Makes perfectly good sense to me. I hadn't paid attention to the times we dock yet since they took away the port and overnight in Dominican Republic, then sent me a bill for an added fuel charge! I'll try to start looking at some of this tonight.
San Juan, St Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Kitts
- Thread starter Pegger
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I found a nice option for divers and non divers in St Thomas. Divers can dive on a site such as the WIT Shoal ( large wreck ), and non divers can ride in the Atlantis sub at the same site. You can read about it here Cruise Ship Divers
Great option for someone with a family such as mine.
Cheers,
Steve
Great option for someone with a family such as mine.
Cheers,
Steve
DivingPrincessE
Contributor
One of the mods caught something...because I had pasted the below message from my work email...the work server and my full name was visible somewhere. So thankfully he informed me of this and deleted the post (personal safety and all). So, per his instructions I pasted the message into Notebook, and then copied it from there. So for the benefit of the thread I am re-reposting this...hopefully without all the personal identifiers this time...
Hi there Emily,
Thank you for Contacting Blue Island Divers.
We can buddy you up with someone, or you can dive with the Instructor on board. We do pick up at the cruise ship docks, see below. We do not do shore diving. We do not charge your credit card until the morning of the dive in case something out of your control happens, such as the ship not coming into port. However, we do have a 48 hour cancellation policy if there are no outside circumstances impeding the day, see below. We will charge your credit card before the boat gets off the dock, so that you can have a receipt of the transaction.
We specialize in small groups and quality diving we have many excellent dive sites just a short boat ride from our location at Crown Bay Marina.
We only take small groups of divers on our dive boat in order to provide excellent customer service.
We can pick you up from the cruise ship dock on the day you requested and take you for two awesome dives. We have two pick up times. The first is for the WICO dock in Havensight, our pick up time here is 9 am (Atlantic Standard Time). We will pick you up in the dive boat at the courtesy dock at the front of the ships.
The second dock is located adjacent to the dive store in Crown Bay If this is your docking point, we will pick you up here at 8:45 am (Atlantic Standard Time). We will pick you up in the dive boat at the courtesy dock. To find the courtesy pier, you will need to walk to the beginning of the cruise ship dock, take a right, and walk past the retail center.
The third potentail location is the Waterfront. For ships that anchor in the harbor, the boats usually tender passengers into the Waterfront. If this is where you find yourself, we will pick you up on the Waterfront sometime between 9am and 9:15am. You will need to be a little patient with us at this location, and also keep your eye out for the boat which is pictured below. We will attempt to get our boat as close to where the tenders pull in as possible, but the boating traffic on the Waterfront can be quite heavy. So, once again, make sure you kep your eye out for the dive boat.
Please make sure you obtain time zone changes.
St. Thomas is on Atlantic Standard Time. We do not participate in Daylight Savings. Therefore, in the summer when everyone is on Daylight Savings, we are the same time as Eastern Time, and in the winter when everyone is off Daylight Savings, we are an hour later than Eastern Time. Each cruise ship handles the time zone change differently. Some of them adjust their time to be the same as our, some do not. Due to the large number of ships that come in each year, it is impossible for us to know what ship follows what procedure. The best way to find this out is to contact the Shore Excurison Desk on the ship. They should have all of the correct information.
After the dives we can bring you to Crown Bay Marina, where you can take a shower and perhaps have lunch at Tickles Dockside Pub before taking the short cab ride to historic downtown Charlotte Amalie. Or we could take you back to the ship.
We often carry out a wreck dive and a reef dive but we can adapt to your requirements on the day. We do the best that we can to accommodate request, however, we make the final determination on dive site based on what the tides, sea conditions, and weather are like on the morning of the dive.
Two tank dive with all your own equipment is $85.00 (tanks and weights are included)
Two tank dive to include equipment rental is $95.
Individual item equipment rental prices per dive are as follows:-
BCD = $5.00 Regulator = $7.00 wetsuit = $4.00 (BCD Reg & Suit $10.00) Mask Snorkel Fins = $5.00
Snorkeler and/or riders can accompany divers for $40 per person.
These rates do not include gratuities for the crew.
Checkout our "Cruise Ship Divers" page on our web-site for advice on timings and to print a map for the WICO dock showing where we will pick you up in our Dive Boat.
The map contains a description of the dive boat along with a sketch diagram of the pickup point, so that you can identify us at the pickup dock and make yourself known to the boat Captain.
If you are docking at the Crown Bay Dock, again, please look for the Blue Island Divers boat docked at the courtesy pier just beyond the retail center next to the cruise ship dock.
Please also look at our "Dive Sites" pages on our web-site, along with "Our Location" and "About Us" for more detailed information about our dive center and operation.
To confirm the booking please provide us with a credit card number. Your credit card will not be charged until the date of your dive. You can enter your credit card confirmation on our secure web site booking form which is linked here:
https://ihscnet.commercebox.com/~blueisla/bookings07ssl.htm
If you decide to dive with us why not consider progressing your Scuba education and take one of our many Continuing Education classes that we offer. There are many courses that are rewarding and beneficial that will not cost much more than a regular dive with us.
You may be surprised at how easy it is to progress your education with the Adventures in Diving Program. Even if you are only diving one day you can count the dives towards your certification. Check out this link for more information
PADI: AOW Diver
Our cancellation policy is:
If cancelled with 48hrs notice, no charge will be made.
If cancelled with 24hrs notice, a 20% charge will be made.
If no notice is given of cancellation, 100% of your booking fee will be charged.
No Refunds for No Shows
All the very best in diving, we hope you choose Blue Island Divers.
Hi there Emily,
Thank you for Contacting Blue Island Divers.
We can buddy you up with someone, or you can dive with the Instructor on board. We do pick up at the cruise ship docks, see below. We do not do shore diving. We do not charge your credit card until the morning of the dive in case something out of your control happens, such as the ship not coming into port. However, we do have a 48 hour cancellation policy if there are no outside circumstances impeding the day, see below. We will charge your credit card before the boat gets off the dock, so that you can have a receipt of the transaction.
We specialize in small groups and quality diving we have many excellent dive sites just a short boat ride from our location at Crown Bay Marina.
We only take small groups of divers on our dive boat in order to provide excellent customer service.
We can pick you up from the cruise ship dock on the day you requested and take you for two awesome dives. We have two pick up times. The first is for the WICO dock in Havensight, our pick up time here is 9 am (Atlantic Standard Time). We will pick you up in the dive boat at the courtesy dock at the front of the ships.
The second dock is located adjacent to the dive store in Crown Bay If this is your docking point, we will pick you up here at 8:45 am (Atlantic Standard Time). We will pick you up in the dive boat at the courtesy dock. To find the courtesy pier, you will need to walk to the beginning of the cruise ship dock, take a right, and walk past the retail center.
The third potentail location is the Waterfront. For ships that anchor in the harbor, the boats usually tender passengers into the Waterfront. If this is where you find yourself, we will pick you up on the Waterfront sometime between 9am and 9:15am. You will need to be a little patient with us at this location, and also keep your eye out for the boat which is pictured below. We will attempt to get our boat as close to where the tenders pull in as possible, but the boating traffic on the Waterfront can be quite heavy. So, once again, make sure you kep your eye out for the dive boat.
Please make sure you obtain time zone changes.
St. Thomas is on Atlantic Standard Time. We do not participate in Daylight Savings. Therefore, in the summer when everyone is on Daylight Savings, we are the same time as Eastern Time, and in the winter when everyone is off Daylight Savings, we are an hour later than Eastern Time. Each cruise ship handles the time zone change differently. Some of them adjust their time to be the same as our, some do not. Due to the large number of ships that come in each year, it is impossible for us to know what ship follows what procedure. The best way to find this out is to contact the Shore Excurison Desk on the ship. They should have all of the correct information.
After the dives we can bring you to Crown Bay Marina, where you can take a shower and perhaps have lunch at Tickles Dockside Pub before taking the short cab ride to historic downtown Charlotte Amalie. Or we could take you back to the ship.
We often carry out a wreck dive and a reef dive but we can adapt to your requirements on the day. We do the best that we can to accommodate request, however, we make the final determination on dive site based on what the tides, sea conditions, and weather are like on the morning of the dive.
Two tank dive with all your own equipment is $85.00 (tanks and weights are included)
Two tank dive to include equipment rental is $95.
Individual item equipment rental prices per dive are as follows:-
BCD = $5.00 Regulator = $7.00 wetsuit = $4.00 (BCD Reg & Suit $10.00) Mask Snorkel Fins = $5.00
Snorkeler and/or riders can accompany divers for $40 per person.
These rates do not include gratuities for the crew.
Checkout our "Cruise Ship Divers" page on our web-site for advice on timings and to print a map for the WICO dock showing where we will pick you up in our Dive Boat.
The map contains a description of the dive boat along with a sketch diagram of the pickup point, so that you can identify us at the pickup dock and make yourself known to the boat Captain.
If you are docking at the Crown Bay Dock, again, please look for the Blue Island Divers boat docked at the courtesy pier just beyond the retail center next to the cruise ship dock.
Please also look at our "Dive Sites" pages on our web-site, along with "Our Location" and "About Us" for more detailed information about our dive center and operation.
To confirm the booking please provide us with a credit card number. Your credit card will not be charged until the date of your dive. You can enter your credit card confirmation on our secure web site booking form which is linked here:
https://ihscnet.commercebox.com/~blueisla/bookings07ssl.htm
If you decide to dive with us why not consider progressing your Scuba education and take one of our many Continuing Education classes that we offer. There are many courses that are rewarding and beneficial that will not cost much more than a regular dive with us.
You may be surprised at how easy it is to progress your education with the Adventures in Diving Program. Even if you are only diving one day you can count the dives towards your certification. Check out this link for more information
PADI: AOW Diver
Our cancellation policy is:
If cancelled with 48hrs notice, no charge will be made.
If cancelled with 24hrs notice, a 20% charge will be made.
If no notice is given of cancellation, 100% of your booking fee will be charged.
No Refunds for No Shows
All the very best in diving, we hope you choose Blue Island Divers.
Blue Island Divers RAWKS!!!!! James is the coolest. You can't go wrong with this dive op.
Scuba Laura
Contributor
James is the coolest and a very good friend of ours. Unfortunately, BI is changing hands and James is no longer with them. It is sort of heart-wrenching as he and his girlfriend put alot of heart and soul into the business. But, it was time to move on for them and we wish them the best!
Do you know where they are moving on to? And What does this mean for BI? My GF and I will be coming back down to St. Thomas in May. We came down last year and started diving with Chris Sawyer but didn't like the crew (one DM was a little rude and seemed like he'd rather be doing something else besides doing a cool night dive, and another one had the navigational skills of a newly certified OW diver) or the crowd. So we discovered BI and diving with James was awsome. Super fun guy.
So where is your shop located at? We are looking to dive more wrecks this time around. Especially the WIT Shoal which we missed last time.
phelana
Contributor
Antigua is best for beaches but if you wish to dive, pre book with John Burk at Dive Antigua. He has local knowledge and a great reputation.
Ann Phelan
Caribbean Wind & Sun Vacations--Your Caribbean Travel Specialist
Ann Phelan
Caribbean Wind & Sun Vacations--Your Caribbean Travel Specialist
Scuba Laura
Contributor
Do you know where they are moving on to? And What does this mean for BI? My GF and I will be coming back down to St. Thomas in May. We came down last year and started diving with Chris Sawyer but didn't like the crew (one DM was a little rude and seemed like he'd rather be doing something else besides doing a cool night dive, and another one had the navigational skills of a newly certified OW diver) or the crowd. So we discovered BI and diving with James was awsome. Super fun guy.
So where is your shop located at? We are looking to dive more wrecks this time around. Especially the WIT Shoal which we missed last time.
James is fun and a great diver. They have moved to St. John and are loving it. We are located in the Holiday Inn and we do dive the Wit Shoal. It's my favorite dives. Although yesterday we did the JBK (one of elites and no one else knows it's locale) and saw the Goliath Grouper and Cubara Snapper. SWEET! Give me a hollar and I'll email you our details.
Just another point of interest. Coki Beach in St Thomas apparently has two reefs right off the beach. You can pay to have a dive master guide you at scheduled times throughout the day or you can rent tanks for $10.00 each and they will tell you where the good spots might be (your on your own). Maybe someone has some info. as to how good the diving is form shore at Coki Beach?
Regards,
Steve
Regards,
Steve
DivingPrincessE
Contributor
Steve-
Coki beach is the location that the cruise ship dive ops takes people to. If I read the excersion description correctly the cruise ship excursion charges about the same amount for a one-tank shore dive that Blue Island Divers charges for a two-tank boat dive. Obviously your suggestion of doing it on your own is cheaper than going with the ship but when I was doing my research Coki beach didn't get great reviews and apparently the boat diving is WAY better. I started my research when this thread was started so I might not be remembering correctly...but I think I am.
Coki beach is the location that the cruise ship dive ops takes people to. If I read the excersion description correctly the cruise ship excursion charges about the same amount for a one-tank shore dive that Blue Island Divers charges for a two-tank boat dive. Obviously your suggestion of doing it on your own is cheaper than going with the ship but when I was doing my research Coki beach didn't get great reviews and apparently the boat diving is WAY better. I started my research when this thread was started so I might not be remembering correctly...but I think I am.
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