Scuba Diving on St. Thomas: Best Spots & Tours

• Top St. Thomas Scuba Diving Spots
• St. Thomas Scuba Diving Tours
• Scuba Diving Resources
   

Top St. Thomas Scuba-Diving Spots

Coki Beach

Located next to Coral World Ocean Park, Coki Beach is a great spot for beginner divers. The crystal-clear waters are rife with tropical fish and beautiful coral reefs. Beach vendors rent scuba diving equipment, along with food, drinks and souvenirs. Or you can join a SNUBA adventure, led by a guide from Coral World Ocean Park, with no diving certification required. While you SNUBA, air tanks are carried above the water’s surface on a raft, allowing for complete freedom of movement as you explore the protected Coki Point area. Personalized photos of your underwater experience are available for purchase.

Flat Cay

Flat Cay is a vibrant reef system located a couple of miles off the St. Thomas shoreline. Ideal for new divers, or even snorkelers, this dive site has depths that range from 17 to 70 feet. Here you’ll spy hard corals, sponges, queen angelfish, peacock flounders and gliding spotted eagle rays.

Cow and Calf Rocks

Beginner to intermediate divers will want to check out Cow and Calf Rocks. Made up of two large rocks that jut above the ocean’s surface, Cow and Calf Rocks features a labyrinth of swim-through tunnels, archways and caves that are home to an array of marine life. Look for nurse and reef sharks, sea turtles, stingrays, moray eels, lobsters, brightly colored coral and an amazing variety of tropical fish. Look for the Champagne Cork — a vertical opening with waves that pop divers up and out into a staghorn coral reef.

Cartanza Senora

Also suggested for beginner to intermediate divers is the Cartanza Senora wreck. This 190-foot-long World War II freighter shipwreck rests in roughly 45 feet of water in Shipwreck Cove, just off the coast of Buck Island. The former freighter is now a marine ecosystem dotted with coral clusters that provides shelter for everything from octopus and pufferfish to sea turtles and reef sharks. Keep an eye out for the plaque dedicated to Bill Letts, a local dive shop owner who led the effort to save the abandoned Cartanza Senora and utilize it as a dive site.

WIT Shoal

Intermediate divers will want to explore the 330-foot-long WIT Shoal shipwreck. The freighter sank off St. Thomas on its way to Puerto Rico to be scrapped for parts in the 1980s. Today, the WIT Shoal rests in 90 feet of water, where its passageways are filled with marine life. Look for southern stingrays and gray reef sharks. And watch out for the 600-pound goliath grouper that’s known to guard the engine room!

Coral Bowl

Intermediate divers should head to the technicolor Coral Bowl, locally known as Joe’s Jam. The dive site is ringed by volcanic boulders, with a bowl-shaped slope that starts at 30 feet and spirals down to 80 feet at its sandy bottom. The sloping ridge is encrusted with corals, where lobsters and eels peek out from nooks and overhangs. You may also spot southern stingrays, barracuda, parrotfish, filefish, nurse sharks and giant green turtles.

Miss Opportunity

The Miss Opportunity wreck is a great photo op for advanced divers. The 390-foot-long former World War II Navy hospital barge is settled in 90 feet of water with good visibility. Sunk in 1985, it is still fully intact and has lots to explore inside. Exits from nearly every room make it a particularly safe wreck to navigate. Keep an eye out for sponge colonies, lionfish and amberjacks as you make your way through the barge.

French Cap

French Cap is an uninhabited island located some 6 miles off St. Thomas. Because it’s unprotected the seas can be rough, with strong currents, making it a destination for advanced divers only. Do some deep diving, where you’ll encounter rarely seen black triggerfish, sharks, green moray eels, sea turtles and schools of southern sennet (part of the barracuda family). Don’t miss the cathedral-like rock spires that you can swim through.

St. Thomas Scuba-Diving Tours

St. Thomas Dive Center

Aqua Action Dive Center

The family-friendly Aqua Action Dive Center’s dive shop is located at the Secret Harbour Beach Resort. Scuba gear is available in children’s sizes for little divers minimum 8 years old. The dive boats depart at 9 a.m. and head out to spots that include Cow and Calf Rocks, Coral Bowl and the Cartanza Senora shipwreck. Water and fresh fruit are provided on the boats. And once you’re back on land, Aqua Action offers complimentary beach chairs and umbrellas so your family can relax on the sands of Secret Harbour Beach.

St. Thomas Dive Center

Located at Bolongo Bay Beach Resort, the PADI-authorized St. Thomas Dive Center offers everything from reef excursions to night dives, led by knowledgeable instructors. Letts Dive, their 28-foot-boat, is named after late dive shop owner Bill Letts, who was instrumental in preserving the Cartanza Senora shipwreck for divers. Each morning the captain and crew determine the day’s dive spots based on weather and ocean conditions, as well as the skill levels of the divers on the boat.

Red Hook Dive Center

Head to the Red Hook Dive Center to rent scuba gear, get certified or join a guided experience for divers of all skill levels. Located in American Yacht Harbor, this five-star PADI dive center offers daily two-tank diving trips on its 42-foot powerboat, Fool’s Gold. Red Hook Dive Center also accommodates riders — non-divers who are welcome to ride along on the dive trip with friends or family and even do some snorkeling, depending on space availability.

Aqua Marine Dive Center

Posted at the Limetree Beach Resort by Club Wyndham, the Aqua Marine Dive Center offers two daytime diving excursions. Morning sessions are typically reserved for certified divers. Afternoon tours welcome divers of various skill levels, including families. In the evening, grab a flashlight and join the night dive to the shallow Ledges of Little St. James for an adventure that’s ideal for both certified divers and snorkelers.

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