The Caves

[nothintolose]

I was just curious to see if other people shared the same opinion as me regarding the caves at Norman Island.

I had always wanted to go to them thinking that you swam far inside and got to see alot of stuff but was somewhat dissappointed to realize that none of them go very far in.

The only neat thing was the coral growing inside of them and the fish with the wierd eyes.

In the future, it won't be a stop for us as we'd rahter spend more time at the Indians and on Jost.

Just wondering if others share the same opinion or if I missed something.

[Pia]

I have only been once and my reaction was exactly the same as yours and I saw squat (well unless you count the sick/almost dying lobster ) I saw nothing in those caves - more time at the Indians for me

Pia

[Diana2]

I have to agree with you about the Caves. I'm glad I went but 'been there, done that'. I'd rather spend more time at the Indians where there's so much more to see.

[ccasebolt]

I wasn't that impressed with the caves themselves either, but the snorkeling in the area around them (specifically the crevasses to the left as you're facing them) was quite good. We've seen a few neat things there, including Prince Andrew, Fergie, & entourage - their dinghy was roughly the size of our catamaran!

[RickG]

They are close to the Indians. When we were there last week the water was extremely calm. It was a very nice break. Indians-Norman Caves-Willy T are all right there.

Cheers, RickG

[pjayer]

I started to swim into the longest cave on the left until it was so dark I couldn't see anything. Kinda spooked me, so I swam out. I did think the orange coral on the walls was kinda cool. It was crowded when we were there, so I didn't enjoy it as much as the Indians. I feel the same way as Diana2...been there, done that, don't need to go again. Glad we stopped though.

[nothintolose]

pjayer - that was one thing that irked me too. There were 4 of us in the one on the far left (Cat, her hubby, me and SO) and we were heading out and three other people just started snorkeling in rather than wait for us to come out.

It's cramped enough as it was with just us in there but the least they could do is wait till we come out, as we were obviously trying to do, then go in.

[bayer40601]

pj and I were there on a Friday when the Puerto Rican Navy (Armada) was in, and it was so crowded that when I started to go in to the first one on the left and a large crowd of other snorklers came upon me, I decided to turn around and come out. It was just getting too claustrophobic.

BTW, exactly where is Willy T's located? I guess we did not get close to it even though we were at the Indians and the Caves because I never did see it.

[ccasebolt]

BTW, exactly where is Willy T's located? I guess we did not get close to it even though we were at the Indians and the Caves because I never did see it.

The Willy T is in "The Bight" right around the corner from the Caves - when you're facing the Caves, go around the point on the left (Treasure Point) to enter "The Bight". The Willy T is anchored in the middle.

[Bob & Anita]

We did the caves once, glad we did but not high our our repeat list. We could spend all day at the Indians, with a lunch break at Willie-T's of course.

[BPT]

The Caves used to be pretty interesting when the coral was more alive and there weren't throngs of people. I have been kicked and had people swim into me and not even skip a beat. With the fire coral on the sides of some of the caves I freak out when so many people just start swarming in a small space. Done with that. Indians and Willy T are great. Caves, once in a lifetime...now is good.

[sea-nile]

I wasn't too impressed with them either.
The offshore reefs are just as good, if not better.

[GaryLC]

Hi folks,

What (and where) are the Indians? We've only been to STJ twice, and haven't been off island yet...

[Chet]

The Caves are over rated. And Indians were spectacular, and more so 30' down. Another good spot is the HMS Rhone off Peter Island. You really need to dive the Rhone because of the depth of the wreck. Captain Alvin took us out there a few years ago. We also stopped and snorkled Tecktite, the old NASA training site.

[Bob & Anita]

Hi folks,

What (and where) are the Indians? We've only been to STJ twice, and haven't been off island yet...

The Indians is a rock outcropping sticking out of the water that has awesome snorkeling; lots of different kinds of fish and coral. You can see very clearly 50' down. Here is what they look like from the surface:


The Indians are located just off of Norman Island, BVI. Here is a chart that shows their location:


The yellow was our tracks downloaded from our GPS when we rented a boat in '05.