Need some diving guidance for Caribbean cruise

[dave_261]

Hello all... My wife and I (certified divers) will be taking a Windstar Caribbean cruise in February. The cruise makes 6 port stops, and we'd like to dive at 1 or 2 of them.
Ports include:
- St. John
- St. Maarten
- St. Barts
- Tortola
- Jost Van Dyke
- Virgin Gorda

So, here's the 2-part question.
1. If you could pick 1-2 of these destinations for a dive, which would it be?
2. Once we narrow down where we'll want to dive, I presume it would be best to pre-book the dives (including transportation from the ship). So, any recommended dive operators would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi dave_261,

STM & St. Bart's are very marginal diving and you only need do one of Jost van Dyke or Virgin Gorda to get to the better sites in that area.

Pick one or two of the following venues:

St. John scuba can be decent. Both Cruz Bay Watersports http://www.divestjohn.com and Low Key Watersports http://www.divelowkey.com do a good job.

On Tortola, I like Blue Water Diving http://www.bluewaterdiversbvi.com/

On Virgin Gorda, go with Dive BVI http://www.divebvi.com/ Recommend this stop if you can dive the wreck of the HMS Rhone.

Yes, pre-book dives, but transportation shouldn't be a problem. Some ops will pick you up; if not, cabs are plentiful.

Have fun and Happy New Year.

DocVikingo

 

[dave_261]

Thanks Doc Vikingo- we'll definitely try to find an operator going to the HMS Rhone the day we're in Virgin Gorda (unfortunately, Dive BVI doesn't do the Rhone on Fridays). I think my wife wants to do other things in St. John, so perhaps Tortola is a good bet for a 2nd dive day.

Thanks.

 

[RS]

On St Maarten I'd do the 12 Meter America Cup sail. Great people and a fun ride.

http://www.12metre.com/index.htm

 

[canadianpigeon]

In St. Maarten / St. Martin a few great dive sites are....... Porpoise Wreck, Sec de Grand Case, Basse Espanole (fantastic site). A good operator for all these sites is Octopus Diving Center in Grand Case, St. Martin FWI. www.stmartinscuba.com