and generally just enjoyed the dive. The boat then moved to another location where we did a protected reef dive for nearly an hour. The reef looked like it was in great shape with lots of life and coral. Temperatures were 78 degrees and visibility was between 60-70 feet. No current or surge in St. Thomas at either location.

 

Two days later we arrived in Tortola to dive the RMS Rhone. We walked over to the marina from our ship and met our dive boat from UBS Scuba. A representative from UBS (Scott) met us and stayed with us until James arrived with the boat. This was a private charter than I scheduled, so there were only 4 of us on the boat with the DM. After doing some paperwork, we were on our way to the Rhone, about 20 minutes away. We dove the bow first and WOW! what a great wreck! There was some current, but nothing that made any difference in our air consumption. The bow is at 80' and we spent over 30 minutes exploring her. After an SI of almost an hour where we ate ginger snaps and rehydrated, we went to the stern to explore. The temperature was 79 degrees and viz was about 60-70' for both dives. On the way back to the shop, we had beers, more cookies, and great conversation with our DM, who had only been on Tortola for 3 weeks! I can't recommend UBS and diving the Rhone highly enough. We're already talking about heading back to Tortola for a full week so we can dive the Rhone again as well as the other really great dive sites they have in the area. AND when we do, we'll for sure be booking our dives with UBS.

[sailingangel]

Thanks for the review. My friend and I are using Blue Island Divers on our priness cruise in January and its nice to see a good review.

[Orcrone]

Thanks for the great review. I actually came to this board to post a question about diving in Tortola.

[mdock]

SailingAngel - Let us know how your dives went. We are going to be in St. Thomas in March on the Triumph and are still trying to find a great, reputable dive operation. So far Blue Island Dives looks great. Thanks in advance.

[Orcrone]

I went with Coki Beach Dive Center on St. Thomas and was very happy. The main reason we went there is that DW doesn't dive. Coki Beach is a beach with reefs on the left and right sides. This way DW and I were able to lay on the beach and go snorkeling together. Then I was able to go for a dive while she stayed on the beach. Since it's a shore dive I was only gone for 30 - 40 minutes.

 

They were very accomodating. Although the dive was scheduled for 1 PM, they just told me to come over anytime I was ready and they DM would take me diving.

 

mdock - I notice that we're both going to be arriveing in St. Thomas at 8:00 AM on March 29 (but on different ships).

[mdock]

Orcrone - Thanks for replying. Our whole gang (17 yr old son, DW & I) dive so I am looking for a dive we can do as a whole. We enjoy wreck diving, but I haven't come across a wreck dive in this area (St. Thomas or St. Maarten). We may just settle for a shore dive, as it is at least a dive. We are still researching.

 

I hope you'all have a great cruise and maybe we'll run into each other on the island. Have you decided on any excursions yet?

[Hilary]

mdock, don't settle for a shore dive in St. Thomas....you can do the Navy Barges dive. It's a fun wreck dive with lots of swim throughs. Since the profile is only at about 40 feet, it's a wreck that everyone can enjoy with swim throughs that even a beginner can do. Blue Island also has a lot of wrecks listed on their website, so you can browse there and potentially find a more challenging one if you want a more advanced wreck. If you're a Nitrox diver, they also have that as an option and will provide that to you if you want.

 

I also wanted to make a clarification from my initial post. Blue Island was NOT the cattle boat that I referred to. That was the ship excursion boat. Blue Island's boat only had 10 divers, and I believe could have taken 12 divers total. We were only crowded setting up our stuff, but once everything was in place, we had plenty of room on the boat.

[Orcrone]

Orcrone - Thanks for replying. Our whole gang (17 yr old son, DW & I) dive so I am looking for a dive we can do as a whole. We enjoy wreck diving, but I haven't come across a wreck dive in this area (St. Thomas or St. Maarten). We may just settle for a shore dive, as it is at least a dive. We are still researching.

 

I hope you'all have a great cruise and maybe we'll run into each other on the island. Have you decided on any excursions yet?

DW is claustrophobic. She's tried taking an intro twice; once at the YMCA and once at Sandals on our honeymoon, but it's not to be. I have a 17 year old daughter who would love to learn. I'm toying with the idea of letting her take a beginner's course on this cruise.

 

There's plenty of diving in St. Thomas as Hilary pointed out. I wouldn't want you to settle for a shore dive. For me it worked great because it allowed me to go diving and still spend most of my day with my DW.

 

I'm only now beginning to think of excursions. We heard a lot about St. John's when we were at St. Thomas in November, so we're thinking of heading there. We're going to be at Tortola the next day, so I'll probably dive the Rhone. Our other two days are at Nassau and Half Moon Cay (Holland America's private island in the Bahamas). I dove there in October and debating whether to dive there, in Nassau (our other port) or neither.

 

How's your planning going. I see you're also going to be at St. Maarten and San Juan. We were at those two ports on our cruise in the fall.

[mdock]

Thanks Hillary & Orcrone. Hillary, I have checked out the Blue Island Divers site and they sure have a lot going on. Thanks for the tip, I'm sure we will find a dive with them that we can all agree on. I really love the wrecks, but DW loves the reefs. My son takes whatever he can get:).

Orcrone, I'm sorry your wife gets claustrophobic, but at least she tried. That really means a lot and take some guts. Thats great that your daughter wants to try diving. Our son was always interested, so when we moved here to FL a year and half ago the first thing he wanted to do is get certified. He saved his money and finally got his wish. Now we get to do something as a family that we all really enjoy.

 

As far as my planning is going, slow. My wife told me to make all of the excursion bookings so I am taking her litterally. This is only our second cruise, the first being a Windjammer (honeymoon), so it is pretty much all new to me. I think we are just going to do a tour in San Juan since we will only be there for a afternoon. After that, a dive in St. Thomas and I still don't know about St. Maarten. Those, unfortunately, are our only stops.

 

I am envious of you getting to dive the Rhone. I have heard a lot of great things on these boards about it. Do you take a underwater camera when you go? I just recently trade a telescope for a nice underwater camera and was wondering if it would be worthwile to take it along. Just wondering.

Later,

Michael

[Orcrone]

Thanks Hillary & Orcrone. Hillary, I have checked out the Blue Island Divers site and they sure have a lot going on. Thanks for the tip, I'm sure we will find a dive with them that we can all agree on. I really love the wrecks, but DW loves the reefs. My son takes whatever he can get:).

Orcrone, I'm sorry your wife gets claustrophobic, but at least she tried. That really means a lot and take some guts. Thats great that your daughter wants to try diving. Our son was always interested, so when we moved here to FL a year and half ago the first thing he wanted to do is get certified. He saved his money and finally got his wish. Now we get to do something as a family that we all really enjoy.

 

As far as my planning is going, slow. My wife told me to make all of the excursion bookings so I am taking her litterally. This is only our second cruise, the first being a Windjammer (honeymoon), so it is pretty much all new to me. I think we are just going to do a tour in San Juan since we will only be there for a afternoon. After that, a dive in St. Thomas and I still don't know about St. Maarten. Those, unfortunately, are our only stops.

 

I am envious of you getting to dive the Rhone. I have heard a lot of great things on these boards about it. Do you take a underwater camera when you go? I just recently trade a telescope for a nice underwater camera and was wondering if it would be worthwile to take it along. Just wondering.

Later,

Michael

Mdock,

 

I really appreciate DW trying scuba, but it's not for her. That's definitely one sport I would never encourage someone to try if they're not comfortable. She'd really love to dive, and wishes that she could. I'm looking forward to the Rhone as I've heard so many good things about it. Also, we're the only ship in port that day which should make the island that much nicer.

 

This is my fourth (and DW's third) cruise. On our last one this fall we mainly went out on our own. In one port (Antigua) we booked a private excursion. In St. Maarten and St. Thomas we just took cabs to Dawn Beach and Coki Beach, respectively. For San Juan we also didn't have much time. So we just got off in Old San Juan and walked over to El Morro, which is a fort that overlooks the harbor. It's about a 20 minute walk from where we docked. However, other ships were docked across the water from us and would have required a cab to get to Old San Juan. We enjoyed that quite a bit. Old San Juan is beautiful with a lot of Spanish architecture that reminded us of the French Quarter.

 

On our last cruise I wound up diving in St. Thomas and Half Moon Cay, and snorkeled with DW (yup, she doesn't scuba but loves snorkeling) in St. Thomas, St. Maarten and Antigua. I didn't think that the reefs were as nice in the eastern Caribbean as they are in the western, but perhaps we didn't go to the best places.

 

I don't have an underwater camera, but I've been tempted to get one. I live in southeastern Virginia, which is where I learned to dive. I used to dive locally, but after doing some diving in the Caribbean and off the Florida coast (my mom lives in Boynton Beach) Virginia just doesn't cut it anymore. So I've become a once a year diver, saving it for the warm, clear water. So I've had trouble spending the money for something I won't use too often. I'm hoping to make it to Florida to dive with the manatees sometime.

 

Enjoy your cruise,

Orcrone

[mdock]

It's finally friday !!! It's been a long week after being off all last week.

 

Orcrone, I definitely agree that scuba is not for everyone. I sure wouldn't want to force anyone who wasn't into it 100%. You said that Old San Juan reminds you of the French Quarter. I'm really looking forward to that as I grew up about 3 miles from the French Quarter in New Orleans and have alway loved the old Spanish architecture. Something else that's wild is my wife (Janet) was born in Boynton Beach and lived there till she was 13. It's truly a small world. I was certified at the local YMCA when I was 15, but there was not that many places to dive in LA. I was able to dive off of the oil rigs in the Gulf a few times, but it was hard scraping up the money to go as often as I wanted. I really didn't enjoy diving in the swamps because the vis is nada, although I did do the occasional search and recover for a lost boat motor, fishing pole, etc... I didn't really realize what I was misssing till I got to do my first wreck dive in Panama City Beach, FL. After that, the swamp didn't hold much allure for me:). So, yes, living here in sunny FL is definitely a plus for year around divers, like me.

 

I didn't mean to relate my life story, sorry, but I am sitting here waiting for the printer to get booted up anyway. Talk at ya'll later.

[Tarkus]

thanks very much for this post... i'll be diving the same locales on the 5/27 sailing of hal's zuiderdam and this helps immensely! :)

[sddiver]

Hilary,

 

 

So glad you had a good day with UBS in Tortola. Sometimes I'm reluctant to suggest operators to people for fear they may not have the same expectations and needs as I do. Sounds like Tony has expanded the operation and hired some DM's. Good for him.

 

Did you rub the porthole????

 

Rich

[sddiver]

the board seems to be dysfunctional these days

[Hilary]

sddiver, no we didn't rub the porthole....our DM had only been on the island for 3 weeks and didn't know where the spoon or porthole were. <LOL> We just laughed about it and told him that next time we were there, he owed us a trip! UBS had excellent service from start to finish, and we're definitely planning a return trip to Tortola for a week and will not hesitate to book with them again.

 

Thanks again for the recommendation, we were really spoiled and had an excellent time.

[mdock]

We are going to be in St. Thomas the end of this month (March). We are scheduled to dive with Blue Island Dives and ca'nt hardly wait! Has anyone dove there lately? I was curious what the water temp and vis has been. I don't want to pack my wetsuit if I don't have to.

 

Thanks in advance,

Michael

[Hilary]

On December 25 the water was 79 degrees. Viz was about 60-80'. Everyone on the boat was wearing 3 mil full suits, no skins. You probably would be comfortable without a wetsuit, but we were glad for the protection since we did the swim throughs at the Navy Barges and there were a lot of hazards from the rusted ships.

[mdock]

I will bring my 3mil. Thanks for the info. Also I don't think I ever officially thanked you for starting this thread. It was instrumental in helping me find a reputable dive operator in St. Thomas, i.e. Blue Island Diving.

Thanks again, Michael

[JimHam4]

Hi Mdock

What have you thought about your contacts with Blue Island Diving? Are they offering convenient pick up off the boat? I am looking to do a two tank dive with my daughter in the morning, how long is your dive trip going to take, would I still have the afternoon to shop around the dock with the rest of the family?

 

Sorry for all the questions, but everytime I go their website for some reason my computer goes into a tizzy and I can't really look around.

 

Thanks for any answers.

[mdock]

Hey Jim, Hows it goin'. Yes, Blue Island will pick you up from the docks. Well, actually I understand that it depends on where your ship will be docking. We are also on the Triumph so they will pick us up from the dock. We are scheduled to be in ST. Thomas at 8:00 am and the dive boat will be there at 9:00. We (my son & I) are doing a two tank dive. The first will probably be the Navy barges and the second a reef somewhere. My understanding is that we will be done around 12:30 or 1:00. After diving, you have the option to either go into town or back to the ship. They will drop you where ever you choose. We are going back to town to take a shower and then catch up with my other half.

Too bad you're not going a week or so earlier, we could have teamed up. I hope this was a help, but I would still go to their web site. They have a great bunch of dive sites.

Later, Michael

[Hilary]

Yes, you'll get back to the dock by about 12:30 and have plenty of time to snoop around at Havensite Mall. As a hint, make sure you know your prices if you're going to shop for booze and/or electronics. We found that the camera we bought at Costco prior to leaving was the exact same price in St. Thomas, except that we got a battery charger and batteries with ours. Booze and a watch my husband wanted was the same price on the ship, so we elected to buy it later on-board.

 

Michael, you are more than welcome. Make sure you post a review of your dives when you return. I hope Blue Island treats you as well as they did us.

[JimHam4]

Hey everyone,

Just back from the Carnival's Triumph and St Thomas. Ended up diving with Admiralty Dive Center and have nothing but good to say about them. They picked us (me and DD age 11) at the dock at 8:30 and took us straight out to the dive site with all our gear already on board. We decided to only bring our mask and snorkels this trip to save room and Admiralty equipment was up to snuff. Paid $80 for two tank dive + $10 for equipment & $5 for dock pick up.

 

Only six people on the boat, the captain, divemaster, me, my DD, another experienced diver and a guy going for his advanced deep water & navigation. First dive was a reef dive with shallows and deep that worked for all of us. The crew was perfect about handling my daughter's pre-dive anxiety, but took their time and let her work her way through the pre-dive jitters (she's newly certified and new situations always take adjustment). Nice reef, lots of fish, but nothing spectacular. We went to this spot I think more to accomadate my jr. diver and the guy doing his check out dive. Crew said vis was 60'+, but I could see forever. Dove with just my bathing suit and it felt like taking a bath.

 

Second dive was supposed to be Navy Barges, but the swell really picked up and we chose to do another reef dive at a different location. My daughter felt she was done so stayed on the boat talking to Capt. "Fishbutt" about marine biology and learning about the island. I enjoyed a dive along a cliff type reef with multiple fingers I could have spent all morning exploring. Had a few arches to swim through. Water was just as warm as the other spot with jetstreams of what felt like jacuzzi water blowing through. Vis was a little less (40'+) because of the temp changes, but I've got no complaints.

 

 

Fishbutt and Kevin returned us to our dock right next to the ship at about 12:30 and I was able to spend the afternoon shopping in the Havensight mall right next to the dock.

 

Haven't dove with the other services on the island, but I would highly recommend Admiralty.:D :D

[medicnrte]

I hope this isn't a repeat, but we are booked on the Glory sailing in september and I want to dive in Nassau, but the times so far is a big problem. coming in at 8:30 not enough time to get off for the 9:00 dive boat with Stewart Cove. Can the scuba centre scedule for a time whenever the ship come in

 

 

Thanks

Lloyd

Glory 9/05

[augie]

I hope this isn't a repeat, but we are booked on the Glory sailing in september and I want to dive in Nassau, but the times so far is a big problem. coming in at 8:30 not enough time to get off for the 9:00 dive boat with Stewart Cove. Can the scuba centre scedule for a time whenever the ship come in

 

 

Thanks

Lloyd

Glory 9/05

 

Lloyd, Unfortunately Nassau Scuba Centre will cease operations as of July 1.

 

I'm bummed, too - I had heard so many good things about their operation.

 

Check with "Dive Dive Dive" - their schedule may be able to accomadate you.