VADiveGuy
New
I just returned from the best vacation of my life I highly recommend St. Maarten! St. Maarten/Sint Martin offers an excellent combination of decent scuba diving and excellent extracurricular activities to occupy ones evenings.
First, the diving. Water temps were in the lower 80's and vis was about 70 ft most days. I went on 7 dives while there. There are several nice wreck dives where we saw old cannons, anchors, and a wreck we could swim through. We also found a pretty wide variety of fish, including typical tropical fish schools, sting rays, lobster, sea turtles, barracuda, squid, moray eels and an occasional reef or nurse shark. With one exception, the coral reefs werent anything special. However, Mikes Maze was an exciting maze of swim-throughs that were in very good shape and attracted a large number of fish to the area.
If you go to St. Maartin, you must take a day trip (or two) to Saba. I was only able to go on two dives on Saba, but I can see why it is ranked as the fifth best dive destination in the world. Outstanding fish and coral. The island is breathtaking Id love to spend a couple of days exploring. One warning, though: beware the divemaster that wont keep his hands off the ladies in the party Id heard about it and saw first-hand a lonely old guy that gets his thrills by diving with the ladies. I wont mention names, because other than that, he was an entertaining and knowledgable dive guide.
Second, the dive shop. Aquamania in Simpson Bay was staffed with a great crew that worked hard to be sure everyone enjoyed their dives. The tanks were never short-filled and the crew took care of most of the loading/switching/unloading of gear. They know the dive sites well and made sure not to take people back to the same sites over and over. They also provided entry-level scuba courses for a friend of mine and he was very pleased with their service.
Ocean Explorers is also an excellent shop in the same area I didnt dive with them, but bought some gear from Leroy his customers highly recommend him.
Finally, the island. Sint Martin has a great nightlife The French side has some fantastic restaurants (with very reasonable prices) and clubs. Theres also a couple of old forts to explore and casino gambling. Virtually everyone speaks English and you can opt for KFC or Burger King if the french sauces get too rich for your system. I recommend Chilis (not the U.S. Chain) and Bliss as outstanding places to eat.
I've experienced better diving, and I've experienced a more exciting nightlife, but to obtain one usually means sacraficing the other. St. Maarten offers an excellent combination of the two.
First, the diving. Water temps were in the lower 80's and vis was about 70 ft most days. I went on 7 dives while there. There are several nice wreck dives where we saw old cannons, anchors, and a wreck we could swim through. We also found a pretty wide variety of fish, including typical tropical fish schools, sting rays, lobster, sea turtles, barracuda, squid, moray eels and an occasional reef or nurse shark. With one exception, the coral reefs werent anything special. However, Mikes Maze was an exciting maze of swim-throughs that were in very good shape and attracted a large number of fish to the area.
If you go to St. Maartin, you must take a day trip (or two) to Saba. I was only able to go on two dives on Saba, but I can see why it is ranked as the fifth best dive destination in the world. Outstanding fish and coral. The island is breathtaking Id love to spend a couple of days exploring. One warning, though: beware the divemaster that wont keep his hands off the ladies in the party Id heard about it and saw first-hand a lonely old guy that gets his thrills by diving with the ladies. I wont mention names, because other than that, he was an entertaining and knowledgable dive guide.
Second, the dive shop. Aquamania in Simpson Bay was staffed with a great crew that worked hard to be sure everyone enjoyed their dives. The tanks were never short-filled and the crew took care of most of the loading/switching/unloading of gear. They know the dive sites well and made sure not to take people back to the same sites over and over. They also provided entry-level scuba courses for a friend of mine and he was very pleased with their service.
Ocean Explorers is also an excellent shop in the same area I didnt dive with them, but bought some gear from Leroy his customers highly recommend him.
Finally, the island. Sint Martin has a great nightlife The French side has some fantastic restaurants (with very reasonable prices) and clubs. Theres also a couple of old forts to explore and casino gambling. Virtually everyone speaks English and you can opt for KFC or Burger King if the french sauces get too rich for your system. I recommend Chilis (not the U.S. Chain) and Bliss as outstanding places to eat.
I've experienced better diving, and I've experienced a more exciting nightlife, but to obtain one usually means sacraficing the other. St. Maarten offers an excellent combination of the two.
