About Scuba Steve’s Diving

Scuba Steve’s Diving – Setting the standards for safety, value and quality of service.

Please take a few moments to read the topics on this page to see what sets us apart from other dive centres here in St. Lucia and is the reason why our divers are pleased to recommend us to their friends.

Click for information about the Staff, Dive Center, Compressors, Air Fills & Nitrox, Scuba Cylinders, Rental Dive Equipment and Dive Boats

We are a medium sized dive center offering a personal service to our divers. Scuba Steve’s is owner operated and we dive every day with our guests and make every effort to give you a top quality service at an affordable price. We believe that the success of our business depends upon us providing our guests with an exceptional level of service as well as a great diving experience.

We also believe that your comfort and safety are our main priorities. To ensure that your dive experience lives up to your expectations in this respect, we do not employ Divemasters, all dive guides are at least full PADI Instructors. All our diving equipment is scrupulously maintained and disinfected after every use. Our boats are fitted with VHF Radio, Lighting, DAN Oxygen Kit, Personal Life Preservers, Flares, First Aid Kit, Drift Line and Float and are driven only by LICENCED and INSURED Boat Captains. Complimentary cold drinks and snacks are provided. The Dive Center and Instructors are also fully insured, professionally qualified and highly experienced.

British husband and wife team Stephen and Shirley Smith, run Scuba Steve’s Diving. We are both PADI Instructors passionate about diving and about “simply beautiful” St. Lucia. To provide our guests with top quality service, we have a hand picked team of highly qualified professionals and between us, we have nearly 50 years diving experience and have made over 6000 dives in St. Lucia.

We are all patient, careful Instructors used to dealing with the concerns of nervous first time divers. Your comfort and safety come right at the top of our list of priorities. You WILL be fine and we WILL LOOK AFTER YOU, so all you need to do, is put your faith in our training and experience and get prepared to have a serious amount of FUN!

Stephen Smith

I am 53 years old and an ex IT Consultant now turned full time diver!. I am Managing Director of Scuba Steve’s Diving, but my real job is going diving!. I am a PADI IDC Staff Instructor (IDCS), Specialty Instructor, EFR Instructor and DSAT Gas Blender/Trimix Blender Instructor and I am currently working towards my PADI Master Instructor rating.

I did a resort course whilst on holiday in Bali over 19 years ago and instantly got bitten by the diving bug. I still vividly remember the thrill of my first open water dive and this made me want to share this fabulous sport with everybody I can.

I love to dive and still get a kick from seeing new divers returning from their first open water dive full of wonder at what they have just seen.

I have dived and taught in the UK (Stoney Cove and Gildenburgh Water!!!), Europe, Indonesia, Jamaica, Dominica and of course St. Lucia. When I am not in the water diving or teaching, I can be found in the dive centre updating our website or mixing “happy gas” (Nitrox).

Shirley Smith

My wife Shirley, Operations Director of Scuba Steve’s Diving, got fed up being left alone whilst I went diving when we were on holiday, so she took the plunge (pun intended!) and got PADI certified. This led to her quickly getting the diving bug when she realised what I had been raving on about for all those years, and rapidly moving up the PADI ladder to become an Instructor. Shirley is a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer (MSDT) and Speciality Instructor.

Shirley worked as a Primary School Head Teacher (Principal) for 15 years and this gives her a unique rapport with children. If you would like your children to learn to dive or snorkel, Shirley is our expert, and will introduce your children to the underwater world via PADI’s Bubblemaker, SEAL Team and Junior Open Water programmes which were designed specially for children.

When not in the water, Shirley looks after our clients by handling bookings, driving clients around in our air-conditioned mini-bus and trying to encourage the rest of us to behave like the adults that we are supposed to be! (Our excuse is that we just love to have fun!).

Allencius Martyr

Al is 24 years old, single and being the youngest member of the team is the baby of the Scuba Steve’s Diving family. Actually Al was our original Boat Captain back in 2006 before he left to take the opportunity to visit Canada to work in a Dive Center where he did some dry suit dives, tec dives and even Ice diving (must be mad!), before re-joining us in June 2007.

Al is a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI) and is currently working towards his Master Scuba Diver Trainer rating. He is also a licensed Boat Captain.

Al has been a dive professional for about 6 years and has worked with several local dive operations as a Dive Master, Assistant Instructor and Boat Captain. He is a keen underwater photographer and has taken many of the photos used on this web site.

Al is great fun on the dive boat and his favourite trick is throwing Steve in the water or pouring ice cold water down the back of his Wetsuit!

Dive Center

Our brand new waterfront dive center offers facilities that many of our competitors can only dream of. Our location in Rodney Bay ensures that we are within 5 minutes travel of most Hotels and Guesthouses at the North of the island. Our Dive Center has these facilities onsite: -

• Fully air-conditioned classroom with Computers and DVD.
• Full line of top brand rental dive equipment for adults and children.
• Fresh water shower, WC, equipment rinse and secure equipment storage areas.
• Air & Enriched Air (Nitrox) fills to 3000 psi/205 Bar.
• Digital photo workshop for saving and printing digital photos.
• Internet access with Webcam and a secure Wireless Network for Laptop users.

Compressors, air fills and Nitrox.

We have invested a considerable amount of money in our new custom designed air filling equipment and we are proud to say that we have the cleanest and purest scuba air in St. Lucia. This is a FACT as we are currently the ONLY dive center in St. Lucia to offer Modified Grade E (Oxygen Compatible) air suitable for Partial Pressure Blending Enriched Air Nitrox fills, which is the purest grade of scuba air available.

Our scuba air is supplied by our two Paramina Mistral and one Max-Air 90 electrically driven compressors with “PURACON” continuous electronic air purity monitoring. As a double check, air is analysed quarterly and the results displayed in the Dive Center. We have a cascade fill system which when full, allows us to fill twenty scuba cylinders without the need to run the compressors, making our air fills very fast.

We are pleased to be able to offer Enriched Air Nitrox fills from 22% to 40% Oxygen content. For those of you that would like to dive Nitrox but do not have the certification, we offer Enriched Air Nitrox courses and try dives too. Please see the Specialty Courses page for details.

Scuba Cylinders

Our scuba cylinders are Luxfer 80 cu ft (11.1 ltr) capacity Aluminium scuba cylinders fitted with your choice of International (“A” clamp) or 232 Bar DIN (screw in) valves. This means that if you own a DIN fitting regulator you will be able to use it at Scuba Steve’s without the need for a screw on yoke adapter, which means you will not be stuck if you forget to bring your own International adapter! We also have Luxfer 63 cu ft (9.0 Ltr) and 50 cu ft (7.0 Ltr) aluminium cylinders for children or people who prefer a smaller and lighter cylinder.

Rental Dive Equipment

All our rental dive equipment is from top name manufacturers and is kept in “as new” condition. It is disinfected after EVERY use and serviced at least twice every year by us here in the dive center. We make sure that your rental equipment is pleasant to use.

BCD
Scubapro “Safari” and “Pilot” BCD’s in sizes XXS, XS, SM, MD, LG and XL.
Regulators
Scubapro MK2 PLUS first stages with R295 second stage and octopus.
Choice of Metric (400Bar/60M) or Imperial (6000psi/200ft) gauges all with temperature.
BCD inflator hose.
Wetsuits
Our Wetsuits are all 3mm shorty wetsuits from Procella and Neosport.
Junior (Procella) – sizes XS, S, M, ML, L, XL, XXL, XXXL
Ladies (Procella) – sizes XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL and Neosport US10, US12, US14
Mens (Procella) – S, M, ML, L, XL, XXL, XXXL and Neosport US sizes M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL
Masks
Large selection from Akona, Procella, Mares, Blue Reef, Oceanic, Scubapro and Cressi in a variety of sizes to suit adults and children (with or without snorkels).
Fins
We have a massive selection of full foot fins from Procella, Cressi Sub and Scubapro in all sizes from tiny (for small children) to extra large.
Dive Lights
Saekodive 6 volt rechargeable dive lights (primary) and Princeton Tec 400 (C cell) backup dive lights.

In addition to the above we have a very small selection of open heel fins and full length wetsuits.

Dive Boats

We operate two custom designed boats, “Shirley” and “Volan”, both of which are amongst the fastest dive boats in St. Lucia. For your comfort and safety the boats are driven only by experienced licensed and insured Boat Captains who remain onboard whilst divers are in the water. The boats are fitted with VHF Radio, Cellphone, Navigation and Cabin Lighting, Personal Life Preservers, Drift Line and Float, DAN Oxygen Equipment, Divers Below Buoy, Flares and a First Aid Kit. Complimentary cold drinks and snacks are provided between dives. Both boats are inspected annually by a Marine Surveyor and the St. Lucia Air & Sea Ports Authority (SLASPA).

Dive Boat “Shirley”

Dive boat “Shirley” was new in 2006 and has just undergone a complete refurbishment completed in December 2010. She is 29 ft long. Moored at our Dive Centre she is licensed to carry 10 divers with all equipment necessary for a two-tank dive.

Her two Yamaha 150 HP four-stroke outboard motors give her a top speed in excess of 40 mph and being four strokes, you do not get the nasty smelly exhaust smoke that the more common two-stroke motors produce. “Shirley” is fast, clean and quiet!

A custom designed platform offers easy access into the water via a giant stride entry, and exit is via a custom built ladder with broad flat wooden steps and a convenient grab rail. There is a storage locker for personal items that you wish to keep dry during the trip. To protect you from the sun there is over 20 feet of covered deck area. There is a small sun deck at the bow to catch the sun during the surface intervals.

“Shirley” is the ideal boat for small personal groups and her multi-purpose design makes her great for diving, snorkelling, sightseeing and private boat charters for family groups.

Dive Boat “Volan” (Creole for “Flying Fish”)

Dive boat “Volan” is new for 2010 and is 36 ft long. Moored at the Dive Centre she is licensed to carry 20 passengers (15 divers) with all equipment necessary for a two-tank dive.

Her two Mercury Verado Supercharged 300 HP four-stroke outboard motors give her a top speed in excess of 35 mph and being four strokes, you do not get the nasty smelly exhaust smoke that two-stroke motors produce. “Volan” is fast, clean and ultra quiet!

Two platforms at the rear offer easy access into the water via a giant stride entry, and exit is via two custom built ladders with broad flat steps. At the bow there is a large storage locker for items that you wish to keep dry during the trip.

To protect you from the sun there is over 20 feet of covered deck area. There is seating and a small sun deck at the bow to catch the sun during the surface intervals. “Volan” is the ideal boat for larger groups and her multi-purpose design makes her great for diving, snorkelling, sightseeing and private boat charters.