British Virgin Island Dive Pictures

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zboss

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Folks,

I thought I would pass along some pictures my brother took on our dive trip we just returned from. We went to the BVI for two weeks and got in 17 dives - the majority of which he took pictures. He used an Olympus c-4000 with just the built in flash and not a strobe.

We have many more pics which we will post as soon as I have time.

I am kind of disappointed in the diving in the BVI for a couple of reasons:

1) Rodales voted the BVI as having the best wreck diving - and yes the Rhone is nice - but it's like a diving zoo... at any given time there might be 30-60 divers on the site. Actually - given the site throughput and the prevalence of novice/resort divers it is a wonder that the wreck is in such good shape. Also - in general the wrecks have NO coral encrustation. I didn't make it out to the Chikuzen but I hear that's a pretty cool dive.

2) No choice of gases... the only place to get nitrox was in the US Virgin Islands.

However - I must say that we got EXCELLENT service from Blue Water Divers out of Sopers Hole in West End Tortola. The staff there is great and while they don't have a huge selection of scuba stuff they do carry all the essentials in case you forget something.

Anyhow - here is the link:

Diving Pictures

- zboss
 
Nice pictures! What would you compare the diving to? I have dove USVI. Is BVI comparable?
 
This was my brother's first time taking pictures with a good camera underwater and your feedback will be recieved with enthusiasm. I know he had some problems with the foam padding that supported the camera in the housing getting moist and then re-releasing that moisture back into the housing during the dive. Even with the dessicant (?sp) it still fogged the housing on at least half the dives.

I would say the diving is EXACTLY like the USVI except for the lack of large wreck dives, and the lack of Nitrox. While nitrox is not manditory - some reefs are very extensive and could have standed for some extra exploration time in the 60 foot range. BTW - my two buddies (sister and brother) were diving YMCA tables and not computers which limited our down time below 60' pretty signifigantly. For example - on the Mary L and Pat dive we were limited to 20 minutes. I also found that I had plenty of gas left on the Rhone but was again limited by the tables.

The one thing that really sticks out is the vast number of moorings put in place by the National Parks Trust. It was very useful to always have a mooring to hook to and use as the descent/ascent line. They only ask a nominal fee of like $5 a year which I will gladly pay in order to prevent the destruction of the reefs there.

The reef health is EXCELLENT. The existance of many kinds of reeflife, including many species of gobis, angelfish, surgeonfish, pelagics, as well as extensive trees of black coral lead so some extraordinary dives.
 
We have just come back from the BVI and found the diving first class. We are not much interested in wrecks and don't dive nitrox so those limitations did not impact us.

The main memory was the incredible condition of the fauna, particularly in areas like Dog Island. It really was superb.

We had our own boat so judicious timing allowed us to dive pretty much everywhere alone. We saw two people just before we surfaced from the Rhone but otherwise had it to ourselves.

I put a few images in this thread .

I would do it again any time. We normally go to Cozumel but I am pretty tired of the limitations of drift diving.
 
Do you own your own boat or did you charter?
 
We own a Twin Vee

This is a good dive boat but only has area for two divers to gear up [comfortably] at a time. Also - there is not a very good transom (just a swim ladder). The good news is that it is an extremely stable platform because the twin cat hulls form a wide area so even if there is a lot of weight on one side of the boat, the boat does not tend to feel like it's about to turtle.

It's also pretty fast when configured with the correct engines (which we don't have - we have a single 130 that's old and cruddy). I have got it to 23 knots at one point... that's fast enough to get anywhere in the BVI's in an hour.
 
Very nice pitcure! How big are the berths? Hehehehe!:D
 
Thanks for the comments on the pictures, I took many more as well and I think I got some decent ones. Everyone here (Dee) was a help answering my questions before I left and this helped me understand the best settings for my camera. For every 25 there was atleast 1 good one 8O

I used the PT-010 housing and did have some fogging issues after the first three days of diving on the housing lens. It fogged slightly for the first 15 minutes of every following dive even when I thought I dried and water that happen to get in the housing after I was done soaking it and opened it.

I too have no problem with the BVI diving as crowded as one site may be if you hit it at the right time it may be empty as I have seen in past trips with my sister.

Also since I havent done and Nitrox cert yet this doesnt effect my diving at all.
I think the reefs in most dive sites (Indians, Rainbow Caynon) even in sites like the Rhone that have lots of traffic is excellent. You see what you expect for the Carribean, lots of Gorgonians, Occasional Acroporas, lots of brain/maze type corals and of course lots of fish. In water that averaged 80 F. you cant beat it for being so close to home.

Although I would love to dive SPS domenating reefs the USVI/BVI has many avantages as well. JMO
:D
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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