St. Barts (St. Barthelemy)

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If you were to rely on reading dive guides and dive magazines, you would think that St. Barts did not have any diving. Yet there is enough diving to support five dive operators and though St. Barts is small enough to have escaped the notice of many dive travel writers, it has not escaped our attention.

St. Barts’ dive sites fall into two separate areas, with the majority of stores sharing one area and a store on the north east coast having its own discrete area. The main dive area extends from the main town of Gustavia, with several sites no more than 5 minutes from the entrance to Gustavia (See Pain du Sucre below for sample dive near to Gustavia).

Many sites have structures that divers can swim in and through, including some large caves. St. Barts has two wrecks, one of which is rarely dived by the operators but it is an easy dive to do independently.

There is an extensive range of invertebrates on the dive sites, which is usually a good indication of a healthy well-balanced reef. Anemones, urchins, sea cucumbers, and eels are typically present on all sites. Lobsters while not totally protected (see rules and regulations in the book) are given a fighting chance to survive and we saw many while diving in St. Barts.

See the book for 26 pages describing St.Bart’s 26 dive sites and 5 dive stores, plus lots of information about the island, après dive activities, diving rules and regulations and marine life.