St. John and Nearby Diving WWYD?

[diverjen]

Hi everyone,

I hope this post is not annoying as I usually try to post questions of a more specific nature!

My Hubbys fam is taking us to St. John for a week for a memorial of DHs sister this June. We are staying in between Haulover Bay and Lime Tree Bay. We would like to get some diving in while we are there. I know it is not supposed to be the greatest, but its better than the Colorado lakes and reservoirs! We are new divers, with about 25 dives, however, I think we will take our PADI AOW before we go even though really just as an opportunity to dive closer to home as we are inland. We are late twenties/early thirties. We did one trip to Bonaire for a week plus in October and were certified in July/August 2011.

The family is renting two jeeps and we may rent one just for us, not sure. It sounds like 6packscuba would be a good choice for us, altho I would not mind to hear additional advice or suggestions. It would be great if we could do a few 2 or 3 tank trips during the week.

Blah, blah, blah: onto the main question!: We could possibly add a few days on the end of the trip just DH and me and go over to a neighboring island for more diving. Is there nearby diving that would be worth a couple of days look? Such as BVI or St. Croix, or St. Thomas or something else I am not thinking of? Let me know what would you do? Thanks for any input!

 

[DebbyDiver]

Oh, you are going to have so much fun!!!! Sorry, I'm not familiar with dive ops on STJ.

For days at the end of the trip, well, I could live anywhere but I chose St. Croix (STX). Beach diving, boat diving, wall diving, wreck diving, pier diving...we have it all! And we are just a short hop from STJ.

 

[TEArrington]

On St John, we stayed at the Westin and went diving with Cruz Bay Watersports. www.divestjohn.com We also hired a private boat captain and DM that we dove with before for a more tailored experience. Given your level of experience, I'd call Cruz Bay. They also do training and run day trips over to BVI. The Rhone would be fun for you if you are getting/have your AOW.

 

[T23]

A few years back we stayed at the Westin and also dove with Cruz Bay. I wasn't impressed at all with St John diving based upon the sites Cruz Bay picked... which were mostly in or near the mouth of the bay the Westin sits on. The one exception all week being the Rhone dive. Other than that the Cruz Bay dives were bland and boring with little coral, even less color, and not much aquatic life to see.

A big disappointment was that there are dive site around the entire island plus a big portion of the island is a national park and Cruz Bay simply didn't go out of the bay.

BVI is just a short boat ride as is St Thomas if you want to explore some.

 

[Rhone Man]

My 2 PSI:

The diving in St John is a bit so-so. The diving in St Thomas is better - particularly if you like wrecks (and I do!). I wouldn't miss the chance to spend a few days in St Thomas diving the WIT Shoal, the WIT Concrete and the Miss Opportunity.

Very possible to nip over the BVIs - it is a short ferry from St John, but you will need your passport. PM me if you want more info. Diving holidays are bit trickier to do from land on Tortola (as opposed to from a boat) because the nice hotels are all on the north side (where the beaches are) and the dive shops are all on the south side (where the good diving is). You can overcome this if if you are willing to stay on one of the outer islands, like St John, Cooper Island, Peter Island or VG - but that all adds to travel time and cost.

 

[troyce1]

@DiverJen - Have you already had your trip or is it coming up still?

I have been there 3 times, and mainly snorkeled.
However, the last trip my wife and I shore dove, and it was alot of fun , a fraction of what the dive boats charge, and I thought the corals, fish, etc that we saw were great.

Like you said, it may not be the best diving in the world but its what you make of it!

If you don't mind extra work, you can save some money and rent your own gear. or bring gear and shore dive as I mentioned above.
When my wife and I shore dove last year we did Haulover North, which is a little bit of a pain mainly carrying your tanks through the woods, however, it's so damn cheap especially if you bring your own gear.

This year I am trying to dive Kiddel Bay, possibly Salt Pond, and not sure of the others.
I am buying one of these: Adjustable Tank Carrier Deluxe
this year to hump the tanks around a little easier.
The best snorkeling & beaches in my opinion you have to hike a little to (Kiddel, Yawzi Point, Salt Pond).

Haulover South would probably be the easiest to pull right up to and shore dive.
Yawzi would not be bad if you entered at the beach and surface swam out, usually we hike out the point to a little cove and snorkel back to the beach.

PM me or just post here if you have any questions. I love St. John and would be happy to share advice.

 

[tpsde2003]

Definitely rent a Jeep(make a reservation). Make sure to visit Skinny Legs, Don't limit yourself to dive ops in St. Johns. It's a short ride to St. Thomas on the ferry. I just returned from St. Thomas & did 6 dives in 1.5 days with Red Hook Dive center. They are located about 200 yards from the ferry terminal. I had a great time but would stay on St. Johns next time and I'd dive with Red Hook. Have a great time!