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

Golden Rock Dive Center/Old Gin House: "Very good diving, but deep!", Apr, 2016,

by Kristin W Weck Farrag, IL, US (Contributor Contributor 17 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 8910.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 3 stars Food N/A
Service and Attitude 3 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments The good: The diving is really good! Loads of fish and turtles - very few sharks. Lots of little stuff too - all the usual suspects you would see in the Caribbean. Not too many lionfish, they keep good control over them. The divemasters that run Golden Rock, husband and wife duo, Gary & Lynn were fantastic!!! Very accommodating and helpful! Even though they had only been there for 9 months they knew the sites very well. I really hope the owners, Glen & Michele, know what gems they have in Lynn & Gary - really wonderful to dive with!

The not so good: The dives are all pretty deep - we were doing 3 dives a day and were always pushing the "no deco". Lynn & Gary really went out of their way to get us the 3 dives per day safely, so kudos to them! In retrospect, we should have gone with Nitrox to squeeze out some extra bottom time, but we made it work.

The Old Gin House is just that: OLD! The grounds are nice, but the "garden" rooms really need some work. Windows are suprisingly screened (a good thing). However, the windows are wood slats, so all the A/C goes right out the window. Very difficult to keep the room cool enough. There were also 3 of us sharing a room & it was difficult to get enough towels. After explaining 4 days in a row, they almost got it. Everyone was very nice & tried to be as accommodating as possible. The restaurant is good, but very expensive! You're better off eating at the Blue Bead or the place next door.

Great trip & I'm glad I went!
Websites Golden Rock Dive Center   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving Indonesia, Micronesia, Red Sea, South Pacific, all over Caribbean.
Closest Airport St. Eustatius Getting There ORD to Charlotte to St. Maarten to Statia

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, cloudy Seas calm, choppy, surge
Water Temp 80-81°F / 27-27°C Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility 40-75 Ft/ 12-23 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions safety stop at 500 PSI or 50 minutes.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

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

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Small bucket on boat for cameras, but it was salt water & masks were in there too. Very easy to wash out back at the room at the end of the dive day, so not really a big deal.
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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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