Dive Review of Golden Rock Dive Center/Old Gin House in
St. Eustatius

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Golden Rock Dive Center/Old Gin House, May, 2005, by Tom Garber, Ca, USA . Report 1756.
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	We had planned a two-week, three-island trip to include 3 days on Statia, 7 on Saba and 3 more on St. Maarten. We booked American Airlines to St. Maarten and our inter-island flights through WinAir on line. All sounded good until we arrived at St. Maarten and found that our baggage never left LAX. All we had was our carry on, which contained our essential dive gear; regs, computers, masks, etc, and some misc toiletries, etc. No clothes or swim suits, BC's, Fins, U/W Camera. We had to purchase some T-shirts, Thongs, etc. from the gift shop in town. Not much available for clothes there. When we arrived at Statia, we told the folks at the Old Gin House of our predicament and they said that this happens frequently and that they would have someone bring our baggage as soon as it arrived via WinAir. We met with Michelle and Glenn Faires at Golden Rock the next morning. Even though WinAir had not notified the hotel, Glenn immediately drove me back to the airport to see if WinAir had delivered any baggage, where we received the 1st suitcase with the clothes. We dove the next two days as planned but did not receive our remaining dive gear until right before our 2nd dive on the last day. Glenn went and picked it up at the airport. Glenn and Michelle loaned us rental gear at no charge. They were by far, the most accommodating dive shop folks that we have ever dealt with, Michelle made numerous calls to WinAir trying to locate our stuff and was genuinely concerned with ensuring we enjoyed our stay in spite of our airline problems and rainy weather. If you go to Statia, dive with Golden Rock. When we showed up to dive on the third day Michelle was on the phone with WinAir, they had landed and wanted to know why we weren't at the airport to depart for Saba. I gave Michelle my itinerary which showed we had reservations on a 3:00PM flight that day not 7:30AM. WinAir informed her that if we didn't get to the airport in 10 minutes, we would not be able to leave until the following day. We packed in 5 and Michelle drove us to the airport. She gave us a hug and we departed, once again without luggage, due to a full plane and weight limitations. We made a total of 8 flights on this trip and the only flight that had our luggage when we landed was the return trip to LAX. Unfortunately, we were only able to make 4 dives, so can't really provide a good assessment of the diving. We dove the Blue Bead dive, which was a muck dive where one of the divers actually found a blue bead. We also dove a large wreck, which was quite interesting, and the Double Wrecks site. Golden Rock Dive Center is a Class operation, Michelle and Glenn went beyond expectations in trying to make our time enjoyable. Michael and Lis were not only informative and professional divemasters, but were entertaining and kept things fun and interesting. The island is very interesting with a lot of history. Things commonly found in touristy areas are non existent. There are some good restaurants within walking distance of the Gin House. The Blue Bead was probably the best. Gin House food was good, but a bit overpriced. If you stay at the Old Gin House, I recommend the Ocean Front Rooms. They are very nice with privacy and a great view. Due to the difficulties with WinAir, I do not recommend a multi island trip. We met two other divers on Saba who had booked Statia as their 2nd island, but never made it due to WinAir's inability to land on Saba for several days. A 1000' runway doesn't allow much room for crosswinds. If you do go multi island, you might consider "The Edge" which is the ocean ferry. You get to travel with your luggage. I know they service Saba and St. Maarten, but not sure about Statia. See Saba write up for remaining trip info.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Cozumel, Roatan, Grand Cayman, Saba, Channel Islands Ca, Catalina Island Ca,
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	rainy	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	82-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	2
Water Visibility	50-90 Ft/ 15-27 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	All dives were guided by dive master, however you could dive your own computers and and not follow the group if you requested.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	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	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Golden Rock Dive Center/Old Gin House in St. Eustatius

Golden Rock Dive Center/Old Gin House, May, 2005,

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 Golden Rock Dive Center/Old Gin House in
St. Eustatius