Dive Review of Dive Experience/Hotel-on-the-Cay in
Virgin Islands/St. Croix

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Dive Experience/Hotel-on-the-Cay, May, 2006, by Bernie Urbanik, TX, USA ( 2 reports). Report 2471.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I am a 55 yo male (PADI MAster Scuba Diver) and I took my 19 yo son (PADI Advanced Open Water Diver with specialties). We used the Chapbook to book the trip. This is a very valauble resource so I wanted to give back a little with this report. This was our first trip to the Virgin Islands. It's important to have specifc objectives in mind when making a dive location decision. I always seek out a combination of diving and non-diving recreation when booking a trip. I also hate having to rent a car on an island. There were a sufficient number of Chapbook entries to plan the trip. St Croix has a lot to offer in this regard. The Dive Experience is owned and operated by Michelle Pugh, recently installed in the Women Divers Hall of Fame. Her operation is first rate with a good seaworthy boat Captained by Sam Halvarson. Being based in Christianstad means north shore diving from moorings similar to the north shore of Grand Cayman. All sites are marked with bouys and it is open sea. We ranged from five to ten divers and made ten boat dives. It is a great deal of fun to dive with a diver as experienced as Michelle. She knows what to look for, knows insticntively what each diver's situation is and in so doing, makes for a comfortable dive. We even did a little reef maintenance by replacing a bouy. I used Nitrox on all my dives while my son was on air. The Nitrox tanks were in excellent condition. There was an on-board Oxygen mixture meater that plugged into your BC. You could either work your own equipment or they would do it for you. When we had rookie divers, we had two divemasters for each skill level. There are enough sites on the north shore so that we did not have to repeat a site. There is a surge and wave action at the surface. You have to exit one at a time due to the rollers. The marine life was highly varied with the Black Durgon the most numerous. The Purple Sponges were farily dramatic. We saw a little of everything. The Hotel-on-the-Cay (HOTC) was a great choice. They have a dive package in conjunction with Dive Experience. Pay one bill (except for Nitrox). HOTC is the only hotel in Christainstad with a beach. The hotel is on Protestant Island, in the harbor 200 yards offshore, and is reached by a launch that is complimentary for guests. We snorkeled one entire afternoon. There are no large vessels operting in th harbor. At night, the hotel is far enough away from the wharf to keep the nightlife sound to a minumum. The Dive Experience dock is a hundered yards down the boardwalk. Dive Experience has a locked storage facility on the dock for your equipment during your stay. Your equipment was stored on hangers. For those of you who have had to use small lockers, you know this is a luxury. We had plenty of choices for food and drink along the boardwalk. There is even a micro-brewery. Fort Christianstad, also on the boardwalk, is a great museum run by the US Park Service. We took one day off to see the sights from an open air jitney. It included a stop at the Cruzan Rum Distillery and at the Whim Sugar Cane Plantation Museum. Whim is a facinating place and like stepping back in time. All in all, a great trip thanks to Dive Experience!
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Grand Turk, South Caicos
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	choppy, surge, noCurrents
Water Temp	80-80°F / 27-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	75-100 Ft/ 23-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	General Depth Limits
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Dive Experience/Hotel-on-the-Cay in Virgin Islands/St. Croix

Dive Experience/Hotel-on-the-Cay, May, 2006,

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Dive Experience/Hotel-on-the-Cay in
Virgin Islands/St. Croix