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I also though of getting a Mares Tropic 3 wetsuit... good idea?
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I’d skip Puerto Rico. The best diving is on the south side of the island, or so I’m told. I did the northeast and didn’t see anything all that interesting. I don’t know anything about the other islands you mentioned.
An exposure suit is always good to have. You won’t get chilled as quickly and it will protect you from abrasions, jellyfish and/or floating particles of jellyfish, and sunburn while floting at the surface. I’d also recommend investing in some 3mm gloves, even if it’s just for climbing back onto the boat. Skin that’s been in water shreds very easily.
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St. Lucia is a great place to dive. Due to the warm water I only dove a .5mil fullbody suit just to keep the jellyfish off and a pair of shorts. Anything over that and I would have gotten to hot as the water was in the 80’s. I would suggest getting a cheap underwater camera just to take some pictures as it it beautiful down there. If you look at my profile I have picture links to all the places I dove when I went on my 2 week wedding cruise. Antigua does not have any real diving if I remember correctly.
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I’d take a 3mil suit for exposure and hopefully you’ll do alot of dives. As far as gloves, I usually recomend a pair of "mechanics" or simillar, they are cheap and work greak in warm water. As a cold water diver I even got cold making repeat dives in Belize last december, pulled off 18 dives in 4 days.
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Dave,
If you dive St Croix stop by and talked to Big Ed of stcroixscuba.com. He runs a great operation and tell him that John from SCUBA "U" sent you. You can also send him an e-mail before you go down and ask him anything that you can think of before you get down there.
As for a wetsuit, I always recommend one on every dive.
We have a store located in Burbank, IL if you would like to check out any suits or any other equipment. Stop by or give us a call at 708-599-2630 even if it just to ask some question you may have.
Thanks
John
SCUBA "U"
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Here are my comments, for what they are worth:
San Juan, Puerto Rico - Agree with the previous writer. Best diving is either southwest or at islands far off the West Coast. Even so, hardly worth the trouble.
Bridgetown, Barbados - Some good wrecks.
Castries, St. Lucia - Good dives, but do not miss out on the natural wonders of the island.
St. John’s, Antigua - Not worth the trouble and the dive shops are scary.
Philipsburg, St. Maarten - Don’t know. We did not dive there when we went. Seemed like nothing to offer. We did go for a nice snorkel on the French side, arranged by the ship. Corals were marked with plaques stating what they were.
St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands - Dive the town pier. Lots of sea horses.
Finally, if you are an experienced diver, try to make your own arrangements for dives now on the Internet. Cruise dives are more expensive and they lean toward new divers. The latter may be good for you if you are relatively new. The big advantage of the cruise dives is that you are guaranteed back before sailing. If you arrange your own, tell them when you sail and get them to assure you that you will be back in time.
I’m envious!
Gerry
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Thank you for all your suggestions and stories. The help is greatly appreciated. Will post some pics when I return in early September
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