The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
I was told by a Saban that you can tell the Dutch side of Sint Maarten by the beautiful houses and the French side by the beautiful women.
Sint Maarten Trip Report – Early April 2017
- Thread starter Ironborn
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drrich2
Contributor
Of the places mentioned, St. Thomas, St. Martin and Antigua are all very popular cruise ship stops, so they're well-known to many people. St. Eustatius isn't, far as I know; St. Kitts shows up on some itineraries, but nowhere near as often as the 1st three. In 4 dives off St. Thomas on cruise stops (2 on OW course referral, 2 pleasure), I enjoyed them, but didn't see anything Key Largo couldn't match or better. Of course, people with more experience on a non-cruise catering boat might see it differently.
We get enough threads looking for good diving + non-diving 'stuff' (e.g.: non-divers along to entertain) that there ought to be a market. Popular with cruise ships, St. Thomas and St. Martin have a lot of topside excursions to enjoy. If St. Martin can 'bring the diving,' the other attractions could really sweeten the deal.
Richard.
We get enough threads looking for good diving + non-diving 'stuff' (e.g.: non-divers along to entertain) that there ought to be a market. Popular with cruise ships, St. Thomas and St. Martin have a lot of topside excursions to enjoy. If St. Martin can 'bring the diving,' the other attractions could really sweeten the deal.
Richard.
We've been to St. Maarten/St. Martin 4 times since 2009. This last trip (end of March/early April 2017) we did some diving on both sides of the island. I'll give a side-by-side comparison.
A little background on us: St. Maarten was our first "blue water" diving after getting certified in 2009. Since that time, we have about 300 dives. We take 2 to 3 dive trips a year (Caribbean mostly--Hawaii and Africa each over the 8 years). We always go to Bonaire once a year.
On the first trip in 2009, we used Octopus Diving. We were very new divers. They treated us well. We had nothing else to compare them. We were staying on the Dutch side of the island. The trip to French side wasn't a big deal, but traffic in SXM can be a bear. In the 2 subsequent trips, we did all our diving on the Dutch side with Ocean Explorers. I can't say enough good things about Ocean Explorers. Jef, Lu, and the crew have always treated us well. We decided on this last trip to squeeze in a few dives on the French side; in addition to the Dutch side. I really wanted to compare the 2 dive operators and diving conditions.
French side: We were back at Octopus Diving after 8 years. Emails communications were great. We had to pay for about half of the trip up front. I was okay with that. Some may not like plunking down $200 a couple of months in advance. They have a very neat shop, but there is not much to purchase. No complaints about the boat. I believe we had 6 or 8 divers each trip with 1 DM in the water. The staff friendliness was okay. I won't say that we seemed like an inconvenience, but they didn't seem real excited either. Back 8 years ago, the owners had recently bought the shop. They seemed really excited, and that excitement carried over to their staff. I didn't get that sense this trip. I understand this is a tough business with a lot of overhead. Maybe island life is starting to get too old? I really don't know. I also got the impression that Octopus was catering more towards cruise ship customers. I don't say this as derogatory. It probably makes good business sense with 10K to 20K cruisers on the island on some days. I believe the reef formations are better on the French side. However, we were limited to about 50 minute dives. It seems like we all had to come up at the same time. We were surfacing with a lot of left over air (1300 PSI or so). We did 4 dives over 2 days. On the last dive, the DM really seemed like she just wanted to get the dive over with. I don't believe she turned around to look at the group even once. We were all experienced divers so maybe she thought she could take the day off? When you surface, there is lukewarm water and Kool-Aid waiting on you. Despite this lack of attention, I believe the operation is safe for experienced divers.
Dutch Side: This was our 3rd time with Ocean Explorers. Email communications were great. I believe the deposit was $50. (The low amount may be because we are repeat divers?) They have a very small shop with a lot of things to purchase. I've read some comments about Lu who runs the shop. Some think she can be a little rough around the edges. I don't really think that is the case. Ocean Explorers runs a very organized operation. I believe she wants you to fit within this organization to ensure you have a good time. No complaints about the boat. The diving is pretty good. I believe the reef formations are better on the French side, but the Dutch side is pretty good as well. They have a few wrecks that are interesting. Ocean Explorers always has 3 staff members on the boat. This means that 2 will be in the water. They attempt to divide up divers by skill level. There is never more than 10 or so people on the boat. You also dive your tank with this operation. We were getting hour plus dives. When the first person gets low on air, a DM will go to the safety stop line with the low air diver. (Octopus doesn't throw over a line for safety stops like Ocean Explorers.) The other DM hangs out with the group. You are free to mill around beneath the boat or venture about as long as you can see the boat or a DM. I think the staff is excellent. They have a few longtime staff members. You typically don't see DM/Instructors stick around long at a place. I think that is a positive. When you surface, they have cold water waiting on you. I believe Ocean Explorers is one of the safest dive ops I've ever been with.
Overall impressions, French side diving is probably a little better. Octopus is a good, safe operation. If I were staying on the French side of the island, I'd dive with them. Ocean Explorers is the better dive operation though. The diving on the Dutch side may not be as impressive but the staff at Ocean Explorers will make sure you see a lot and have a good time with maximum bottom time. We will probably not waste our vacation time driving to the French side from the Dutch side again. It wasn't that much better on the French side. If I were a new/rusty diver, you are probably going to have a better experience with Ocean Explorers.
Those are my 2 cents.
A little background on us: St. Maarten was our first "blue water" diving after getting certified in 2009. Since that time, we have about 300 dives. We take 2 to 3 dive trips a year (Caribbean mostly--Hawaii and Africa each over the 8 years). We always go to Bonaire once a year.
On the first trip in 2009, we used Octopus Diving. We were very new divers. They treated us well. We had nothing else to compare them. We were staying on the Dutch side of the island. The trip to French side wasn't a big deal, but traffic in SXM can be a bear. In the 2 subsequent trips, we did all our diving on the Dutch side with Ocean Explorers. I can't say enough good things about Ocean Explorers. Jef, Lu, and the crew have always treated us well. We decided on this last trip to squeeze in a few dives on the French side; in addition to the Dutch side. I really wanted to compare the 2 dive operators and diving conditions.
French side: We were back at Octopus Diving after 8 years. Emails communications were great. We had to pay for about half of the trip up front. I was okay with that. Some may not like plunking down $200 a couple of months in advance. They have a very neat shop, but there is not much to purchase. No complaints about the boat. I believe we had 6 or 8 divers each trip with 1 DM in the water. The staff friendliness was okay. I won't say that we seemed like an inconvenience, but they didn't seem real excited either. Back 8 years ago, the owners had recently bought the shop. They seemed really excited, and that excitement carried over to their staff. I didn't get that sense this trip. I understand this is a tough business with a lot of overhead. Maybe island life is starting to get too old? I really don't know. I also got the impression that Octopus was catering more towards cruise ship customers. I don't say this as derogatory. It probably makes good business sense with 10K to 20K cruisers on the island on some days. I believe the reef formations are better on the French side. However, we were limited to about 50 minute dives. It seems like we all had to come up at the same time. We were surfacing with a lot of left over air (1300 PSI or so). We did 4 dives over 2 days. On the last dive, the DM really seemed like she just wanted to get the dive over with. I don't believe she turned around to look at the group even once. We were all experienced divers so maybe she thought she could take the day off? When you surface, there is lukewarm water and Kool-Aid waiting on you. Despite this lack of attention, I believe the operation is safe for experienced divers.
Dutch Side: This was our 3rd time with Ocean Explorers. Email communications were great. I believe the deposit was $50. (The low amount may be because we are repeat divers?) They have a very small shop with a lot of things to purchase. I've read some comments about Lu who runs the shop. Some think she can be a little rough around the edges. I don't really think that is the case. Ocean Explorers runs a very organized operation. I believe she wants you to fit within this organization to ensure you have a good time. No complaints about the boat. The diving is pretty good. I believe the reef formations are better on the French side, but the Dutch side is pretty good as well. They have a few wrecks that are interesting. Ocean Explorers always has 3 staff members on the boat. This means that 2 will be in the water. They attempt to divide up divers by skill level. There is never more than 10 or so people on the boat. You also dive your tank with this operation. We were getting hour plus dives. When the first person gets low on air, a DM will go to the safety stop line with the low air diver. (Octopus doesn't throw over a line for safety stops like Ocean Explorers.) The other DM hangs out with the group. You are free to mill around beneath the boat or venture about as long as you can see the boat or a DM. I think the staff is excellent. They have a few longtime staff members. You typically don't see DM/Instructors stick around long at a place. I think that is a positive. When you surface, they have cold water waiting on you. I believe Ocean Explorers is one of the safest dive ops I've ever been with.
Overall impressions, French side diving is probably a little better. Octopus is a good, safe operation. If I were staying on the French side of the island, I'd dive with them. Ocean Explorers is the better dive operation though. The diving on the Dutch side may not be as impressive but the staff at Ocean Explorers will make sure you see a lot and have a good time with maximum bottom time. We will probably not waste our vacation time driving to the French side from the Dutch side again. It wasn't that much better on the French side. If I were a new/rusty diver, you are probably going to have a better experience with Ocean Explorers.
Those are my 2 cents.
vogelm755
Registered
I have been travelling annually to Anguilla (AXA) for the past 8 years. Discovered it during a day trip from SXM. We love the Island - wonderful beaches, quiet, great restaurants, friendly. While on the Island I always go diving. During a 3 week stay I get in about 16-20 dives. There are currently 2 dive operators on the Island - Scuba Shack and Vigilant Divers. I believe there is another operator/individual who will take out divers but have never been able to contact them. Except for the first year I have dived with Scuba Shack (formerly known as Shoal Bay Scuba). The first year I dived with Anguillian Divers but they went out of business (I could see why). I have heard very positive feedback about Vigilant Divers and have had no reason to switch as Scuba Shack has been very good for me. Both dive ops are small when compared to operators in well known dive destinations in the Caribbean. Boats are safe and clean. With Scuba Shack max capacity on a boat is 10 and this year was the first time I experienced 10 divers - note, that I go late April/May which is the start of of the low season. Cold water and a snack is provided during SI. Backwards roll in and equipment off before getting on board as the exit ladder is smallish.
In terms of diving, there are about 6-7 wrecks and about 16+ dive sites not including the dive sites on sister Islands - Dog and Scrub. Other than Dog and Scrub all the dive sites are all within a 5-20 min boat ride away. There are no walls per se - except at Dog (it is about 13 miles away and will only go there if seas are calm which is in the summer so I have never been there). In April/May the viz is on average approximately 60 feet. Looking at log books this is consistent over the years. I have spoken with other divers and viz is much better in June/July. Viz always improves towards the end of our stay. Water temp in April/May is about 80-82.
Many of the reefs are filled with soft corals. Other than the wrecks there is no mooring line for the boat so down goes the anchor...and too often hitting the reef. There is not an abundance of fish (IMHO it is over fished and there isn't a marine park established to protect the reefs) however there is a decent variety of marine life. As I have become more experienced over the years I tend to take my time now during dives and hence I see a lot more. I am currently on Island and during 2 dives I spotted 7 varieties of Hamlets. Most years we see turtles, sharks (nurse and reef), octopus, tarpon, eagle rays...and always Southern Rays. The other day a dolphin was spotted. Not seen a green moray but plenty of spotted, golden tail and garden eels. Truck fish, cow fish, porcupine, burr...the list goes on. During a night dive this week I saw one of the largest Southern Rays I have ever seen. Plenty of different invertebrates.
I am not a fan of wrecks so can't comment about the wrecks themselves but there is always plenty of marine life to see and several are close to a reef so can quickly take a diversion from the wreck.
I always manage to come away from our stay with plenty of pictures and each year manage to see something that I have not seen before - either in Anguilla or elsewhere. When looking at marine life reference books I take note of the many pictures taken while diving in Anguilla. I like the fact that when diving you don't bump into other groups of divers and their are no boats zooming on the surface - making it a very peaceful dive.
A link to some photos from the first week of our April/May 2017 stay in Anguilla. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0moWNZKb4jCLTNBV3lLNDNRUmc
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