Destination : St. Vincent or Grenada

[scubaho]

I am looking into St. Vincent for late Feb.04. Would like a resort with good dive operation. I am an avid U/W photographer and have heard about wide variety of critters here. I guess second choice would be Grenada. I have good airfare pricing to Grenada and that is part of my motivation! Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks!

 

[Beach Bum k10]

scubaho once bubbled...
I am looking into St. Vincent for late Feb.04. Would like a resort with good dive operation. I am an avid U/W photographer and have heard about wide variety of critters here. I guess second choice would be Grenada. I have good airfare pricing to Grenada and that is part of my motivation! Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks!

While St. Vincent and the Grenadines have many great dive sites, I personally like Grenada more. Maybe it's because I had a great time diving with Spice Diver. Bianca C is a popular wreck dive off Grenada, many untouch pristine dive sites just short distance boat ride. Grenada also has healthy rain forest great for trekking.

If you go to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, I suggest checking out the island Bequia. I made a few boat dives off the island with the local dive shop on the island. The dives were enjoyable but not as spectacular as the Grenada dives.

Have a good trip.

 

[tvictory]

Check out Young Island Resort (www.youngisland.com). It's probably a little pricey in late February but it is a very nice place. You can dive with Dive St. Vincent - they will pick you up each morning at the hotel dock. Bill Tewes, owner of DSV is extremely knowledgable and proficient at pointing out critters large and small. I think there is only one other dive operator on that end of the island. Either one will make arrangements to pick you up at whatever hotel you're using.

We also dove Bequia which was interesting but not nearly as good as St. Vincent. Don't know about Grenada.

 

[Damselfish]

I haven't been to Grenada, but I really like Saint Vincent. Young Island, and Dive St Vincent and the diving are all great. (But not a cheap trip!)

We enjoyed Bequia as well, both the diving and the atmosphere of the place.

I've never been able to figure out why St Vincent hasn't become a bigger dive destination. It would be great if there was a liveaboard there, to spend more time on the sites further up to the north.

One bummer about Grenada is it's one of a handful of countries that still douse the cabin in insecticide while passengers are on board.
http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/policy/safety/disin.htm

 

[Mr_Lar]

Just returned from my first, but hopefully not last stay on Young Island (Nov. 15-21). The Young Island resort is PRICEY, but first class in every way and highly recommended. "Dive St. Vincent" is also highly recommended (expect personal attention from a mature proffesional staff or Bill Tewes himself (owner operator of DSV for the last 20 years) . Dives on the southwestern and western coast of St. Vincent exceeded my expections (laid back, easy, beautiful, no current, great viz and with a water temp at 82-84 F no wetsuit thank you). As a side trip try a multi-day sail to the southern islands in the Grenadine chain (especially Mustique and Tobago Cays).

 

[donacheson]

scubaho once bubbled...
I am looking into St. Vincent for late Feb.04. Would like a resort with good dive operation. I am an avid U/W photographer and have heard about wide variety of critters here. I guess second choice would be Grenada. I have good airfare pricing to Grenada and that is part of my motivation! Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks!

IMHO, it's a no-brainer: St. Vincent.

 

[peterjmaerz]

Scubaho,

If you're into critters, you'll LOVE St. Vincent. I've been all over the Caribbean (see profile) and my experience with Bill Tewes and his staff remains among the best, if not THE best I've had. I stayed at the Sunset Shores, a much less expensive accomodation than Young Island, but perfectly comfortable with decent food, a lovely beach and grounds, and proximity to other excellent restaurants and dive shop. (You can grab a "ferry" for a 3 minute ride to Young Island any time you wish to sample the restaurant and the ambiance there. Mr. Tewes invited me along for a cocktail party over there one night which was most enjoyable).
By far the best pics I've taken come from that trip which also featured 100-minute sea-grass critter dives, lush, healthy reefs, beautiful topside scenery and very friendly locals. And Bill is a character you won't soon forget!
Check out the packages at http://www.divestvincent.com/Packages.html

Best,