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Dive Review of Ocean Explorers Dive Center/]Bahia Blue Villa in
St. Maarten

Ocean Explorers Dive Center/]Bahia Blue Villa: "Good Diving Again at St. Maarten", Aug, 2019,

by Michael Traylor, TX, US (Contributor Contributor 15 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 11031.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling 3 stars
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 3 stars
Comments We lodged in a 4 bedroom villa in Terres Basse with a kitchen, pool, hot tub, and en suite BR's. The cost is about the same as as mult. hotel rooms & meal costs are less if you cook there. Rental cars are the best way to get around. Ocean Exploreres is still on a southern beach at Simpson Bay in three containers since the old shop was gone with the hurricane winds. We went to the dive sites in a 28 ft. Boston Whaler with a max of 8 divers, but the boat is a bit crowded. We had to skip two of our planned diving days because of driving rain and choppy seas & this ocurred with our last visit at the same time two years ago. July-August may have more weather which may result in missed dives. We did a lot of wrecks. A site called Proselyte had 18th century cannons and anchors encrusted with coral and sponges-a nice photo opp. At Turtle Reef a 2.5 ft Green Turtle approached us for scratching & air bubble fountains from our 2nd stages. The divemasters removed a wreath of plastic from her neck 2 years ago and she's been a friend since! All the dives were unique.
Websites Ocean Explorers Dive Center   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving Many Caribbean, Galapagos, Fiji, Costa Rica, Sea of Cortez, Maldives, Texas Flower Gardens, Hawaii, Sulawesi, Siladen, etc.
Closest Airport St, Maarten Getting There There are daily flts from Miami and Atlanta; perhaps other originations.

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, rainy Seas calm, surge, no currents
Water Temp 82-83°F / 28-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 1
Water Visibility 50-60 Ft/ 15-18 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Forty minutes bottom time-not much enforced.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

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'm not a photographer, but there seemed to be no camera tank on the boat. One of the dive masters shoots a lot of photos during the dives and these are available online.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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