Dive Review of St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures /Hotel Caravelle in
Virgin Islands/St Croix

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St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures /Hotel Caravelle, May, 2011, by Edward Leibowitz, NJ, US ( Contributor 13 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 6062.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Had to be at Newark Airport at 4:45 AM to catch the flight to Miami at 6:15 AM. I flew out of St Croix, a week later at 3:20PM arriving in NJ after a change of planes in Miami at midnight. Considering the travel distance between NJ and St Croix, flying times were most inconvenient. St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures runs a very nice operation at St. Croix. Their dive guides and boat crew are very helpful. The reefs were very nice. Fish life was a bit sparse. I thought there could have been more variety in dive areas. The first day of diving was at Caneel Bay. The next four days of diving were at various inlets of the Salt River. Went to some of the same dive sites 2-3 times. The night dive at Blue Chute was one of the best night dives I have ever done. . Saw giant crabs, moray eels and lobsters. I thought the surface intervals were too short considering the depths. First dive was usually to 80-90 feet with a surface interval of about 45 minutes. The second dive was usually to 65-70 feet. However, nobody received any diver related injuries due to the shortness of the safety interval. I would have felt better if we waited 60-90 minutes between dives. Consider daily tipping, since there may be different dive guides and boat crew each day I did two night dives. One of them was off the town pier in Frederiksted. The dive shop is not permitted to drive you there. Likewise in St Croix, transfers from the airport to the hotel are not included in your accommodations package due to the Taxi Association which has strict laws that permits only taxis to do transfers. A cab took a group of us from Christiansted to Fredericksted at a cost of $15 round trip. I booked the dive and air package through Warren Simms of Scuba Travel Ventures. I’ve used this agency for dive travel for the past four years. I find them to be extremely reliable. When I arrived at the Hotel Caravelle, I was told by the desk clerk that I owed a balance of $133 for the room which I had prepaid in full. I contacted Warren via email and he immediately straightened out the problem The Hotel Caravelle although not ultra luxurious was a short distance from the dive operation.
Websites	St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures Hotel Caravelle
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Palau, Yap, Indonsia, Fiji, Bonaire, Saba, Tortola, Malaysia
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, rainy	Seas	calm, choppy
Water Temp	79-83°F / 26-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	50-80 Ft/ 15-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No Nitrox package. Nitrox was available at $15 per tank.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures /Hotel Caravelle in Virgin Islands/St Croix

St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures /Hotel Caravelle, May, 2011,

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 St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures /Hotel Caravelle in
Virgin Islands/St Croix