St Thomas St Maarten.. worthwhile diving?

[92reefer]

I'm doing the eastern carribbean cruise Oct 1st and was wondering if the diving in St. Thomas or St. Maarten is worthwhile. I've been to both islands several times but never was that interested to dive there..especially St Thomas. Should I just do the family thing and hang out at the beaches, or am I missing some great diving?

I did stay in St John for a week and did alot of diving there...Pretty good but I remember the guides saying that the St. Thomas sites aren't that good as they're fished out and more polluted than St. John

[cabrerad]

Try looking into Saba (you can get there by boat from St Maarten). Most of the best sites are deep, but fantastic. I only did some shore diving off St Maarten itself, but there are several dive shops. As a plus, the food on the French side is great.

[92reefer]

Thanks for the info Cabrerad!

[rnelson]

Just got back from snorkeling in St. Maarten ......beautiful beaches, great place. We were snorkeling in the Simpson Bay lagoon which is about 3 miles west of Philipsburg, in the Dutch side of the island. The surf was really kicking up the day we went, so visibility wasn't as good as it could have been.....fascinating anyway. Our guide had brought a loaf of French bread and fed the fish for us.....hundreds of fish swimming around you... saw a lot of Atlantic blue tangs, some tangs that looked like yellow mimics (not sure though). Unbelievable experience.......except for when I dipped my head too far into the water and breathed in a bunch of saltwater

[kraphtymac]

If you're landing in St. Maarten from a ship, you'll likely port in Philipsburg. I stayed there for a week in July... absolutely amazing. While there I did 5 dives with Dive Safaris, and can say nothing but good things about the diving. Even in 5-7 foot seas and overcast, we saw some really great stuff, wrecks, corals, wildlife, you know. The most unique dive was the shark dive... we csaw about 10 8-9 foot Caribbean Reef Sharks--up close! Beautiful creatures indeed! They'll more than likely tell you about it on your boat, but if they don't, be sure to find them... it's a short walk from your pier! Good luck, and enjoy.