Shoal Bay Scuba
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Learning to Dive
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Tropical Fish of Anguilla
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Caribbean Sea Turtle
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Shoal Bay Scuba Shop
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Coral of the Caribbean
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Diving in Anguilla
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Scuba diving with the sting rays in the Caribbean
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Scuba diving in the Caribbean
- Category
- Dive Operators
- Location
- Shoal Bay
At a glance
Shoal Bay Scuba is set right on Shoal Bay (East), the liveliest beach on the island, and offers daily scuba dives, trips to offshore islands, deep sea fishing and watersports equipment hire.
Journalist’s Review
In Depth
Shoal Bay Scuba is a scuba diving and watersports company in the island of Anguilla in the North-eastern Caribbean. As the name suggests it is located on Shoal Bay (actually Shoal Bay East, the better known of the two Shoal Bays on Anguilla), which is on the north shore of the island. Its dive shop is right on the superb strip of sand, right in front of Hotel Ku. Although the company leads on scuba diving (Shoal Bay Scuba is a PADI Resort Centre), it also offers boats for private charter, which might include fishing, day trips to the offshore islands or a trip to a protected beach for some watersports. Shoal Bay Scuba is headed up by Englishman Matthew Billington, who has lived in Anguilla since the early 1990s.
Shoal Bay Scuba offers a daily scheduled diving trip, a 2-tank dive which departs from the hut in Shoal Bay at 9am. The location of the dive is dependent on the weather (see Anguilla Scuba Diving, below) and on the number of takers (up to a maximum of twelve). They offer private trips in the afternoon. As a PADI Resort Centre, Shoal Bay Scuba offers courses from beginner resort course level up to Divemaster level, please see below. They are also happy to offer referral diving for students (under any flag, Naui and SSI as well as PADI) that have done the classroom work and some pool training at home.
The company has three boats, which are equipped with a life raft, jackets, flares and VHF radios. Two, the Lady Lou and Mermaid, are kitted out for scuba diving, and they also carry oxygen and an Epirb. Thomas B is used for deep sea fishing trips and Mermaid also takes the twice-weekly scheduled trip to Prickly Pear on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons and for their other private charters. If you charter one of the boats privately then Shoal Bay Scuba will collect you from your villa or hotel.
Besides the scuba, a good proportion of Shoal Bay Scuba’s business is private charter, in which you hire the boat for an excursion or a trip. This can be for a Caribbean sport fishing outing or for a day trip to one of the offshore islands around Anguilla. Again the location for the fishing varies on the weather and how long an outing you have reserved (deep sea fishing is booked by the hour). The fish that they regularly catch are wahoo, tuna, bonito, mahi mahi, mackerel and barracuda.
But there are other options in Anguilla too. Shoal Bay Scuba can take you off on a trip to one of the offshore islands. They offer the regular ‘destinations’, Sandy Island and Prickly Pear, and also sunset cruises, but they can also arrange a private snorkelling trip to Dog Island, for instance. Or even a ‘Robinson Crusoe’ option, in which they drop you on an isolated beach and leave you there completely undisturbed for the day. If you are particularly interested in watersports, then they will bring all the equipment to one of the remoter beaches on Anguilla itself and you can spend the day windsurfing, kayaking and water-skiing.
The shop at Shoal Bay sells masks and snorkels and scuba equipment as well as boogie boards and other beach essentials like sun block. Shoal Bay Scuba operates seven days a week (the dive shop opens 8.30am - 5pm) except on Christmas and New Year’s Day. They are open most of the year but close when most of the hotels close in September and October.
Anguilla Scuba Diving
Shoal Bay Scuba have a regular scheduled two-tank dive each day. You need to arrive at the hut in Shoal Bay by 8.50 am (they can offer you discounted taxi fares through their own operators) in time for the dive boat to depart at 9 am. The first dive lasts till about 10.30 am and then they move to a different location between 11am and 12.30 pm , bringing you back to the beach by about 1pm.
There is a maximum number of twelve divers plus crew on board the boat, but it is unusual for there to be more than six divers with one dive-leader. There are three dive-leaders on staff. Night diving is available on request with a minimum of four divers.
The diving in Anguilla works well for beginners to intermediate standard because it is very ‘safe’. It starts in 15 feet of water, where there is good interest in the shallow reefs, and it has a perhaps unexpected range. There are many intermediate dives, including wrecks, but there is also interest for more advanced divers, such as the walls, which have to be dived as drift dives. The diving in Anguilla is also relatively unscathed by human intervention. There is no spear fishing and the sites have not been overdived - as it is relatively expensive place to stay, Anguilla has never become known as a dive ‘destination’ and consequently the pressure has been lower than on other better known islands nearby.
Dive Courses
Shoal Bay Scuba can offer scuba diving instruction from beginner level (the PADI Discover Scuba course, which qualifies you to dive in protected water with a dive leader), through Open Water certification (which enables you to take your qualification to other dive shops elsewhere) up to Rescue Diver and then Divemaster.
Instruction usually takes place in the afternoon, usually in your hotel or villa pool. If this is not possible then it takes place at Shoal Bay itself. The instruction is carried out by Matthew Billington, who has been a PADI qualified instructor since 1991. Classroom work also usually takes place at your hotel or villa, or at the dive shop on Shoal Bay as necessary.
PADI Discover Scuba Diver - 3 hour beginners Resort Course including in water training and a dive
Cost US$85
PADI Open Water Certification - Half day training in the sea off the beach, 2 half days of open water dives from the boat and half day theory work
Cost US$375
PADI Open Water Referral - Complete theoretical studies and paperwork at home and complete the course in Anguilla over two half days with four dives.
Cost US$275
PADI Advanced Open Water Certification - Includes one deep dive, one navigation dive, one night dive and two selective dives.
US$350
PADI Rescue Diver - For certified advanced divers who have completed a recognised First Aid course within the last 12 months.
Cost US$400
PADI Divemaster - For those interested in a career in diving. Must have valid Rescue Diver certification.
Cost – available on request
Prices are per person and subject to change without notice.
Guided Tours
Daily Diving Rates:
One tank boat dive US$50
Two tank boat dive US$90
Night beach dive US$70
Includes tanks and weights
Complete outfit with dive US$10
Dive computers US$10
Snorkelling US$25
Daily Equipment Rental Rates:
BCD or regulator and gauges U$10
Lights or a wet suit US$7
Snorkel equipment US$12
Weights and belts US$3
Tanks US$25
Air fills US10
All rates are per person and require proof of certification. All rates subject to change without notice.
Package Plans
If you know that will want to dive a lot, then Shoal Bay Scuba offers dive packages, redeemable against morning two-tank dives:
Three days of two-tank dives US$230
Four days of two-tank dives US$300
Five days of two-tank dives US$370
Six days of two-tank dives US$440
Seven days of two-tank dives US$500
All rates are per person and require proof of certification. All rates subject to change without notice.
Boats
Shoal Bay Scuba has three boats. They do scheduled runs (scuba diving and island trips), but when they are not working they can be chartered (with a captain) from US$125 per hour. Private charter specifically for diving costs US$400 for a one-tank dive and $500 for a two-tank dive (for 1–4 divers). Shoal Bay Scuba will collect you from your hotel if you take their boats by private charter.
The Lady Lou is their primary scuba dive boat. It is 34ft long and has racks and plenty of space for 12 divers. There is a ladder at the rear for exit from the sea, a freshwater spray and there is some shade. Safety equipment includes first aid equipment, oxygen, a VHF radio and an Epirb. Mermaid is their back-up scuba diving boat which is also used for day trips and watersports excursions.
The Thomas B is used for deep sea fishing charters. It has a bimini top which allows you to be in shade while still allowing you to see clearly and to use the rods. Caribbean sport fishing is a popular activity in Anguilla.
Shop Rentals
The dive shop is based on Shoal Bay beach, right on the sand, most easily visible by the red and white PADI stripe. It is the base for dive trips, watersports rental and sometimes for scuba training. Some beach essentials are for sale there in addition to watersports equipment.
Watersports
Shoal Bay (East) is the liveliest beach on Anguilla (really the only one with any ‘beach culture’). It has three or four hotels, whose parasols stand in colourful lines along the sand and a host of beach bars. Shoal Bay Scuba’s dive shop is just in front of Ku Anguilla, next to their beachfront restaurant.
A key part of Shoal Bay Scuba’s business is the hire of equipment for watersports besides scuba diving. They can cover windsurfers, small sailing boats (sunfish), kayaks, boogie boards, water-skiing and they have some towable water toys. Watersports equipment can be rented by the hour at Shoal Bay itself, but it is also quite possible to it them delivered to your villa for the duration of your stay. Another alternative is to hire one of their boats for a day trip and for Shoal Bay Scuba to bring all the water toys with them. If watersports is the aim of the day, then they usually take you to Crocus Bay (on the north coast out of the Valley), which is well protected.
Safety & Medical
Shoal Bay Scuba’s instructors are trained in first aid and to cope with diving emergencies. Boats have oxygen, VHF radio, and first aid equipment on board. All crew are trained to STCW 95 for boat handling. The closest decompression chamber is in Saba, a Netherlands Antillean island about 50 miles away.
Anguilla Dive Sites
All the scuba diving is on the north side of the island in Anguilla and most sites are within 15 minutes ride. There are approximately 45 reef dives, which start in 25-45 ft of water and often slope down to the bottom at 80ft. There are four wall dives (which are dived as drift dives because they have current and are relatively deep - and are therefore are for experienced divers only). On the wall dives you are likely to see sharks, including black and white tips, nurse and tiger sharks.
One of Anguilla’s key features is its wrecks. Six steel-hulled vessels were sunk intentionally in the 1990s to create extra dive sites and they are now encrusted with coral. Some sit upright in 60-80 feet of water. It is possible to enter some of the wrecks, including the Sarah, which is 400 ft long.
