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Trip report
Wreck of the Rhone
Dove on July 24, 2017 with Peter Island Resort Divers
I was fortunate enough to be invite on a 58 foot crewed catamaran for a sail around the British Virgin Islands. Two others on the boat were also divers so a trip was arranged to dive the Wreck of the Rhone when the boat was docked in Peter Island. The wreck site is very convenient from Peter Island. It was probably a 15 minute boat ride. We chose the dive shop on Peter Island because it was extremely convenient. We walked off of our boat, down the dock, and were in the dive shop filling out paper work and renting gear.
Let me say just a bit about peter island. It is a clean and gorgeous island. I heard the resort was owned by the family that started amway. It is incredibly expensive to stay at the resort – something like $800 per night. I’m not sure what we paid in dock fees but I would bet it was much less than $800. The staff we encountered in the resort restaurants and pool areas were less than friendly. And the food was incredibly expensive. My wife had a massage at the spa and it was reasonably priced and she enjoyed it.
Now for the dive. The staff at the dive shop was friendly and helpful. The divemaster was an American who had lived in the BVIs for 30 years. He had lots of great stories about the his life in the carribean. He was great to dive with. Two of us had more experience than our 3rd diver. Dive master allowed the more inexperienced diver to surface on his own when his air ran low the rest of us remained below for longer dives. His dive briefing and explanation of the rhone site was great.
The boat we dove from was not in great cosmetic shape. Mechanically it seemed fine but otherwise it was rough. If there was emergency oxygen on the boat we weren’t told about it. None of the standard pre-dive stuff like where the radio was, what the boat’s name was were offered. There was some water but no food for the surface interval. These were minor things but thought I would mention them.
There were some rough seas getting to the dive site but once were there I did not notice any surge. Visibility could have been better maybe 50-75 feet. This was my first wreck dive and I was excited. The rhone was a royal mail ship that sunk 150 years ago trying to escape a hurricane. The bow, stern and other sections of the boat are arrayed around the dive sites. Our first dive was the deeper dive to 75 feet. There is an easy entry into the bow section and lots of coral to see. The second dive was around the stern section, through the propeller area and other shallower debris. Probably about 60 feet. Descending for the second dive you come down onto what was a “dance floor” or some other kind of tile surface. You’ll see some features in the video like the lucky porthole, lucky spoon, large lobster that lives on the deck in a crevice and other features. There are 2 very large barracuda that normally hang around but we did not see them.
I highly recommend the rhone dive site and peter island resort divers with the caveat about the dive boat.
Enjoy the video
Shot with gopro hero 3 white edition using backscatter flip filters.
Wreck of the Rhone
Dove on July 24, 2017 with Peter Island Resort Divers
I was fortunate enough to be invite on a 58 foot crewed catamaran for a sail around the British Virgin Islands. Two others on the boat were also divers so a trip was arranged to dive the Wreck of the Rhone when the boat was docked in Peter Island. The wreck site is very convenient from Peter Island. It was probably a 15 minute boat ride. We chose the dive shop on Peter Island because it was extremely convenient. We walked off of our boat, down the dock, and were in the dive shop filling out paper work and renting gear.
Let me say just a bit about peter island. It is a clean and gorgeous island. I heard the resort was owned by the family that started amway. It is incredibly expensive to stay at the resort – something like $800 per night. I’m not sure what we paid in dock fees but I would bet it was much less than $800. The staff we encountered in the resort restaurants and pool areas were less than friendly. And the food was incredibly expensive. My wife had a massage at the spa and it was reasonably priced and she enjoyed it.
Now for the dive. The staff at the dive shop was friendly and helpful. The divemaster was an American who had lived in the BVIs for 30 years. He had lots of great stories about the his life in the carribean. He was great to dive with. Two of us had more experience than our 3rd diver. Dive master allowed the more inexperienced diver to surface on his own when his air ran low the rest of us remained below for longer dives. His dive briefing and explanation of the rhone site was great.
The boat we dove from was not in great cosmetic shape. Mechanically it seemed fine but otherwise it was rough. If there was emergency oxygen on the boat we weren’t told about it. None of the standard pre-dive stuff like where the radio was, what the boat’s name was were offered. There was some water but no food for the surface interval. These were minor things but thought I would mention them.
There were some rough seas getting to the dive site but once were there I did not notice any surge. Visibility could have been better maybe 50-75 feet. This was my first wreck dive and I was excited. The rhone was a royal mail ship that sunk 150 years ago trying to escape a hurricane. The bow, stern and other sections of the boat are arrayed around the dive sites. Our first dive was the deeper dive to 75 feet. There is an easy entry into the bow section and lots of coral to see. The second dive was around the stern section, through the propeller area and other shallower debris. Probably about 60 feet. Descending for the second dive you come down onto what was a “dance floor” or some other kind of tile surface. You’ll see some features in the video like the lucky porthole, lucky spoon, large lobster that lives on the deck in a crevice and other features. There are 2 very large barracuda that normally hang around but we did not see them.
I highly recommend the rhone dive site and peter island resort divers with the caveat about the dive boat.
Enjoy the video
Shot with gopro hero 3 white edition using backscatter flip filters.
