Has anyone tried snuba and if so how did you go about making the arrangements? I'm thinking of doing it over at St. John and was just looking for any feedback.

Hello Shannon,<BR>I have not tried SNUBA, but as a certified SCUBA diver, I'd like to give you just a couple of things to think about before you do it.<BR>1.) Make sure the SNUBA operator is going to conduct your experience in relatively shallow water.<BR>I say this because the majority of people are completely freaked out by breathing underwater, and have problems with the sensation of doing so. <BR>We were diving in Mexico, and saw a couple doing SNUBA. They were about 1 mile out from shore on a reef at about 20' deep. <BR>The girl completely freaked out and was clawing at her boyfriend and the instructor to get out of the water.<BR>2.) If you can't do it or don't like it, you get a refund. (See above.)<BR>I think the ones where they do it in shallow water with a group of people kind of in a line is really cool, and a great introduction to what you can see in the underwater world.<BR>Just check it out to make sure it's something you would be comfortable doing and have fun!<BR>Just fyi, on St. John, you can see almost as much snorkeling the reefs as you can with SNUBA, and a lot easier and less expensively.

The folks at Cinnamon Bay do an excellent job of SNUBA and some say it's a great into to build the conidence to try SCUBA. The instructors are excellent and most people that I have talked to have enjoyed it both at Cinnamon and at Coki. There is also BOB available which might be an alternative too.

We did SNUBA at Trunk Bay St. John and it was a really neat experience. I can't recall for certain, but I think we used www.VIsnuba.com. Did some preliminary research at home and then reserved our spot by phone once we arrived on the island (it was right around $60pp). <BR><BR>I thought the instructor was very good and very patient. We simply waded/swam out from the beach to an appropriate spot, so the water wasn't terribly deep and the shore was always close by. I agree that SNUBA offers a nice introduction to SCUBA and can help you in deciding whether you want to be certified. While you could probably see much of what we saw by snorkeling on the surface, it's neat having the opportunity to get up close. At Trunk Bay we saw more coral than we did fish but the company we used also offers instruction at Coki Beach, St. Thomas. I've been told that Coki is the other way around--more fish than coral. <BR><BR>FYI, I would suggest choosing your day(s) at Trunk Bay carefully. It can get pretty crowded with day-trippers from the cruise ships docked at St. Thomas. Look at the docking schedule for the week you'll be on St. John and pick the day with the lightest load to visit Trunk. Saturdays are often best.

Shannon--Be very careful with SNUBA. Last month a passenger on the cruise ship I was on ended up in the hospital in Key West following a SNUBA incident.<BR><BR> She evidentally had a malfitting on her &quot;helmet&quot; and when she took a deep breath, she actually took water into her lungs. Never did hear how she came out. They were keeping her in the hospital to watch out for pneumonia. Rather scary!<BR><BR>So be very sure you know your company and its reputation.<BR><BR>Just keep doing your research and listen to the posters here on their experience!<BR>

Could somebody please tell or explain what SNUBA is? I am familiar in a general sense with SCUBA having tried it at one of the &quot;resort&quot; dives in 10 feet of water. But am curious what this SNUBA is?<BR><BR>Thanks<BR><BR>p.s. After trying the Resort dive, I have decided to take the full PADI course over the winter months here at home and get my license. It's amazing what the resort dive DIDN'T tell us.