Sail Caribbean Dive Experience

It doesn't matter if you're a seasoned diver or if you're taking your very first scuba lesson. You're in for the ultimate dive experience at Sail Caribbean. Get ready for an exciting ride with a bird's eye view from the fly bridge of Endeavour, the pride of our dive boat fleet. Take a turn at the helm as we head out toward your next big adventure. From the moment you're welcomed aboard, we make sure that every part of your scuba experience is first-class, secure, comfortable and fun. At Sail Caribbean you're diving with the best!

No other teen scuba camp has all
these advantages:

 

Sail Caribbean Students Dive with our Year-Round Dive Operation

Sail Caribbean is THE ONLY summer teen scuba diving camp to have its own year-round diving operation. Sail Caribbean Divers is a PADI Five Star Instructor Development Dive Center This is PADI's highest dive center rating in the Caribbean and recognizes our record of providing quality dive education and services to enthusiasts of all ages and levels, from beginners to diving professionals. Sail Caribbean Divers' full-time professional dive staff maintain three land-based locations in the BVI, a fleet of four custom dive boats and a full inventory of top-rated scuba equipment. We’re on the leading edge and offering self-paced, online academics to students getting certified for the first time so there’s more time spent in the water. We truly know the BVI since we’re active residents and partners in the local community.
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Are You Ready to Give Diving a Try?

You might decide to start with a Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) Course!  DSD is available on all Sail Caribbean programs except Charlie. It's a non-certification introduction to diving in ideal conditions and under direct supervision. You will learn scuba theory, equipment use, proper techniques and safety procedures. After practice in shallow water, you'll descend 20-30 feet into crystal-blue water and experience the thrill of the world far beneath the waves. For many, this is the highlight of the trip and the impetus to earn certification later on!
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Spend More Time in the Water with eLearning

Students who are becoming certified with us for the first time get a head start by beginning their scuba training online at home before the trip begins. PADI introduced eLearning a few years ago and it has been widely adopted. Over 33,000 students to date have completed the Open Water course online and have found it to be easy and convenient. Sail Caribbean introduced eLearning in 2009 to nearly 100 of our OW students with great success. Students arrived in the Caribbean ready to get in the water almost immediately!

eLearning has quite a few advantages over the traditional ‘book and classroom’ approach:

  • It's an internet-based (online) course including interactive presentations with video, audio, pictures and reading. The course takes an average of 6-8 hours, and you can divide it into several separate learning sessions to fit your schedule.
  • It's accessible from anywhere you have an internet connection, from home or on the road, 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.
  • The short and frequent quizzes provide instant feedback, letting you gauge your own progress, review material you may have missed, and ensure that you're learning important scuba facts and concepts.
  • It enables you to move through the course efficiently and at your own pace.
  • You can connect via email with our professional instructors at Sail Caribbean Divers for help and support should you have any questions during the course work.
  • Our dive instructors can monitor your progress through the course during the weeks leading up to your program in the Caribbean.
  • Upon arrival, we quickly confirm your grasp of the material and get you into the water!

eLearning is lots more fun than just reading a book. It keeps you out of the classroom in the Caribbean, and maximizes your time in the water. In the past, we've mailed out PADI Open Water manuals and hoped students would read the material before arriving for the program. It would take most of the first day in the Caribbean to go through the knowledge reviews, sit in a classroom to watch a required video, and take quizzes and exams. With eLearning, you finish all of that classroom work before you arrive so we can get you into the water and on your first dive as soon as possible.
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Dive at your Own Pace

Student divers at our scuba diving camps learn and progress at different rates. This is especially true for beginners getting used to scuba equipment and breathing underwater. Of course, it's also true for experienced divers pursuing advanced certifications. The depth and strength of Sail Caribbean's dive staff, close communication and coordination with the students' captains and mates, and the versatility and flexibility of our fleet of custom dive boats allow us to work with each student at his or her own pace. Many Charlie program students eagerly pursue multiple certifications — last year a few earned more than six! Other students choose to get certified and then enjoy recreational diving or study marine biology. Whatever your ambition, we will work closely with you to provide a challenging, fun, and rewarding dive experience. See what teen scuba certifications are possible.
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Professional, Dedicated Dive Instructors

Sail Caribbean Divers InstructorsOur energetic and enthusiastic PADI dive instructors in the BVI are dedicated to quality scuba-diving education. Without the distraction of responsibilities onboard the sailboats, they are solely focused on educating and supervising divers at an unparalleled level of safety. Because the staff have experience with teens, a commitment to professionalism, and high standards they are able to encourage and inspire students while sharing their passion for scuba diving. A high staff-to-student ratio, both above and below the water, allows them to create a uniquely safe and exciting experience.

This isn’t just a summer job — our instructors dive all year-round with visitors, vacationers and locals, as well as our teen summer programs. They have intimate knowledge of the dive sites. One of PADI’s basic recommended safety measures is to dive with a guide who has local experience, or at the very least get a dive site briefing from someone with local experience. Our dive instructors have the local knowledge and they provide that important safety step.
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Custom Dive Boats for Safety and Comfort

Diving from our custom dive boats ensures young divers a safe and comfortable experience. Our four Newton dive boats, 26, 36 and 46 feet, provide spacious and stable platforms for easy and safe entry and exit from the water. And in the event conditionsCustom Dive Boats at a particular dive site are less than ideal, our dive boats can easily move to a better location.

We’ve got 77 different dive site coordinates programmed into the GPS system of the dive boats. Although most locations are ‘line of sight’, there are quite a few that are unmarked putting these coordinates to good use. Our boats carry the dive equipment, tanks, BCDs, regulators, and wetsuits to each site so precious living space onboard our sailboats is not used for wet dive gear. We suggest that you bring a mask, fins and snorkel to ensure the best fit and comfort possible. But, if you don’t bring everything you need to dive, we’ll provide it. We also carry extra gear on the dive boats should something break or get lost.

We take very good care of our equipment (and yours too)! Our dive boats have plenty of fresh water to rinse gear after each dive which is an industry standard and also recommended by PADI. This helps to prevent corrosion and potential malfunction. Diving from sailboats would make it difficult to follow this procedure because with limited water storage, usage is directed more toward daily living than equipment care.

Underwater photography is very popular and many of our teens bring their own underwater cameras and equipment. The camera table on our dive boat provides stability, helping you handle your camera and housing with the degree of care that your sensitive (and expensive) equipment deserves. The PADI Digital Underwater Photography specialty might just present you with enough great photo ops to enter your work in our summer contest!
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Dive Center Support for On-water Operations

There are certainly benefits to being a full-service dive operation. We fill tanks at three different bases so evenings onboard are peaceful, not noisy. We have a commercial-grade compressor at each of our shore side facilities on Tortola, Cooper Island and Norman Island for convenience. These strategic dive shop locations also provide equipment replacements, supplements, and repairs making sure that teen scuba diving runs smoothly and efficiently.
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Benefits of our Local Presence

The BVI is our home and we’ve made lots of very good friends on all the islands throughout the years. We know the perfect times to hit the prime dive locations when the conditions are best – we do it all year round. As a local commercial dive operation, we also have preferred access to moorings directly over dive sites that are reserved for dive boats like ours. And, we’ve gotten to know lots of local creatures you might call “regulars”. We’ll be sure to visit their hangouts and hideouts with you.

Our year round presence in the BVI and the resulting relationships with local residents and organizations have their rewards. As one of the premier dive operators in the BVI, Sail Caribbean Divers regularly drills for emergencies with VISAR, the BVI's volunteer marine search and rescue organization. Our divers have assisted VISAR with rescue efforts many times when called upon. The drills and procedures are extended to our summer staff during pre-summer training exercises.
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Lots of Dive Sites to Explore

With all the fabulous underwater sites available, you’ll have ample opportunities to explore multi-colored reefs, exciting wrecks and see tons of interesting sea creatures. Read more about teen scuba diving destinations.
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We're 100% AWARE

We're protecting the ocean with Project AwareThe Project Aware Foundation is a growing movement of divers from all parts of the world dedicated to protecting the oceans of our planet. Sail Caribbean Divers is honored to be 100% AWARE taking action and funding conservation initiatives. Watch our Project AWARE Thank You video!

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Meet and Underwater Photo Adventurer

Nearly all of the underwater photography seen on this site is provided by Armando Jenik, a renowned professional underwater photographer, who accompanies our students on many of their dives and shares his photography with Sail Caribbean families through our frequent Trip Updates during the summer. He certainly has a knack for getting into the right spot for those "perfect shots" whether you're exploring the Wreck of the Rhone or swimming with a sea turtle. Check out Armando Jenik's photography from last summer or visit his main website. He's also published an eBook called "Living Waters" that makes a great gift

Meeting Armando is a unique experience because he’s also an incredible underwater adventurer. Watch him skin diving with Whales in this video. WOW!
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