Diving St. Johns

[elanor]

Hello All,

My family and I will be going to St. Johns next week and staying through the new year. We will be diving the Rhone and hopefully doing some snorkelling and reef dives. I think we are planning on diving with Low Key Watersports as they had the best rates for my sister to complete her open water.

I am interested in water temps, great dive/snorlking sites, and any other info that might come in handy.

Thanks
elanor

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

I can't resist telling the story. I snorkelled for the first time in a cove in St. Johns. At the bottom of the cove in about forty feet of water was a sunken mail boat. A small wreck deliberately placed for divers. As we were snorkelling around on the surface two scuba divers came across the bottom and dove the wreck while we watched. I was hooked and signed up for scuba when we got home. I have no idea where the wreck was but I have always wanted to go back and dive it.

 

[Beachman]

Fifth time, I think. We have a timeshare there.

You should find bottom temps in the high 70's.....a 3 mil suit is good for most folks.

The snorkeling is quite good at almost any beach, and there are many to choose from. We go to a different one almost every day for two weeks. In particular, there is a south side bay only accessible by hiking a mile or so down a mountain trail from the center of the island. (It will be obvious what I'm talking about by the litterature on the island. I don't have my maps of the island available right now to get the name of the bay.) It's a don't miss for turtles and rays.

May favorite is Waterlemon Bay for snorkeling or shallow shore diving. It's on the northeast corner of the island and is a bit of a hike in with a tank, but just a pleasant walk with snorkel gear. You'll see kazillions of starfish of every color imagineable, plus lots of other critters and fish.

Low Key Watersports is a great operation. They all pretty much do the standard dive sites. A few of my favorites are Cow, Calf, Carval Rock, Witches Hat, and Congo West. The only major wreck is the USCGC Rogers, which is not particularly great as wreck dives go, but OK. Of course, the Rhone is actually at Salt Rock in the BVI's, and is one of the great old wrecks of all time to do.

Overall, I think you'll find the diving in St. John very good......not the best (like Bonaire, Saba or the Bay Islands), but way better than places like St Maarten or Nassau.

Enjoy!

 

[Norda]

Tim,

I can relate to your story, almost had the same experience. My wife and I stayed on St. Johns for a couple of days. The hotel staff tolds us we needed to snorkel at Trunk Bay (where the underwater guided tour is located). This was the first time I had ever snorkled, but once I saw what was under the surface I was hooked. Signed up for Scuba as soon as we got back home.

 

[EBS]

I realize this thread is old, but I am planning my honeymoon for Nov 03 and am considering St. Johns as it seems to have a good balance between natural beauty and a moderate amount of "things to do" (without being overrun by touristy stuff).

Any tips for a first time visitor to the island in terms of suitable honeymoon acomodations? Dive operators? Dive sites? Conditions in Nov?

Many thanks.

 

[caymaniac]

St. John was also part of my first dive trip. My brother was living in Miami, (Kendal), so I flew down, he picked me up in his Corvet, and the two of us traveled and dove the keys. Four days latter, we flew to St. John and stayed in the tent cottages on Maho Bay. Peacocks woke us up in the morning. We had breakfast at the area kitchen which I'll never forget was french toast with white coconut syrup , I haven't had it since but I keep looking for a place that serves it. Anyway, dove with a local who had a boat, it was just my brother and I and once two other people. A great four night getaway. There wasn't much on the island, itwas 1982 ,the pricewasgreat$280w/rt air no diving, wow! Where did the time go

Dive Safe,
Caymaniac

 

[bridgenet]

My wife and I did our honeymoon and first dives in St Lucia and St John (1 week each), a couple of years ago. We stayed at Caneel Bay, suggest you go to the Weston. Caneel Bay is way over rated and pricey for what you get.

We dove with Low Key Watersports and did our Wreck Dive Certification with them. Rhone was great!

With regards to a place to honeymoon, depends on what you like. We enjoyed St Lucia more as it is more scenic. Pitons, very hilly, and very green. Lots of poverty though. St. John is much better than St. Thomas but you can easily take a day trip there for some action and then go back to St. John to relax.

Enjoy,

Kev

 

[wreckchick]

was the Rhone when I was 16. I had a crush on a boy and he wasn't going on the trip. My sister and father went and came back with an amazing story. I vowed I wouldn't miss out again. The next time I didn't dive was on St. Thomas where the dive op didn't give me complete information about how the resort course and dive scheduling worked thus leaving me with no time to dive and still fly out on time. The next time I knew I was going to a dive destination, I cut the crap and got certified before I left!

Rachel

 

[bridgenet]

EBS: You have not enabled message replies so am re-posting here.

Appreciate your comments on St. J and St. Lucia. Am interested in St. J and in particular Caneel, because of the natural surrounding and laid-back approach they advertise. I've heard, but can't say I have first hand experience, that the Westin is a bit over-done for a relaxing holiday.

Would you disagree?

Am also interested in Lucia. Any recs on accomodations?

I am an experienced diver of 15+ years, while my fiance has only quarry dives in her log book. So a good operator would be nice.

EBS,

I really can't recommend Caneel Bay. We found it disappointing on our honeymoon. Suppose to be highly rated and we rented one of the $500/night rooms, right on the beach... Figured honeymoon so price didn't matter. I would put room at Ramada level. Grounds were nice but nothing special. Since that visit have talked to others and they felt the same way. Caneel has lost its magic. Heard others talking about the Westin and they liked it, you would have to ask others on that but don't suggest Caneel. Isn't bad just not what it should be. St Lucia may have spoiled us as well. Also stay away from the resident dive shop, they are one of the worst I've been to. Low Key was great.

Spoke to my wife and both agree St. Lucia was by far must lusher, green, and more interesting island than St. John. Didn't dislike St. John, its nice, just we could have easily spent more time in St. Lucia (did a week at each). St. John does have a ferry ride to offer over to St. Thomas if you want to shop and fight the cruise ship crowds. Also diving the Rhone was cool and the stop afterwards in BVI was real nice (beautiful beaches).

The one thing that made St. Lucia magic from a honeymoon perspective is what I would say is the most romantic room in the Carribean (thus far). Costs $750/night (2 years ago) but if you can swing a couple of nights in it you will remember it for a lifetime. Book it far ahead. It is located at Anse Chastenet, they also have a 5 star dive shop at the base of the hill (where we did our open water). The room is high above the tree line built into the hill and has an unobstructed view of the Piton's. Make sure you awake just before sunrise. The room is open, no windows, no screens, just mosquito netting (no bugs, so don't worry), big room and wood paneled, open shower to the outside that only those with binoculars on the next hilltop could see you (above waist height).

http://www.ansechastanet.com/new/accommodation/accommodation.html

Premium Hillside is the room type, bottom of page, notice the woman in the shower and the Piton view... at 5:30AM you would think you were in Jurrasic park all appearing at the foot of your bed... birds singing everywhere... memories... probably 100ft+ drop from the room edge... If you go for it tell them you want the room in the picture, that was our room.............. Because of price we then transferred to one of the much less expensive ones, they were OK (and 1/4 the price). Hilton isn't too far away either which was nice. But the room is worth even $1k/night if it is available, especially first couple of nights of honeymoon. Again book it early if you can swing it.

From a diving perspective... At the time St. Lucia was great because it was our first dives ever... Your wife-to-be would probably enjoy it as they aren't hard and the shore dives from Anse Chastenet are nice (Marine park starts at their beach). Looking back now that we've done alot of diving, the dives were rather lame, but from what I have read on the board diving at the base of the Piton's is awesome just due to the view. In St. John we loved the wrecks, especially the Rhone... If you can take 2 weeks suggest you do 2 islands as we did. Airfare isn't bad on a multi-stop ticket. We've since been to Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Grand Cayman, and Dominican Republic... still St. Lucia was the prettier island, only negative is the poverty but you get that alot in the the Carribean (not in St. John).

Hopefully haven't confused you...

Kev

 

[RICHinNC]

EBS.....if youre still out there and planning on going to St. John... pm me and i can give you some info.....try to do it in the next month or so...i am off to korea....no internet where i am going...