drrich2
Contributor
I already posted my St. Croix destination research notes, supplemented with direct observations from our family trip there Sat. 8-5-17 to Sun. 8-13-17. I'm posting this thread with trip-specific details that could've burdened that with excessive detail, but here may help someone see the logistics in cost, travel, why I chose where to stay & who to dive with, and how the dives went. I'll post a bit 'out of order,' since I figure some subjects like dive specifics interest more people. I'm not using a lot of photos to start with; this thread is more 'nitty gritty.'
This trip all north shore (except Frederiksted Pier). A mix of sloping wall, flat bottom with sand channels and some vertical wall. Viz. tended to run ~ 30-50 feet; a dive. pro. told me that’s ‘meh’ for St. Croix, and 60-80’ is more typical. Overall the reefs struck me as not quite on par with Bonaire, though there were exceptions…particularly Cane Bay Wall. Swim out to Davis Bay Wall was long and Cane Bay Wall very long; both have nice beach for non-diving family to enjoy. Frederiksted Pier is huge, much more than can be covered in one dive; there’s beach fairly close by. My 3 days of guided 2 2-tank boat trip diving with S.C.U.B.A., I dove air and stayed within NDLs with little trouble (but watch it on dive #4). We weren’t hurried out of the water or forced to ‘buddy up.' Tended to have ~ an hour or more for lunch at the hotel between trips. They kept & rinsed my BCD, reg. & wetsuit; my other stuff I was to take back. All dives this trip were AL80 except the AL100 I used at Cane Bay. Most info. via Cobalt 2, but temp.s via Oceanic VT3 (Cobalt’s reputed to give high readings; I think my VT3 might read a degree or so low, so take with a grain of salt).
8-6-17. 4 Boat Dives with S.C.U.B.A.
——Salt River Outer West Wall.
—————Duration (minutes:seconds): 41:00., Max. Depth: 77:45 (feet), Average Depth: 45.23, Min. Temp.: 82.
——Love Shack.
—————Duration: 52:30, Max. Depth: 52:30, Average Depth: 54.34, Min. Temp.: 82.
——Sugar Beach.
—————Duration: 53:00, Max. Depth: 61.23, Average Depth: 31.34, Min. Temp.: 82.
——Love Shack.
—————Duration: 58:30, Max. Depth: 51.31, Average Depth: 31.40, Min. Temp.: 82.
8-7-17. 4 Boat Dives with S.C.U.B.A.
——Salt River Outer East Wall.
—————Duration: 47:30, Max. Depth: 76.28, Average Depth: 43.94, Min. Temp.: 82.
——Cruzan Princess.
—————Duration: 51:00, Max. Depth: 62.18, Average Depth: 37.10, Min. Temp.: 82.
——Twin Anchors (we saw them).
—————Duration: 48:30, Max. Depth: 69.72, Average Depth: 42.11, Min. Temp.: 82.
——Sleeping Shark Hole (we saw a nurse shark).
—————Duration: 59:00, Max. Depth: 52.65, Average Depth: 32,39, Min. Temp.: 82.
—————That evening, a tropical storm out of the north dumped > 5 inches rain on us, through the night & into next morning.
8-8-17. 4 Boat Dives with S.C.U.B.A.
——Sugar Beach.
—————Duration: 46:30, Max. Depth: 57.97, Average Depth: 35.80, Min. Temp.: 78.
——Eagle Ray Pass.
—————Duration: 51:30, Max. Depth: 56.99, Average Depth: 34.41, Min. Temp.: 79.
——Ken’s Cabana.
—————Duration: 46:00, Max. Depth: 72.88, Average Depth: 46.74, Min. Temp.: 81.
——WAPA.
—————Duration: 47:00, Max. Depth: 56.96, Average Depth: 34.61, Min. Temp.: 81.
8-10-17.
——Shore dove at Davis Bay (Sweet Bottom Dive Center).
—————Duration: 61:00, Max. Depth: 62.05, Average Depth: 31.81, Min. Temp.: 82.
——Shore dove at Cane Bay (Cane Bay Scuba).
—————Duration: 67:00, Max. Depth: 78.14, Average Depth: 35.75, Min. Temp.: 81.
8-11-17.
——Shore dove at Frederiksted Pier (N2TheBlue).
—————Duration: 65:00, Max. Depth: 28.76, Average Depth: 18.17, Min. Temp.: 82.
I saw a good variety of Caribbean wildlife, plus lots of reef sharks. We tried to intercept a pod of dolphins one dive; after rapidly jumping in, I was floating waiting to descend when a couple passed within a dozen feet of me at the surface.
8-5-17: Flew Nashville - Charlotte, NC 1:25 (hour/minute). flight, then layover, then a 3:39 flight to St. Croix Airport (southwestern part of island). All flights to & from on American Airlines.
8-13-17: Flew St. Croix to Miami 3:11, then layover, then 2:28 flight to Nashville.
Stayed at Hotel Caravelle in Christiansted Saturday 8-5-17 to Sunday 8-13-17 (8-days).
Rented a white Ford Escape ‘standard’ class SUV from Budget (slow line to get it; sign tried to get us to buy the gas in the tank at a price much higher than what I saw on the island; we got one tank, last day of trip, and unleaded gas was < $3/gallon.
It's not a huge island but driving around entailed quite few turns, and driving in the left lane was new to us. My iPhone's Apple Maps function 'GPS'd' us around fine. Streets weren't always well-marked with signs in Christiansted; Frederiksted's were better that way & wider, but in more disrepair.
Orbitz total for 3 adult, 1 4-year old for round trip airfare, hotel, rental SUV, travel protection car rental insurance & vacation waiver: $4,825.54 (with taxes & fees).
Forgot I’d paid Orbitz for car insurance & paid for it from Budget (it was a long, miserable day getting there). $231.92.
Round trip baggage costs on American: $340.
Airport parking at Nashville for our SUV: $81.
Boat Diving Package with S.C.U.B.A. (buy 5 2-tank trips, get 1 free): $625.
Shore diving tanks & weights with Sweet Bottom Dive Center ($15), Cane Bay Scuba ($17), and N2TheBlue ($17), total $49.
So far, roughly $6,150.
4-Hour Rainforest Jeep Tour for 4 people with Tan Tan Tours: $420.
Throw in a tank of gas, and call it ~ $6,600 + food, tips, etc… I imagine the total for 4 people to enjoy 8 days on St. Croix with one jeep excursion for all and 15 dives for 1 was ~ $7,500.
Eating out (or in) is expensive in St. Croix. We only needed one tank of gas all week. Tips for boat crew and airport & hotel personnel add cost. The ferry from the Christiansted boardwalk roundtrip to Hotel on the Cay to enjoy the sandy beach was $5/adult, free kids under 12 - some of us went 3 times.
The Diving
This trip all north shore (except Frederiksted Pier). A mix of sloping wall, flat bottom with sand channels and some vertical wall. Viz. tended to run ~ 30-50 feet; a dive. pro. told me that’s ‘meh’ for St. Croix, and 60-80’ is more typical. Overall the reefs struck me as not quite on par with Bonaire, though there were exceptions…particularly Cane Bay Wall. Swim out to Davis Bay Wall was long and Cane Bay Wall very long; both have nice beach for non-diving family to enjoy. Frederiksted Pier is huge, much more than can be covered in one dive; there’s beach fairly close by. My 3 days of guided 2 2-tank boat trip diving with S.C.U.B.A., I dove air and stayed within NDLs with little trouble (but watch it on dive #4). We weren’t hurried out of the water or forced to ‘buddy up.' Tended to have ~ an hour or more for lunch at the hotel between trips. They kept & rinsed my BCD, reg. & wetsuit; my other stuff I was to take back. All dives this trip were AL80 except the AL100 I used at Cane Bay. Most info. via Cobalt 2, but temp.s via Oceanic VT3 (Cobalt’s reputed to give high readings; I think my VT3 might read a degree or so low, so take with a grain of salt).
8-6-17. 4 Boat Dives with S.C.U.B.A.
——Salt River Outer West Wall.
—————Duration (minutes:seconds): 41:00., Max. Depth: 77:45 (feet), Average Depth: 45.23, Min. Temp.: 82.
——Love Shack.
—————Duration: 52:30, Max. Depth: 52:30, Average Depth: 54.34, Min. Temp.: 82.
——Sugar Beach.
—————Duration: 53:00, Max. Depth: 61.23, Average Depth: 31.34, Min. Temp.: 82.
——Love Shack.
—————Duration: 58:30, Max. Depth: 51.31, Average Depth: 31.40, Min. Temp.: 82.
8-7-17. 4 Boat Dives with S.C.U.B.A.
——Salt River Outer East Wall.
—————Duration: 47:30, Max. Depth: 76.28, Average Depth: 43.94, Min. Temp.: 82.
——Cruzan Princess.
—————Duration: 51:00, Max. Depth: 62.18, Average Depth: 37.10, Min. Temp.: 82.
——Twin Anchors (we saw them).
—————Duration: 48:30, Max. Depth: 69.72, Average Depth: 42.11, Min. Temp.: 82.
——Sleeping Shark Hole (we saw a nurse shark).
—————Duration: 59:00, Max. Depth: 52.65, Average Depth: 32,39, Min. Temp.: 82.
—————That evening, a tropical storm out of the north dumped > 5 inches rain on us, through the night & into next morning.
8-8-17. 4 Boat Dives with S.C.U.B.A.
——Sugar Beach.
—————Duration: 46:30, Max. Depth: 57.97, Average Depth: 35.80, Min. Temp.: 78.
——Eagle Ray Pass.
—————Duration: 51:30, Max. Depth: 56.99, Average Depth: 34.41, Min. Temp.: 79.
——Ken’s Cabana.
—————Duration: 46:00, Max. Depth: 72.88, Average Depth: 46.74, Min. Temp.: 81.
——WAPA.
—————Duration: 47:00, Max. Depth: 56.96, Average Depth: 34.61, Min. Temp.: 81.
8-10-17.
——Shore dove at Davis Bay (Sweet Bottom Dive Center).
—————Duration: 61:00, Max. Depth: 62.05, Average Depth: 31.81, Min. Temp.: 82.
——Shore dove at Cane Bay (Cane Bay Scuba).
—————Duration: 67:00, Max. Depth: 78.14, Average Depth: 35.75, Min. Temp.: 81.
8-11-17.
——Shore dove at Frederiksted Pier (N2TheBlue).
—————Duration: 65:00, Max. Depth: 28.76, Average Depth: 18.17, Min. Temp.: 82.
I saw a good variety of Caribbean wildlife, plus lots of reef sharks. We tried to intercept a pod of dolphins one dive; after rapidly jumping in, I was floating waiting to descend when a couple passed within a dozen feet of me at the surface.
Travel Logistics (from Nashville Airport in TN) and Costs.
8-5-17: Flew Nashville - Charlotte, NC 1:25 (hour/minute). flight, then layover, then a 3:39 flight to St. Croix Airport (southwestern part of island). All flights to & from on American Airlines.
8-13-17: Flew St. Croix to Miami 3:11, then layover, then 2:28 flight to Nashville.
Stayed at Hotel Caravelle in Christiansted Saturday 8-5-17 to Sunday 8-13-17 (8-days).
Rented a white Ford Escape ‘standard’ class SUV from Budget (slow line to get it; sign tried to get us to buy the gas in the tank at a price much higher than what I saw on the island; we got one tank, last day of trip, and unleaded gas was < $3/gallon.
It's not a huge island but driving around entailed quite few turns, and driving in the left lane was new to us. My iPhone's Apple Maps function 'GPS'd' us around fine. Streets weren't always well-marked with signs in Christiansted; Frederiksted's were better that way & wider, but in more disrepair.
Trip Costs
Orbitz total for 3 adult, 1 4-year old for round trip airfare, hotel, rental SUV, travel protection car rental insurance & vacation waiver: $4,825.54 (with taxes & fees).
Forgot I’d paid Orbitz for car insurance & paid for it from Budget (it was a long, miserable day getting there). $231.92.
Round trip baggage costs on American: $340.
Airport parking at Nashville for our SUV: $81.
Boat Diving Package with S.C.U.B.A. (buy 5 2-tank trips, get 1 free): $625.
Shore diving tanks & weights with Sweet Bottom Dive Center ($15), Cane Bay Scuba ($17), and N2TheBlue ($17), total $49.
So far, roughly $6,150.
4-Hour Rainforest Jeep Tour for 4 people with Tan Tan Tours: $420.
Throw in a tank of gas, and call it ~ $6,600 + food, tips, etc… I imagine the total for 4 people to enjoy 8 days on St. Croix with one jeep excursion for all and 15 dives for 1 was ~ $7,500.
Eating out (or in) is expensive in St. Croix. We only needed one tank of gas all week. Tips for boat crew and airport & hotel personnel add cost. The ferry from the Christiansted boardwalk roundtrip to Hotel on the Cay to enjoy the sandy beach was $5/adult, free kids under 12 - some of us went 3 times.