Scuba Diving in St. Thomas, USVI

Bucket list time! On my cruise, I got to check three things off my bucket list:

1. Going on a cruise
2. Seeing the Caribbean
3. SCUBA diving in warm water

Up to this point, I’d never really taken a trip on a large boat, so the cruise ship was definitely the biggest one I’ve ever been on, and the only diving or snorkeling I’d ever done was in very cold water (in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California). The whole warm water thing was awesome. I’m really glad I got to try it—I have nearly no body fat so every time I get in the water, I’m always shivering like a maniac and have try hard to ignore how cold the water is. So to not worry about freezing was a refreshing change.

In the Virgin Islands, the water is quite warm. Not bathwater warm like the Gulf of Mexico right off the Florida panhandle, but still much, much warmer than I’m used to. I had a nice dive on a teeny, tiny boat with Admiralty Dive center, who did a great job (I definitely recommend them).

I made one major mistake though: I totally forgot to take dramamine. Since I had been on a big cruise ship, which rocks back and forth very slowly and minimally, I forgot how much of a difference there would be going on the super-small dive boat. Since the waters were quite choppy, I was extremely seasick the whole time (I had to awkwardly ask the captain: “Umm… so what if I need to lose my lunch while I’m down there?“). Good news: there’s a way to deal with that, if needed, but fortunately, I didn’t have to learn first-hand. I will never make that mistake again though.

Dive Log