Shore diving in St. John

[Where2Next]

We are headed to St John in a month - in the mist of hurricane season. :depressed: However we are certainly going to be getting some dives in. I am thinking if St John has all this wonderful snorkeling, then we should be able to jeep it down to the beach and shore dive. Is there a reason (national park status) we will be unable to do this? All we would need is to rent weights and tanks.

As for boat diving... Cattle-drive boats are not for us, so is 6 pac the only shop with a small max diver count?

I was also thinking about diving over by the caves on Norman Island. It seems there are some hoops to go thru to get there, since it is BVI; any opinions as to whether it is worth it or not?

Thanks in advance for any additional advice you can offer.

 

[cwaver]

you can find shore dives on th east end of the island. Especialy the small bays between Lamshur and salt pond bay. And , yes, 6pac is the only non cattle boat.

 

[sea-nile]

I was told that you can dive anywhere on the island as long as you are certified. We did one off Frank Bay by Gallows Point just for some practice for my husband. It was shallow but we saw quite a few cool fish and coral there and I have a really good picture from there. I think people thought we were nuts for diving there but it was just practice for my husband before he went out on a boat. We were staying there so it was more convenient. I definitely could see renting tanks and doing more of that at various locations.

 

[Bratface]

A cattle boat of snorkeling tourists goes over by Norman Island. You would need to rent a private boat, have your dive flag, hope not to get ran over. Do some more on-line research and check the dive ops in the BVI's as well. You could take the ferry over to Tortola if you decide to dive their waters. You will need a valid passport.

 

[diversteve]

We did this trip to Norman a few years ago: BVI Safari Trip | Dive BVI

I don't know if you could get there early enough by ferry from St. John (and clear customs/immigration) in time.
The ferry does dock within easy walking distance of DiveBVI's main location in the Yacht Harbour.

Don't know if this is still current but it was accurate a few years ago: http://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/interisland_ferry/