Thanks for the tag
@drrich2. Visited August 2022 with my mom, stepfather (not in the best health) and 26 yr old nephew/dive buddy. Stayed in 2VRBO condos at Sapphire Beach - I knew they had walk out level which my stepfather needs. Couple shore dives at Secret Harbor Resort, Aqua Action dive center. Supposed to do a check out dive with a guide, however no one was available, so we strapped on tanks and did it ourselves. Max depth 22 feet, just nice to swim along. Not a ton of marine life, water in the 80's, neoprene shorts and rash guards. Buddy hadn't been diving in a few years, great weight check/gear shakedown/get wet option. Can't get lost, guessing there is rarely a current as it's a pretty sheltered bay.
Red Hook for boat diving. Windy and waves, sites were limited. We ended up at the wreck of the Cartanza. Us and 3 snorkel boats, 2 other dive boats, and the 'helmet diving aliens'. What a cluster. Depth maybe 50 at the outside drop, cool to see some of the remains > engines mostly. Guide rushed us. As a photog and one interested in fish & behavior, no one pointed out the garden eels waving, or the Queen Trigger or the other cool fish stuff. Just keep kicking! I'm like "BUT WAIT!!! Look!!" Great group -7 divers plus guide. 3 pairs plus a 12 year old kid buddied with the guide who was an awesome diver! His mom sat topside. Second site was Stragglers, pretty rocky-rolly but we all got in and out safely. Stragglers is cool for riding the surge through the canyon, swim throughs, bubbles breaking on the rocks over your head. Saw a couple rays and turtles through here, but the main attraction is the topography. There were a few (my nephew included) who didn't know how to ride the surge, so we had a few crashes. Kick WITH the flow, stop kicking when the surge sweeps in. Far less taxing. Both shops were professional, well equipped and we felt very safe.
As someone else said, it's OK diving if you are there. Mom and Bill wanted to see the famous beaches and honestly the snorkeling at Magens and Trunk was as good as the diving. More fish and we lost count of the turtles at Magens. That was awesome! After the cluster at the Cartanza, we hung up the fins on boats, went back for another tank at Aqua.
Nephew and I snorkeled every day, great little reef at Sapphire - squadrons of squid, turtles every day. Off shore fishing, caught enough yellow tail to keep us in ceviche and grilled tuna for days. I played tour guide, as I had lived/worked on island. Ate some good food, shopped for jewelry. Mostly it was a trip for my mom and stepfather to sit on the beach and enjoy travel while they still can. More a family trip with a few dives thrown in. Better diving is there, but not with the weather we had that week.
