Shore diving St Croix

[drrich2]

We actually own a place on St Croix that we bought 2 years ago. We are here about every other month for 3 weeks. We traveled all over the Caribbean for 15 years and decided that St Croix was the best combination we could find for overall lifestyle.

I imagine there's more to that story; perhaps Scuba Board ought to make a new forum section, 'Moving the Paradise,' to collect the stories and field questions about people who moved (or are interested in moving to) dive destinations.

Richard.

 

[TN Traveler]

I don’t know that there is a lot more to our story/decision. As I said, after 15 years of visiting almost all the islands in the Lesser Antilles and Central America (plus several live aboards), we reached the point that hauling 2 sets of gear and 2 suitecases of clothes for a week or two was getting to be too much effort. Plus with a one week trip you always had the feeling you had to “dive your butt off” to justify the trip, leaving little time to explore what the island culture.

When we stared doing 2 week trips, we had time to find out what island life was about. That’s when we went back to our favorite islands and looked at them to see which was the best choice (none were perfect) for settling down on. St Croix won for us; friendliest people, US (so no Customs hassles),reasonable home prices, decent diving with a variety of sites/terrain, English speaking and lots of things to do when not diving. Plus getting here is fairly easy.

The bonus was the island has fantastic restaurants, a variety of terrain (rain forest in the West, semi arid in the east, almost mountains), and open beaches with good snorkeling (not true on many islands). We even have a Home Depot and K-Mart.

There are downsides; food is not cheap both at the supermarket and restaurants, you are on an island and what you want/need is not always available and roads are not very good. If you are easily frustrated and need instant gratification, then island life is not for you. A certain level of self sufficiency is needed.

Personally, I am sitting on my patio, looking at the ocean that goes from green, to light blue to the deepest iridescent blue you can imagine - this is what I worked for and as close to heaven as I want to get for the foreseeable future

 

[KathyV]

The only thing I don't like about St. Croix is driving on the left, but they have good roads and you can get used to it. The biggest advantage IMO is that it is a US territory, so no hassles with immigration, etc. And it is a beautiful place with lovely diving! It would be a bit like moving to another state - but probably a lot prettier!

We've thought about buying a condo or house in the Caribbean for our enjoyment, and also for some rental income, but I keep coming up against the risk of hurricanes.

No place is 100% safe, but a friend of mine owns property on St. Thomas that was badly damaged last year. He's has loads of expense and headaches (an employee of the management company embezzled all the funds that homeowners had deposited for repairs and then disappeared!) And he isn't getting any income, or even the opportunity to enjoy his own home. Originally he had hoped to spend this Christmas on the island, but now he is talking hopefully about Christmas 2019.

I know that stuff happens, but it seems risky, but I guess "nothing ventured, nothing gained!"

 

[TN Traveler]

Just to give you an idea of the diving options:

Dive Sites of St. Croix, USVI

 

[TN Traveler]

The only thing I don't like about St. Croix is driving on the left, but they have good roads and you can get used to it. The biggest advantage IMO is that it is a US territory, so no hassles with immigration, etc. And it is a beautiful place with lovely diving!

I forgot about driving on the left. . I am so used to it now, it is automatic, don’t even think about it.

 

[TN Traveler]

If you buy in the Caribbean for investment, it is a poor choice. Most people who rent out their places are lucky if it covers 80% of their expenses (condo fees, insurance, over, etc.). But to do that, you can’t use your own unit during “prime times “. You could buy a place in FL or along the Gulf Coast and have it hit by a Hurricane or live in CA and have it burn up. There is risk anywhere, just have to decide if your risk tolerance is outweighed by the happiness it brings.

Maria was the first Hurricane to directly hit St Croix in 25 years and most of the damage was to the West End and most of that has been repaired. Unlike Puerto Rico, 90% of the island had power back by the end of December. Funny thing is the”public buildings “ are the ones not repaired yet.

As I said, island life is not for everyone.

 

[drrich2]

I don’t know that there is a lot more to our story/decision.

That’s when we went back to our favorite islands and looked at them to see which was the best choice (none were perfect) for settling down on. St Croix won for us; friendliest people, US (so no Customs hassles),reasonable home prices, decent diving with a variety of sites/terrain, English speaking and lots of things to do when not diving. Plus getting here is fairly easy.

This is the 'more' I was talking about; weighing the pro.s & con.s of the islands you considered against each other. There's a lot more than just the diving that goes into picking a place to live as opposed to visit. Most discussions on Scuba Board revolve around the desirability of a given destination for a visit, typically a week (maybe 10 days+ if lengthy flights involved) or so.

I love the shore diving in Bonaire, but what some would consider 'bright and sunny' would be 'sun blasted' to me, and the arid climate with thorny shrubs and such would make for an unappealing topside to me...if I lived there. Even if you don't have kids (so education isn't an issue), the health care system, high cost of electricity and so much more comes up when you live somewhere.

Richard.

 

[Saboteur]

OK - what was Dave’s Pond is now called “The swirling reef of death”. It is just south of the Pier - supposedly not a far swim out. Another dive site you can reach from shore, north of the Pier is. (Spanish Anchor) - a little longer swim out but doable. The folks at N2theBlue can get you there with great directions.

Is this where OW checkouts are done?

 

[TN Traveler]

Is this where OW checkouts are done?

Where the checkout dives are done depends on what dive shop you use for certification. Most of the shops in Frederiksted do the checkout dives at the Pier. There is a nice shallower area to the South that is ideal for what would be pool dives and the Pier itself is great for checkout dives (not deep, little or no current).

If you use a Christiansted shop, I would suspect, but don’t know for sure, that they would do the checkout dives from a boat on a shallow reef. But they might take you to the Pier.

 

[choiahoy]

My favorite dive at the Pier is to take a boat out toward the end of the Pier...

I'm assuming you did this with a Fredricksted dive shop?