Trip Review-St. Thomas, Dominica, St. Kitts

[DivingPrincessE]

princesse,
i like your turtle shots.
have you ever considered going on a liveaboard?

Smokey-
I've considered a liveaboard...but I'm not sold yet. They are much more expensive than cruises...but with all the diving included, it makes sense that they are more.

It's three main reasons (besides cost) that keeps me from booking a liveaboard instead of a cruise
1. I travel with my mom, who doesn't dive and loves to cruise.
2. I am VERY picky eater and I'm worried I won't like the food on the liveaboard.
3. Robin mentioned about no ballrooms, or formal wear, shows, etc...except that I like the ballrooms, formal wear, shows, etc.

If my master plan to move to FL comes together, and I either start dating a diver or get a core group of diving friends...I may try a liveaboard. I just don't see it happening anytime soon while I'm in Northern VA.

 

[DivingPrincessE]

Very thorough review. Thanks! And the turtle pics are fun!!

So what was the deal with the short SIs? The Blue Island op sounds real slack (read: bad), but why was the St. Kitts SI only 35 min? I've only been out with one op in my relatively young diving career, but we always did 1 hour. It might have been because we were packing in 4 - 5 dives a day though.

Yeah I have no idea what was up with St. Thomas...but I don't think the SI in St. Kitts was too short. The first one was pretty shallow, and none of us came anywhere close to NDL, we were all pretty new divers that are limited by air well before NDL. I think the multiple dives in a day would increase your need for a long SI, so it makes sense that your were longer when doing that many dives in one day.

I look forward to reading your trip review on the turks and caicos trip...but by "next summer" do you mean 2009? You are way more patient than me

 

[Pegger]

Thanks for the posting Emily,

I had a similar experience to what you had in St Thomas a number of years back. The sea was very rough (four footers) and I was the first in and had to wait for a German lady who refused to roll out of the boat. After about five long min. on the surface we finally descended. By that time I wasn't sure I wanted to continue the dive but calmed down shortly after. The key is when it's rough, get under and wait there, you'll consume let air there than on the surface.
Experience has taught me not to follow or settle with stupid or unsafe dive practices.
I'm interested to know about the ship, your excursions and any pointers that you can give me as we leave on the 27th.

Glad your back safe,

Steve

 

[robint]

Smokey-
I've considered a liveaboard...but I'm not sold yet. They are much more expensive than cruises...but with all the diving included, it makes sense that they are more.

It's three main reasons (besides cost) that keeps me from booking a liveaboard instead of a cruise
1. I travel with my mom, who doesn't dive and loves to cruise.
2. I am VERY picky eater and I'm worried I won't like the food on the liveaboard.
3. Robin mentioned about no ballrooms, or formal wear, shows, etc...except that I like the ballrooms, formal wear, shows, etc.
If my master plan to move to FL comes together, and I either start dating a diver or get a core group of diving friends...I may try a liveaboard. I just don't see it happening anytime soon while I'm in Northern VA.

yeah, I had a feeling.... you might still enjoy a liveaboard but not if you want to dress up and look nice. Most people will be in swimsuits w/shorts, no shoes for the entire trip. Your hair is always wet as you are only out of the water an hour before jumping back in! Food is buffet and usually very good, cooks/chefs do try to please everyone though and are willing to fix a special meal for picky eaters. And as for the shows -- on a liveaboard most people are doing the night dive at 8pm or crashing as they are pooped from the days activities.

Check out my post about Liveaboard travel with a non-diving partner down on the Liveaboard Forum. It might be something you and your mom might endulge in just once...

robin

 

[ItMustBeJames]

...but by "next summer" do you mean 2009? You are way more patient than me

Yup ... May '09. The wait is going to be tough, but the reward sweet. It'll give me some time to do more diving before hitting the 'big time'.

 

[ScubaTexan]

Emily, you're experience in St. Thomas reminded me of my only dive in the Flower Gardens (Texas Gulf), which I had to abandon after 20 minutes. My camera broke after being smashed on the dive ladder, and I was totally exhausted. I had 11 ocean dives prior to that, but that was the worst experience I've ever had in the ocean. I don't do well in surge.

 

[DivingPrincessE]

Emily, you're experience in St. Thomas reminded me of my only dive in the Flower Gardens (Texas Gulf), which I had to abandon after 20 minutes. My camera broke after being smashed on the dive ladder, and I was totally exhausted. I had 11 ocean dives prior to that, but that was the worst experience I've ever had in the ocean. I don't do well in surge.

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience too, but it's comforting to know that it's not just me. While I was sitting in the boat during the second dive, I was thinking...maybe I'm just not cut out for diving like I thought it was, maybe I just suck in the ocean, etc. But then when my buddy in St. Kitts who has 500+ dives got exhausted on the surface trying to sort out his mask issue...I was like well at least I know it happens to everyone.

 

[Doc]

But then when my buddy in St. Kitts who has 500+ dives got exhausted on the surface trying to sort out his mask issue...I was like well at least I know it happens to everyone.

This was the same guy that lost his fins on the first dive.

You write great trip reports, you are an excellent observer, you gotta quit diving on cruise ships.

The only good thing about combining your great writing skills and your choice of dive venues is that nobody who has a clue (except you) seems to post such detailed accounts about cruise ship diving.

There are posh resorts in areas of great diving where you can get all dolled-up for dinner. Maldives, Tahiti, Philippines, the Red Sea... that would be a lovely change for you. Mom would love Sharm el Sheik and sightseeing the pyramids- you could do some world class diving.

Take a hint, Emily, go do some real diving. Somewhere that there are no cruise ships yet. There, you will likely meet someone that has 500+ dives but doesn't say so, someone who doesn't lose gear and bust mask straps.

I love reading your posts, but every time I do, I think... boy, I'd sure like to send her to someplace good.

Move on, you're way ready for it.

 

[ScubaTexan]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience too, but it's comforting to know that it's not just me. While I was sitting in the boat during the second dive, I was thinking...maybe I'm just not cut out for diving like I thought it was, maybe I just suck in the ocean, etc. But then when my buddy in St. Kitts who has 500+ dives got exhausted on the surface trying to sort out his mask issue...I was like well at least I know it happens to everyone.

No, you're hardly the only one that this has happened to -- not by a long shot. I've had butterflies in my stomach several times on ocean dives when the current and/or surge were pretty strong. After you get down to where you are going, it usually eases off considerably. You just have to relax the best you can.

 

[DiverDebbie]

Very nice thorough reviews, but your account of your experience in St. Thomas really disturbs me.
Lots of dive ops out there give poor service, but this place goes beyond poor service. Sadly, cruise ship divers and/or new divers, who need the extra attention the most often get it the least. However, that said, things can absolutely go wrong even with the most experienced divers, so the staff (DMs, instructors and boat captains) should be paying attention to all the divers.
You took a portion of the blame yourself, but I didn't see that you did anything at all wrong.
Everyone on the boat deserved a proper dive briefing. You received nothing. When you tried to communicate with the staff that you were a new diver and ask questions, they basically ignored you. I love helping keen new divers. To me that beats dealing with know-it-all experienced divers who don't want to listen. All the surface confusion and chaos, and those divers going down the wrong line is evidence of a total lack of communication by the staff.
You started a descent by yourself, but you stopped yourself, realizing that would've been a mistake. Good for you!
You asked for a buddy, then stuck with that buddy throughout the dive... even through a wreck, which is gross negligence on the DM's part. How deep did they take you? Wouldn't put it past them to take divers beyond their depth either.
You kept a close eye on your air and let the DM know that you needed to surface... and then he made you do so by yourself! More negligence.
ohhh... I am cringing....
Deciding not to do another dive with them, given how horribly they treated you, and given how you were feeling, was a very wise decision. It's always best to follow your instincts and not do the dive if your not completely comfortable for any reason.
You aren't at fault whatsoever. They were 100% at fault. Being a DM or instructor is a huge responsibility that all should take seriously. It's this type of negligent behaviour that leads to dive accidents at worst, and scares people off diving at the very least. This dive operation is horribly negligent and should be reported to PADI.
On a more positive note... Something like that can put a lot of new divers off for good, but I'm so happy to hear that you continued to dive after that day and had more enjoyable dives.