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

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Golden Rock Dive Center/The Old Gin House, Mar, 2014, by Mark F Ward, OR, US ( 1 report). Report 7560.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This was our first visit to St. Eustatius (Statia for short). Statia is probably a lot like the rest of the Caribbean was 50 years ago: No cruise ships, almost no shopping, 1 grocery store, and a few restaurants, all within walking distance of the hotels in Lower Town. Of course, it was all about the diving for us, and Golden Rock did not disappoint. They don’t just say it is “all about what you want,” they really do make it all about the guests. All dives are a short boat trip away, out in the bay. We always had a captain driving the boat and a guide tying off to one of the many buoys that are there just for divers. The captain and the guide both dove with us. On all but one dive, there were two guides and 4 divers. Nice ratio. They needed to see us put on our gear once, but after that they set up everything for us and washed it and dried at it the shop at the end of each day. We truly enjoyed Kris, Karrina, Ben and Glenn. All are fun, smart, totally into the diving, safe but not excessively so, and great guides. Golden Rock normally goes out for a dive at 9:00 am and another at 11:30 am. But, they flex with what the guests want to do. They can do afternoon or night dives by request. There is another dive operation on the island, which gets more traffic because it is right in town (Golden Rock is at the pier, another 1/4 mile on but almost at the end of the road). We saw their groups go by, sitting in the back of a pickup-type vehicle. There were always 8-12 of them. We liked the smaller groups with Golden Rock. The coral off St. Eustatius is in beautiful shape. It has great color and variety, which attracts some nice fish life. We saw turtles, lobsters (big ones!), tons of sting rays, a few sharks, puffer fish to name some of the sea creatures you don’t see every day. There are a few interesting wrecks, most of which are in water that isn’t too deep, some as shallow as 60 feet. Glenn actually captained the sinking of one wreck, the Charlie Brown, about 10 years ago. The life forming on it is pretty cool. The Old Gin House sits on the shore, with large rooms, cleaned daily. Our package included a generous breakfast each morning. On the day we hiked up the volcano, they actually offered to make us a breakfast that we picked up the evening before. The staff was always friendly and helpful. Importantly, the AC always worked great. If you want glitzy shopping, 6:00 am boat dives, cruise ships, etc., don’t go to Statia. But, if you like a spot where you can do some interesting, relaxed diving with fun people and get a nice meal after, Statia is your place.
Websites	Golden Rock Dive Center
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Australia, Hawaii, Roatan, Bonaire, Cozumel, Belize, Florida Keys
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	80-80°F / 27-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	20-100 Ft/ 6-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	None, Golden Rock is all about what we want
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	The boat trips were so short, it hardly mattered, but Golden Rock had a large water bin just for the one camera on board

Subscriber's Comments

By Lyman Duryea in KY, US at Apr 14, 2014 11:43 EST

What's with the ratings?????

By Donn Ellerbrock in OH, US at Apr 14, 2014 15:30 EST

Does one believe the rating or the commentary?

By Dave Eagleray in Ubud, ID at Apr 16, 2014 02:17 EST

Ratings were entered incorrectly -- I was asked to correct them. They're correct now -- Dave Eagleray.

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

Golden Rock Dive Center/The Old Gin House, Mar, 2014,

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):

Subscriber's Comments

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