Dive Review of Low Key Watersports/Grande Bay Resort in
Virgin Islands/St. John

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Low Key Watersports/Grande Bay Resort: "Nice, Stress-Free Diving", Dec, 2020, by Rik Pavlescak, FL, US ( Sr. Contributor 23 reports with 19 Helpful votes). Report 11497 has 5 Helpful votes.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I was supposed to dive in Utila for a week, but dive wife was concerned about COVID and backed out. Quickly scheduled a liveaboard in the Bahamas on Aquacat for the same week, since I had taken off work already. Two days before the liveaboard I receive a call from Aquacat cancelling the trip because a client and staff member had been diagnosed positive for COVID. That left me one day to scramble for another dive trip during my week off. Fortunately, a friend had just dived with Low Key Watersports in St. John, US Virgin Islands, and she recommended I check it out. I called and they had dive slots available for the week. I went to vrbo.com and found a great studio unit at Grande Bay Resort which is next door to Low Key. Finally, I was able to book a last minute flight. Other travel details: the timing for a COVID19 test prior to entering the US Virgin Islands is the same as for the Bahamas--so I was able to use my test results to fill out the paperwork and get into the US Virgin Islands without needing another COVID19 test. Finally, the dive gods were smiling upon me an this trip came together. Flights during COVID were smooth--everyone masked, Delta still blocking middle seats, all was good. Upon arriving in St. Thomas you need to have your COVID19 test results--they have to be from within 5 days of your arrival. They go through a quick screening, with multiple people taking temperatures, checking paperwork and moving everyone through very efficiently. Took maybe 5-7 minutes in line to get screened and then on to baggage claim. From there, out the terminal, make a left to find the taxis/vans heading to Red Hook ferry. They will pack a van with people: about 8 of us. Everyone was wearing masks during the 20-30 minute ride to the ferry terminal. Once at the ferry terminal, buy your tickets (abut $8.00 plus $4.00 per bag). HINT: After I bought my ticket, I was told by the ticket agent to just "hang around" until the next ferry which was about 45 minutes. I sat at a bench, which was roped off and didn't pay much attention as a line started forming. Eventually the ferry arrived, the line grew, and when I went to join it, I was at the very end--almost didn't make the boat. In fact, there were about 10 of us at the end of the line that had to sit in "the basement" of the boat--no windows, only one small ladder down to a few rows of graffiti covered benches. Had I known, I would have simply stood in the line. When you arrive at St John's depending on arrangements you've made, getting to Grande Bay Resort is easy--about a 5-7 minute walk. The owner of the unit I was renting had a manager meet me at the terminal and help with luggage, etc. Low Key Watersports is right next to the resort. As implied by the name, they are Low Key. They ask you to check-in by 8:10 a.m. for morning dives--which usually left by 8:30 a.m. or so. Afternoon check-in is 12:45 p.m. and when everyone is there the boat leaves. Several days we left at or before 12:45 p.m. and one day we waited until about 1:20 p.m. for one diver. No worries. When I was at the ferry terminal in St. Thomas they had a map of St. John showing about 11 marked dive sites. I am not sure of the total count, but it did seem like a limited amount. I dived 19 dives with several sites repeated 2 to 3 times. Most of the dives are 40'-50' and shallower. Several are less than 30', which for me is fine, as I like to take pictures. Throughout the week we saw several sharks, a spotted eagle ray, a turtle, a stingray, plenty of typical fish and corals. Lots of lobsters, flamingo tongues, an arrow crab, Pederson shrimp and other typical Caribbean critters. I was able to photograph a juvenile drum fish, an intermediate drum fish and an adult spotted drum. Plenty of nice corals to look. One site, Cow Rock, has a wide swim through. Safety: roll call was taken at beginning and before leaving each dive site. All crew and clients were required to wear face masks for COVID19 while on the boat. They could come off when preparing to dive and had to go back on when divers got out of the water and while riding back to shore. Most dives, as indicated were in the 30'-40' range. The boat did not stop for a surface interval between sites. Once everyone was on board, the boat would go to the next site, which could be 5-10 minutes away and everyone would gear back up and jump back in with about 20 minutes surface interval, if that. The exception to this was when diving at French Cap, where the depth was 70'-80'. At the end of the dive they enforced a 3 minute safety stop and they did a 45 minute surface interval before the second dive. Diving was always with a dive guide and they typically asked the group to swim out to the tag line at the end of the boat, descend together, and at the end, do a safety stop and ascend together. Most dives were 45-50 minutes as the dive guide would monitor air consumption. That meant that I often was back on the boat with 1200-1500 PSI. I'm fairly easy going so I didn't question if I could stay down longer. On one dive on my last day, one person I was diving with signaled to the dive guide that we were going to stay down another 5 minutes under the boat and they seemed fine with it. It took at least that long for the others to get on the boat anyway. Overall, this was a very nice trip. I would highly recommend Low Key Watersports for anyone looking to "just dive". If you have a specific agenda in mind, like deep diving or long dives, or something specific you want to see, you may want to check with them first. But if you just need to get into the water, blow bubbles and see some stuff, this is a perfect way to do it. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to dive with these dedicated professionals for a week. If the weather is decent, the crew may decide to go out to French Cap which offers a deeper dive site (about 70').
Websites	Low Key Watersports Grande Bay Resort
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Costa Brava, Roatan, Key West, Cozumel, Key Largo, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac, Bonaire, Philippines, Bali, North Sulawesi
Closest Airport	STT: St. Thomas	Getting There	Delta flies from Atlanta to St. Thomas. From there a cab to Red Hook ferry--take the ferry to St. John
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm
Water Temp	79-81°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	25-100 Ft/ 8-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Dive with the group, following a guide. Most dives were 45-50 minutes at 40'-50' or shallower.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
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
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	The dive boats have a small table for cameras. Fortunately not many divers had them; if they did there would not be enough room. No rinse bucket or tub on the boat or at the shop. Crew were great about handing camera to and from water. Guides would point out 1-2 items of interest for photographers on each site.

Report currently has 5 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Low Key Watersports/Grande Bay Resort in Virgin Islands/St. John

Low Key Watersports/Grande Bay Resort: "Nice, Stress-Free Diving", Dec, 2020,

Photos Submitted with this Report

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 Low Key Watersports/Grande Bay Resort in
Virgin Islands/St. John