Date: August 5., 2005 Time: 2:45 PM Visibility: 50 - 65 ft (15 - 20 m) Water Temperature: 84 F (28.8 C) Max. Depth: 48 ft (14.5 m) Bottom Time: 1 hour 5 minutes Marine life: Large schools of silversides, snapper, squirrelfish, princess parrotfish, sergeant major, stingray, lobster, soft and hard coral
Video Contents: Huge stone arches and tunnels, large schools of silversides (sardines) Video Length: 2' 45''
File Size: 14.8 MB
Arches & Tunnels is without a doubt one of the best dive sites in St. Thomas. If you have ever been to Virgin Gorda (Island in the B.V.I.), then you also know what Arches & Tunnels looks like. The only difference is that you have to put on your scuba gear in order to "go" in between and sometimes right through massive boulders.
Diving at Arches & Tunnels is similar to gliding through a rock labyrinth, which should explain why you want to stick close to your dive master and dive buddies. This dive wasn't only leading through massive stone arches and tunnels, but also through extremely large schools of silversides (in Europe commonly referred to as sardines), weaving a seemingly endless armor through and around the gigantic rocks.
As this is a shallow dive with no or little current, we can recommend this site for beginners. Advanced divers will be able to get easily more than an hour bottom time out of this dive. Arches & Tunnels, considered a boat dive, is a 10-minute boat ride from Coki Beach and lies in front of uninhabited Thatch Cay Island. If you're planning a dive vacation in St. Thomas, or anywhere else in the U.S. Virgin Islands, make sure to include this dive site in your itinerary.