Which of these destinations would be at the top of your "must visit list" ?

[Nivek Llekots]

Hi All, I've just moved to Sint Maarten and will be living here for the next tree years . I have already done a few dives here but hope to try out some of the other places close by. Below is a list of islands/countries that are all reachable by direct flight, and in most cases in under one hour. Can any of you with experience of these destinations help me by prioritising which I should put at the top of my list for a trip?

Anguilla
Antigua, Antigua & Barbuda
Bridgetown, Barbados
Curacao
Dominica
Kingston, Jamaica
Nevis, St. Kitts & Nevis
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Saba, Caribbean Netherlands
Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Kitts, St. Kitts & Nevis
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
St Barts
St Eustatius, Caribbean Netherlands
Tortola, British Virgin Islands

Thanks in advance for any feedback, Nivek

 

[boulderjohn]

I have not dived that area a whole lot, but I did stay on Ste. Maarten for a week, during which time I visited Saba. It is hard to believe any of the others on the list are any better than that.

I have also dived Curacao, and I thought that was pretty darned good as well. If you can get to Curacao easily, it should not be hard to get to Bonaire and Aruba. Bonaire is a lot better than Aruba, but Aruba will probably be a better choice than some of the others on the list, at least by reputation.

 

[DandyDon]

Saba seems to be the top

 

[drrich2]

Different types of diving at some of those. Of your list, I've at least briefly dove St. Thomas, St. Croix & Puerto Rico, and Bonaire (> 150 dives) is much like Curacao diving-wise per some reports.

Curacao and Bonaire are big Caribbean shore diving destinations. St. Croix is big on boat dives, but also has a number of shore diving sites, and you can stay at Cane Bay Dive Shop, which has some sort of housing you can stay at, and there's a shore dive there (albeit swim out sounds a bit long). Bonaire is a place people like to hit to cram in a whole lot of shore diving up & down the west coast inside of a week. Curacao is said to be similar, with more sandy beach but averaging longer swim outs & with more of a drive between sites, some sites requiring turn offs from a main road, and Curacao is bigger & said to have more topside things to do. There are a number of threads discussing 'who's better, Curacao or Bonaire.'

I enjoyed St. Thomas with Admiralty Dive Center; my 4 dives there were basically general Caribbean diving, not too deep, decent viz. (maybe 50 feet?), warm water, not much current. I'm happy to dive there, but it's not a place I'd pick over others to get to. Of course, if it's cheap from where you are...

Saba seems to be adored by some people, for underwater pinnacle diving and a lush, mountainous topside. Explorer Ventures has a live-aboard hitting St. Maarten, St. Kitts & Saba, which might be a fine way for you to get in a lot of dives sampling all 3.

An old Sept. 2011 Issue of Undercurrent features an article on Barbados, with some general discussion.

Alex_Garland started a thread earlier this year asking about Puerto Rico; scroll on down to some input from Ginovega. Based on his input, it seems Puerto Rico may offer some good diving, but require more effort on your part to seek it out.

Richard.

 

[diversteve]

Saba is first but it will spoil every other location on that list.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdzv96WkYyI

My other choices would be

Curacao - been there - nice shore diving.
Tortola - been there also - all boat diving but the Rhone is a good wreck dive.
Dominica - I'm jealous since we can't get there in less than 2 days.
The best of Puerto Rico diving is either south or on the far east.
Except Mona Island which is supposed to be exceptional.
St. Thomas would be lower on my list. It's not as good as Tortola.

Statia, Nevis, St. Kitts all make my short list also - just haven't dove much in that area.
Can't you ferry to Anguilla also besides Saba? We were considering St. Maarten once to do all 3.

St. Barts is supposed to be extremely pricey - no idea on the diving there though.
Haiti and Antigua would be near the bottom. Neither are known for great diving and Haiti is overfished.
A friend was certified on Barbados and her sister lives there. When we offered it as a group dive choice, she chose Roatan instead.

 

[Nivek Llekots]

Thanks for all the feedback, I should have said upfront that I lived on Curacao and worked there as a DM for six years, so Curacao and Bonaire are very familiar to me, I've also dived Saba a few times. The reason I didn't say anything was because I wanted to know how they ranked against the other options I have close by.

There are ferries running from St. Marten to St. Barts, Saba and Anguilla, so I'm pretty sure I'll be diving those in the months to come. My plan is to cover as many of the islands as possible and write a blog describing my findings along the way.

So I'm thinking:
1. Saba
2. Curacao
3. Bonaire
4. Statia
5. Tortola
6. Dominica
7. Puerto Rica (the wife wants to go shopping)
8. Anguilla
9. St. Barts

And then see what comes up

 

[drrich2]

Do you care much about topside activities? If so, which?

Dominica is a destination I've seen getting mentioned more & more on the forum as time goes by, said to have fine diving and be lush and a good destination topside as well, but can take some time to reach from the U.S. (I don't know the details; haven't been there yet). Can you get there fast? Would rainforest exploration be a draw?

If I were you, I'd do a quick forum Search on Dominica, get some 1st hand accounts, and see how that appeals to you.

Richard.

 

[Rhone Man]

I have done quite a few of them. Opinions (and individual sites) may vary, but if you want my broad brush views:

Anguilla - B-
Antigua, Antigua & Barbuda
Bridgetown, Barbados
Curacao - Haven't done it, but it has a good rep
Dominica - B+, but you need to like macro stuff
Kingston, Jamaica
Nevis, St. Kitts & Nevis
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Saba, Caribbean Netherlands - A
Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Kitts, St. Kitts & Nevis - B-
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands - B, cool wrecks but not a fan of the reef diving
San Juan, Puerto Rico - C+
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - D
St Barts
St Eustatius, Caribbean Netherlands
Tortola, British Virgin Islands - B+

All grades are on the Caribbean scale.

For the record, I'd put Sint Maarten itself down as a B-.

Couple of good ones not on your list: St Lucia, and Guadeloupe.

 

[Nivek Llekots]

Thanks again for the feedback, so if I take out the places I've already been too then my next two priority trips should be:

1 - Tortola
2 - Dominica

Anyone got any tips regarding dive operators or accommodation?

 

[bobstar2]

i am planning a trip to curacao i have dived at sunset on the west end loved it. it seems all the west end hotels have beaches that would be hard for my non diving wife to navigate down to. she wants a hotel with beach in front of the room with little or no steps. i want the best diving experience. what hotel or area can you recommend? thanks bob