Where to dive advice needed for Destiny intinerary

[tinainfl]

Hi: Will be on the 9/4/05 Carnival Destiny cruise of the S. Caribbean. We want to dive in one or two of the ports? Which of the following ports offer the best diving: San Juan, Aruba, Barbados, Dominica, or St. Thomas? Thanks very much any info! Tina

[bruce-r]

You can rule out Puerto Rico for diving. There is good diving there, it is just that it is located too far away from San Juan for you to get there and back in time.

 

I would say that Aruba might be just a hair better than St. Thomas, but I haven't been to either Barbados or Dominica.

 

To help you narrow down the choices, you should look at what other things there are to do on each island to see if there is anything besides scuba you might want to do. This would eliminate the island as a dive choice because there is another activity you want to do more than dive.

 

If I had to make a choice, I'd dive Barbados and Dominica just because I haven't been there before.

[Jerry_G]

I'd cross off both Barbados and San Juan. I dove them both in February and would rather go shopping with my wife. The only good diving in San Juan is a 3 hour car drive followed by a 2 hour boat ride. So you cannot make it in a day. Anything near San Juan isn't worth the money. In Barbados the most scenic thing I saw was a truck axle and some old tires. The coral seems to be about 50 percent dead. I guess if you want to see what a dying reef system looks like the Barbados might be worth it. If I only knew how to build a website I could show you some pictures of Barbados, but that's for another day. Good Luck

[tinainfl]

Hi -- Sorry to hear about the Barabados diving trip. Guess we'll shoot for Aruba. Need to do some research. Thanks much for the advice! Tina

[cal2632]

Hi -- Sorry to hear about the Barabados diving trip. Guess we'll shoot for Aruba. Need to do some research. Thanks much for the advice! Tina

 

In Aruba, can offer a personal recomendation for using Clive. His operation is called Dive Aruba. He'll pick you up just outside the gate of the cruise terminal and has a small boat so you'll avoid the cattle boat thing. If he isn't available try Pelican. They have an excellent reputation as well.

[sddiver]

Dominica- Hands down Barbados would be a distant second place.

 

The diving in the Scotts Head Preserve is as good as any in the premier caribbean destinations, Cayman, Coz ect. It does not get much pub due to the limited number of divers who ever even make it to Dominica. There is not a lot of big fish life due to over fishing by locals, but the reef and small fish life is prolific.

I can't wait to get back there.

 

Suggest you set up your dives with Nature Island Dives, they are located in Souffiere right in the underwater preserve.

 

http://www.natureislanddive.com/

 

Have Fun

Rich

[w&k]

Tinainfl-

 

We dove Dominica, Barbados and St. Thomas last November off the Zenith. Sorry to hear the JerryG's trip was lousy, but ours was FABULOUS! As a matter of fact, we're doing a trip on the Empress next spring just to get back there.

 

Here are links to my dive reviews

 

Dominica - I second Rich's pick of Nature Island Divers

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=121704

 

Barbados - John at Dive Barbados

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=121690

 

St. Thomas - Blue Island Divers

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=121704

 

Check out the photos at http://community.webshots.com/user/wendyandkeith

 

Wendy

 

cal2632- thanks for the Aruba tip - am starting to research for our spring trip.

[wystiria]

I 2nd John at Dive barbados! I just posted my review for Barbados and Aruba. Dive Barbados was great.

 

 

I have also heard great things about Dominica, we wanted to do some hiking/climbing and river bouldering so we did that instead.

[Wennfred]

Her review here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=189391