Dive Review of Ocean Explorers Dive Center/Divi Little Bay in
St. Maarten/south coast

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Ocean Explorers Dive Center/Divi Little Bay: "Ocean Explorers, great dive shop", Jan, 2017, by George Lynch, MA, US ( Reviewer 6 reports with 6 Helpful votes). Report 9453.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	A small operation with first class service. Very close to the airport, a little inconspicuous from the road as it is on the far side of a small parking lot, but bustling in the morning and around noon. Small groups, fairly small boats, slightly rough in January (at least while I was there) so take something to prevent seasickness if you are prone to it. I was amazed at how good the service was. I have dived with numerous shops and this was probably the best service I have had in over 30 years. Always pleasant, cheerful, and helpful, the dive guides somehow manage to get all your gear on the boat, remember whose gear is whose, remember your weight amount - and which is your BC - from day to day, find the unmarked sites, assist you into the water (they use a unique entry) after putting your BC on your back, then lead the dive and take excellent pictures of you to boot. I honestly don't know how they manage it all. They also don't pester you underwater, or do that annoying tank-banging thing one endures all too often with so many operators. They are very good at pointing out creatures and assisting those who, inevitably, require it. We saw lots of Caribbean reef sharks, turtles, morays, stingrays, lobsters, occasional spotted eagle rays, and a fair assortment of the usual Caribbean reef fish, plus several wrecks. We tended to go slowly and not cover a lot of territory, which some divers may like less than others. There did not appear to be any mechanism for picking up divers at their respective hotels, as far as I could tell, but getting there in a rental car from the Philipsburg area was a simple matter and a short trip in the morning. Late afternoon traffic was surprisingly bad, but we were always back for a two tank dive by around 11:30 AM and traffic was not an issue then. We didn't make any afternoon dives, though these were available. They have one weekly night dive if there is sufficient interest. Lastly, the sites generally were not far away, less than 30 minutes, often much less. Overall, an excellent shop, highly recommended. Diving quality fairly good by Caribbean standards.
Websites	Ocean Explorers Dive Center
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Egypt Red Sea, Taveuni and Ringgold Islands Fiji, Palau, Sipadan Island, Kenya, Zanzibar, Hawaii (Big Island), Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, Little Cayman, Cayos Cochinos and Roatan Honduras, Belize, Phuket Thailand, Akumal and Cozumel and Cabo San Lucas Mexico, Sangalakhi Island Indonesia, Costa Rica
Closest Airport	Princess Juliana International Airport	Getting There	direct flights from Boston
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	choppy, surge
Water Temp	78-80°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	40-60 Ft/ 12-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Dived in small groups, guide taking photos and pointing out creatures. They seemed to want the group to stay at least loosely together but were not at all pushy about it. Don't know how they'd feel about people going off completely on their own, but suspect this would be discouraged.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	I didn't take UW photos, so can't comment on this subject.

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Dive Review of Ocean Explorers Dive Center/Divi Little Bay in St. Maarten/south coast

Ocean Explorers Dive Center/Divi Little Bay: "Ocean Explorers, great dive shop", Jan, 2017,

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 Ocean Explorers Dive Center/Divi Little Bay in
St. Maarten/south coast