scuba-sass
Wreckmaniac Extrordinaire
Sorry about the long post - I'm excited!
Wow, just returned from the Caribbean and boy did we have fun! The original intent of the vacation was a cruise aboard Celebrity's Infinity with my partner (Lydia) my Mom, Sister and Brother-in-law. Only Lyd and I scuba dive, so it was our chance to "escape" from any annoying family dynamics. The cruise was fabulous, although since we opted to participate in all four of the offered scuba excursions, we really didn't have the time or energy for much else. No late-night eating extravaganzas for us! We probably could have saved a ton of $$ by booking the dive trips on our own, but since we are new at both scuba and cruising, we opted for the safe way out, and are glad we did. Next time we would probably attempt some arrangements of our own.
Now for the scuba details...
We dove at four islands - St. Croix, Barbados, Antigua and St. Thomas. Far and away, Barbados was the best! Although we truly enjoyed each trip.
The similarities - all were 2-tank boat dives, and I think kind of geared toward beginners or refreshers. They averaged around 40 - 45 foot depths. The water temp was consistently around 81-82 F, although one dive may have been 78. We brought 3 ml full suits with us, but opted for only the skins each day. I was perfectly comfortable the whole trip. Lydia got cold one day when it rained on our way out to the dive site, and her sweatshirt for post-dive got soaked. Just so you know, this was our very first salt-water experience. We were just certified in October, in very silty, cold Connecticut lakes. The dives we experienced on this vacation were heaven!
St. Croix, Sunday 12/16 - off the cruise ship in Fredricksburg, short walk to base of pier to a very small boat. It barely had room for 6 divers, a DM (Dan) and Captain (Stacey). We really couldn't move around at all, but the trip was short. About 10 minutes to the first site - Spanish Anchor, just north of the pier. Dan did an informative pre-dive talk and we did our first backward rolls into the water. Neither of us experienced any disorientation, which our cert DM had warned us about. This was a great first dive for us! Easy, relaxing, and helpful staff. Saw lots of coral and fish and just learned to relax in the water. It felt so comfortable, and natural! I had been worried that the training would not have prepared me, but I felt right at home - starting with gathering the gear in the stateroom, setting it up on the pier, donning everything in the boat, and "falling" in. It came together beautifully!
Our second dive was just south of the pier - Swirling Reef. We were never out of sight of our gigantic cruise ship this day! Did better on air consumption and buoyancy this time (dropped a few pounds), and say a small stingray. BTW, this was the only trip to use Aluminum Tanks.
Barbados, Tuesday 12/18 - 20 minute drive north of Bridgetown to West Side Scuba Center. As mentioned this was the best of the vacation. The LDS folks were great, as were the facilities at the shop, right on the beach. Shower and pools to clean yourself and gear. We had to suit up and haul our gear about 5 min walk down the beach to the boat, anchored stern-in, in about 4 feet of moderate surf. No ladder to the dive platform, a bit of a challenging climb in, but boat staff was helpful. DM's Barney and "the guy from Germany" (never could get his name pronounced so I could spell it - Thurston? Thompston?) and Cptn Tony. This was much bigger group, but we split up, so 3 newbies and 2 non-cruise ship folks went with Thurston(?), well ahead of Barney and the others. We had a 30 - 45 minute ride north to Bright Ledge Reef. This was simply awesome! Even much more experienced divers said this. We did a drift dive south with the current along a reef that parallels the shore. Excellent vis!!! Saw 4 sea turtles, moray eel, barracuda and great coral and other fish. My big mistake of the trip - forgot to turn the computer on! My companions logged 80' depth - pretty deep for this Newbie. Lyd reached 70 or so, but is more of an air hog, and headed for the surface before me.
Our second dive was headed back toward the shop - our first wreck dive! This was a pretty easy diver playland. Cut outs for swim-thrus, and no jagged edges. Another challenge successfully accomplished! Swam all around and thru with no hang-ups or panicky feeling. Saw our first spiney lobster.
Antigua, Thursday 12/20 - These may have been the least favorite, although it's close with St. Thomas for different reasons. Here, the folks were nice - DM's Dianna and Deano, but the boat and tanks were in kind of rough shape. I was quite concerned by the state of their o-rings. It was a very long ride out to the sites; we seemed to be traveling very slowly. My family made it to farther sites in about 1/4 the time, but they were traveling on a high-speed power cat for a snorkeling adventure (we passed them and waved on the way in). First site was Bluff Cut - good vis, nice variety of stuff, including spiney lobster and a slipper lobster that Deano picked up and showed us.
Next site was Monks Head. Lyd and I spent much of this dive a little farther away from the crowd than in the past, just due to the way folks spread out. Our newbie buddie - Jackie, was having buoyancy problems and fell behind with Deano. We kind of hung between the 2 groups, which was nice. Long wet, cold ride back to port, due to heavy but brief rainstorm on the way out.
St. Thomas, Friday 12/21 - The biggest group yet - 19 divers, plus DM's Emmett and JD, and Cpt Wayne. This was way too many people! I can't understand why they didn't split us up. We dove with many of the same folks all week (most of whom brought their own gear, including us), but this day, a whole swarm of not-very-considerate people joined us. I'm trying to be polite - they were pretty rude under water! Short, fun ride across to Buck Island (not the same one as near St. Croix), to Barracuda Point. Nice site, with lots of coral on granite boulders. Tons of fire coral, which they did warn us about. Good sized jew fish, and some sea urchins (not spiney) that DM's picked up, and made stick to our hands. Then they gently returned where found. Quite fun, but is this kosher?
Next site was back to main island - Sprat Point Reef. Emmett warned us ahead of time that there would be one good swim thru and lots of arches, but we needed to be careful not to stir things up. No finning thru - just pull with finger tips in the sandy bottom. Well - that instruction was totally ignored. Lyd and I attempted to get to the front of the pack at the start, since we had hung back on the first dive. No luck - I had divers literally shoving me out of the way to get ahead in line, as we headed for the first swim thru. Oh well, Lyd and I swam thru complete muck, and then she went around all the arches. I was game for them, but there certainly wasn't much to see! Lesson learned - make sure we enquire into the size of the group in the future!
Overall - we had a truly fabulous vacation, and I would do it again in a heartbeat! My B-in-law says that the best cure for end of vacation blues is to have your next one planned before you set out. We took his advice - we're going to Tahiti in March for our 20th Anniversary! Now all I have to do is plan something for say, August, before we leave!
Wow, just returned from the Caribbean and boy did we have fun! The original intent of the vacation was a cruise aboard Celebrity's Infinity with my partner (Lydia) my Mom, Sister and Brother-in-law. Only Lyd and I scuba dive, so it was our chance to "escape" from any annoying family dynamics. The cruise was fabulous, although since we opted to participate in all four of the offered scuba excursions, we really didn't have the time or energy for much else. No late-night eating extravaganzas for us! We probably could have saved a ton of $$ by booking the dive trips on our own, but since we are new at both scuba and cruising, we opted for the safe way out, and are glad we did. Next time we would probably attempt some arrangements of our own.
Now for the scuba details...
We dove at four islands - St. Croix, Barbados, Antigua and St. Thomas. Far and away, Barbados was the best! Although we truly enjoyed each trip.
The similarities - all were 2-tank boat dives, and I think kind of geared toward beginners or refreshers. They averaged around 40 - 45 foot depths. The water temp was consistently around 81-82 F, although one dive may have been 78. We brought 3 ml full suits with us, but opted for only the skins each day. I was perfectly comfortable the whole trip. Lydia got cold one day when it rained on our way out to the dive site, and her sweatshirt for post-dive got soaked. Just so you know, this was our very first salt-water experience. We were just certified in October, in very silty, cold Connecticut lakes. The dives we experienced on this vacation were heaven!
St. Croix, Sunday 12/16 - off the cruise ship in Fredricksburg, short walk to base of pier to a very small boat. It barely had room for 6 divers, a DM (Dan) and Captain (Stacey). We really couldn't move around at all, but the trip was short. About 10 minutes to the first site - Spanish Anchor, just north of the pier. Dan did an informative pre-dive talk and we did our first backward rolls into the water. Neither of us experienced any disorientation, which our cert DM had warned us about. This was a great first dive for us! Easy, relaxing, and helpful staff. Saw lots of coral and fish and just learned to relax in the water. It felt so comfortable, and natural! I had been worried that the training would not have prepared me, but I felt right at home - starting with gathering the gear in the stateroom, setting it up on the pier, donning everything in the boat, and "falling" in. It came together beautifully!
Our second dive was just south of the pier - Swirling Reef. We were never out of sight of our gigantic cruise ship this day! Did better on air consumption and buoyancy this time (dropped a few pounds), and say a small stingray. BTW, this was the only trip to use Aluminum Tanks.
Barbados, Tuesday 12/18 - 20 minute drive north of Bridgetown to West Side Scuba Center. As mentioned this was the best of the vacation. The LDS folks were great, as were the facilities at the shop, right on the beach. Shower and pools to clean yourself and gear. We had to suit up and haul our gear about 5 min walk down the beach to the boat, anchored stern-in, in about 4 feet of moderate surf. No ladder to the dive platform, a bit of a challenging climb in, but boat staff was helpful. DM's Barney and "the guy from Germany" (never could get his name pronounced so I could spell it - Thurston? Thompston?) and Cptn Tony. This was much bigger group, but we split up, so 3 newbies and 2 non-cruise ship folks went with Thurston(?), well ahead of Barney and the others. We had a 30 - 45 minute ride north to Bright Ledge Reef. This was simply awesome! Even much more experienced divers said this. We did a drift dive south with the current along a reef that parallels the shore. Excellent vis!!! Saw 4 sea turtles, moray eel, barracuda and great coral and other fish. My big mistake of the trip - forgot to turn the computer on! My companions logged 80' depth - pretty deep for this Newbie. Lyd reached 70 or so, but is more of an air hog, and headed for the surface before me.
Our second dive was headed back toward the shop - our first wreck dive! This was a pretty easy diver playland. Cut outs for swim-thrus, and no jagged edges. Another challenge successfully accomplished! Swam all around and thru with no hang-ups or panicky feeling. Saw our first spiney lobster.
Antigua, Thursday 12/20 - These may have been the least favorite, although it's close with St. Thomas for different reasons. Here, the folks were nice - DM's Dianna and Deano, but the boat and tanks were in kind of rough shape. I was quite concerned by the state of their o-rings. It was a very long ride out to the sites; we seemed to be traveling very slowly. My family made it to farther sites in about 1/4 the time, but they were traveling on a high-speed power cat for a snorkeling adventure (we passed them and waved on the way in). First site was Bluff Cut - good vis, nice variety of stuff, including spiney lobster and a slipper lobster that Deano picked up and showed us.
Next site was Monks Head. Lyd and I spent much of this dive a little farther away from the crowd than in the past, just due to the way folks spread out. Our newbie buddie - Jackie, was having buoyancy problems and fell behind with Deano. We kind of hung between the 2 groups, which was nice. Long wet, cold ride back to port, due to heavy but brief rainstorm on the way out.
St. Thomas, Friday 12/21 - The biggest group yet - 19 divers, plus DM's Emmett and JD, and Cpt Wayne. This was way too many people! I can't understand why they didn't split us up. We dove with many of the same folks all week (most of whom brought their own gear, including us), but this day, a whole swarm of not-very-considerate people joined us. I'm trying to be polite - they were pretty rude under water! Short, fun ride across to Buck Island (not the same one as near St. Croix), to Barracuda Point. Nice site, with lots of coral on granite boulders. Tons of fire coral, which they did warn us about. Good sized jew fish, and some sea urchins (not spiney) that DM's picked up, and made stick to our hands. Then they gently returned where found. Quite fun, but is this kosher?
Next site was back to main island - Sprat Point Reef. Emmett warned us ahead of time that there would be one good swim thru and lots of arches, but we needed to be careful not to stir things up. No finning thru - just pull with finger tips in the sandy bottom. Well - that instruction was totally ignored. Lyd and I attempted to get to the front of the pack at the start, since we had hung back on the first dive. No luck - I had divers literally shoving me out of the way to get ahead in line, as we headed for the first swim thru. Oh well, Lyd and I swam thru complete muck, and then she went around all the arches. I was game for them, but there certainly wasn't much to see! Lesson learned - make sure we enquire into the size of the group in the future!
Overall - we had a truly fabulous vacation, and I would do it again in a heartbeat! My B-in-law says that the best cure for end of vacation blues is to have your next one planned before you set out. We took his advice - we're going to Tahiti in March for our 20th Anniversary! Now all I have to do is plan something for say, August, before we leave!
