Just back from St John, USVI.

[ronkoplus]

We just came back from 8 days of 80 degree sunshine to drive through Wisconsin Thunder/Snow showers. April will remain our get away month.
Travel time: Milwaukee Airport 6 am flight, to Atlanta, landing St Thomas 2 pm. Cab ride, ferry, jeep pick up...we're unpacking in our condo by 5 pm. Grocery shopping, dive check in and it's Miller Time on the patio overlooking Cruz Bay, by 6 pm.
Diving: Low Key Sports in Cruz Bay. Right by the ferry. 6 days/12 tanks. Very reasonable, just over $50 per day. Very good staff @ check in and onboard. I think during our week we had from 6 to 12 divers each day, but never dove in a group larger than 5.
Low Key goes to dive sites around St Thomas, as well as all the way south around St John, as far as Coral Bay. Diving near St Thomas = Little John Island, Cow Rock, Calf Rock, Coast Guard Wreck. These sites aren't much more than 40 feet, with variable viz.
Some nice swim throughs and coral, but also some bleaching and sandy rock.
Tech Tite, Booby Rock, Eagle Shoals and The Reef, far south side. 40 to 60 feet. Better coral and marine life. The Reef was our deepest at 70 feet and the most coral rich and colorful.
Nurse sharks, turtles, eagle and sting rays, lion fish, lobsters and crabs, morays, and a nice fish population.
The Dive Experience: In general, and it may be because of the mix of divers they get,Low Key would like to dive shallow and fast. 45 minute bottom time, no safety stops, no surface intervals. We prefer to dive slower, take the time to look around and use up a little air. It wasn't a problem. We connected with Mason, our divemaster andworked out how we wanted to dive. Talking with Jeremy, the Capt., we got to some dive sites that were better for exploring. That being said, If you dive the one day of the week with Bob onboard, the owner, you will leave at 9 and be back at the dock at 11:30. No discussion.
So, we would go back to St John. It's a great island for adventurous driving around, scenery, meeting people, bars and beaches. Diving here is a part of the vacation, not the total. For comparison, as DIVE locations we rate Grand Cayman, East End diving #1. We're going back to Curacao, Westpunt, #2. We also liked Roatan and Bonaire.
St John is a little more like Hawaii, where you dive, but then go looking for something else to do the rest of the day.

 

[DiveJB]

Hey ronkoplus - thanks for the info. We here in Saint John until Aptil 28th and we're trying to plan our second dive. We did 2 dives yesterday with a dive group which operates out of the Maho Bay Campground. The dive operation was extremely nice and professional. The 1st one was slightly disappointing, not a lot of fish to see, we kind of found ourselves swimming around seeing the same things. Granted we were on our own on this dive so perhaps we explored the wrong areas... The 2nd one at Anna Kay(sp?) was nice, nurse shark, tarpon, sting ray.

We have heard/read mixed reviews about Low Key Sports; mostly in regards to Bob so we're thinking we should avoid them

My wife and I have only been diving for 3 years, certified open water, and we have done a total of 16 dives. All our diving before this has been in the Mayan Rivera. Our 1st experience here in USVI has left us with the impression that the diving here isn't up to par with what we have done in MX. Do you have any suggestions about which dive spots were best here in Saint John? Half thinking of doing a Rhone Dive But there are a lot of mixed reviews about how much it costs and if it's worth the $$$$.

Thanks,
JB

 

[ronkoplus]

Low Key does a Rhone dive, but I think it's on Thurs. and they have to get enough people. They canceled last week.
Bob doesn't go out very often. Wednesday, for us. The others are great. If it's quiet enough, they go south, and the diving gets better. Plus it's a great boat ride.
I understand Cruz Bay Sports doesn't go into the national park at all.
Low Key said they were getting busy, and booked both boats. They are located by the beach bars next to the ferry. It's worth going to see them and see what's available. Dulcey and Alden in the shop are divers, too.

 

[Funland111]

Contact Six Pac Scuba - Colette Dietz. You will pay more but it the extra cost is worth it. She will let you dive your air more than Low Key and you will learn in the process. I spent a week with her and felt my diving skills improved. Have Fun

 

[Rhone Man]

I love visiting St John "next door". I think the diving is slightly less good than the BVI (although maybe I just know the BVI sites better), but as a place to visit, overall it is first rate.

 

[stonewall1846]

Have done several dives with Collette at 6 Paq and am going back this week. She is very professional and will teach at the same time.

 

[Where2Next]

A third bump for Collete.

When we were in St. John we dove with Cruz Bay and frankly we felt they took us to lazy spots, a couple put-puts and jump in, diving was not impressive. So we stepped it up a notch and booked a private whole day with Collete - 3 dives. We choose to hit the BVIs. We quickly ran over to Tortola to 'check-in' and then over to The Rhone, The Indians, and a small wall dive off Peter Island. All were heads and tails better than the few we did off St. John, although Collete said there were definitely better spots. We dove our air, she helped my husband perfect his weights, and the third dive we dove alone - it was perfect! The boat is little, could use a little elbow grease - but perfect for a small group. I did leave Colette a nice sized tip in hopes she might upgrade her bathing suit - hehe; but I really enjoyed her island style, laid back but attentive when it comes to safety.

We did also do a shore dive off the southeast end of St. John and thought it was better then the few we paid for. Overall absolutely loved the island - gorgeous beaches. My favorite was packing a lunch and lounging on the beach for the afternoon.

 

[Funland111]

I was initially impressed with Collette's approach when she gave two novice divers weight checks to ensure they were weighted properly. Being properly weighted surely enhanced their dive experience, and demonstrated that Collette has a real interest in teaching and safety.

Bill

 

[jjwdiver]

All the dive operator have their own particular habits and techniques that keep divers coming back to them. If you are of the mind set that as a diver you already know how to dive and are unwilling to listen to even the most basic instruction, then Collette is not for you. She and her team are thorough and expect you to listen, learn and enjoy your time underwater. Not a negative thing at all...but I know many, many divers that would be less than thrilled to go thru her. That said, those are the divers that could stand to re-learn the basics in my opinion. I liked Collette, but also like Low Key and dived with them the most on St. John.

Plenty to see if you slow down and take it in. Get over the "big picture" and look at what wonders are available to be seen around the region. Enjoy!

John

 

[jenlaur]

My wife and I have only been diving for 3 years, certified open water, and we have done a total of 16 dives. All our diving before this has been in the Mayan Rivera. Our 1st experience here in USVI has left us with the impression that the diving here isn't up to par with what we have done in MX. Do you have any suggestions about which dive spots were best here in Saint John? Half thinking of doing a Rhone Dive But there are a lot of mixed reviews about how much it costs and if it's worth the $$$$.

Thanks,
JB

We got certified in '08 just prior to our trip to the BVI. After we got certified we did a quick trip to the keys to get 4 more dives under our belts as we knew we would be diving on our own and without a dive master. We charted a sailboat and brought our dive gear. We dove from the boat several times (The Rhone, Indians, The Dogs, Alice's Wonderland). All of our diving was in the BVI. And I gotta tell you, I thought it was excellent. Especially Alice's Wonderland. I would make a trip over and check out the diving there.