Again, thanks for the input here. Got a question about needing which type of rental car for doing beach dives in St Croix. I know a Jeep is preferred but does one actually need to go off road to visit all the sites? I've google earthed the shore and it seems a paved road is the norm.. Any advice? I'm trying to save a buck but don't want to struggle or miss something because I was too cheep.. :depressed:
St. Croix 4/29/2014 thru 5/8/2014
- Thread starter captboob
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
jonhall
Contributor
Car is all that is really needed, unless someone can tell you about a secret road that leads you to a fantastic beach. Your Google search paid off, but the use of the term "paved roads' made me laugh a little. Some are better than others. Get yourself in the "rain forest" and you'll find yourself driving on one lane, bumpy, curvy roads hoping no one is coming from the other direction because you can't see around the bend.
If you are into hiking a little, ask for directions to the lighthouse (as I recall, it's on the northwest side of island.) Nice hike uphill and the view is beautiful. Although you don't really see much from it, I climbed up in it a couple of years ago. The hike down is much easier.
Jon
If you are into hiking a little, ask for directions to the lighthouse (as I recall, it's on the northwest side of island.) Nice hike uphill and the view is beautiful. Although you don't really see much from it, I climbed up in it a couple of years ago. The hike down is much easier.
Jon
A car is all you need, even for the road to the beach. The beach is Sandy Point Wildlife Refuge. There are only a few places that a jeep would be needed - basically two-track paths through the rain forest - you really have no business driving a rental through there. There's an outfit called tan- tan tours that will take you off-road in their jeeps through the rainforest to the shore where there are tide pools formed in the rock by the surf You can also get to the pools by parking at Carambola resort and hiking a trail that leads from their parking lot - it's uphill both ways, so be prepared.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
MAGELLAN
Contributor
My wife and I went to St Croix about two years ago, and the shore diving was amazing. We stayed at the Waves which is just down the street from Cane Bay. St Croix is perfect for shore diving, when we booked our trip I made a reservation for several days of boat dives, but after arriving found out that we could do so much shore diving that boat diving wasn't really necessary except as an occasional adventure. So, I tried to cancel the reservations with Cane Bay Scuba, and switch to a tank rental deal, but they were very unfriendly about the whole situation. I remained friendly, used them for rentals and even went on a couple of boat dives near the Salt River area - the staff was great. At the end of the trip, when the time came to settle up, they were going to force us to pay for all the days we had reserved (keep in mind, we never "missed" the boat, I told them as soon as I arrived we would not be going out as planned, but would do shore diving instead, and I got a reluctant OK at the time). Well, thankfully a local friend called the owner and let them know that screwing us was not good business, when we had tried to be as accommodating as possible, paying for services amounting to over half as much as we had initially reserved. That tension, really left a bad feeling with me for that trip, but otherwise it was fantastic.
We did shore dives from the Waves, Cane bay, North Star (a favorite) all the way to Carambola Beach resort, and Fredricksted Pier. I brought a sling with me and killed lionfish for awhile, but the black tip sharks would show up so fast, and several at a time that my wife starting getting nervous!! This was one of the best shore diving destinations I have been to, with the obvious exception of Bonaire. The wall is so close to shore and the clarity of the water is really great, I used Google earth to map out several dives just by eye-balling the reefs from satellite images. I would really love to go back, but I think it would be a little more fun as a group; generally my wife and I were alone. A car is really all you need, if you can get one that isn't too low to the ground that might help, but you really don't have to go off the road that much to access the dive sites.
We did shore dives from the Waves, Cane bay, North Star (a favorite) all the way to Carambola Beach resort, and Fredricksted Pier. I brought a sling with me and killed lionfish for awhile, but the black tip sharks would show up so fast, and several at a time that my wife starting getting nervous!! This was one of the best shore diving destinations I have been to, with the obvious exception of Bonaire. The wall is so close to shore and the clarity of the water is really great, I used Google earth to map out several dives just by eye-balling the reefs from satellite images. I would really love to go back, but I think it would be a little more fun as a group; generally my wife and I were alone. A car is really all you need, if you can get one that isn't too low to the ground that might help, but you really don't have to go off the road that much to access the dive sites.
drrich2
Contributor
Magellan:
Very interesting observations. A number of us love the 24/7 'dive freedom' of shore diving in Bonaire, and there aren't many places in the Caribbean to get that. Especially when you want to stay a week, rack up 15 - 20+ shore dives, and hit different places. Conversations on this topic usually center on Bonaire, with Curacao as an option, and a mention of Grand Cayman having some shore diving, and Scuba Club Cozumel having shore diving you might indulge in as an add-on to mostly boat diving.
And St. Croix gets mentioned a little. I had it in mind the impression you could shore dive from Cane Bay's dive shop area, if you were willing to put up with a pretty long swim out, or Fredriksted Pier, if no cruise ship was in.
What you describe sounds more appealing. How do you think most shore diving Bonaire lovers would enjoy St. Croix as a shore-diving only destination, if we add the stipulation that most of us don't hunt sites via satellite imagery, and are used to nice yellow rocks clearly marking sites others have investigated and deemed fairly safe and appropriate?
Put another way, if I'm used to staying at Buddy Dive on Bonaire & racking up 16 - 22 shore dives in a 1 week stay, and I decide to hit St. Croix for a 1 week stay hoping to stay at one of Cane Bay Dive Shop's cottages (or similar) & do the same thing (only shore dives), how smooth is this apt to be?
Richard.
Very interesting observations. A number of us love the 24/7 'dive freedom' of shore diving in Bonaire, and there aren't many places in the Caribbean to get that. Especially when you want to stay a week, rack up 15 - 20+ shore dives, and hit different places. Conversations on this topic usually center on Bonaire, with Curacao as an option, and a mention of Grand Cayman having some shore diving, and Scuba Club Cozumel having shore diving you might indulge in as an add-on to mostly boat diving.
And St. Croix gets mentioned a little. I had it in mind the impression you could shore dive from Cane Bay's dive shop area, if you were willing to put up with a pretty long swim out, or Fredriksted Pier, if no cruise ship was in.
What you describe sounds more appealing. How do you think most shore diving Bonaire lovers would enjoy St. Croix as a shore-diving only destination, if we add the stipulation that most of us don't hunt sites via satellite imagery, and are used to nice yellow rocks clearly marking sites others have investigated and deemed fairly safe and appropriate?
Put another way, if I'm used to staying at Buddy Dive on Bonaire & racking up 16 - 22 shore dives in a 1 week stay, and I decide to hit St. Croix for a 1 week stay hoping to stay at one of Cane Bay Dive Shop's cottages (or similar) & do the same thing (only shore dives), how smooth is this apt to be?
Richard.
Salt River Bay, for me, offers the most ejoyable dive sites. They have a dive operator down there. Cane bay is nice too, but less colorful, for me.
MAGELLAN
Contributor
drrich2,
If you like shore diving as much as I do, you need to try St. Croix, I was pleasantly surprised and will probably go back eventually. The swim is not long at all, basically you have about a mile's worth of reef/wall centered at Cane Bay - that could easily be 5-6 dives without covering the same territory, but honestly, if you slow down and take your time you could probably spend almost all week just in this stretch alone. Also you have the Fredricksted Pier - easily 2-4 dives there (also great for a night dive), and Carambola (they have a dive shop on site), probably 2-3 dives there, just spend the day and eat at the resort, it's nice. I think if you wanted to be adventurous, you could probably scout out a few more places, so long as you respect people's property. Check out: Shorediving.com, I have yet to contribute to the website, but I should, some things are a little out of date, but it's a good start. Of course, you would probably still want to get in a couple of boat dives as well, the Salt River sites were a must for me. I really liked that trip because it didn't feel touristy at all, in fact the place felt a little deserted (we were there in May, end of the winter season), which is why I'd like to go with some other divers next time.
If you like shore diving as much as I do, you need to try St. Croix, I was pleasantly surprised and will probably go back eventually. The swim is not long at all, basically you have about a mile's worth of reef/wall centered at Cane Bay - that could easily be 5-6 dives without covering the same territory, but honestly, if you slow down and take your time you could probably spend almost all week just in this stretch alone. Also you have the Fredricksted Pier - easily 2-4 dives there (also great for a night dive), and Carambola (they have a dive shop on site), probably 2-3 dives there, just spend the day and eat at the resort, it's nice. I think if you wanted to be adventurous, you could probably scout out a few more places, so long as you respect people's property. Check out: Shorediving.com, I have yet to contribute to the website, but I should, some things are a little out of date, but it's a good start. Of course, you would probably still want to get in a couple of boat dives as well, the Salt River sites were a must for me. I really liked that trip because it didn't feel touristy at all, in fact the place felt a little deserted (we were there in May, end of the winter season), which is why I'd like to go with some other divers next time.
SouthSideScubaSteve
Contributor
Old thread, but I'm looking at St Croix for a trip this coming summer ....
Other than being a casino, I don't see Divi mentioned here; personally I could care less about the gambling, but I occasionally have a chance to book a room at Divi thru my timeshare ...Just curious, how is the diving at this end of the island ??
Other than being a casino, I don't see Divi mentioned here; personally I could care less about the gambling, but I occasionally have a chance to book a room at Divi thru my timeshare ...Just curious, how is the diving at this end of the island ??
Last edited:
jonhall
Contributor
Don't think there are any dive sites on the southeast side of island around Divi. Even though Divi is considered being in Christiansted, the town of Christiansted is on the north side of the island and there is diving on this side. The dive sites on the north shores are generally wall dives. Water is a little rougher on this side.
Diving is also all along the west coast. This side has reefs, wrecks, and the Frederiksted pier. The water is generally calmer on this side. Few cruise ships come to St. Croix, so diving the pier, day or night, is a great dive to fit into your schedule. If you want to do it as a shore dive, N2the Blue dive shop is about 50 yards away and will rent you tanks.
Divi looks nice and has great views of the ocean. The casino really isn't much. Have gone a few times just to say I went and donate my obligatory limit of $20. I also can get Divi through our timeshare, but am lucky enough to have an aunt-in-law who lives there.
Similar threads
