2000 Chapbook

Patch reef diving on these closely-grouped islands is easy, pleasant, and fairly similar regardless of which island you choose, although the quiet British Virgins and St. John are far less crowded and more pleasant than the cruise ship havens of St. Thomas and St. Croix, where hurricanes and fishing have taken a toll. (St. Thomas was trashed by hurricanes in 1995, St. Croix a few years earlier.).... BVI is a yachter's paradise with crewed or bareboat sailboats galore, and it's also served by several land-based dive operations.... BVI has nice little hotels, good restaurants, congenial surroundings, and British style, while St. Thomas and St. Croix are much more crowded and commercial... There's warm, pleasant weather year-round....

British Virgin Islands

Tortola

Baskin-in-the-Sun/Prospect Reef Resort, January 1999, Dale Treadway, Omaha, NE. Vis: 40-80 ft. Water: 78-79 degrees. Sunny, Water: calm, surge, no currents. Restrictions: Time and 500 PSI but everyone except new divers were on their on honor. Rinse tank and camera table excellent. Staff anxious to help. Octopi on 6 of 17 day dives. One spread-eagle and a pair mating. Dive staff handled and rinsed all gear. Dive with buddy or with divemaster. Most dives 60-80 feet with long bottom time. Staff tried to ensure new sites for all with consideration of safety when currents too strong. Nice boat, limited number of divers, left on schedule. Rhonewreck dive not a big deal; of 18 dives it's in lower 5. Trip expensive. (Ph: 800-650-2084 or 809-494-5854, Fax: 809-494-5853, e-mail: baskindive@aol.com, Website: www.dive-baskin.com)

Baskin In the Sun/Prospect Reef Resort, February 1999, James & Jennifer Mills, Monroeville, PA. Vis: 80-100 ft. Water: 74-76 degrees. Dive restrictions: Depth and time. Prospect Reef resort under rehab. First room had mildew and bugs and a 10-gal hot water tank. Got another, but with a 20-gal tank. When will someone build and accommodate divers who prefer to clean and dry their equipment at the end of the day? Food at resort was typical Caribbean, as was service. "Baskin In the Sun" good. Semi-conservative dive profiles. Not much large sea life. Two nurse sharks, lots of small stuff. No currents. Pinnacle dives were beautiful but short. Had no Nitrox. Best dives: Man O'War Shoals, Tent Reef and Pinnacles. Good restaurants: Brigadoon and Lollipops. Daytime temp in town about 75 degrees, on the water about 85 degrees. Evenings cool. Bring long pants and jacket.

Baskin in the Sun Divers/Prospect Reef Resort, April 1999, Joy and Gary Dorman (dorman@clark.net), Washington, DC. Vis: 60-150 ft. mostly 75 ft. Water: 78-80 degrees. Temperature 85-90 degrees. Sunny with a nice breeze. They are renovating hotel in stages. A bit pricey in season, but nice. Many rooms have a usable kitchen with a loft. Four friends should find it just fine. Many rooms air conditioned, but ours was fine without. No bug problem. Baskin has good rates for Prospect Reef and arrangements went off flawlessly, including dives and courses. Resort sometimes slow responding to questions or problems, but they get it done. Excellent restaurant, The Pub, 1/4 mile down the road. Prospect's breakfast starts at 7:00 A.M., good, but pricey. Island is quiet and worth a drive to see the hills and beaches. Divemasters are good, a few outstanding. Randy Keil exceptional. Baskin is very conscious of reef ecology. 42-foot boat is excellent; quiet, fast, and well appointed. Two tank morning dives leave promptly at 8:30. Afternoon dives about 2:30 unless the morning goes to the Chikuzen,about 1.5 hours one way. Night dives at 6:30. Local photographer, Jim Scheiner, is next door to the dive shop and is very helpful. Dives are not strenuous, though occasional light chop. Most have a variety of fish, creatures, and corals; reefs are in good shape. Best are Shark Point (two nurse sharks there), The Chikuzenwreck (gray reef shark, many barracuda), Carrot Shoals (copious fish, peppermint gobi), Rainbow Canyon (blennies, squid), and Blonde Rock (turtle, squid). Cuda, lobsters, tunicates, and flamingo tongues on nearly every dive, plus loads of reef fish and nice corals. A great place for small stuff, I think the sharks may have been a fluke. Max depth was about 85 feet, most between 50-65 feet.

Virgin Gorda

Killbride's/Biras Creek, May 1999, Linda Terry, Huntsville, AL. Dived with Killbride (2 tank $75) out of Bitter End. Picked us up promptly at the dock at 8:35, we got back about 12:30. Ken entertained us with Rhone history during surface interval. Boat had head, shade, fresh water, wasn't overly crowded. They wanted you to stay with the group; first one down set the time limit for the group so we all had to crowd on the tag line, not fun as there were swift currents on 2 dives. You didn't feel "dive policed," just guided to the good stuff. On one dive, no one stayed on the boat, but conditions were calm. On the Rhone trip we had the honor to dive with treasure diver Bert Killbride, in his 80's. Said all his 5 wives had been instructors for him. Rented a car and drove to snorkel the Baths. Cruise ship people now go there; crowded and commercial with bad drinks, hair braiding, T shirts set up on beach. Water has suffered, but still beautiful to maze your way around the boulders. Vis OK, fish, coral sponges OK, but we remember the gin clear water of long ago... Lovely large resort, even our "garden room" ($100 less a night, 2A) had a view of the ocean through the crack between the higher price units. Lovely outside garden shower, AC in the bedroom but great breezes. Catalog/website photos and text are true and representative. Bikes provided and fun to trail ride on the salt flats and to the 3 waters. Food very good and presented with creativity and flair. Hiking fun from Biras and great views. Beaches very nice, pool near housing is pretty and mostly quiet. Special events like a slide show, barbeques, steel drum band. Dinghies fun to take to Bitter End resort, just around the hill and can take a 15 minute hike there too. We had decided against Little Dix because of long pants/dress rule at dinner (after 6 pm) and unbeknownst to us, bar had it too. We had printed out the Internet info, gotten their catalog, e-mailed them with other questions and this had not been made clear! Too hot in the summer to be forced to do this for 2 hour, 3 course dinners. Mostly young just-marrieds dressed to kill, so not many people our age to visit with. Staff pleasant. (Telephone: 800-932-4286 or 284-495-9638; Fax: 284-495-7549)

U.S. Virgin Islands

St. Croix

Anchor Dive, August 1999, Dale Burden, Convoy, OH. Vis: 50-75 ft. Water: 80-85 degrees. Restrictions in force: Time. Enjoyed diving. Anchor Dive well run. Dove with Sean and Dave and their expertise was outstanding. Small fish and creatures were phenomenal. Turtles, sharks, and "alive" coral. (Telephone: 800-532-3483 (800-532-DIVE) or 809-778-1522 or 809-778-8544; Fax: 809-778-1522)

SCUBA/Danish Manor Hotel, October 1998, Dennis Schneider, Round Rock, TX. Vis: 40-60+ ft. Water: 85 degrees. REEF (Reef Environmental Education Foundation) fish survey trip. Pleasantly surprised by the quality of diving. Diving with some old hands, Ed and Molly Buckley, who have set up their own dive operation, "SCUBA." (St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventure) was great. Conveniently situated at the Christiansted harbor, the boat was a short walk from the dive shop. Dive operation helpful and courteous, good briefings and attention to diver's needs. (Saw one other boat at the moorings all week). SCUBA puts a picture of each week's divers on their website (www.stcroixscuba.com) so the folks back home can see how you're doing. Diving every bit as good as anything in the Caribbean, with a lot fewer divers compared to Bonaire or Caymans. The Cane Bay equals Bloody Bay Wall in the Caymans in terms of fish diversity and quality of the wall and reef. Few big pelagics or groupers, but lots of everything else. Frederiksted Pier is a better night dive than Town Pier in Bonaire. No wrecks, but good beaches and nice people. Food expensive, but uniformly excellent with good service. Danish Manor Hotel was adequate (clean, the A/C and the plumbing worked-what more do you want?) with an excellent Italian restaurant. St. Croix Aquarium: innovative effort to teach marine biology (they return all the inhabitants of the aquarium to reef after a stay in the aquarium). Nice to stay in a little part of the US. REEF is tremendous. I learned more about fish id than I thought possible. Great classes taught by Laddie Akins in the evening. Website address is www.reef.org. (Telephone: 800-524-2069 or 809-773-1377; Fax: 809-773-1913)

The Waves, May 1999, Chuck & Nancy Anson (nanson@mailhost2.csusm.edu), Oceanside, CA. Vis: 75-150 ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. Sunny. Mild current. This destination is as good, or better, than most that get all the hype. Easy to get to (AA direct from Miami), not crowded, and economical. Marine life has not been spooked by herds of divers and can be approached. Encountered at least 6 turtles, often 2 at a time. Reefs are healthy, covered in hard and soft corals, with a diversity of multi colored sponges, crinoids, and macro. Virtual nursery for small fry while sporting large angels and jack. Waves, an intimate seaside inn. Kevin and Suzanne Ryan, owners and innkeepers have carved out a piece of paradise at Cane Bay. 12 room resort. Genuine desire to share their paradise with their guests. Kevin has a full service PADI shop with rental equipment and offers certifications. His pre-dive briefings and his maps of local shore dives at the Pavilion, Cane Bay, North Star, and Rust Op Twist are accurate and informative. He provides navigational headings for a safe dive, describes where to find sugar cane ship anchors, caves, schools of French angels and when to turn back to shore. Kevin provided transportation to shore dives and picked us up. Best diving just off the front of The Waves. Rooms are clean, large, nicely decorated in pastel colors, and have screened patios from which to watch the sunsets. Cable TV, a kitchenette, private bath with shower, plenty of hot water, a king size bed, and tiled floors. Restaurant at the Waves receives great ratings and is open Monday-Saturday for dinner. Three other restaurants within walking distance for breakfast and lunch. Horseback riding, a terrace for sunbathing and a small natural salt water pool carved out of the coral shore where two baby gunards took up residence. Offers a package of boat dives with Anchor Dive Center, at Salt River, to explore East and West Walls of Salt River Canyon. We dove the wall and Gentle Winds with Anchor Dive and found their boat spacious, briefings good; Dianne, our guide, did a fine job. Dove the 6 wrecks at Butler Bay with Capn Dick's Scuba West, in Fredricksted. All six can be covered in two dives and are worth seeing. Penetration possible on several. Ken, our guide, knew the sites and gave excellent briefings. Fredricksted Pier is excellent dive, day or night and is a must do shore dive. Sea horses are renowned here. Saw gunards and scorpion fish under the new pier. Tank fills to at least 3100 PSI. Vis 75-150, water temp 83° average, and air was 85° average. Little rain (mostly at night). St. Croix has 2 K-marts that offer 1 hr. processing (Telephone: 800-545-0603 or 809-778-1805; Fax: 809-778-4945)

St. John

Cruz Bay Watersports, July 1999, Alex and Cindy Rasi, Northwood, OH. Vis: 70 ft. Beautiful island with tall, forested hills, scenic vistas, gorgeous beaches, and friendly islanders. Atmosphere relaxed and casual. Not a hard core diving destination, but great all around adventure island. Two-thirds of the island is a National Park. We dived, snorkeled, hiked, swam, and explored nearby islands in the USVI and BVI. Cruz Bay Watersports is friendly, helpful operation. Divemasters set up gear and assisted divers. Follow-the-leader dives, so we returned with 1300 psi and plenty of time on our computers. Boat has partial shade and dry table for cameras. Gear can be left on board and locked overnight. No rinse facilities at the shop.General Rogersis a nicely encrusted wreck dive. Some reefs are nice, others show wear from too much diver traffic. Not many large fish or schools, but several turtles, a few stingrays and barracuda, colorful encrusting sponges and corals, many blue bell tunicates. Maximum depth less than 80 ft. No shops on St. John offer Nitrox. Considered diving with Low Key Watersports, but they have no gear storage, rinse tanks, or dock. We watched divers wade out and back from their boat in chest deep water. Rented a villa for privacy and luxury. Condos, hotels, and camping are available. Don't assume all are air conditioned, ask first. Cruz Bay Watersports can help with accommodations and car rentals. While diving doesn't compare with Grand or Little Cayman, Grand Turk, or Bonaire, the topside scenery is more spectacular. Don't miss view of St. John and BVI's at Chateau Bordeaux's overlook. Hiking trails range from easy to challenging. National Park Service has details. Mosquitoes are ferocious. Trunk Bay is pretty, but crowded with cruise ship passengers from St. Thomas. Trunk Bay snorkel trail reef is dead. Cinnamon Bay and Leinster Bay are pretty and quieter. Annaberg Sugar Plantation ruins are interesting. Driving: sharp turns and steep inclines require renting a 4-wheel drive vehicle. For dining we recommend Morgan's Mango, Pusser's, Woody's Seafood Saloon, and Joe's BBQ. Mongoose Deli makes great picnic lunches. Ellington's is nice for fine dining. St. John is close enough to the BVI for day trips. Don't miss the snorkel and bar hopping cruise to Jost Van Dyke. Try the beer at Foxy's Bar and the Painkillers at the Soggy Dollar Bar, where there are no docks so you must swim to shore from your boat, hence the name. Myett's Bar and Restaurant at Cane Garden Bay on Tortola is a lovely. Stroll along the beaches and relax in the hammocks. (Telephone: 800-835-7730 or 340-776-6234 340-779-4351; Fax: 340-693-8720)

Low Key Watersports, June 1999, Lauren Henderson, San Antonio, TX. Vis: 60-80 ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. Well-run professional operation. Owners, Bob and Ann Marie are personable, staff caters to all levels. Dive instructors grouped students and certified divers separately. They supervised novices while they gave advanced some freedom. Dive sites varied but were relatively shallow reefs and some swim-throughs. Lots of small colorful fish and critters. Had a blast posing for photos with photographer Steve Simonsen who accompanies divers on several dives. Shop is attractive and well stocked with dive gear and tropical boutique attire. Convenient to the waterfront in Cruz Bay (900-835-7718). Gallows Point Suites are lovely apartment style accommodations, a 5 minute walk from town. Apartments have full kitchens, A/C in the bedrooms, patios or balconies with ocean or harbor views. Grounds are beautiful as is the freshwater pool over looking the ocean. Full housekeeping service and store. Ocean access, snorkeling hut, no beach (900-323-7229). St. John is a beautiful, lush, clean island with numerous white sand beaches and lots to do for nondivers. Nice shopping in quaint Cruz Bay and good restaurants. Lots of good snorkeling. (Telephone: 800-835-7718 or 809-693-8999; Fax: 809-693-8999)

St. Thomas

Admiralty Dive Center/Bluebeard's Castle, August 1999, Dale Thompson, Del Mar, CA. Vis: 80-100 ft. Water: 85-86 degrees. Bluebeard's a time-share operation above town. Not much to draw one to St. Thomas unless you're visiting on cruise ship (shops, jewelry, etc.) or diving. High crime, moderate-high prices, mediocre service. Upper 80s to low 70's. Sunny, occasional passing showers. Dive operation the best. Cleaned and dried your gear each night board next AM and dive. Several times I was on the boat alone with the owner/operator and divemaster - his attitude was that if I signed up for a multi-tank package and was the only passenger, that was his problem, not mine. He adjusted sites to divers - once he was comfortable with your knowledge, went to deeper sites with lots of great wrecks. 80 sites within 1-2 miles of harbor entrance, some shallow healthy reefs, others deeper. Healthy corals, lots of life, a few larger sharks (nurse), mantas, turtles, eels, and big lobsters. Well-maintained boats, 2 tank AM and afternoon trips, and night dives offered as requested (one night dive included at no extra charge if you buy multi-tank package). Owned and operated by Marty and Portia Martinez. (Telephone: 888-900-3483 or 340-777-9802)

Dive In/Anchorage Condos, January 1999, Roman Pibl, Salisbury, NC. Vis: 25-40 ft. Water: 77-79 degrees. Windy. Water: choppy. Three thumbs up for Dive Inn operation. Laid back but safety conscience. While the boat was worn around the edges, it did the job just fine. Plenty of clean dry towels provided with free sodas and fruit. On first dive, guide-led, you surface with 500 psi. After that, you could dive on your own and do your own profile. Very accommodating in site selection. Not many big fish, the volcanic origin of the USVI's made for very nice rock formations, tunnels, caves, swim throughs, pinnacles and reef ledge formations. The coral was pleasant and in good shape off small cays on the east side of St. Thomas. Didn't charge members of my group who canceled a dive or two because of too much partying the night before. (Telephone: 800-524-2090 (Ext. 2144), 809-775-6100 (Ext. 2144); Fax: 809-775-4024)