Scubaqua/The Old Gin House: "Wonderful", Apr, 2015,by Steven Shapse Ph.D, MA, US (![]() |
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No photos available at this time | |||
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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Accommodations | ![]() |
Food | ![]() |
Service and Attitude | ![]() |
Environmental Sensitivity | ![]() |
Dive Operation | ![]() |
Shore Diving | N/A |
Snorkeling | N/A | ||
Overall Rating |
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Value for $$ | ![]() |
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Beginners | ![]() |
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Advanced | ![]() |
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Comments |
What a delightful trip. Airport five minutes from hotel. Picked up by dive shop and jumped into back of open truck with benches. This is the same truck used to take all to the dive boat. Everything is no further away than five minutes. Then again, St. Eustatius (Statia for short) isn't very big. The tourist area is about 1/2 mile long. One "hotel" and some guest houses. Three or so restaurants and some of the best reefs in the Caribbean. The waters off the island are a marine park and well maintained. As there are very few divers diving at any one time, the reefs are in great condition. Lots of variety including several wreck. Scubaqua is one of the best dive operators I've been with. Briefings well done and informative. Dive masters were very concerned, knowledgeable and excited about diving, regularly pointing out fish, creatures and other sites underwater that are easy to miss. Free nitrox provided. Actually, nitrox is almost a must as most dives are consistently 70-90 feet. Dives were long, never rushed and you surfaced only when out of non-deco time or air. Simply, a great operation! |
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Websites | Scubaqua The Old Gin House | ||
Reporter and Travel |
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Dive Experience | 251-500 dives | ||
Where else diving | Hawaii, Grand Cayman & sister islands, St. Lucia, Belize, Curacao and more. | ||
Closest Airport | EUX | Getting There | via SXM |
Dive Conditions |
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Weather | sunny, dry | Seas | choppy, surge |
Water Temp | 78-82°F / 26-28°C | Wetsuit Thickness | 5 |
Water Visibility | 35-60 Ft/ 11-18 M | ||
Dive Policy |
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Dive own profile | ? | ||
Enforced diving restrictions | While marine park rules required divers to be accompanied by a dive master, the DMs allowed you to continue your dive until you or your buddy ran out of air, or non-deco times were reached. | ||
Liveaboard? | no | Nitrox Available? | yes |
What I Saw |
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Sharks | 1 or 2 | Mantas | 1 or 2 |
Dolphins | None | Whale Sharks | None |
Turtles | > 2 | Whales | None |
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best): |
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Corals | ![]() |
Tropical Fish | ![]() |
Small Critters | ![]() |
Large Fish | ![]() |
Large Pelagics | ![]() |
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Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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Subject Matter | ![]() |
Boat Facilities | ![]() |
Overall rating for UWP's | ![]() |
Shore Facilities | N/A |
UW Photo Comments | Boat only had buckets for cameras. No camera table. |
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