This is the first dive trip that I have taken for which I have completed all of the research, planning and reservations, entirely on the Internet. For those of you that have been using this technology for some time I apologise. I have included my experiences for people, who like myself, have only just started to appreciate the benefits of this method of trip planning.

Reading an article in the web based Underwater Photography Magazine, indicated that the islands of St Vincent and the Grenadines had distinctly interesting photo opportunities. The mention of good macro photography and 'muck diving' in the Caribbean certainly helped to capture my attention.

The island of St Vincent which is 21 miles long from north to south and only 11 miles wide from east to west is located at the southern half of the Eastern Caribbean island chain. It is virtually unknown to the British tourist market but is renowned by the Americans for its excellent sailing and yachting.

Checking out 'St Vincent diving' with my favourite search engine Google, revealed that except for the dive operation that is attached to the Petit Bayhaut eco-resort; which is only easily accessible by boat, there was only one other permanent full time dive operation on the island. Reading about Dive St Vincent (DSV) and the types of diving available got me thinking that I may have found a relatively undiscovered jewel in the Caribbean.

A brief e-mail and quick response from Jackie Bramble the Reservations Manager at DSV had us booked into the Mariners Hotel (less than  100 yards from the dive shop and dock) on a package for 14 nights and places allocated on the boat for 24 dives each.

The simplest and easiest route to St Vincent was from London to Barbados and then onto St Vincent. Establishing flight times, making reservations and paying by credit card on the British Airways web site for  the leg from Gatwick to Barbados was simple in the extreme. The process culminating in the production of a printed invoice/receipt, flight schedule and e-ticket.

A number of airlines ply the route between Barbados and St Vincent. E-mails were quickly despatched to Liat and Air Mustique (the two airlines whose web site I found easily). Within 20 minutes I had received a response back  from Air Mustique who were able to offer a connecting flight to St Vincent which corresponded nicely with our international flight arrival. Again, a quick e-mail to Air Mustique and an even quicker response  from them than the first time had seats reserved, payment made and the illustrious printed invoice/receipt and e-ticket. As an aside, it took 5 days for Liat to get back to me about my flight enquiry!!!

Four months later I was stood in front of the British Airways Self Service Check-In machine at Londons Gatwick Airport, nervously inserting my credit card in order to select my seat and obtain a Boarding Pass for our 12 o'clock flight to Barbados.

I attributed my nervousness to the fact that in the past I had always arrived to Check In for flights, armed with a 'normal' ticket as illogical proof that I had a reserved seat on the flight. In this case, all that I had was a printed piece of paper purporting to be a 'proper ticket'. I should not have been concerned as a few monments after consuming my credit card the machine aknowledged the reservation I had made on line. It then presented me with the option to change seats should I wish to do so and then finally printed out a flight schedule and a Boarding Pass and then gave me back my credit card.

Proceeding to the Fast Bag Drop another benefit of e-ticket use (apart from a small cost saving) manifested itself. Due to a technical problem, all conveyors that transfer checked luggage to the aircrafts had failed resulting in huge queues at the normal Check-In counters. However, because we already had Boarding Passes we were able to bypass all of the queues and hand over our luggage at the Fast Bag Drop, thereby avoiding what would have been a very long wait (of at least an hour I estimated).

The flight departed on time but arrived in Barbados ahead of schedule due to a tail wind. The flight only taking seven hours and forty five minutes.

Having presented our e-tickets at the Air Mustique desk, I was escorted to identify our luggage that was being unloaded from the BA flight. Within half an hour of our arrival in Barbados, we and two other passengers were being escorted out to our aircraft (flights normally depart ahead of schedule if all of the passengers are there). We were very suprised when we saw the twin engined light aircraft (that was hidden from view by other much larger jet aircraft) that was to be our transportation to St Vincent. One of our suitcases was too big to fit through the door into the aircrafts hold so Air Mustique arranged for it to be transported to St Vincent on another carrier at no additional cost.

Although the six seater aircraft lacked any creature comforts, the flight to St Vincent via a brief stop in Mustique (the island frequented by the rich and famous) to drop off a couple of passengers was very pleasant. The large windows offering exceptional views of the surrounding islands during the flight. Although Air Mustique was obviously only a very small operation the quality of the service was excellent and I will certainly be using them again.

Shortly after arriving in St Vincent we were on our way to the Mariners Hotel in a taxi that was waiting for us when we had cleared customs. Half an hour after our arrival in St Vincent we were unpacking in our amply sized air  conditioned room that overlooked the pool and stretch of water between St Vincent and the exclusive resort of Young Island that was located directly opposite the hotel.

An hour after our arrival the phone rang. It was Bill Tewes the owner of DSV welcoming us to the island and advising us that he would collect our dive gear from reception just before 10am the following morning to save us having to carry our equipment the 50 yards to the dive shop!

Each morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in the hotels excellent French Verandah Restaurant, choosing anything we liked from the expansive menu. We then strolled the 50 yards along to the dive shop in time for the first dive of  the day at 10am.

As part of the full service operation that DSV run, all of our equipment was loaded onto the modern comfortable twin 250hp boat we were to use throughout our stay. At the end of each days diving the staff at DSV unload all of your equipment and take it back to the dive shop for rinsing and safe keeping.

Bill operates a policy of limiting the number of divers on his boats to a maximum of 8 and if you have a party of six people you will get a boat to yourselves. With 8 of us on board there was always plenty of room.

The dive sites are all located on the western side of the island where the waters are sheltered and surface conditions are generally calm. Most sites can be reached within 15-20mins in the DSV boat. The time passing quickly as you watch the tropical scenery and houses perched precariously on the hills go by.

In order to protect the reef, all of the dive sites are equipped with mooring buoys. Most of which have been installed by DSV.

After a dive site briefing and indication of the marine life that the particular site was known for, it was then time to get kitted up. At the back of the boat you are helped into your scuba gear by the Divemaster and then you perform a back roll entry into the cool blue Caribbean water. If you are an underwater photographer your equipment is removed from the freshwater camera dunk tank and carefully handed to you. After you have completed your dive, you hand up your camera equipment (it is then placed back in the rinse tank for you) and your fins. You climb up the ladder,sit on the back of the boat and the Divemaster helps you to remove your BCD and returns it back to it's rack where he then swaps your scuba gear onto a filled tank ready for the next dive. Things don't get any easier do they!

Bill Tewes has been diving in the waters around St Vincent for the past 20 years and was our guide for 95% of our dives. Originally from Dallas, Texas in 1984 he bought a small shop on St Vincent complete with it's six sets of gear and has remained there ever since. All of the Divemasters (D.J, Delroy and Calle) are all Vincentian and have been with Bill for many years.

During the dives, Bill carried a magnetic slate on which he would scribble the names of the interesting marine life that he pointed out. On occasions he would draw amusing little drawings to accompany the text. On one particular occasion Bill pointed out a juvenile Spotted Moray that had obviously taken up residence in a car battery and was poking it's head out of one of the battery top-up holes. He then proceeded to scribble something on his slate. When he turned it around to show me, he had written in capital letters 'ELECTRIC EEL !!'

Bills dry sense of humour often manifested itself during the surface interval. SI's were normally spent relaxing on the boat discussing the marine life he had pointed out during the dives, pouring over the Humann Reef Fish Identification book that he always had to hand and swapping jokes or amusing sarcastic comments. If you are the sensitive type, can't take a joke or are easily offended my advice is not to go diving with Bill. For me, I loved the banter and it certainly added something to the vacation.

The following images were all taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2500 2 Megapixel Digital Camera with 256 Mb memory card.

The six seater Air Mustique aircraft that we flew in from Barbados to St Vincent. Just visible is our gray suitcase that would not fit into the aircraft hold.

A brief stopover to drop off passengers at the flag bedecked Mustique airport.

The Mariners Hotel and it's pool.

The Mariners Hotel bar.

The French Verandah Restaurant at the Mariners Hotel.

The Dive St Vincent dive shop on the right and Young Island Boutique on the left.

Bill Tewes, Dive St Vincent owner and our dive guide.

Sunset viewed from the Mariners Hotel jetty.

Dive trip to St Vincent & the Grenadines, Mariners Hotel - September 2003 (Part Two)