I dove with DIve In, the onsite dive op at Saphire beach several years
ago.  I liked them.  They have a boat onsite at the Saphire Beach
resort marina.    But they don't have a shop there.  You make
reservations through the watersports/towel hut.

I think that two tanks with eqiupment was $55 to $65.

yes St Thomas has VERY HIGH CRIME.    Mostly at night and downtown.
Just stay out of the "dark steets" at night and you'll be ok.  stay in
the tourist areas at night.

You are crazy to drive on this island.  the roads are very narrow and
very hilly and have many "blind spots".   Because of this everyone
drives in the middle of the road and swerves out of the way at the last
minute.    If you'll look around, almost every car there is wrecked or
has at least dented fenders.   This is because of the way people drive.

If you want to rent a car one day to tour the island, they have a car
rental place at the Saphire Beach resort.

While there, take the ferry over to BVI and also to St Johns.  It's a
nice trip.

hope this helps.   feel free to email (remove the nospam_ first) if you
have more questions.

mike

I've dived with the shop there and had no problems with them, but I
dive with Blue Island at Crown Bay.  I've dived with them since they
opened and have had nothing but good experiences.  They aren't the
closest to Sapphire, but they have the most and best dive sites on the
island.  Their web site is http://blueislanddivers.com/  Another good
choice that's close to Sapphire is Chris Sawyer, not a bad choice at
all.  I dive them when Blue Island isn't available for some reason (I
often go very off season since my step-daughter lives there), but my
first choice is BID.

I have driven in STT for most of my 15 trips, and don't have any real
problems.  I'm more likely to get hit stepping off of the curb after
looking the wrong direction for traffic

I'm not convinced that their crime problems is much worse than many
cities in the states; it just gets magnified because it's a resort.

I try to get over to St John most trips, enjoyed Tortola and Virgin
Gorda, but my favorite day trip in all my drips was a day sail to Jost
van Dyke.  Great snorkeling and a great day.

Enjoy your trip

My wife and I did two tank dives with Blue Island Divers at Crown Marina.  I
think the cost was $80 each, and I think an additional $10 for the rental
gear.  The first dive was at Spratt Point, Water Island.  The second at Navy
Barges.  We were very happy with the dives and the service.

We were probably a bit on the brave side and did a lot of walking at night.
It's probably best not to do this.  However, we found that taxi drivers were
very nice and helpful.

We didn't care for St Thomas; it's too crowded with tourists.  We spent most
of our time in BVI on a bareboat charter.  The diving there was great and we
dove with multiple operators.  I noticed the driving in BVI is COMPLETELY
NUTS.  We were in a taxi crossing Tortola when the mirror of our taxi hit a
car coming the other way.  Glass flew all over the passengers.  No one was
hurt, but nobody bothered to stop (in either car).

By the way, cars are left-hand-drive (US standard) but drive on the left
side of the street in both the US and British VI.  That's a bad combination.

Stayed at Sapphire beach last year. Not many people cared for Dive in (at
Sapphire) A better shop is Chris Sawyer in Red Hook, about a mile from
Sapphire.

Also try to take the "Gypsy" cabs to travel the Island, they loop around
the main roads and are only 1 or 2 bucks per person.
I reccommend hamburgers at Duffy's love shack. A trip to Charlotte Amiele to
the Greenhouse. And take the ferry to St Johns for at least one day and go
snorkling there. Also the snorkling is great right in Sapphire if the cruise
ships are not in (for some reason nobody tells cruise ship patrons to NOT
stand on the reef and not stir up the sand). Try night snorkling there too
it's fun.
As far as crime. I felt safe walking between Red Hook and Sapphire even
after dark...I think most of the crime is theft. The locals are eking out an
existance and by comparison we look rich. I would say if your with a group
you should be fine.

Enjoy your trip, and if you go with Chris Sawyer tell David Cassidy (no it's
not a joke, he was my open water instructor) Chip says hi

Hope this helps,
Chip