Sint Maarten’s Underwater Thrill: Shark Encounter

One of the top things to do in Sint Maarten is diving. Learn more about this St Maarten excursion, about where to dive and what to expect. Don’t miss out on a top dive spot in the Caribbean and book a dive trip to Sint Maarten today.

Fun fact about Sint Maarten: the island is actually split. The southern portion, Sint Maarten, is a territory of the Netherlands. The northern portion: Saint Martin is a French colony. Depending on what portion of the Island you are visiting is the name that will be used. South: Sint Maarten and North: Saint Martin.

This post focuses on the southern portion: Sint Maarten. As stated, this portion is controlled by the Netherlands. There are numerous lagoons, long sandy beaches, and plenty of dive spots to enjoy!

Quick Trip Overview

• Location: Sint Maarten
• Closest Airport: Princess Juliana International Airport
• Time of Year of Trip: December

Dive Information

• Wet Suit: 3mm / Shortie
• Water Temperature: Average 30 surface, 28 bottom
• Current: Strong in some areas
• Average Depths: 20m

Dive Season at Sint Maarten

The best time to visit Sint Maarten is from the period of December to May. Otherwise, the June to November is hurricane season in the Caribbean. You can visit during that time as well, just be prepared that the water may be rough and the weather may turn during this time.

During the prime dive season of December to May you will find that the weather is the anticipated tropical paradise. Expect temperatures averaging about 29 degrees Celsius kept constant with the ocean settings!

Recommendations for diving at Sint Maarten

No special required additional training stands out for diving at Sint Maarten. You should be able to do a majority of the dives with an open water certification.

However, if you are interested in seeing sharks and the large rays that inhabit the area then an advanced open water certification would be encouraged. Nurse sharks, reef sharks, and Southern Stingray.

What to see at Sint Maarten

You can find large to small ocean life at Sint Maarten. Very popular is the shark collection that can easily be encountered at Sint Maarten: the reef shark, or a nurse shark. Additionally, you will find Southern Stingray hidden under the sand or an eagle ray. These large rays are an impressive sight, and typically are indifferent to divers swimming nearby!

Sint Maarten has some of the highest probability of encountering a reef or nurse shark on a dive! A majority of the dive sites that are located at Sint Maarten have become normal territory for sharks.

Like the rest of the Caribbean, Saint Maarten has been invaded by lionfish – a non-native species. The upside of this is that (unfortunately) reef sharks and nurse sharks have become conditioned to recognize divers as the possibility of getting a meal.

In order to prevent the expansion of the invasion of lionfish, dive groups will harpoon a lionfish if spotted in order to kill the lionfish and then leave the body behind. This means a free meal for the sharks.

You will find a lot of reef sharks or nurse sharks circling about where dive groups are. However, there is no need to worry as the sharks keep their distant and just patrol the area where divers are to find these injured lionfish for an easy meal.

Don’t Support Shops that Feed Sharks

While I know most divers and snorkelers would be thrilled with the opportunity to see a shark while out on the water – it is important that sharks are not fed.

Feeding sharks create bad habits – as stated above just leaving the harpooned bodies of lionfish has trained sharks to look for divers for some free food.

By feeding the sharks the dive shop is conditionally training them to associate divers with food. While this may mean great shots of sharks while out on the water there have also been negative consequences.

The sharks do not understand how the process works, and it has been reported that “attacks” occur when the sharks are not fed by dive groups after expecting such. Now, I’m not saying it is massive Jaws attacks, but the sharks have been known to swim up and bite hands. This is probably due to expecting the food to be there for them.

Ultimately, do not support shops that feed sharks. This is training sharks poor behaviors – and then people are enraged when the wild animal acts on instincts.

Currently, there seems to be no large concern of sharks biting divers trying to get food handouts – as most just check where divers leave. Fortunately, the fact that the dive shops are not directly feeding the sharks but are leaving the lionfish behind has put a parameter on the interaction.

However, if a shop is offering a shark dive – ask the important questions:

• Do you feed sharks?
• Do you encourage touching sharks?

If any of the answers are yes, then more than likely the shop is baiting/chumming in order to attract sharks for tourist.

Seeing a shark in the wild is far more exciting and pleasing than having one baited in.

Dive Spots at Sint Maarten

• Carib Cargo – a cargo ship that took a bit of a beating. This cargo ship was heavily damaged by Hurricane Luis in 1995, and then in 1996 Hurricane Bertha sank here. However, the cargo ship is mainly intact. You can swim around the outside of it, and added bonus: inside. The cargo ship is easy to swim through the engine room. Additionally, there are several other rooms: like a toilet! Just be aware that this cargo ship can occasionally have strong currents and when inside the wreck the current can push you about. During days of bad currents, the reef sharks seem to use this wreck as protection.
• Isabella – a sunken wooden sailboat that has since disintegrated. This reef, however, has some other great ocean life to spot – to include more reef sharks.
• HMS Proselyte – a famous, and popular dive in Sint Maarten. The boat was constructed in 1770, and this wreck is dated back to 1802. The wreck occurred when the boat ran into the reef and began taking on water. The crew, trying to prevent sinking, starting tossing all heavy materials overboard to include cannons, and anchors. You will now find all the tossed equipment becoming part of the reef that surrounds the wreck. There is much to look for when diving this wreck and there is also a chance of running into some more reef sharks here!
• The Bridge – surrounded by three sunken sailboats is the old Simpson Bay Bridge. This old bridge is now covered in corals. This is a great location for spotting schools of fish.

What to do on Sint Maarten

After a long day of diving and exploring the island underwater, look into some of these activities for the evening or a day off from the water:

• Maho Beach – the famous airport beach. More than likely you have seen the videos or the photos of people on a beach with a plane just barely overhead. The runway for Sint Maarten is taking up the extent of the area, and incoming airplanes begin descending down immediately. Hence, the airport beach has become a big hit. As the large passenger planes pass over the beach at a very low altitude in order to land on the airfield. However, this location is dangerous as the gusts from the plane have been known to injure people and tourist have been killed in the past for trying to touch the plane.
• Cupecoy Beach – a great location for watching the sunset after a long day of diving. Or to take on the waves with a surfboard.
• Dawn Beach – like the name hints, this beach is a great location for catching the sunrise at the island.
• Great Bay Beach – if you are more interested in a beach with some other activities then this is the beach. The Great Bay Beach features a boardwalk and is surrounded by shops and restaurants.
• Seaside Nature Park – a great place for another variety of outdoor activities. Hike and explore, or take a horseback ride through the nature park with views out over the coast.

Where to stay on Sint Maarten

If you are interested in staying in a resort that will help organize dive tours then consider these options:

• Divi Little Beach Resort – this resort has an on location and offers two tank dives from their beach.
• Oyster Bay Beach Resort – this resort primarily focuses on snorkelling offer day trips out. However, there is a nearby location that offers dive trip so the hotel can assist in organizing a dive trip.

Dive Shops on Sint Maarten

Here are some dive shops that are located on Sint Maarten:

• Oceans Explorers Dive Center – highest rated, and most popular dive center that is located on Sint Maarten. This dive center is famous for its “shark dive”. I would encourage asking the above questions prior to diving with them to ensure the shop dives with sharks ethically.
• The Scuba Shop – second popular dive shop on Sint Maarten. If you are a sailor and are bringing your yacht in this shop can help organize diving off of your boat.
• Scuba Fun Dive Center – located on the opposite side of the island, this shop has great ratings as well. Additionally, the shop rents to those passing through on a personal boat.

How to Get to Sint Maarten

There are two main ways to get to Sint Maarten due to the fact it is an Island, and that is by boat or by plane:

• Plane. Land at the famous airport: Princess Juliana International Airport. Fly in and land over the popular beach with all the tourist watching the planes land. United States: Atlanta, Charlotte, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, New York, Philadelphia. Additionally, there are direct flights from Paris! Finally, there are flights from a lot of the neighboring Caribbean islands.
• Boat. This location is a popular cruise port of call. So there is a chance you will stop here for an eight hour time period. Additionally, though, this island is a popular yacht destination for those cruising along the Caribbean Islands.

Diving from a Cruise Ship

• Check the times – check your cruise itinerary and know the times that the boat will be arriving at the port and will be departing from port. This will give you the window to dive. More than likely you will only be on the island for 8 hours so you will not have too much time to dive – most companies will only take you on two dives due to these time restraints and their afternoon dives starting around 1400 which is going to be close to the boarding time back at the boat.
• Find a dive company – Since Sint Maarten is a growing cruise port destination a majority of the dive shops have grown accustomed to catering to cruise ship passenger. Such as Roger’s Scuba Shack. The dive shop will pick you up from the cruise terminal, take you out to the dive center, and then return you to the port all well within the time allotted for the cruise boat.
• Book with the cruise boat – There is a chance that you can book a dive through the cruise boat. Some boats have a dive master on board or have arranged with a dive shop at the destination. This will give you priority departure from the boat, and will also protect you if for some reason the dive company runs late. However typically with tours organized through the boat, you can expect to pay more money $140 for two tank dive whereas you will be able to book a two tank dive for $100 to $120 independently. If you rather keep a peace of mind though then this is a great option to partake in. Just make sure you book far in advance as there are typically very few spots for dive tours on the cruise ships.

I have in the past booked dives through the cruise boat and have since learned about booking my own dive trips. A bonus of booking independently is that you typically get more dives in than booking through the boat, and you will save money. However, you are taking a gamble that if something goes wrong with the tour that you will be on your own.

Check Out These Other Caribbean Dive Posts

• Dive Trip to Grenada
• Dive Trip to Barbados
• Dive Trip to Martinique
• A Guide to a Dive Trip in the Caribbean