St. Croix or DR in December?

[VA_Divers]

My wife and I are planning a 10 day dive trip to the Caribbean around Christmas and want to try a new island. We have taken trips to Antigua, Bonaire, Cozumel, Jamaica, Key Largo, Key West, Nassau Bahamas, St. Lucia, and St. Martin, and will be headed to Grenada in the spring. A couple of these are tempting for repeat visits, but really want to see a new island.

We have been looking at St Croix and Dominican Republic (also open to other suggestions if there is a "must see" that we're missing). We are typically in the Caribbean in early spring or late fall, so we're looking for some feedback on weather and dive conditions for these two locations in late December.

Would also appreciate any suggestions on where to stay, what to do (topside) and which operators to dive with.

 

[diversteve]

If you're interested in a more expensive alternative with better diving look at Grand Cayman/Little Cayman or Turks & Caicos. Two of the pricier dive destinations especially in high season but both offer spectacular deep wall diving.

Grand Cayman also has more decent shore dives than St. Croix. Little Cayman is often referred to as among the best diving in the Caribbean but it lacks much else to do topside. On Grand Cayman there really are no bad dive operators - competition forces them out fast. Boat dives are pricey so they differentiate by service, free pickups along Seven Mile Beach, 6-8 divers max on boats built for twice that etc. The North Wall is some of the most stunning diving I've ever done.

Diving from Providenciales (Provo) in the T/C is all by boat - it's really good off NW Point or Grace Bay 5mins. out but the best is West Caicos or French Cay - 3/4 day trips (30min van shuttle - 45min boat ride) most operators include lunch. We did the Explorer Liveaboard and at every single dive at French Cay we dove with sharks. So many Stingrays I lost count and turtles, barracuda, grouper, huge lionfish and a ton of macro living among the coral heads. The wall drops to 6000' in areas so there's a lot of nutrient upwelling so the coral in some areas is so solid you can't see the sand.

More info on the first: Dive in Cayman, Grand Cayman Diving, Cayman Islands Scuba Diving or Cayman Islands Tourism, Official | Cayman Islands
IDK of a dive portal for T/C so: Beautiful by Nature - Turks and Caicos Islands - Turks and Caicos Tourist Board

 

[VA_Divers]

Thanks DiverSteve for the quick response and details.

We did a day trip on Grand Cayman a couple of years ago as a cruise stop and it's on the list for a return trip. Haven't hit T/C yet, but it definitely sounds like I should check it out.

 

[Tool Belt]

The north shore (Cane Bay) of St Croix has fabulous shore dives. The Salt River canyon is a great boat dive, saw lots of inquisitive sharks. The cruise ship pier is legendary both night and day. Sorry, have not been to DR so I cannot compare. Have dove St Croix three times now and plan on going back probably in 2016.I have dove Bonaire, Cozumel, Key Largo, Key West, Nassau Bahamas, St. Martin, and Grenada. St Croix IMHO is better than all but Bonaire and Coz.

 

[VA_Divers]

Thanks Tool Belt. What times of year have you been to St Croix?

 

[Tool Belt]

Been there early January and March. Sometimes the wind can be bad in Jan, we have been lucky. I am a warm water weenie and always wear a 5/4.We stay at Cane Bay scuba. A couple restaurants within walking distance. For shore dives grab a tank, cross the street, kick out a couple hundred feet to the wall. Kick out another couple hundred to 1000+ feet of depth.

 

[stcroixscuba]

"If you're interested in a more expensive alternative with better diving look at Grand Cayman/Little Cayman or Turks & Caicos. Two of the pricier dive destinations especially in high season but both offer spectacular deep wall diving. ........."

Well St. Croix is definitely much less expensive but saying Cayman has better diving is somewhat suggestive. Obviously from my profile I have a vested interest in St. Croix (just to make that clear). St. Croix has (in our opinion) the best scuba diving under the U.S. flag and some of, if not the, best diving in the Caribbean. I'm actually sitting in the Miami on the way back to the island and I'm having a drink with a dive shop owner from Chicago who has now changed over most of his group dive trips to St. Croix from the Caymans.

With a wall that drops over 13,000', and the largest living reef of any Caribbean island, 5 great wrecks within 100 yards of each other, and (as mentioned above) a fantastic pier that's probably one of the top 10 dives on the planet, it's the only island in the Caribbean where you can dive a wall, a reef, a wreck, and a pier.

There's plenty to do topside for non divers with you and for you when you're not diving. Rather than list (or in our case re-list) them here, check out this link.

As Tool Belt mentioned, it can be windy in January. We call them the Christmas winds but they typically don't start up until after the first of the year so you're pretty safe in December. Even in January, when the winds pick up there's always some excellent wreck, reef, and pier diving on the west shore of the island.

Keep in mind it is U.S. so no passport required, USCG inspected vessels and certificated Captains, same electricity, same currency, same language.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to let me know. There are some excellent dive packages available to St. Croix and I'll be happy to help you with any insight into the hotels and villas available if you want the opinion of an almost 30 year resident.

There are 5 dive shops on the island and all of them our great. Obviously I believe ours to be the best but you would totally enjoy the diving here with anyone you choose to dive with.

 

[RevolutionFD]

So, I've done 3 trips / 30'ish dives in Grand Cayman (dived North, West and South) in the past 5 years, plus I've done 5 trips / 10+ dives in St. Croix in the past 18 months (dived the Pier, Salt River, and North/C'Sted).

I think it's a toss between the two, it depends what you fancy.

If you like excellent viz and really blue water coupled with spectacular underwater environments (i.e huge corral heads, tunnels/swim-throughs, sand chutes/channels that run off the walls, and mini-walls) then Grand Cayman is definitely better.

That said, if you prefer a greater variety of sea life including larger stuff (i.e. sharks) then St. Croix wins. I've seen more stuff in the water on a single dive in St. Croix than on a full weeks diving in the Cayman. The Pier in St Croix is really spectacular.

Top-side, St Croix is definitely a more beautiful and interesting place to visit with a lot more attractions and things to do. Not to mention, it's a lot less expensive than the Caymans.

EDIT -- Oops, realized the OP was considering DR and STX.

 

[guppyman]

I've been to both DR and STX. The DR is a huge island. My experience is limited to Bayahibe in the DR. I've been told this is the best place of diving in the DR. I can't confirm that.

I like them both. I'd go back to either.

DR
-Pros: everything is dirt cheap and all day excursions to Catalina or Saona Islands
-Cons: Overfished reefs and I was a tad uncomfortable away from the resort

STX
-Pros: variety of diving (boat, shore, deep, shallow, etc.), diversity of wildlife, and very friendly folks
-Cons: Pricey

We used Scubafun in the DR and S.C.U.B.A. in St. Croix. These are both top notch operations.

 

[drrich2]

We have been looking at St Croix and Dominican Republic

St. Croix I can understand, but I'm curious as to how you picked Dominican Republic out off all the choices to focus on. Just doesn't seem to be a big destination.

Question - have you seen the recent postings on Dominica? A different place, spoken well of and might be worth a trip if you want some lush topside offerings. I've never been, but those who have seem to speak highly of it.

Richard.