Busy, crowded, lots of fast traffic, big splashy resorts, restaurants galore. . . . Ordinary Caribbean diving with tropical fish, big ones rare, fine for beginners or a dive or two on a golf holiday. . . . You still can find century-old bottles in the harbor with the Dive Shop. . . . Stavronikita wreck is interesting, but jammed with tourist divers. . . . Average daily temperature in mid-80s year round; appreciable rain from June to January and watch for hurricanes. . . .

The Dive Shop, Ltd., Pebble Beach, November 1996, Steve Neal, Fairfield, TX. "Water: 80 plus, Vis: 30 to 50 feet. Coral in good shape dive a site with three wrecks, saw seahorse, many lobster, one octopus eels, flounder (peacock) balloon fish, juvenile file fish, spotted drum etc. Saw two spotted scorpion fish in a wreck. Dive shack looked rough but they knew their stuff. Close in boat dives. $70 for 2 tanks, boat dives."

Hightide Watersports, July 1997, Jackie Maciel, Franklin, MA. "Not many large fish, but the reefs were very healthy. Lots of hard and soft coral, huge basket sponges, various tube sponges. Compared to St. Croix, the diving was excellent. . . . Excellent dive operation. Although most dives were led, you could follow your computer profile. Staff was very safety conscious and divemasters were super with a group of new divers that had buoyancy problems. For lots of fish life, dive the wrecks in Carlise Bay. For a nice dive, fish and large wreck experience; dive the Greek freighter, SS Stavronikita. Both have lots of great coral growth and schools of fish. I prefer the Carlise Bay area because you can get lots of bottom time in 30­40 feet of water. Hightide is run by great people!"

West Side Scuba Center, November 1996, John A. Krisha, Vallejo, CA. "Staff thorough and helpful. Water conditions were not good for photos. vis: 25­30 ft. Lot of particulate caused by storms. Water: 84 degrees. Two dives: 80 feet for 30 minutes, hour interval, 60 ft. for 30 minutes. 3 min. safety stops. Few large fish and not many small fish. Coral plentiful."

Copyright 1998 by DSDL, Inc., publishers of Undercurrent. All rights reserved. No portions of this report may be reproduced in any way, including photocopying and electronic data storage, without prior written permission from the publisher. For more information, contact Elephant Socks Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1658, Sausalito, CA 94966.