Top 10 St. Croix Scuba Diving Sites
When compiling this month's list of Top Ten Dive Sites, we thought we'd ask those who actually DIVE on St. Croix for their opinion. What is your favorite dive site and why? What makes it special? You've heard it a million times, we've said it 2 million times, St. Croix offers some of the best diving in the Caribbean.
What makes us different? Diving on St. Croix is diverse. That means you have a bevy of different types of diving to choose from. Wrecks, walls, pier, reef, shore and night diving can all be done in the waters that surround St. Croix. Heck, there's even a VILLA on the north shore dedicated to divers!
As a tribute to our favorite dive shops, captains, instructors, locals and the visitors that keep returning to the best kept diving secret in the Caribbean; here are GoToStCroix.com's Top 10 Dive Sites: |
Come help celebrate 10 years of diving on St. Croix with St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures (SCUBA). SPECIALS
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 10. Northstar
Located just west of Cane Bay, there is an EXTREME wall dive called Northstar . It has been described as facing the side of a mountain. Nothing but 100% vertical drop. Ed Buckley, owner of St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures, says, “In places, it's like looking down an elevator shaft. There's plenty of coral and sponge life down the wall and a lot of marine life all along the top”.
 9. Salt River
Salt River's biggest claim to fame is that Columbus anchored his boat here in 1493. Little did he know there was fabulous diving just below the surface. A 300 foot deep canyon scars the earth's crust and is home to dolphins, sharks and massive schools of blue tang. Known as The East Wall and West Wall, respectively, coral pinnacles create “swim-throughs” for divers to maneuver and explore. Roger, from S.C.U.B.A , calls this dive "mysterious". The canyons at Salt River are one of the most requested dive sites on St. Croix.
 8. Eagle Ray
Named for the large number of sting rays that frequent the area, Eagle Ray is located right outside of Christiansted Harbor. The depth is a comfortable 130 feet and very easy to navigate making it perfect for beginner divers and a breeze for those who are more experienced.
 7. Butler Bay Wrecks
The west shore is home to five separate wrecks known as The Butler Bay Wrecks . They consist of a 177 foot cargo ship, 2 tugboats, an old troller and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Adminstrations's (NOAA) Hyrdo-lab, no longer in use! These forgotten vessels make for interesting diving and exploring. They also provide shelter to local marine life.
 6. Swirling Reef of Death
Dan's Reef doesn't sound very exciting, but Swirling Reef of Death does, doesn't it? This site is located on the west shore of St. Croix. It is your typical beautiful, colorful coral and marine life filled scuba dive; just like those you see in magazine layouts. But, a few years ago, after a couple of wild teenage boys finished the spectacular dive, they decided that Dan's Reef sounded way to boring for such a spectacular spot. So they gave it a more exciting name from the minds of teenage boys. Not sure who Dan is, but sorry about that. Now, don't you want to go check it out?
 5. Blue Chutes
The large “chutes” of sand right outside of Christiansted Harbor are known as Blue Chutes and are home to beautiful coral gardens . Sandy, at S.C.U.B.A, said that Blue Chute is her favorite dive spot because of the big chutes of sand that create open-top tunnels to swim through. It is home to St. Croix marine celebrities such as Earl the (moray) Eel, Barbara the Barracuda, Sadie the gren turtle, large schools of horse eyed jacks, nurse sharks, and spotted drums. No autographs, please.
 4. The Pavilions
A colorful wall dive full of hard & soft coral just east of Cane Bay is The Pavilions . What makes it so spectacular? The abundance of marine life, coral reef and the fact that this dive is easy enough for beginners and still exciting for the advanced diver. Divers may encounter nurse sharks, moray eels, schools of Atlantic spade fish, triggerfish, butterfly fish, and the shy and rarely seen pipefish and seahorse. Come face to face along the wall with brightly colored sponges, black coral, and sea plumes. An incredible dive not to be missed!
  3. The Frederiksted Pier
The Pier is more than a port of call for cruise-ship passengers. According to Michelle Pugh, owner of Dive Experience, the currents, along with the shade and shelter of the pier provide the perfect condition to rare and unusual marine life, seen only in this location on St. Croix. Barnacles and algae that grow on the pilings are treated as delicacies by the striated frog fish, sea horses, bat fish, mantis shrimp and eels just to name a few. Up for a little adventure? Try this dve at night and you can watch the octopus dance..
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The Wall at Cane Bay
St. Croix's Top 10 Dive Sites would not be complete without mentioning The Wall at Cane Bay . This location is appealing for several reasons. First, you can just walk right into the water from the beach, less than 100 feet! This makes local boat-less scuba divers happy! Second, the ocean floor goes from 40 feet to over 3,000 feet with peaks and valleys along the way. The Wall is home to a bevy of brightly colored corals, friendly reef fish and interesting aquatic life. Third, Cane Bay Dive shop is right there to help you with tanks, gear and diving accessories for rent or purchase! Truly a diver's dream dive and a once in a life time experience.
  1. In The Water
“Whereever the creatures are on any given day,” was the response given by Sam Halverson from Dive Experience when asked for his favorite dive site. And can you blame him? He's been diving on St. Croix for 20 years. "Each dive site is so unique and different, it's hard to choose just one. Diving with humpbacks at Cane Bay in the winter, massive manta rays in the spring on any given dive site, turtles the size of Volkswagon beetles and curious dolphins any time of the year makes St. Croix tops in Caribbean diving". Well said, Sam.
Click here to return to our list of Top Tens or go check out our Dive Site Map and Scuba Diving Photo Album.
Thanks to Michelle & Sam of Dive Experience for providing us with extraordinary underwater photography to use on this page. |
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