St Kitts Dive Sites
Explore virgin reefs, experience majestic stands of coral, sea fans and tube sponges. Schools of Jacks, Angelfish, Snappers and juvenile Barracuda may join you on your dive. Larger Filefish, Barracuda, Rays, Moray Eels and Sea turtles are often spotted by divers in the waters around St Kitts and Nevis. Spiny Lobsters are common as are small Octopus. Scuba diving in St Kitts is guaranteed to exceed your expectations.
St Kitts scuba diving offers diverse diving conditions with walls, ledges, under hangs and coral towers, along with a couple of good wreck sites. The diving in St Kitts is suitable for all ages and abilities with depths ranging from 30 feet to over 200 feet. As with all reef based ecosystems the best diving is in the range of 50 feet to 90 feet. Visibility is normally excellent, 80 feet plus is the norm. Sea temperatures in St Kitts vary from about 74 - 79F in winter to 80 - 85F in the summer months. If you are a keen diver and enjoy tropical island paradise, then you'd better get to Expedia or Fly.com on the double! Plan your next holiday here and you'll be in sun-sea-sand heaven.The Caribbean (leeward) side of the island is well sheltered and strong currents are virtually unknown, this makes for ideal conditions for both beginners and experienced divers alike.
The thing that is missing from the underwater world here is what I would call "the big stuff". Most of the fish you will see here are rarely larger than about 12 to 18 inches. Yes, we do have the big Barracuda on the River Taw, but the abundance of Barracuda you see in places like Paradise Reeef are much smaller. Parrotfish are common, but not the big ones you see elsewhere. I was startled by a large (2ft plus) Horse-eye Jack the other day, but that is unusual. Turtles of all sizes we see regularly. Large Nurse Sharks are fairly common, along with large Southern Stingrays and Lobster. As for the rest of the fish life, the larger ones are just not here, probably due to overfishing. I do not really miss the big fish because as you will see from some of my photos, I like to "get in close" and the sheer abundance of life on the reefs here more than makes up for it.
I have been diving in St Kitts now for 3 years and still find something new and exciting every time I take that giant stride. This dive site catalogue is mainly from my own experience and the photos and videos are my own, except where I have credited them to others..
Dive site names and locations in St Kitts
The reef system here is so extensive that there are many sites that have yet to be named. Brimstone Shallows for instance is such an extensive reef system that it contains many individual dive sites. The same site may have different names, similar names or simply no name at all. This is probably a reflection on the fact that the diving here is less developed than on many other Caribbean islands. This of course means that many dive sites in St Kitts are in pristine condition and better than many of the more widely known sites in the Caribbean.
Nevis Dive Sites
The Island of Nevis has its own extensive range of Dive Sites.
The two islands are only 30 minutes apart by boat so distance is not a problem.
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