Leaving for St Maarten May 1 - Looking for dive op recommendations

[dvleemin]

Hi All,
We'll be heading to St Maarten for a week on May 1, and am looking for Dive Op recommendations. We tend to like small dive ops, and avoid the cattle boats with prejudice. We're somewhat experienced divers with over 200 dives, and I also am an UW photographer. We're more interested in a dive op that takes us to great places and lets us dive, than a full service that gives you gourmet lunches, and has 3 people on board to handle your equipment.

So given these specs, any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Darryl

[Docc]

Chris and Sally at Octopus Diving in Grand Case.

Octopus Diving - Scuba Dive and Snorkel in Saint Martin / Sint Maarten (http://www.octopusdiving.com)

[Jersey]

Where are you staying?

[Jim Lapenta]

Based on a report from two of my OW students who were just there in Feb I would have to second Octopus Diving. Smaller boat, very safe, yet not smothering.

[marcaumarc]

Also recommending Octopus Diving. Sally, one of the owners is a very good UW photographer. As mentioned above they are a more personal operation, they take out six divers max per boat. They also go to lots of different spots on both sides of the island, including some places they have found that no one else ever dives. In the interest of full disclosure, I am doing my divemaster internship with them, but have used the shop since before Chris and Sally owned it and they've really turned it into a top-notch operation.

They only have water and orange slices on the boat, and there are only two people on the boat to handle your equipment! But no one will stop you from setting up your own gear if you want. They do offer a high level of service so customers can just enjoy the diving. If you're here for a week and want to dive a bunch of different sites, I think they would be a great choice.

[dvleemin]

Thanks Everyone.

We'll be staying at Oyster Bay resort. I believe it's on the Dutch side, and Octopus diving is on the French side. Is that an issue? We'll have a rental car - how would it take to drive there? Do you have to go through customs?

Darryl

[Docc]

Thanks Everyone.

We'll be staying at Oyster Bay resort. I believe it's on the Dutch side, and Octopus diving is on the French side. Is that an issue? We'll have a rental car - how would it take to drive there? Do you have to go through customs?

Darryl

No customs and you can drive the whole island in 30 minutes (if they're not doing construction on the bridge).

[dvleemin]

Thanks.

Sop which side of the island has better diving?

We were also looking at doing the shark dive. It looks like Dive Safaris is the only dive op doing the shark dive?

Darryl

[Docc]

Thanks.

Sop which side of the island has better diving?

We were also looking at doing the shark dive. It looks like Dive Safaris is the only dive op doing the shark dive?

Darryl

There's good diving all over the island. I did the shark dive with Dive Safaris and it was a hoot. I have shark dive pictures on my Facebook page which is linked on my profile.

[dvleemin]

There's good diving all over the island. I did the shark dive with Dive Safaris and it was a hoot. I have shark dive pictures on my Facebook page which is linked on my profile.

Thanks!

What are the diffs between the two sides? More wrecks on one side? More big life? Etc

[marcaumarc]

From there you would go counterclockwise around the island to get to Grand Case where Octopus is (i.e., up the east side past Orient Bay). If you go that way there isn't any traffic. The places where you hit traffic on the island are Philipsburg, Simpson Bay and Marigot and you wouldn't have to go through any of them.

Generally speaking, the better reefs are on the French side, especially around Tintamarre, which is a small islet to the north. There are more wrecks on the Dutch side, but the reefs are not in such great shape. I'm not sure if it is the amount of development there or dredging for the cruise ships. Octopus goes to sites on both sides, but we mostly do the Dutch side for wrecks. Dutch side ops can dive both sides as well, but I've rarely seen them on the French side and I've never seen any of their boats at Tintamarre. Octopus doesn't do a shark feeding dive. I've never been out with Dive Safaris, but Bobby is a good guy.

Spotted eagle rays and turtles are the only big things we see regularly. Occasionally we'll see nurse sharks or a reef shark. In the last month or so there have been three times when dolphins have come by when we are diving, which is amazing, but I wouldn't count on it. Humpbacks are also here right now, but I've only heard them underwater and seen them from the boat.

[Jersey]

No customs and you can drive the whole island in 30 minutes (if they're not doing construction on the bridge).

This I would love to see since you can sit for 30 or more waiting a bridge opening during season or on the road to P-burg or driving the one ways in Marigot.... Customs? You are lucky if you realize you've crossed from Dutch to French and back again, though there are markers. Unless something has changed in the last year or so, from Oyster you are going to have to drive to find a dive op. I've only gone out with 3 of the Dutch ops, so can't comment on any French side ops. Another good source of SXM info is the TTOL (Travel Talk on Line) website. Enjoy your trip!

[frostfire]

We are staying at Diamond Resort's Royal Palm Beach in August. Which dive shop do you recommend? We are both very experienced AOW divers, plus an 8 year old want-to-be. I am assuming that dive shops go to both sides of the island?

[marcaumarc]

Jersey, I agree that Docc's 30 minutes is more of a hypothetical, but if you don't have to drive between Philipsburg and Marigot (which also includes both bridges), you can drive the rest of the way around the island in less than 30 consistently.

Frostfire, you do have to drive through Cole Bay and Marigot (but no drawbridges!) to get to Octopus Diving in Grand Case, but I would still recommend them highly. In theory any shop can go to both sides of the island, but I never see Dutch side boats at the best French side sites. Octopus does more diving on the French side, but goes to the Dutch side regularly. I think this is because a) it's worth going to the better wrecks on the Dutch side and b) the reefs to the north of the island are really far from the Dutch side. It probably takes 15 min to get to Tintamarre from Grand Case and about 20 minutes to the wrecks we usually do on the Dutch side. From the Dutch side, I think it would be more than 30 minutes to get to Tintamarre, even with a fast boat.

[liquidvisions]

Do yourself a favour, you are so close to Saba a daytrip would be worth your while, it will make you forget about St. Maarten diving French or Dutch side.

[frostfire]

Is that a boat trip or flying?

[Zenshift]

You can do it either way. The ferry is a little cheaper, but is also a longer trip and you have to deal with the less than comfortable ride. By plane it's a 12 minute flight and you don't need to worry about your decompression time (assuming you don't go straight from the dive boat to plane).

[Jeff Bates]

I have been diving for the past 10 years with ocean explorers dive center in Simpson Bay, great location, great reef and fantastic service, try them, sorry don't remember their phone # as I always showed up but I'm sure you can find them online.