Diving the Virgins???
Hi, again!
Off St. Thomas you can expect, for the most part, 80-100 ft vis. in
Winter, Spring and Fall. So, I think the diving is comparable to the BVI in regard to vis, sea life etc. My general appraisal of diving in the VI, B and US: 5-6 on a scale of 10. Coz and Saba are 10's. Grand Cayman is a 3. Cayman Brac a 6. Little Cayman, a 9-10. Most of the Bahamas, 5-6. Bonaire, a 9-10. Nevis/St. Kitts/St. Eustacia, a 5-6(but I really like St. Kitts!). Jamaica and Haiti--very scary these days.
Where to stay depends, as usual, on the state of the Exchequer (Treasury) and on ST, the Exchequer needs to be in decent shape! To me the best bets in or near Charlotte Amalie are the Marriott at Frenchman's Reef/Morning Star and Bluebeard Castle on the "hill". But they are fairly high priced, as are most hotel-type accommodations on ST.
There are no condos or villas that are inexpensive that I would even start to recommend on the west side! However, there is one place that folks I know stayed at a few years ago and they liked it: Island View Guest House. This is a bed-and-breakfast place that is also on the "hill" overlooking Charlotte Amalie and the harbor. It is reasonable, clean and nice, to my knowledge.
All the above are convenient to Blue Island Divers if you go that route, which, again, I recommend. However, you will need a car, which I also recommend (STRONGLY)!
If you choose to stay on the east side of the island, then there is a condo that is darned good: Point Pleasant Resort. The parking is an adventure and the kitchens are quite rudimentary, but the condos are fairly spacious, clean and very nice. Even if you stay there, the drive to the west side is only about 1/2 hour. However, going through Charlotte Amalie at "rush hour" can be a little taxing since the road is mostly one lane each direction! If you choose to dive with Chris, he usually can arrange for a hotel package--and I think he may still have an arrangement with the Point Pleasant Resort.
Hope this helps!
Scorpionfish