2000 Chapbook

St. Vincent lies in a beautiful chain of islands and is heavily forested, with pretty reefs and a good range of fish species.... Daytime temperatures are in the high 80s year-round, the low 70s at night; afternoon cloudbursts are common; St. Vincent is in the hurricane belt.... The Grenadines Bequia, Palm, Union, and Carriacou are a sailor's dream; they're islands with small hotels, little dive operations, decent Caribbean diving, and few surprises....

For full reviews of the following St. Vincent & the Grenadines destinations, see:

Dive St. Vincent - St. Vincent, In Depth- June 1996

Dive St. Vincent/Sunset Shores, November 1998, Jean & Bob Kirkpatrick (bojean@logantele.com), Russellville, KY. Vis: 25-75 ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. Went to about 100', but no reason to go deeper. Second trip to St. Vincent to dive with Bill Tewes, an excellent and knowledgeable divemaster. I was doing fish surveys for REEF, and he was happy to have a diver interested in fish ID. He helped me see many fish and critters I'd never have found by myself. Vis was poor, aftermath of Hurricane Mitch and runoff from Orinoco River. Lots of coral bleaching, but sponges and other flora make the reefs pretty. Huge schools of reef fish, seahorses, frogfish and pipefish! Sunset Shores, a nice hotel a short beach walk away from dive shop. They rinsed and stored and set up all equipment. Only drawback was trying to walk to nearby restaurants for dinner, along dark and narrow road with cars flying around curves. Restaurants too close to call taxi, but difficult to walk to. Beach not wide enough to walk on in dark, but a great place for Caribbean diving! (Ph: 809-457-4714 or 809-457-4298, Fax: 809-457-4948, e-mail: bill2@caribsurf.com, Website: www.divestvincent.com)

Dive St. Vincent/Grand View Hotel, March 1998, Gene Murphy, Atlanta, GA. Vis: 30-70 ft. Water: 78-82 degrees. Bill Tewes, proprietor of Dive St. Vincent, has a strong and animated personality that some enjoy, but others find annoying. His largest boat was problematic, so we were confined to a smaller boat with no seating and a poorly tuned engine. Strong low tide and a solar eclipse, causing (they told us) visibility deterioration. We were two experienced, computer divers and were pretty well left alone. Diving was good.

Dive St. Vincent, Young Island, WI, September 1999, Veljko Roskar, Houston, TX. Vis: 40-60 ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. Black coral and critter paradise. The variety and quantity of rare fish is amazing. Vis wasn't that great due to rains draining rivers, but worth every penny. No pelagics. 2 tank dives ($90), will take boat out for 1 person diver. Resort is fantastic.