St. Croix this Oct.

My daughter has the good taste to marry a diver from Australia. He had he good taste to invite me to go diving with him in the Carib. this October. We are considering various islands. St Croix seems interesting..neither of us has been there, they are running a $450 special to bring the cost lower, easy for us to reach, etc.

Clearly, the pier at west end is appealing. But for a one week visit, better to stay near Cane bay? West end? Somewhere else?

suggestions on who to dive with?

note:

We are less interested in wrecks that are after 1950 for diving.

thanks for any suggestions.

dave

My daughter has the good taste to marry a diver from Australia. He had he good taste to invite me to go diving with him in the Carib. this October. We are considering various islands. St Croix seems interesting..neither of us has been there, they are running a $450 special to bring the cost lower, easy for us to reach, etc.

Clearly, the pier at west end is appealing. But for a one week visit, better to stay near Cane bay? West end? Somewhere else?

suggestions on who to dive with?

note:

We are less interested in wrecks that are after 1950 for diving.

 

thanks for any suggestions.

dave

Dave,

I was in St Croix this past March and made two dive with Cane Bay Scuba. Incredible viz and a really superb dive operation. Check out their website http://www.canebayscuba.com. They have some beach front cottages and some pretty good package deals. St. Croix is not that big of an island, so, if you rent a vehicle getting around the island won't be that bad. One other good thing about St. Croix is there is only room enough for two cruise ships at the port. St. Thomas can handle up to six. I'm looking forward to going back next March.

Good luck!

Bob

I live part of the year on St Croix (mother in law lives there), on the north shore close to cane bay. Very nice dive area. But as Bob says, it really doesn't matter where you stay, you can dive everywhere pretty easily. I got every single one of my certifications at Cane Bay Dive Shop (I asked for Ice Diving specialty, and they'd see what they could do) and they're definitely a great outfit. I also like N2TheBlue out west. They have some nice boat dives.

As for places to stay, there's something for every budget.

Do the pigs still drink beer?

I can agree with the other posters that it doesn't matter were you stay as you can get any place easy. I have dove with N2 the blue and loved them. A great group of people that work and run the place. The pier is a fantastic night dive. There are also some great dive sites on that side of the island that just have some amazing sponge formations. The wall dives on the other side of the island are completely different dives. It really is a nice place to dive. You will love it.

They tell me the water temp will be 83-84. Been a long time since I was in water that warm. I prefer full body coverage. I have an Henderson 3 mil full body hyperstretch that will freeze me out at 79. Wondering if the warmer water will work for lots of diving with the henderson. My other option is my 5 mil which seems too warm. Or buy a new 3 mil but I would prefer to delay that if possible.

What do people here think?

I dive slow, use air slow, same as most photographers here. I hope to do 3 dives a day plus 1-2 night dives for the week. I wear a thin hood, no vest. I prefer to be a bit warm rather than a bit cool. THe cool feels good but I find being warmer helps avoid fatigue as the week goes on.

We decided on staying at Cottages by the Sea. They are running a summer/fall special, buy 3 nights, get 2 free!

thanks for any suggestions.

dave

I have the same problem. I freeze at 80. I use a 3mm, and then a hooded vest (3mm body, 5mm hood) if it gets too cold. That works fine for me. So maybe invest in a nice hooded vest.

Cottages is nice. Was there a few weeks ago as they have a nice restaurant. Nice beach as well. It is kind of far from everything, but not too bad. To n2theblue/pier is 5 minutes, but to Cane Bay is about 30 minutes.

Cor