Family will be in St. Thomas for a few days in August. Looking for suggestions for one or two days of diving. We will probably rent a car. Should we dive both days on St. Thomas? Should be try to schedule one day on St. Thomas and one day on St. John? We will dive one or two days and then have a free day after that. Looking for any suggestions on dive operators, which island to dive, rental cars, restaurants and any other good suggestions of "must sees" for a short trip. We like bigger sea life. Like out of the way and local restaurants. Please pass on your info. This forum always sends me in the right directions. Thanks.
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It partially depends on where you stay - there's good shops in Charlotte Amalie but also good options on the East End. Can be almost an hour drive between them depending on traffic. Shops in town to consider, Admiralty Dive or Blue Island Divers. On the East End - Red Hook Divers.
If you want to shore dive, Coki Beach is about the only viable option there - Coki Dive on-site. Pretty basic dive so I might not waste 1 of 2 dive days there. We liked boat diving off Congo Cay but it's pretty much the only place we went that was memorable. Another drift dive off a nearby cay - not so much.
Also if you're staying at a resort - check their options. Several of the east end shops have on-site dive operations.
Patagon Diving at the Ritz, St Thomas Dive Club at Bolongo Bay plus there's a couple others.
With a car you can "drive" over to St. John - there's a car ferry from Red Hook. Most of the shops in the east end of St, Thomas dive similar sites in the Cays nearby so there's no real advantage to going to St. John unless you just want to.
Two shops I know of there - Cruz Bay Watersports or Low Key Watersports. Check with either - sometimes they make day trips to the BVI's - bring passports.
This is not a complete list, just shops I know or looked into.
If you want to shore dive, Coki Beach is about the only viable option there - Coki Dive on-site. Pretty basic dive so I might not waste 1 of 2 dive days there. We liked boat diving off Congo Cay but it's pretty much the only place we went that was memorable. Another drift dive off a nearby cay - not so much.
Also if you're staying at a resort - check their options. Several of the east end shops have on-site dive operations.
Patagon Diving at the Ritz, St Thomas Dive Club at Bolongo Bay plus there's a couple others.
With a car you can "drive" over to St. John - there's a car ferry from Red Hook. Most of the shops in the east end of St, Thomas dive similar sites in the Cays nearby so there's no real advantage to going to St. John unless you just want to.
Two shops I know of there - Cruz Bay Watersports or Low Key Watersports. Check with either - sometimes they make day trips to the BVI's - bring passports.
This is not a complete list, just shops I know or looked into.
Last edited:
runsongas
Contributor
low key does a day trip over to the rhone in the bvi, runs about 180ish i think. i did a few with coki dive at the nearby cays and it was ok, but not great. didn't see anything big diving in the usvi other than a turtle or two, rhone has a few groupers. st john has better snorkeling.
FettSolo
Contributor
Just want to drop a line and say that I've dove with Low Key for years now and they are a solid op. As far as "bigger sea life" goes, depending on the dive site you'll probably see tarpon, green and hawksnest turtles, stingrays and possibly an eagle ray or nurse shark.
Having spent plenty of time on both St. Thomas and St. John, I greatly prefer the latter - way less built up (3/4 national park), and you'll find more of that local/out of the way feel there than you will on St. Thomas.
Skinny Legs in Coral Bay is probably my favorite 'local' restaurant. Also a fan of Margarita Phil's (Mexican) in Cruz Bay. If you feel like going high-end, Asolare has amazing food and undoubtedly the best views of any restaurant on the island. There is also an awesome smoothie joint on the side of the road in the middle of the island - I am blanking on the name.
Honestly, the snorkeling on St. John is frequently just as good as the scuba diving. Waterlemon Cay (in Leinster Bay) is probably my favorite for snorkeling, though I love Salt Pond Bay as well - I always see multiple green sea turtles, stingrays and great barracuda there, as well as reef squid and the occasional spotted eagle ray. I enjoy Hawksnest Beach, Honeymoon Bay, and Jumbie Bay. Trunk Bay is lovely, but go after 3pm to miss the crowds.
Having spent plenty of time on both St. Thomas and St. John, I greatly prefer the latter - way less built up (3/4 national park), and you'll find more of that local/out of the way feel there than you will on St. Thomas.
Skinny Legs in Coral Bay is probably my favorite 'local' restaurant. Also a fan of Margarita Phil's (Mexican) in Cruz Bay. If you feel like going high-end, Asolare has amazing food and undoubtedly the best views of any restaurant on the island. There is also an awesome smoothie joint on the side of the road in the middle of the island - I am blanking on the name.
Honestly, the snorkeling on St. John is frequently just as good as the scuba diving. Waterlemon Cay (in Leinster Bay) is probably my favorite for snorkeling, though I love Salt Pond Bay as well - I always see multiple green sea turtles, stingrays and great barracuda there, as well as reef squid and the occasional spotted eagle ray. I enjoy Hawksnest Beach, Honeymoon Bay, and Jumbie Bay. Trunk Bay is lovely, but go after 3pm to miss the crowds.
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