Beth

Has anyone been to Carambola Beach Resort since Sunterra took over and is pushing timeshares? I'm wondering how service, food, etc. is. How is the beach and most importantly, how is the snorkeling off the beach there now?

tonya

Carambola is no longer owned by Sunterra; it is owned by a group of U.S. investors who purchased it a few months ago from Sunterra. Time shares are no longer in the plan (though I understand the new owners will honor the existing time shares previously sold).

liz

Cannot comment on new owners. Can comment on the beach and snorkelling though which doesn't change with the owners! The beach is very pretty, a bit rocky, the most swimmable part is at the far left end. However for diving, it is unbeatable. If you go there, take a resort diving lesson in the pool and then go in with full equipment. The reef that drops thousands of feet down to the bottom of the ocean starts just off shore from the hotel beach. You don't need to get in a boat or any of that. We did spectacular day and night dives. The water depth up until the reef is only about 8-12 feet and you can snorkel, but obviously the fish cluster around the reef itself. So why not make the transition to real diving. We also did night diving there, which can be as scary as a Stephen King novel, however it was very placid and beautiful. Just swimming out from the beach at sunset and dropping down the reef at night you see all the crustaceons which are neon brilliant in your flashlight's beam. By day you will see everything from huge manta rays (plankton eating) to a variety of hundreds of other smaller fish. Never saw any barracudas or threatening type mid-ocean fish. The water is crystal, bathtub clear and I am sure the same dive operation is still there since it is a very special site, no doubt one of the best in the Carib. We also did a boat dive to another wall in another part of St. Croix but it couldn't compare with having that reef right at our fingertips. You will want to rent a car to see the island and experience some other restaurants anyway. Just up the beach from the hotel was a beach shack type restaurant, I want to say called Jimmies but this could be wrong, where we feasted on conch and lots of other goodies for lunch and dinner too. That was our favorite, I never find hotel menus satisfactory. Also the grounds are beautifully landscaped, it was originally a Rockefeller Rock Resort so has the plantings of a genius. Hope this helps.

bos

I lived in St. Croix about 6 years ago and used to dive basically every day at the Carambola resort wall. It is AWESOME, it's right there, and you don't need a boat. After swimming out for a while, the water is about 10-15 feet deep, and suddenly just drops to the bottom of the world, straight down, coral wall, to the bottom of the trench which is thousands upon thousands of feet deep. I can not comment on the resort other than it's in a lovely setting and I really thought it was top notch while I lived on St. Croix. <BR><BR>I've been diving across the world and always have fond memories of the Carambola cliff wall dive.

Beth

Thanks so much for the information. It sounds wonderful. I was not able to find much positive information about snorkeling on St. Croix (other than Buck Island). Glad to hear that there is a hotel with great snorkeling from shore. I may try it out myself next spring.

liz

Beth, hope you make the investment and upgrade to diving. Even in shallow water, this is something you would enjoy alot more than snorkelling. You can take the theoretical course at home, do a serious of practical exercises in a high school or YMCA swimming pool, and do live diving in St. Croix or wherever. It is a bit of work, mainly learning how all the equipment fits together, but everywhere I have ever been have great dive operations with people who are so enthusiastic to get beginners started. Once you take snorkelling to the next level, you really get to enjoy the world beneath the sea. Not that snorkelling is never fun, it is, and there are some places that don't justify the full dive rig, but the world just opens up for you when you get certified.