Diving and snorkeling in the Virgin Islands is rated among the best in the world. Many of the sites have National Park mooring buoys, but innumerable virgin reefs remain unexplored. You can find vertical walls, underwater pinnacles, coral reefs, caverns, and wrecks – The RMS Rhone is the most famous wreck, which sank in 1867.
The BVI’s are the perfect place for any diver, experienced or not, because of the warm water, calm seas, and lack of current. A lot of dive sites are shallow and perfect for the novice diver, who wants to be introduced to the wonderful world of SCUBA. In the BVI, diving is rarely deeper than 80 feet and most dives are between 30 and 60 feet. The water is at a temperature of close to 80°F year-round. Visit our dive sites which vary from sheltered coral reefs to offshore rocks and walls. You can also dive inside grottoes, caves, and old shipwrecks. Visibility is mostly good to excellent. You’ll find a tremendous variety of undersea life, which will keep you checking in the guidebooks again and again.
DIVING THE WRECK OF THE RHONE
If you only have time for one dive trip in the BVI, the RMS Rhone is it!
The most popular and well-known of all BVI dive sites is the Royal Mail Steamer “Rhone”. The Rhone was the setting for the hit movie “The Deep”. The wreck itself is fascinating to explore with parts of her still intact. The Rhone sank during a hurricane and is lying in depths from 20 to 80 feet. She is colorfully decorated by a wide variety of corals and is home to several resident barracuda, sea turtles, stingrays, angelfish, yellowtail snappers and many other varieties of fish. This is a “must-see” for all levels of scuba divers!
3 Options for Diving
On your all-inclusive charter, there are one of the following options offered:
DIVE MASTER ON BOARD
Yachts with a Dive Master on board will only offer diving for certified divers. The dive master will guide already certified divers around the wonderful dive sites of the Virgin Islands.
DIVE INSTRUCTOR ON BOARD
Yachts with a dive instructor on board will offer diving for certified divers, but can also offer a resort course (introduction to diving) or dive instruction (referral course, where the theory and pool dives are done at home).
RENDEZ-VOUS DIVING
A lot of crewed yachts do not offer diving from their yacht, but can arrange Rendez-Vous diving for you. In this case the divers are picked up from the yacht by a dive school to have a 1 or 2 tank dive and return to the yacht afterwards.
Some Dive Schools offering Rendez-Vous Diving
Costs for Diving:
Depending on the yacht, the scuba diving can be included in the rate or will be charged extra per diver per dive. Some yachts have gear on board and some yachts request that the guests bring or rent gear for an extra fee (about $150 per week)
