Info About St Croix Diving Trips by Jim Blair

I taught at Milton College in Wisconsin, and began organizing January Winterterm trips to the Virgin Islands--twice to the VIERS ecological station on St. John, and 16 times (including several mid-semester breaktrips) to St Croix. Milton College closed, but I continued VI trips until Hurricane Hugo disrupted the island.

The villas at Northside Valley are now available for my trips again, and were better than ever when I was there in January, 1997. The villas are scattered about a large wooded estate on the edge of a rain forest, 3 miles north of Frederickstead, about 100 yards from the sea (up hill and safe from no-seeums!). Butler Bay is about 300 yards south and Monks Bath about 100 yards north, both along a little used paved road. Papaya, lime, soursop, sour oranges, etc. grow wild on the estate. Fresh papaya and lime juice are great for breakfast.

Activities

I usually plan to be on St. Croix for two weeks (SEE NOTE). You could come and go any time during that period. The size of the group will be limited to about 14 at any given time (so we can all fit in a van). Boat dives and tank rentals are with CRUZAN DIVERS, Frederikstead. I will lead shore dives at Cane Bay, Frederikstead pier, Monks Bath, Butler Bay, etc. There is usually a tour of the rum distillery and St. George Botanical Garden, a trip to Sandy Point beach, and a shopping trip to Christianstead.

I will look into a boat dive/snorkeling trip to Buck Island if there is interest. A windsurfing trip to Chenay Bay is another possibility, as is chartering a 35 ft sloop (LOVESONG) to sail around the island. (It is not practical to sail to other islands from St. Croix.) There are small boats to rent in Christianstead, and sometimes in F'stead.

A steel band may be playing at a nightclub on Saturday night. While the West Indian cookouts that used to be at the Cane Bay Reef Club and at St. Croix By The Sea are gone, there was a nice one at Chenay Bay for $24/person, when I was there in March of 1995 and Carambola has a great buffet dinner on Friday nights. And they have music and native limbo and "mumby-jumby" dance show.

Diving on St. Croix is varied and good.

SHORE DIVES: There are 3 sunken ships, some trucks, and an abandoned underwater habitat that can be visited from the shore at Butler Bay. There is a wall drop of thousands of feet about 80 yards off shore at Cane Bay. I have seen seahorse, octopus, and families of squid under the pier at F'stead. The entire coast from Butler Bay to Monks Bath has a shelf that drops from 20 to about 35 ft. with some caves.

BOAT DIVES: There are submarine canyons at Salt River, and nice reefs at Sunset beach and off F'stead, and at Buck Island. The shore dive sites and Buck Island all are excellent for snorkeling. Unlike other good diving areas I have been to, St. Croix is not well known. When we dive, there is usually no one else around (except at C ane Bay and Buck Island). While some of the shore dives are challenging, several people have described the pier at F'stead as the most laidback dive they ever did. I have never encountered strong currents on St. Croix like I have in Cancun.
Details

Past trips have ranged from 6 to 14 people, about half men and half women. Sometimes teenagers and small children have come with parents, or high school students somtimes come by them selves. Several retired people have come. But most have been young adults. Usually 50 to 80% on a given trip have some interest in diving, either as certified divers, completing open water checkouts, or doing a resort course. About half of the people on recent trips have been there before. People who want additional flexibility in transportation (for additional sightseeing and/or eating out at night) can rent their own car for part or all of their stay.

For divers who want as much time underwater as possible, a live-aboard is best. If you want nightclubs and restaurants every night, you should stay in a hotel in a major tourist city like Christianstead. Northside valley is remote, and F'stead, while it does have some interesting local restaurants, is not a swinging place. It is a quiet native town, while C'stead is the tourist city. My trips began for students who have their own gear and wanted great diving at little known locations on a limited budget, and were willing to eat in most of the time. I have found that this appeals not just to students but to others as well. But certainly it is not for everyone.

About the Area

I have been diving at St John and St. Croix (USVI), Cancun, Grand Cayman, and St. Martin in the Caribbean, as well as Hawaii (Hilo and Molikini crater near Maui); I've also been to Eilat, Israel, and Coral Island and Sharm-el-Sheikh Egypt, both in the Red Sea. Each location has unique features. Given a chance to dive one location, I would choose Sharm, Egypt, but to go for a week of diving anywhere else, my choice from any of the above is St. Croix. Not so much that it is better than the others, but that it is more diverse, and usually less crowded.

SCUBA DIVING magazine for February 1995 lists the night dive on the F'stead pier as being one of the five best in the world. SKIN DIVER, January 95, and THE UNDERWATER JOURNAL, 1st quarter 95, both have articles on diving St Croix. There are some pictures in my

Arrangements

Since I need to know who is seriously planning to be there, I will want a deposit (one night) to hold your place. The balance for accommodations& van will be due in cash or travelers checks when I pick you up in St.Croix at the airport.

The diving you will pay to CRUZAN DIVERS as you dive.If for any reason the trip is canceled your deposits will be returned, but not if the trip goes but you don't.

References

If you want to verify that I am real, here are some references:

NOTES:

For information about my next trip, see the NEXT TRIP file of my web page. Let me know what you think. If you want, I will add you to my list of those with possible interest in future trips if the dates for this one don't fit your schedule. Trips have cost $50/day for housing and van, with tanks for shore dives $8/day, with a weekly rate discount. Boat dives have been from $35 to $25 per dive (tank) depending on how many you do. $35 for one but, 10 for $250.I have a schedule for intermediate numbers: see the Next Trip file. Any changes will be noted in the NEXT TRIP file.

You can get to St. Croix from Chicago on US Air, American and Delta.I think rates are lower from the east coast, Atlanta, and Miami I would appreciate any information you have on good airfares from anywhere to St. Croix.

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Trees of Northside Valley

Northside Valley is located on the edge of a 300 acre nature preserve and bird sanctuary. Michigan Botanist Janice Glime visited the estate in 1978and compiled a list of trees growing there. I used her list and the two volume set "Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands" by Frank Wadsworth to compile a field identification key for 40 species of trees there. Each species is referenced to its number in the Wadsworth book. I will bring this along if anyone expresses an interest.

Plants on the estate include Hibiscus, Bougainvillea, Yucca, Aloe, SeaGrape, Mango, Flamboyant, Soursop, Coconut, Mahogony, Ginger Thomas, Indian Almound, Jasmine, Lime, Papaya, Raintree, Sour Orange , Royal Palm, African Tulip tree and Sugar Apple.

Current news from St. Croix
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For information on other island trips, see Island Dreams Tours & Travel

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