Dive Review of Golden Rock Dive in
St. Eustatius

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Golden Rock Dive, Oct, 2005, by Pat Sinclair, FL, USA ( Top Contributor 31 reports with 10 Helpful votes). Report 2226.
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	Michelle and Glen run a very fine establishment in Statia. I was impressed by the level of service from the staff of both the Old Gin House and also by the dive shop. Where to start - where to start! We had such a great stay, after things started off so badly. Hurricane Wilma caused a delay with our trip, by 2 days. Since MIA was closed, we ended up flying out of DFW to TPA then to Puerto Rico, then St Martin then to Statia. I was very unhappy about losing the day and a half, but Glen and Michelle made the trip so memorable I had almost forgotten about the inauspicious start. Upon arrival at Statia, we were met at the tiny airport and taken to the Old Gin House, where we checked in, dropped by the dive shop store front, checked in there, and then went up to the room and unpacked. We were so tired we took a nap and then got up and walked down to the Blue Bead restaurant and had a great dinner. The next day we went down for breakfast and arranged to do our two daily dives as the 10 AM and 2PM dives. We kept largely to that schedule the whole time we were there, we were on vacation, after all and wanted to get some rest and enjoy our time together on this pretty little island. On the first dive, I got motion sickness, and while I made that dive I was not able to make the 2nd dive of that day. My husband went on the next dive, with DM Lisa and he said she found so much stuff for him, he was quite impressed with her and her knowledge of the area and the critters. The next day I remembered to take my Bonine and made both dives. The area does not have reefs quite like I am used to, however the numbers of fish, turtles, lobsters, rays, eels and so forth more than made up for that and of course, they were very unafraid of divers, I guess since it is a marine reserve they had no reason to fear anyone. The size of the lobsters was unbelievable - I have never before seen so many HUGE lobsters! We had signed up to do 10 dives and 1 night dive before we came here. We managed to do 8 dives each, we could have done all 11, but..well, we decided to be lazy and just relax one afternoon and then there was the night dive! We did the Wreck City dive one afternoon with DM Lisa and saw the biggest lofggerhead turtles (two big ones and one small turtle)on these wrecks that I have ever seen. I managed to get a couple of shots, one of which turned out beautifully. I cannot tell you how awesome it was to see that animal lazily swim past us, and it happened so quickly that I am thankful to have gotten the 3 shots out of the pass that I did. One afternoon, my husband decided the hammock at the dive shop looked really good to him, so he would stay behind and take a nap there. I went out with Mike as DM and we did the Blue Bead dive. There is no reef at all on this dive, but the amount of small critters was unbelievable. He also found the first octopus I have ever seen in daylight. It was hidden under a shell covering a hole in the sand. Cute thing, it was! Our last dive, was the Wreck City dive at night. We again went out with DM Mike, and this dive was just the three of us. I have never enjoyed night dives and have never had a good one. I can never say that again. Mike took us slowly through the wrecks and we saw the two large loggerheads asleep in their respective holds of two of the wrecks (one was on the small tug boat.) The tugboat wreck was literally covered in orange cup corals, one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. We were accompanied the entire dive by the largest barracuda I have ever seen (he was a good 4 feet long and really big around the middle), he was always near us, hoping, I guess, that we would scare up a meal for him. I also had a swim with Tina (the smallest of the 3 turtles that hang around these wrecks.) She stayed with me the last 1/4 of the dive, until we headed back topside. I was impressed with how beautiful and serene a night dive can be. Bob and I decided after that night dive, that any other dive would but pale by comparison, so we packed up our dive gear the next morning and took the day off. We went sight seeing around the island, which is so pretty. We went up to the old fort and looked out at the vista. We learned about the history of the island and then went and visited the Atlantic side where the water is so different from the Caribbean side. Food was mostly eatten at the Old Gin House and it was fabulous!!! Try the Lobster!!! The next day we headed home. The only thing I wished I had known before the trip was what the take off and landing at Saba was like. That scared the heck out of me. Landing wasn't too bad, but the take off!!! If you don't have a strong stomach, try taking flights from Statia to St Martin that are direct to St Martin and do not stop on Saba. We will go back there again!
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Bimini, Grand Cayman, Florida Keys, Cozumel, Roatan,
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	0
Water Visibility	35-60 Ft/ 11-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Restricted to dive always with Dive Master in reserve waters.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	If you asked, Lisa and Mike would try to find just about anything you wanted to take a picture of. I wanted a garden eel shot, they took me to the place and they sat and waited with me for the 15 minutes it took for the critter to come out so I could take the shot.

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Dive Review of Golden Rock Dive in St. Eustatius

Golden Rock Dive, Oct, 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 in
St. Eustatius