Newbie from Chicago

[drl]

I've dived both St. Thomas and Nassau off a cruise with Royal Caribbean (last March). Both were great. St. Thomas had prettier reefs, and the water was warmer. It was only 72 (water temp.) in Nassau, and I was cold in a 3 mil suit, YMMV. But the diving was good, and more pelagic life--3 black-tipped reef sharks and a big turtle on the second dive. We went with Stuart Coves in Nassau. I don't remember the dive op in St. Thomas, but if you're interested in more details I can check my log when I get home.
Have a great honeymoon!

Deborah

 

[devolution365]

DandyDan: Yeah, we know that our safety is in OUR hands and won't take any chances since we're new divers. I've noted the "safety precautions" that have been taken on previous snorkeling trips, hikes, tours, etc on some islands, so I know exactly what you mean. We're looking for adventure, but definitely want to come home to tell about the tail

DRL: I'd love to hear more about St Thomas vs Nassau if you find your logs and the time to share

 

[logic]

No sense starting a new introductory thread; I'm devolution365's fiancee. Um...hi.

Like she said, I just finished my open water certification dives, and we're both looking forward to heading a little farther south for our next dive. Although, I really want to go back to the quarry and spend a little more time exploring; there's some pretty cool stuff sunk at the bottom, and I realized on the last dive (we did a mini-tour around the quarry) that my sense of direction underwater needs a lot of work; it took me a few seconds to figure out where we were when we surfaced. I also need to work on relaxing more and keeping tabs on my breathing so I don't burn through quite so much air.

I can't believe how much fun I had this weekend; I've snorkelled all my life, but there's just no comparison. Carribean, here we come. enguin2:

 

[Paco]

I don't understand why it is either/or. Can't you dive bothe places or even more than two? I shoot for fifteen dives when I go to the Caribbean.

 

[Paco]

Oh, and welcome to the board to both of you.

 

[moneysavr]

Hey You got some Great dives right on Lake Michigan! Viz can be 55+ water temps can be cold low 30's to the 70's late summer!
Man you can fly to GrandBahama right from Chicago cheap,More money to dive with,a cool resort is
www.ourlucaya.com
Real sweet The Westin Section or Breakers cay section!
Nassau is too old dirty and like a bad vegas gone down the drain! St.Thomas is ok,but some saftey things I read about,and any trip get travel Ins,, Just in case!
Dive safe,heck come up some weekend next year and we will get you on a wreck dive from my boat!
Brad Ingersoll
The Great Re-discovererererer!
Photo of the Northener off Port Washington,Wisconsin

 

[logic]

I don't understand why it is either/or.

It might work out that we can dive both locations, but there's a few things we're keeping in mind. First, it's our wedding cruise, and we're doing a little more than just diving; personally, I've never seen any of the islands we're hitting on this cruise, so we'll probably play tourist at least a little bit. Second, and more importantly, we've got a lot of family coming along with us, none of whom are divers, and spending time with them on shore and around town is important too; we'll get plenty of trips down the road completely to ourselves (and we're taking at least a couple of days on this one for just the two of us too).

As for Lake Michigan, hopefully we'll have a chance to do a bit of diving there next year, although we'd been told that visibility was a bit of a crapshoot in there, and that it can be a bit cold.

 

[drl]

OK, I've checked my log. We dove with Underwater Safaris in St. Thomas and with Stuart Cove's in Nassau, both the shore excursions from the cruise line. Both larger boats, guided dives, 1 DM for every 4-6 divers, so it didn't seem too herd-like.
The reefs in St. Thomas were beautiful. Not a lot of fish, but gorgeous coral formations with deep canyons to swim down and some swim throughs (which you could skip if you weren't comfortable with them). Lots more fish around the wreck on the second dive.
In Nassau the first dive had a little of everything, wreck, reef, and wall. The wreck was just a little cabin cruiser, then we swam over the reef and down the wall on the other side. When people (read: me, the 110# hoover) got to turn pressure we ascended to the top of the reef and swam back to the boat that way. The second dive was a bigger wreck, the Ray of Hope, and 3 black-tipped reef sharks swam over to check us out.
Personally, I think the reef was prettier in St. Thomas, but it's hard to beat the sharks. No guarantees of wildlife, of course, but apparently they are common at that site, since it's near where they do the shark dives, and the sharks are curious about divers, since they might be bringing lunch (not BE lunch!) However, the water temp was much colder in Nassau, 73 as opposed to 78 in St. Thomas. For me that's the difference between being comfortable in a 3-mil wetsuit or shivering.
I can't necessarily recommend one strongly over the other, but maybe this will help you decide. It may also depend on what other activities are available to you at those ports.
BTW, I'm in Chicago too (the burbs). We dive Lake Michigan in the summer, but it's sure not the Caribbean!
Have a great wedding trip!

Deborah

 

[devolution365]

Thanks for the info, drl! We're thinking about a Lake Michigan dive next summer. We want to do at least a couple dives a year to keep our skills up.

 

[gangrel441]

Funny...as I was reading your first post, I was thinking, "gee...this sounds familiar..." Then I realized why. Almost identical to mine!

I am a Chicago native, living in Arlington Heights now. I was certified when I was in high school, back in 1987. Dove a few times locally, then never had time or money, and gave it up for over a decade!

I got engaged towards the end of 2000, and when we were making plans for the wedding and honeymoon, diving came up. I informed my then fiance that if she wants to dive, we are getting her certified. No resort courses for her!

I did her OW as my refresher. Our honeymoon was in November 2001, 5 days on Aruba, 5 days on Curacao. In Aruba, we hired a dive guide and did a single dive. My wife had some issues with how our OW was run, and translated that to not being sure if she likes diving. Needless to say, she loved that dive! We called our Curacao resort before leaving, and changed our reservation from having a few days of dive package to an Advanced Open Water course. We haven't looked back since!

To make a long story short, we completed our Master Scuba Diver certs in Belize June of this year. She has no real intent to go pro or tec, I am giving both strong consideration now.

Feel free to drop me a PM if you and your fiance are interested in diving sometime. I will probably be looking for dive buddies over the next year or so.

Also, I would recommend joining a local dive club. I am a member of the Chicago Aquanauts (www.casascuba.org).

Most importantly, don't be a stranger! We all want to hear about how your diving goes