I would appreciate suggestions as to with whom to dive in St Maarten (not Blue Bubbles ever again) and St Kitts. We'll be visiting via the Celebrity Silhouette. I prefer a shop that provides transportation to and from the cruise pier if possible. Thanks all.
Need suggestions for Dive op St Maarten and St Kitts 10/2015
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jonhall
Contributor
Octopus Diving has taken over another dive shop in Phillipsburg which can be walked to from the cruise ship. The original Octopus Diving on the French side has received very good reviews. I will be in St. Maarten in a few weeks and will probably consider Octopus.
Go with Ocean Explorers they will pick you up at the pier.
Ocean Explorers Dive Center - Scuba Diving in St Maarten / St Martin Best Dives
Ocean Explorers Dive Center - Scuba Diving in St Maarten / St Martin Best Dives
St Maarten: I've gone with Scuba Fun when I've stopped there on a cruise ship. Good operation and a short walk from the ship pier (closest shop to the cruise ship pier.) I haven't been out with Octopus, but check out both ops websites.
St Kitts: I've been out with Pro Divers a couple times (also on cruise ship stops.) Margot and Auston are the owners; she runs he shop, he runs the boat, both very well. The shop is on the west end of the bay where the cruise ships dock. They will pick you up right at the pier for a quick ride back to the shop. Everything's on their website.
Funny that you mention Blue Bubbles. I've posted on tripadvisor a detailed review of my first and last experience with them. The worst experience I've had with any dive op anywhere; they redefined "unprofessional behavior". But then I went next door to Scuba Fun, and they saved my day.
St Kitts: I've been out with Pro Divers a couple times (also on cruise ship stops.) Margot and Auston are the owners; she runs he shop, he runs the boat, both very well. The shop is on the west end of the bay where the cruise ships dock. They will pick you up right at the pier for a quick ride back to the shop. Everything's on their website.
Funny that you mention Blue Bubbles. I've posted on tripadvisor a detailed review of my first and last experience with them. The worst experience I've had with any dive op anywhere; they redefined "unprofessional behavior". But then I went next door to Scuba Fun, and they saved my day.
just dove St Maarten 10/07/2015 from cruise ship with Scuba Fun. Like the other diver said, within
---------- Post added October 16th, 2015 at 05:44 PM ----------
Will try again - crashed during prior attempt
I can't help with St Kitts, but we just dove St Maarten from a cruise ship on 10/07/2015 with Scuba Fun and highly recommend them.
Like stated, , 10min walk from peir carrying gear and they gave us a ride back after the dives. The boat/crew/gear/dive selection were excellent. We had 3 divers of various experience with our group and they matched us well with two other divers for a total of 5 on a good sized boat. I brought my own gear, my daughter needed a small bcd, and my son-in-law needed everything except person gear. The gear was well maintained and they ran a very safe dive: predive double checks, briefings, weight checks, sign in/out .... Awesome dive sites. 1st dive 65' to 45' reef/tow cable saw a few Caribean reef sharks, rays, sealife and a very healthy/colorful coral reef. Did a few easy swim-throughs. Vis ~ 100'+. Perfect 2nd dive 35' to 15' reef and 1700s/1800' wreck with six or more 15' to 20' anchors and a half dozen cannons. Lots of sealife and turtles. All were < 10min ride. The shop is close enough to the peir that I left my wetsuit to dry, so I would not have to dry it onboard and came back for it after returning to the ship for food and to cleanup our gear. A great dutch store is next door [my dear wife is from the Netherlands, so the return trip cost me more than the wetsuit
] You cannot go wrong with scubafun and they will not overbook/crowd their boat. I recommend that you email them and reserve a spot so they can adapt the dives to your preferences. Wetsuits were optional, plenty warm.
---------- Post added October 16th, 2015 at 05:44 PM ----------
Will try again - crashed during prior attempt
I can't help with St Kitts, but we just dove St Maarten from a cruise ship on 10/07/2015 with Scuba Fun and highly recommend them.
Like stated, , 10min walk from peir carrying gear and they gave us a ride back after the dives. The boat/crew/gear/dive selection were excellent. We had 3 divers of various experience with our group and they matched us well with two other divers for a total of 5 on a good sized boat. I brought my own gear, my daughter needed a small bcd, and my son-in-law needed everything except person gear. The gear was well maintained and they ran a very safe dive: predive double checks, briefings, weight checks, sign in/out .... Awesome dive sites. 1st dive 65' to 45' reef/tow cable saw a few Caribean reef sharks, rays, sealife and a very healthy/colorful coral reef. Did a few easy swim-throughs. Vis ~ 100'+. Perfect 2nd dive 35' to 15' reef and 1700s/1800' wreck with six or more 15' to 20' anchors and a half dozen cannons. Lots of sealife and turtles. All were < 10min ride. The shop is close enough to the peir that I left my wetsuit to dry, so I would not have to dry it onboard and came back for it after returning to the ship for food and to cleanup our gear. A great dutch store is next door [my dear wife is from the Netherlands, so the return trip cost me more than the wetsuit
] You cannot go wrong with scubafun and they will not overbook/crowd their boat. I recommend that you email them and reserve a spot so they can adapt the dives to your preferences. Wetsuits were optional, plenty warm.
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jonhall
Contributor
Saw the schedule for the cruise ship you're going on and know it is making trip in Nov. Not sure if that's your cruise or not, so hope this recommendation is still timely.
Spent the last week of Oct. and 1st week Nov. in Phillipsburg. Wound up diving with ScubaFun and would recommend them. Being there during the down season, everyday I dove, it was with guests from cruise ships (1-3 in each day I was there.) The most divers we had were 4.
They are good people and have a decent, good size boat. Easy to get on and off from their dock. They will take care of setting up your gear, although they let me do my own. Dive sites are about a 10 minute ride and, to me, very good sites. Max depths were 70-75 feet. Vis about 80 ft. Dove farther west last time I was there (out of Simpson Bay with Ocean Frontiers) and thought the sites outside Great Bay (where the cruise ships come in) had much more in the way of reefs. Also stayed down longer with ScubaFun.
Spent money to do a shark dive last time, but saw several sharks on almost every dive I did. They swam within feet of us. Cool!!!
Any dive shop close to the pier (Octopus is the only other one I know of which is a little farther, 5-10 min walk, from the cruise ships) will be close to good eating places. ScubaFun is in the same complex as Chesterfield's and a cheese shop where a lot of people by Dutch cheese.
A few of the cruise ship divers booked through the excursion offerings of the cruise ship and a few booked themselves.
Hope you have as good of a time as I had.
+1 for ocean explorers......
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
try keneths dive shop in st kitts ...hes a great guy class act dive operation ......tell him steve sent you !!!
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