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Dive Review of Scuba Safaris/Oualie Beach resort. in
St. Kitts and Nevis

Scuba Safaris/Oualie Beach resort., Jul, 2013,

by Bill Schlegel, MO, US (Contributor Contributor 19 reports with 17 Helpful votes). Report 7066 has 1 Helpful vote.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 2 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling 4 stars
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 3 stars
Comments Went in a large group of 26. My comments here are an average of my personal impressions and general comments from others, if more than one in group noticed or commented on something. Oualie beach resort is beautiful. Several of us felt that the tropical weather, with early morning showers (5-6 A.M. most days) followed by rainbows at about breakfast time, was remarkable. Resort accommodations, daily room service, meals (meal package) local environment were all about 4 star. The sheltered beach in front of the cabins was about as good as it gets. Calm and warm water. Everyone had comments on fish, Caribbean reef squid and other critters while snorkeling there. The occasional Green Monkey troupe running across the lawn (imported to Nevis from Africa in the 1600's and thriving) was a treat for everyone.
There was a universally negative comment about the attitude of the kitchen staff. Example: We learned that trying to get a cup of coffee before it was out on the counter in the morning was met by an unnecessary amount is surliness by kitchen staff. The bartenders, house aids and all others were wonderful. Overall, accommodations were excellent. For those who want a really plush stay, there is a Four Seasons resort about 5 miles away, with a 18 hole golf course...But that would be like staying in some hotel in Miami.
Dive operation was about 4 out of 5 overall by my assessment. Good visibility and calm. Boat we used was a large catamaran the easily held out 24 divers. Entries were giant strides from about 5 feet above the water. Crew would haul gear out for you if you asked them to. One small head. Rinse tank. Drinking water (water on island in safe). Snacks at times. Sun shade. Oxygen and DAN safety equipment on board.
We saw a couple of sharks doing "fly by's". It should be noted that Nevis /St. Kitts diving is right on the line between western Atlantic on the east side of the island and eastern Caribbean on the islands western side. Dive masters said that they typically see dozens of sharks, including big pelagics, when they dive the Atlantic side. We didn't go over there due to wind and weather. Saw couple of Wahoo, Tarpon, lots of Jacks, but relative paucity of intermediate to large fish. This is almost certainly due to continues subsistence fishing by the locals on Nevis. As a matter of fact, most of the Nevis diving was done off St. Kitts because the sister island has an established marine reserve. But, that's not a problem because the islands are so close: 2 miles. Say lots of octopus, every kind of reef shrimp, and crustacean that you would expect. Night dive was excellent and a few commented on it being the best they had seen n years. Not a bad comment from a rather jaded group . Overall, pretty good for Caribbean island diving. I would go back.
The negatives were comments I heard others make. One of the dive shop owners who was one the trip, made the comment that the air compressors inspection sticker was dated 1999. He felt it was a little hard to keep you PADI rating up with that. Some others, rightly so, commented on the poor reef fish populations directly off Nevis. But as noted, 2 miles away, fish density was better in the St. Kitts marine park. Same phenomenon for corals, which were devastated off Nevis but much better off St. Kitts. One exception to this was a dive called The Shallows, between the two islands. This had the greatest density of sea fans and soft corals I've seen in a while. And, sea fans as you know are very fragile.
I particularly liked how the Canadian marine biologist, Valerie, who was working as a dive master, had a one woman vendetta against Lionfish. You can get Lionfish ceviche in the restaurant....wonder where the com from?
The island is beautiful. Cab and van excursions are a must. The main town, Charlestown is quaint. However, the island at one time had 200 sugar plantations. All closed now. Several have been made into high end restaurants and B&B's. Golden Rock is one you should see with a menu and quality that would put any high end New York restaurant to shame....and very reasonable prices.

Websites Scuba Safaris   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Almost everywhere.
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm, choppy
Water Temp 78-82°F / 26-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 2
Water Visibility 50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions 1. No planned deco. 2. 40-50 minutes (not enforced)
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins 1 or 2 Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 1 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

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

Subject Matter 3 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Boat tank for cameras. That's about it.
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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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