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Dive Review of Scubaqua/Old Gin House in
St. Eustatius/N/A

Scubaqua/Old Gin House: "Great diving, no shopping!", Feb, 2016,

by Margaret McGaughey, WA, US ( 1 report with 1 Helpful vote). Report 8898 has 1 Helpful vote.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 3 stars Food N/A
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments Six of us traveled from the U.S. to "Statia" as it is typically called in February. For us it was a perfect Caribbean dive destination. No cruise ships, no shopping, few tourists, a few hotels, maybe 4 or 5 restaurants. And beautiful diving. Scubaqua took excellent care of us. Transfers to and from the airport were smooth. Dive boat was comfortable and well equipped. And the dive masters/guides were great. All the dive masters spoke perfect or near perfect English as well as Dutch and at least one other language (French, Spanish, German, etc.) Nitrox was available and encouraged. Most of the dive entries involved swimming up the boat to the anchor line before dropping, but they nicely accommodated some of us who needed a bit more time/help doing the surface swim. We did a different dive site every dive (5 days of 2-tank diving plus one night dive). Most dives were 60-90 feet deep. Water temp was 77-79 degrees F.
We saw sharks (nurse sharks and caribbean reef sharks), barracuda, all the typical reef fish and lots of them, so many turtles!!, eels, gobies, blennies, sting rays, flying gurnard, etc. And the reefs are quite healthy - due to long protection and not so many divers. Many of the dives are over old (really old) wrecks that are covered in life and also interesting historically. The Scubaqua staff told us they had the best night dive in the Caribbean. It was true! (as far as I know anyway)
Above water, Statia has lots of history - it's worth checking out the museum and walking around to see the old ruins of buildings from the 17th and 18th century.
The Old Gin House is showing its age, but was comfortable (A/C in the rooms, nice shower with lots of hot water). Restaurants: Blue Bead, Ocean View, and Cool Corner were by far the best choices. Old Gin House is also ok but expensive.
We did miss our flight from St Maarten to the U.S. owing to Winward Air's very relaxed/uncertain schedule. But there are lots of flights from St Maarten and we were re-booked quickly.
Was it worth it? Yes. Would we return? You bet!

Websites Scubaqua   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Puget Sound, Canada, Iceland, Philippines, Palau, Baja California, Cozumel, Roatan.
Closest Airport F.D. Roosevelt Getting There Via St Maarten
Winward Air

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas choppy
Water Temp 77-79°F / 25-26°C Wetsuit Thickness 5
Water Visibility 50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile ?
Enforced diving restrictions Nitrox limited the depth. Otherwise, just had to stay with DM (within reason).
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 2 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 2 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities 3 stars
UW Photo Comments [None]
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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