Dive Review of Dive Safari in
St. Maarten

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Dive Safari, Nov, 2004, by James Heimer, TX, USA ( Contributor 15 reports). Report 1476.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This was by far the best of two experiences we have had diving with a group organized by a cruise ship. The previous experience at St Thomas from the Carnival Triumph was an overpriced ($70) one tank shore dive from a popular tourist beach. This, however, was a moderately challenging, two tank boat dive with a very professional dive operation on a new, well laid out boat. The cost was $90 for two dives, including all equipment, which was below the cost to walk up to the shop and do the same dives and rent all of the equipment. The group was met at the cruise ship gangplank by the dive staff, who warned us that 6 foot swells were running at the sites. My wife and I immediately downed bonine. The dive staff noted who needed what equipment, and we were then shuttled over to the dive shop to pick up BC's (everything else was on the boat, including weight belts set up with the weights we had specified) and board the boats for the 10 minute ride to the sites. We first dove Proselyte, the wreck of an 18th century sailing vessel. There are numerous cannon, anchors and bits of the ship scattered about the shallow reef. The swells were daunting, and there were several cases of mal de mer. The entry was a giant stride off the stern, each group of 6 divers met their dive master / guide on the tag line and decended for the 45 minute / 60 foot dive. Aside from the shipwreck, the area is carpetted by mulit colored soft corals and sponges. There was surge all the way to the bottom. The exit was to surface after a safety stop, pull into the boat on the tag line, remove fins and hand them to the dive master in the water, and climb out. This was easier than I had expected, and the dive staff in the water and on the boat were very attentive to assit the divers. The second dive was at The Maze. There were the same soft corals and sponges and the most amazingn assemblage of lobsters on a small vertical rock face that I have encountered, with 3 to five in each of the dozen or so holes in the wall. The Dive Safari staff said that these conditions of large swells, underwater surge, and somewhat limited visibility were typical of St Maarten (we were diving on the Dutch side on the south), although in the afternoon as the cruise ship left and passed by the sites, the sea had turned to glass. There is more sheltered diving, and a one tank beginner dive was also offered in one of these bays.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Hawaii, Tahiti, N & S California, Norway, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Australia Barrier Reef, Honduras, Belize, St Thomas
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	choppy, surge
Water Temp	74-77°F / 23-25°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	30-50 Ft/ 9-15 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Dive guided by Divemaster with 12 divers in group from cruise ship, Carnival Legend
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Boat had separate rinse tank for cameras, but this was also the only place to store them on boat to and from the nearby (10 min) site.

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Dive Review of Dive Safari in St. Maarten

Dive Safari, Nov, 2004,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Dive Safari in
St. Maarten