Certified divers enjoy the freedom to dive with a buddy anywhere and anytime it is permissible.  It’s fun and safe as long as you continue to follow the rules and guidelines and dive within the limits of your training and abilities.  Accrediting organizations have done extensive studies and established strict guidelines for dive instructors to follow as the instructor, sales consultant or dive master on the boat.

Statistically scuba diving is one of the safest activities you can engage in.  Generally dive related incidents are caused by a failing health co

ndition or divers that choose to dive beyond the established limits, engage in diving they are not trained or simply by practicing careless diving practices.  All of these are focused on in the early portion of any dive-training program.

There are several accrediting agencies such as PADI, NAUI, and BSAC that are affiliated with dive centers and instructors.  These agencies establish operational criteria and standards for dive operations and it’s instructional staff.  Dive certifications accomplished with any accredited agency allow you to dive regardless of the operator’s affiliation, and once certified you are certified for life.

All dive certification courses begin in a classroom environment or online study program.  It’s not difficult learn since the lessons are taught to students as young as 10 years old becoming Junior Scuba Divers until they reach the age of 15 at which time they no longer need to dive with a parent or guardian.

The PADI online classroom is available to dive students 13 years of age and older offering flexibility in participation as well as the ability to do this from home.   The classroom is of benefit to those living near a dive shop or resort operation that can spend about 6 hours of study and testing with an instructor. 

Pool classes give you all the practical and functional training in an underwater environment.  You start in the shallow end learning breathing techniques, mask clearing and other essential elements before moving towards the deep end of the pool.  Here you learn buoyancy and control to achieve the weightless effect.  Once you’ve mastered the pool you are proficient with the dive and emergency skills that prepare you for the open water.

Open water classes are essentially the displaying of proficiency of skills already conducted in the swimming pool.  Your first dive is a fun dive where you will cruise the reef in underwater fashion with your instructor allowing you to fully experience your first dive as a real diver.  The following dives you will spend some time proving your proficiency of the skills and still have some time to take in the scenery.

Once you are certified you are good to go on your own, however it is always recommende

d to continue with training at least through the advanced level where you will get training in underwater navigation, peak buoyancy control, deep diving and a few other programs that your instructor feels would suit your individual dive program.

You have the ability to dive comfortably and safely with confidence and will rapidly discover new places to dive and friends to dive with.  The advantage of participating in a scuba vacation program with the Sugar Beach Resort is the combining the resort vacation experience with the underwater world, and there are several dive operators nearby so scheduling your training and diving is never an issue and equipment is readily available.

Sugar Beach Resort is a great place to host your scuba diving event whether you visit as an individual, family or group.  Here you can enjoy the full condo experience and vacation like you are in your own home. 

Stay tuned for the next story about the incredible marine life you will find on the reefs of St. Croix!  And visit Sugar Beach Website for details on scuba diving packages available from the resort. 

When Christopher Columbus first arrived on St. Croix - one of the things that he found most amazing were our sea turtles. There were so many that historical accounts quote sailors as saying: "the sea was (so) thick with them so that it seemed that the ships would run aground on them"

Well - we don't quite have so many anymore - that's a fact that can be said about many of the different animal populations of the ocean - but what we do have - we protect. We post 'turtle' watches over nests to keep predators (mongooses are a problem as are cats and dogs. seconded only by humans), and if we spot a gaggle of tiny turtle hatchlings making their mad dash for open water - it's a cause for celebration.

The peak of Green Sea Turtle season on St. Croix is September, with the Hawksbill and Leatherback Turtles picking up the slack a bit earlier or a bit later in the year. Popular beaches with the Green Sea turtles (they are very discriminating - and very picky too.) are rocky ones like Jacks, Isaacs, and East End Bay. Hawksbill's prefer Buck Island - which doesn't surprise me - it's my favorite too. For the Leatherback's - it's wide open sandy beaches - like Sandy Point - which is also a National Wildlife Refuge.

There's lot of well written information on the web about Green Sea Turtles - so rather than repeat the obvious (yes - they get large, yes - they live 80 years, yes - they are 150 million years old) - here's some fun turtle facts to share at your next dinner party (hopefully spent relaxing on a balcony at Sugar Beach enjoying the ocean breezes, white sand, and blue, blue, blue ocean).

1. Green turtles can hold their breathe for up to 5 hours... That's clocked. So don't try to compete!

2. The shells of Green Sea Turtles aren't green. Sorry. They are brown or at best olive. Green Sea Turtles are called green because their fat is green.

3. Turtles get ahead by sticking their necks out. But Green Turtles can't pull their heads in! They are out all the time. (which makes them the most likely to succeed in the turtle world I guess)

4. Baby Green turtles eat anything they can get their mouths around - crabs, jellyfish and delicious sponges

5. But... Adult Green turtles are herbivorous - like cows  - they only eat grasses! Sea grasses of course. They also chow down on algae. (Imagine - they get up to 500 pounds by just eating grass. How do they do that?)

6. This you won't find hard to believe - Green Sea Turtles prefer just one kind of grass - Turtle Grass. (clearly, picking a name was simple)

7. Like other turtles, Green Sea Turtles take long long trips (also known as migrations). They only 'do it' every 2 to 4 years - the rest of the time they are roaming around the ocean. Scientists, who are basically very nosey people, have tracked turtles from St. Croix - all the way up to Nova Scotia. Wonder if he had his passport?

8. Here's a really surprising fact - Green Sea turtles only nest every other year - but - Even numbered years are most popular! Clearly - they keep day books. Sorry honey - not tonight - it's not an even year. 2012 promises to be a good year for Green Sea Turtles too - which means your odds of seeing turtle babies is going to go up.

 9. One female - many nests - large families! Leatherback ladies will nest 5 to 7 times - with a record of 11 times for one very anxious female. She must have been a school teacher - keep trying until you get it right. Green Sea Turtles only nest about 5 times a season - but each nest will have an average of 135 eggs. Hawksbills make the fewest nests in a mating season - 3 to 5, and have slightly fewer eggs on average per nest - around 130.

10. There are lots of great sites for information about turtles - but this is my favorite: http://www.deepseawaters.com/sea-turtles.htm.  I like it best because it not only has good facts - it's easy to read, and the pictures are fun. So it's a real winner. And you can find out about more than just sea turtles!

So next time you are coming to our beautiful island - be sure to cozy up to some of our most attractive residents - the Turtles!

A MUST-DO if you are visiting St. Croix during turtle nesting season: April to August – is to participate in a “turtle watch”.   Nightly volunteers “watch” the nests,

collecting data and helping with any protection or relocation (due to erosion) needs.  There are scheduled times when the public is invited to come on the “watch”, though you must be a member of the St. Croix Environmental Association to participate.  At $50/year its a bargain that really helps the cause too!  SEA also has other environmental centered events throughout the year, so no matter what time of year you are traveling to St. Croix you can take advantage of these learning expeditions.

Vacationers and locals alike visit Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge on St Croix. It is located on the southwest side of the island, just south of Frederiksted.  Sandy Point is a habitat area for many endangered species, but was particularly set aside as a nesting area for the leatherback sea turtles.  In fact, it boasts the largest nesting population of leatherbacks in the United States on its 2 miles of white sandy beach.

Leatherback sea turtles are the largest sea turtle; females nesting on St. Croix average 6-800 lbs and the largest male ever recorded was more than 2000 lbs! After nesting in the tropics, leatherbacks migrate to the North Atlantic; a satellite transmitter was attached to a St. Croix nester and she was documented traveling all the way to Nova Scotia! Scientists have estimated that leatherbacks could be extinct within 10 to 15 years based on current levels of population decline.

The nocturnal trek of hatchling Sea Turtles is one of the most interesting and exciting spectacles in nature.  It takes between 50 and 65 days after the mother turtle deposits her eggs in a beachside nest that the hatchlings will emerge by breaking out of their thin eggs buried below the sand and make their struggle to the surface and then onward to the water. This is an especially perilous point in their survival because in addition to the natural predators such as Gulls and Raccoons, man has made it increasingly difficult for the newly hatched turtles to find their way to the ocean. The baby turtles emerge under cover of darkness and are naturally attracted to lights, as it is their instinct to move towards the lighter horizon of the ocean and away from the darkness of the beach and sand dunes. Their ability to get from their nest to the relative safety of the ocean is critical for their survival.