Trip Report Dive Sint Maarten - St. Maarten

[Wants2divemore]

I was in St. Maarten on Jan 29th on a cruise and dove with Dive Sint Maarten.

Bottom line: Good experience, would use again.

Meeting location: Bobby's Marina, Philipsburg (15 minute walk, 2 minute taxi ride from cruise pier).

Boat: Double Dutch - 12 divers max, covered deck area, no restroom.

Briefing: Covered boat safety equipment and dive plan.

Dive sites dove (they have many different ones, decide which ones to dive the day of):
Carib Cargo: Metal wreck with swim through, some good reefs around with great marine life, 65’ depth
Lucy's Barge: Old wooden wreck so all that's left are some old canons and anchor, great marine life, 55’ depth

Dives: Group dive of 8 divers with 2 guides. No buddies established, just everyone stayed somewhat close together. If someone ran low on air, 1 guide would take that person up while others remained. Water and snacks provided during surface interval.

Comments: Good experience, easy to book with, would use again.

 

[drrich2]

Sounds like fun. I still haven't figured out why St. Martin isn't more of a dive destination; I've seen pretty good reports on the diving very sporadically, and people have mentioned seeing reef sharks (did you see any?) fairly often, which are a draw.

I've never dove there. I've visited multiple times on cruise ship stops; it's got some nice places topside.

 

[PACKRMAN]

Thanks for the report. I am booked with them i a couple weeks, so good timing.

 

[Wants2divemore]

Sounds like fun. I still haven't figured out why St. Martin isn't more of a dive destination; I've seen pretty good reports on the diving very sporadically, and people have mentioned seeing reef sharks (did you see any?) fairly often, which are a draw.

I've never dove there. I've visited multiple times on cruise ship stops; it's got some nice places topside.

A few nurse and tiger sharks, plus lots of other great life as well (turtles, trigger fish, manta ray, puffer fish, trumpet fish).

 

[drrich2]

tiger sharks

Did you mean Caribbean reef sharks?

Tiger sharks would be a big deal. For more than one reason.

Richard.

 

[Wants2divemore]

Did you mean Caribbean reef sharks?

Tiger sharks would be a big deal. For more than one reason.

Richard.

Probably. The guide mentioned Tiger sharks, and I don't know what I'm looking at for the most part, so they probably meant Caribbean reef sharks.

 

[drrich2]

Caribbean reef sharks seem to me to run about 3 to 5 feet long, look like a stereotypical expectation of a shark, don't have stripes or spots and unless you're spear fishing or handling fish underwater, highly unlikely to be a threat. Many divers love seeing them, and some have become habituated to being fed lion fish and come around and check divers out.

Tiger sharks tend to be way bigger, often have a somewhat striped look, broad snouts, and are less likely to be randomly encountered at most Caribbean destinations. If you guys saw tiger sharks, it'd be a big deal.

 

[Wants2divemore]

Caribbean reef sharks seem to me to run about 3 to 5 feet long, look like a stereotypical expectation of a shark, don't have stripes or spots and unless you're spear fishing or handling fish underwater, highly unlikely to be a threat. Many divers love seeing them, and some have become habituated to being fed lion fish and come around and check divers out.

Tiger sharks tend to be way bigger, often have a somewhat striped look, broad snouts, and are less likely to be randomly encountered at most Caribbean destinations. If you guys saw tiger sharks, it'd be a big deal.

From your description, it was Caribbean reef sharks. Thanks for the info.

 

[drrich2]

Here are 2 reef shark shots from St. Croix in 2017.

Here is a 2017 tiger shark (the big one; the smaller one, down and a bit left, is a lemon shark) out of Jupiter, Florida, a shark feeding dive with Emerald Dive Charters (the guide does the feeding; the rest of us were spectators).

The day may come when you want to see tiger sharks, and there are places to do that.

 

[Wants2divemore]

Definitely reef sharks. Thanks.