St. Thomas
Extreme and advanced divers will find this the ultimate dive trip. We dive Sail Rock located between Culebra and St. Thomas, USVI. Rarely visited, this deep water pinnacle offers 100′ + visibility and an overabundance of sea life. The second dive is perhaps the signature dive of St. Thomas. WIT SHOAL, this 400-foot freighter sank in the 1980s and its structural deterioration is minimal. Depths run from 40′-90′. Light reaches the holds and passageways, making this a good place for underwater photography. After 2 dives we will stop for 2 hours in St. Thomas for lunch (Lunch is not included in the price) and duty-free shopping! Bring your Passport! Fresh fruit, chips and mango salsa, sodas, and bottled water included!
Sail Rock
It is a pinnacle which goes to 140 deep. Visibility is always great reaching 100′ +. The large school of fish has seen here. Turtles, barracuda, lobsters, spotted eagle rays, sharks, etc. It is by far the east dive in ST Thomas.
The WIT Shoal II / LST 467
located a few miles southwest of the St. Thomas airport, near Saba Rock. The WIT Shoal was originally a warship, known as LST 467. LST stands for Landing Ship Tanks, and she was built in 1943 to land up to 20 Sherman tanks onto the beach in the Allied invasions of Europe and the Pacific during World War II. LSTs were designed to run right up onto the beach to land the tanks. The bow of the ship has large doors which open outward, and an inner door which lowers down to form a ramp for the tanks to drive onto the beach. LST 467 served in the Pacific during the war.
After the war, this 328-foot long ship was purchased by the West Indies Transport company, and renamed the WIT Shoal II. She was used as a freighter until she sank in Tropical Storm Klaus, on November 6, 1984. Today the WIT Shoal is one of the premier diving wrecks of St. Thomas.
The shipwreck sits upright in 90 feet of water, but the top of the observation tower is only 35 feet beneath the waves. There are 5 levels of decks for divers to explore.
The WIT Shoal offers five decks, including the engine room, auxiliary engine room, auxiliary steering room, berthing area, galley, winch area on the aft deck, officers quarters area, the large crane on deck, and the bow area. Sea life includes Barracuda, Turtles, Horseye Jacks, Southern Stingray, Lobster, Crab, Cup Corals, and Trumpet fish.
