Diving the Cane Bay Wall

Off Cane Bay Beach, on St. Croix's north shore, the seabed runs out to a coral wall. Its top lies about 40 feet down, a swim of 100 to 200-plus yards from the boat ramp, and the island's dive guide puts the drop at more than 3,200 feet. Dive it with a rented tank from the beach, with a guide, or by boat.

The Cane Bay Wall in brief

Why people call it The Wall

Ask a diver on St. Croix where they went this morning and "The Wall" is a complete answer. It means the steep edge of the island's underwater shelf along the north shore, and Cane Bay is the place where that edge comes closest to a public beach you can park at. Plenty of wall dives start with a long boat ride. This one starts with a parking spot, which is the reason it has such a following.

The shape of the seafloor explains the view. Swim north from the beach and you cross sand and coral gardens on a gentle slope. Then the bottom rolls over and leaves. Past that lip you have reef on one side and open blue water on the other, and nothing under your fins that you could ever reach. Local divers talk about hanging over a void, and that's close to how it feels the first time you look down.

How deep the wall goes

If you came here for the number, here are all of them, top to bottom:

• 26 feet: the depth at the white mooring buoy where most dives begin.
• 30 to 40 feet: where you land after descending and start along the sand chute.
• 40 feet: where the wall begins.
• More than 3,200 feet: how far the wall drops, in the island's own dive guide.
• 16,000 to 19,000 feet: the Virgin Islands Trough, the deep basin north of St. Croix, in the St. Croix Times.
• About 27,500 feet: the Milwaukee Deep in the Puerto Rico Trench, which the trough feeds into.

You'll see larger figures quoted for the wall itself because people measure to different points on the chart. None of that changes your dive. Everything you'll see with a recreational tank is in the top 100 feet or so, and the rest is a color. The part that matters to you is the first number: the wall starts at a depth that any certified diver can reach.

Where to park and where to go in

You'll find Cane Bay Beach on Northside Road, Route 80, roughly five miles along from Salt River Bay. Park along the road near the beach and look for the boat ramp and the Cane Bay Beach sign. The white mooring buoy marking the top of the site is directly in front of that sign, so you can pick out your target before you've even unloaded the car.

The entry is the sandy area in front of the ramp. Use it, because it's the clear lane through the rocks on either side. Gear up by the car, walk down, pull your fins on once you're waist deep, and go. If you've done shore diving elsewhere, it's as simple as it sounds. If you haven't, your first look is easiest in the company of someone who has done it a few hundred times, and the next section is where they come in.

The swim to the buoy

Two published figures disagree on the distance. One of the island's dive pages gives about 100 yards from shore. Its blog says 200-plus yards, ramp to buoy. Plan for the longer one and you'll be pleasantly surprised on a calm day.

Swim it on the surface with your snorkel. You could go underwater from the start, but the surface swim saves your air for the wall, and that's where you want to spend it. The other local advice is to take your time. Cane Bay can have swell and surge, especially in the shallows on the way out, and arriving at the buoy out of breath is a poor way to begin a dive. Kick slowly, stop if you need to, and rest on the buoy line before you go down.

A dive on the wall, start to finish

Here's how a standard dive runs from the beach, stage by stage.

Down at the buoy

Descend at the white mooring buoy. It's a clear reference point and it's why you did the surface swim. Check your buddy, your gauge and your buoyancy here, in 30 to 40 feet of water with sand and coral around you, before anything gets deep.

North through the sand chute

Swim north along a sand chute, one of the corridors that run between large coral structures toward the edge. The one local guides talk about is 3 Anchor Chute. The chutes do a useful job: they keep your fins off the coral on the way out, and they give you a landmark for the way back. Watch for turtles, stingrays, peacock flounder and lobster here, along with barrel sponges and sea fans. It's tempting to linger, but you'll pass through again on the way home.

Over the edge

The wall opens up at about 40 feet. Go over the lip and turn so the reef is on your shoulder. Dive to the depth your training and your plan allow, then work along the face. Look both ways as you go. Reef fish, eels and shrimp live on the wall, and nurse sharks turn up on it now and then. Reef sharks, barracuda and sometimes dolphins cruise the open water on your other side, so make a habit of turning your head out to the blue.

Keep an eye out for iron as well. Nineteenth-century anchors lie along the wall, and spotting one is a good moment on any dive. They're heavy, they've been there a very long time, and they've become part of the reef, so look without touching.

The slow way home

Come back up over the lip with plenty of air and take your time over the soft coral beds and sand on the return. People tend to rush this stretch, and they miss the small finds: flamingo tongues, jawfish, spotted eagle rays, conch, and if you're patient, a real seahorse among the soft coral. If your air and bottom time are good, make a stop at the coral restoration garden at the orange buoy.

What you may see, by depth

Humpback whales pass through between March and April. Divers sometimes hear them before they see anything, and a song coming up out of the deep is a memory that lasts a lot longer than a photo. Manta rays, hammerheads and whale sharks have been sighted on rare occasions, so keep your camera ready and your expectations loose.

Photographers will want to choose before going in. A wide lens suits the lip and the open water, and a macro setup suits the shallows and the soft coral on the way home. Trying to do both on one tank usually means doing neither well, and with a shop across the road a second tank is an easy decision.

When to dive it

Visibility runs from about 20 to 60 feet, and it moves with the time of year and with runoff after rain. A dry spell helps. So does a calm sea, because Cane Bay faces north and swell reaches it directly.

In winter, cold fronts leaving the U.S. mainland can push pulses of north swell this way, sometimes under a blue sky with no wind at all. On those days the shallows on the way to the buoy get lively, and the shops know it first. Put the wall early in your trip if you can, so a swell day moves your dive instead of taking it away, and keep the Frederiksted Pier in mind for the same day, since it's on the opposite coast.

The easiest way to read the water is to call the shop across the street and ask. They saw it this morning. If you're booked with a guide they'll make the call for you, and they'd rather move you to a good dive than take you on a poor one.

Renting tanks and booking a guide

Two shops run this site from the beach, and both are easy to reach.

• Sweet Bottom Dive Center is just over the street from the sand at Cane Bay, which makes it the simplest tank rental you'll ever do. It's a PADI 5 Star center with gas fills of air, nitrox or oxygen, full equipment rental, and small-group dives every day. Call 340-773-3483.
• Despite its name, Cane Bay Dive Shop works out of Frederiksted, at 2 Strand Street, and opens daily from 8 until 5. Its Cane Bay Wall shore tour runs Tuesday to Saturday at 1:30 p.m., capped at six divers, and it can sometimes arrange other times if you call. Phone 340-772-0715.

For the boat version, the same shop's Ibis, a 36-footer, leaves Salt River Marina at 8:30 a.m. and works the north shore most days, on a 3.5 to 4 hour trip with tanks and weights included. Any of the island's other dive shops can get you to the wall by boat as well; the St. Croix diving guide has the full roster. A boat makes sense if you'd rather skip the surface swim, or you want to see other stretches of the same wall that no one reaches from the beach.

Which dive suits you

Newly certified divers do very well here, and the reason is the depth of the lip. You can see the wall and look over the edge at around 40 feet without going anywhere near your limits. Book a guide, tell them it's your first wall, stay shallow and spend the back half of the dive in the gardens. Experienced divers usually take one guided dive to learn the chute and the way home, then rent tanks and come back with a buddy. Photographers should think in two trips, as above. Anyone not certified yet can start a course with a shop on the island and finish here; our learn-to-dive page covers how that works. Non-divers in your group have the beach, the beach bar and the snorkeling closer in while you're under, so nobody spends the morning waiting in a car.

Diving it after dark

The wall after dark is a favorite on this island. Coral polyps feed in the dark, and the animals that hide by day come out along the reef. You'll want a guide for it, whatever your experience, because the person leading you saw the water that afternoon. Ask either shop what's running on your dates, and read our night diving guide for how it compares with the pier in Frederiksted.

Snorkeling at Cane Bay

Snorkelers can swim the same line from the ramp, though what you'll see changes as the water deepens. The buoy sits over roughly 26 feet, and the edge begins deeper again, so the coral gardens closer in are the better view from the surface. On a calm morning with good visibility, strong swimmers in fins can head out and look for divers' bubbles coming up from below. Take a buddy, and turn back when you've had enough, since you have to swim back. For calmer shallow reefs, try our best snorkeling beaches page, and for the whole beach day, see Cane Bay Beach.

A few tips for the day

• Watch your gauge on the wall. With no bottom under you, depth creeps. Set your maximum before you go down and check it often.
• Save air for the swim home. A shore dive has to bring you all the way back. Turn with plenty left and enjoy the shallows on the return.
• Leave a day before you fly. Divers Alert Network's minimum is 12 hours on the surface after one no-decompression dive, and 18 after several days of repeat dives. Longer is fine.
• Pack the right sunscreen. Territorial law limits oxybenzone, octinoxate and octocrylene in sunscreen, so a mineral one is the easy choice.
• Bring your own mask and computer if you have them. The shop can rent you the rest, and a mask that fits makes a bigger difference than anything else in the bag.
• Hands off. Coral, anchors and the restoration garden all stay as they are for the next diver.

Lunch after the dive

You won't have to go far. The Landing Beach Bar is a casual beachfront restaurant and bar right on this stretch of the north shore, and Sunset Bar, at The Waves on this same bay, looks out over the water. Our guide to eating at Cane Bay runs through the menus and hours, and the longer drive along the coast is in our north shore guide.

Staying close to the wall

Of the homes we manage, Hook 'em on Paradise and Toes in the Sand Beach House are the closest on the map, each a little over four miles from Cane Bay in a straight line. That makes an early dive and a late breakfast an easy morning. Out west, Sunset Sea-Clusion is about a mile farther and handy for the pier too, which helps if a swell day sends you to the other coast. If you're still choosing, our St. Croix rentals page sorts every home by group size and live dates.

Questions guests ask

Just how deep does the Cane Bay Wall go?

The wall begins at about 40 feet and drops to more than 3,200 feet, per the island's dive guide. Beyond it lies the Virgin Islands Trough at 16,000 to 19,000 feet. A recreational diver only ever sees the top of it, and the top is the good part.

How far off the beach is the wall?

Published figures for the white mooring buoy run between 100 yards and 200-plus yards off the ramp. From the buoy you swim north along a sand chute to reach the edge. Plan on the longer number and swim it on the surface to save your air.

Can a new Open Water diver dive the wall?

Yes. The lip sits at about 40 feet, so you can look over it without going deep. The dive guide says the site has something for every level of diver. Take a guide on your first visit, tell them you're newly certified, and use the back half of the dive for the shallow gardens.

Do I need a guide for a shore dive?

Certified divers can rent tanks at the shop across the street and go with a buddy. We'd still suggest one guided dive first, because a guide shows you the entry, the right chute and the way home in a single trip. After that the site is yours.

Where can I rent tanks at Cane Bay?

Sweet Bottom Dive Center, right over the street, rents gear, tanks and weights, and fills air and nitrox (340-773-3483). Frederiksted's Cane Bay Dive Shop also runs guided shore dives here, Tuesday to Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

What is 3 Anchor Chute?

It's a sand chute between large coral structures that divers swim through on the way from the mooring buoy to the wall. Nineteenth-century anchors lie along the wall, which is where the name comes from.

Can you snorkel the Cane Bay Wall?

You can snorkel at Cane Bay, and the coral gardens closer in are the best part for snorkelers. With the buoy over about 26 feet and the edge near 40, the drop itself mostly reads as deep blue water from the surface. Go on a calm morning, with fins and a buddy.

When can you hear the whales?

Humpback whales pass through between March and April, and divers may hear them or see them. They're never a sure thing, which makes it all the better when it happens.

What's the visibility like?

Expect 20 to 60 feet, moving with the time of year and how much rain has run into the bay. Calm, dry spells give you the clearest water. Call the shop across the street on the day and they'll tell you what they saw that morning.