The Virgin Islands are a premier diving destination. The islands are protected by Anegada and Horseshoe Reef to windward, which break the Atlantic swells from churning up the sands inside the cruising ground, creating excellent visibility. As well, the islands are inside a National park, which prohibits fishing. So the oceans are not fished out, and there are lots of tropical fish – sea turtles, octopus, lionfish, enormous grouper – to photograph and explore on all the reefs.
One of the greatest delights of a Nicholson Yacht Charter is to be able to explore the fascinating life under the sea. Yachts can anchor right by a coral reef, where it is not necessary to have scuba gear to enjoy the sights. Picture yourself! Myriads of colorful fish dart in and out of brain coral – shafts of light illuminate waving sea fans – the white sand of the ocean floor is rippled by the passing waves. You are in a fantasy world of silence and buoyancy where color and movement take the place of sound and weight.
Diving versus Snorkeling
Being a diver is like being part of a club. Divers call out on Facebook, for instance, “I’m going to Thailand next month….anybody know where I should dive?” Back comes the answer, “Dive the Chimney! Soaring peak….” Divers know what each dive site offers and treat each place like a temple.
There are about twenty dive sites in the Virgin Islands that dive operators, through cooperative effort, have pooled information on, to give people brief but picturesque descriptions. They have names like “Painted Walls,” “The Indians,” “Van Ryan’s Rock,” “Chimney,” “The Chikuzen.” Diving these places looks like something out of Gulliver’s travels: “Long canyons, caves, sponge-encrusted tunnels, barracudas, sheer cliffs, schools of herring or fry, winding canyons, underwater arch, brilliant corals, waving sea fans, Spanish galleons, soaring peaks, resident nurse sharks, pelagic fish, soft and hard corals, drift dives” – all in depths of 10 to 100 feet.
So scuba diving is worth a try. Some of these sites accommodate snorkelers. Others not so satisfactory….
Rendezvous diving
There are dive companies on every island that have boats with dive instructors aboard who come out at radio’s call to any charter yacht anchored anywhere in the Virgin Islands (or Grenadines!) with dive gear to take certified and non-certified divers alike to any depth dive they might want – morning, noon, or night. Yes, night!
These rendezvous dives are inexpensive and safe, efficient and reliable, and cost about $85/person for a single dive, less for additional dives….. Google www.divebvi.com for multiple dive rates. You don’t need to book in advance. Your captain will call for you… Every yacht in the Caribbean offers “Rendezvous Diving” from just about every island….
A Longjaw Squirrelfish shot at Rainbow Canyons off Pelican Island, BVI – Photo courtesy of the 47’ Catamaran, Caribbean Dream
Yachts with Scuba
Nicholson Yacht Charter’s clients prefer to charter yachts that carry their own scuba gear, so they don’t have to meet with a group or dive according to a schedule. Charter yachts have met this demand by offering “SCUBA” to guests. They carry tanks, compressors, buoyancy compensators (“BCs”), regulators, good-quality masks, fins, snorkels, and weights.
Insurance companies also require yachts to have qualified crew members to double as dive masters or dive instructors to dive with guests. Thus, there often is an extra charge for scuba gear on most yachts, and guests need to be certified divers to dive from a yacht, unless one in the crew is a dive instructor.
Like a fish in a corn maze? Richard and Jan on the 54′ Sovereign sloop SCORPIO supplied us with this “amazing” coral image.
The Resort Course
If you are not a certified diver, ‘dive instructor’ is the operative word. We need to find you a yacht that has a dive instructor…. There are various dive courses offered aboard our vessels. The Resort Course (or Discover Scuba course) is a two-dive course for the novice that enables you to dive, accompanied by a dive instructor, who stays with you throughout the entire dive. It’s a special dive that Naui and Padi recognize internationally to introduce people to scuba diving. The joy of it is that you do not need any previous diving experience to dive. It’s perfect for the casual diver who is going to dive just once in his or her lifetime. The cost is about $175 per diver.
The lionfish are voracious predators. When they are hunting, they corner prey using their large fins and then use their lightning quick reflexes to swallow the prey whole. (As somebody said on Facebook, “This is why I’m not a diver!” Ha!)
Open Water 1 Certification
If you are not a certified diver but want to become so, so that you may dive in future without an instructor, you can get your Open Water I Dive Certificate easily. Go to www.padi.com or www.naui.com and enroll in an e-course. This portion of the three-part process to Open Water 1 Certification costs $138 and consists of six units of ‘intellectual development’ with quizzes and certifications.
Simultaneously, you start your 4-5 hours of required pool work. The links above will refer you to your nearest local Padi or Naui dive centers, so you can schedule your pool work. Enroll in classes meeting 1-3 times a week, depending on your schedule. The cost for pool work is between $150-$250….
Now print your e-Record and Referral Forms to bring to the Caribbean with you. Your crew will complete the third part of your scuba certification with you – the open water, ocean work – at a cost of about $300.
After that, each additional dive is roughly $40/dive plus equipment rental of $85/week, or bring your own gear. Some yachts include diving….
The more you dive over the course of your life, the less expensive diving costs, because you begin to get comfortable diving on your own with a buddy, and it’s fascinating to explore the ocean floors….everywhere in the world.
SCUBA Fast Fact
If you have even the remotest cold, you cannot scuba dive. And you know it when you have one. Your ears simply will not allow you to sink under the water!
Padi or Naui?
Whatever type of diver the instructor is who completes the ocean work with you determines whether you will become a Padi or a Naui diver…. In other words, if you start out studying with Naui, but complete your ocean work with a Padi instructor, you will become a Padi diver. There’s no difference between the two organizations……
Group photo of the final certification dive. Congratulations to our 4 newest certified divers! – Photo courtesy of the 47’ catamaran S/Y Caribbean Dream BVI
5 New Divers Last Week. All qualified with flying colors at the Chimney. Well done guys!! – 47’ Catamaran S/Y Two if by Sea, BVI
Dive Costs
Each charter yacht has its own price for diving. Some yachts include diving. Typical costs look like this:
Rendezvous Dive–about $85 for a single dive-www.divebvi.com
Certified divers: $40/dive/person plus rental of dive gear (regulators, BCs, weights (about $80 a week/diver.) You can bring your own gear….
Resort Course and/or Discover Scuba: $175/diver
Open Water I Referral Certificate: $300/person
Advance Open Water Certificate: $400/person
Catamaran MIMBAW’s Daniel and Tais with charter guests, diving with an un-named visitor in the Caribbean….Photo courtesy of the 41’ Catamaran S/Y Mimbaw
The Wreck of the Rhone
The wreck of the RMS Rhone is considered by many to be one of the greatest wreck dives in the world. In 1865, she was a 310 ft. long Royal Mail Ship with 253 lavish first class cabins, 30 second class cabins, and 30 third class cabins. She travelled by both steam and sail at 14 knots and was said to be “unsinkable.” Her bronze propeller was the second ever of its kind. She originally was stationed in Brazil, but in 1865 she was redirected to the Caribbean. She stopped in St. Thomas to get coal, but the coal station had moved to Tortola due to a yellow fever outbreak. The captain was concerned about the barometer, which was falling rapidly. There were 140 passengers onboard. But it was October, and hurricane season was supposed to be over. So the captain didn’t slip out of the harbor to safety when he had the chance.
Half way through the hurricane, the yacht started to drag her anchor. After much difficulty, the captain had to cut the anchor loose. Finally, he headed out of the channel by Salt Island. Jjust as she was passing Blonde Rock, situated in 25 feet of water, the wind changed, with the passing of the eye of the storm, and she hit Blonde Rock with a bang and broke in half, sinking rapidly, her boilers exploding. All lives were lost except 23. Her hull broke in two, the bow falling in 80 feet of water, the stern in 30′, although later the stern was blown up, because it was a navigational hazard.
The bow of the Rhone is still amazingly intact. The ship’s winches are there, some spanners, a porthole, and a teaspoon. The anchor that was cut loose is still wedged in the rock that her captain couldn’t break loose from 150 years ago. The wreck is amazing, because divers can swim through the hold without fear of getting trapped. The hulk teems with lobster, eel, and octopus and is entirely encrusted with coral. She is supposedly haunted by Goliath Groupers!
Conservationists ask divers and snorkelers to please protect the coral reefs…. Almost everything living in coral communities is delicate. Touching the sea fans and corals is frowned upon, and collecting anything other than fish is generally taboo….
Many yachts carry underwater cameras for guests’ use. Good pictures will last, whereas all that is so beautiful on the reefs will dry out and fade on shore.
Dive sights in the Virgin Islands have moorings nearby. So divers can swim directly to the dive sight from the yacht and don’t have to bother with a tender. It couldn’t be easier!
For further information, please contact Sylvia Weston and/or Shelby Nicholson at 1-800-662-6066. We would love to arrange a dive charter for you anywhere in the world!
