Top Snorkeling and Scuba Diving in Montserrat

Montserrat offers a wide diversity in diving, catering for the beginner to the advanced diver. Shore diving is popular with six easy to reach sites. There are colorful coral reefs, swim-throughs, caverns, seventeenth century anchors and deeper 80ft reefs. All accessible from shore. Boat diving is also available with an even greater range of sites. There is an abundance of huge barrel sponges, loads of turtles and lobster. On the N.E. side there is a nineteenth century wreck. On the S.E. side a sheer wall. On the west side an extinct underwater volcano called the Horn. Few places offer a wider range of dive sites. Even more interesting is the fact that large parts of the island are as yet still unexplored, with new sites being found on a regular basis. I have been diving all over the world and have not had as much fun exploring the reefs as I am having here. From http://www.visitmontserrat.com/travel.htm : The nearest international airport is Antigua with direct services from New York, Newark, Philadelphia, London, Toronto, San Juan and many Caribbean islands. From North America, American Airlines offer connections via San Juan; while US Air, BWIA, Air Jamaica, Continental Airlines, and Air Canada offer direct flights. Air France, British Airways, BWIA, Virgin Atlantic, Caledonian and Condor provide services from Europe with several flights weekly. There are daily scheduled inter island flights provided by LIAT, Caribbean Star, American Eagle and BWIA which also operate to Antigua. Travel out of Antigua to Montserrat and vice versa is possible either via helicopter or via ferry services, which operate daily to and from the island. A fast, comfortable ride of just under an hour by ferry and twenty minutes by helicopter allows for panoramic views of the island, its beauty and the redevelopment of its landscape from a distance. You should note that the current daily ferry and helicopter services are expected to continue for a period overlapping the commencement of daily flights by Winair in July 2005. However, following this overlapping period these services are expected to be discontinued, so you will need to plan your travel well. There is a departure tax which is payable upon leaving Montserrat. US$9 (EC$25 is required of CARICOM Nationals while all other persons are required to pay US$16 (EC$45).

South side of beach, Biiiig Baracuda and bait balls observed. Clairity was not great. Head to the North side of the beach. Swim out through shallow murky water for 50-75 feet. Clarity improves dramatically. Swim out parallelling the shore. Saw lots of turtles, urchins, and a good varity of fish. Current is minimal when I was there in the winter, but it pushes north so keep that in mind for the swim back. We had the entire beach to ourselves! Allegedly the best site on the island. This is a snokle site because of the hike. Take a boat to dive here. From Cars Bay: Go north by the Culture Center, take a right at the V (left to Green Monkey Dive Shop). Drive up into the Gravel pit (active) and look to park up to the left. You will see the path that switchbacks up the ride on the west side of the gravel pit. It has a chainlink fence making it easy to spot. Hike up and over then down ~ 3/4 mile. Steep so bring decent shoes.

There is one dive shop in the north of the Island. there is no dive in the south of the island or anywhere the volcanos damaged. Little Bay beach is also known as little bay.