A tiny in the Caribbean Sea, east of Puerto Rico, is split into the Dutch and French side. St Maarten, or Sint Maarten, is the Dutch portion of the island, is the focus of places to dive there. It’s the perfect island getaway, and offers pristine, warm diving all year round thanks to its tropical climate. 

There are around 17 dive sites around the south and southeast sides of the island. Sites usually don’t exceed 18 meters (60 feet), meaning diving is easy and perfect for beginners. Tourism isn’t bustling, so it’s great for those that enjoy uncrowded dive sites, even in the high season. Sites include beautiful reefs, lots of wrecks and encrusted rocky spots explore. With around shipwrecks to discover, wreck lovers will be kept very busy. 

Many of the exceptional reefs around St Maarten are rocky structures covered in coral and sponges. Volcanic activity created a lot of the rock formations underwater, which are now teeming with colorful life. Some older reefs suffered hurricane damage, however, they’ve shown great recovery in recent years with new coral taking over the old. 

With sufficient dive centers and dive resorts to choose from in this small island, there’s plenty of availability. Furthermore, some operators travel by boat to nearby islands, like Anguilla, St Barts and Saba. A few liveaboards visit the island, though not many actually depart from it. 

Furthermore, it’s a great place to take an open water certification, or for more advanced dive courses, a wreck specialty would be suitable thanks to abundant shipwrecks here. 
 

Like its French counterpart Saint Martin, St Maarten experiences amazing diving all year, and has similar seasons. The low seasons are around May to July, and September to November. The higher seasons are July to August, and December to April. 

The air temperature is stable all year, with an average of 27°C (80.6°F), which can climb to 32°C (89.6°F). The two seasons are the dry and winter periods. The dry season lasts from December to April, and the winter, from May to November. There isn’t much of a definite rainy reason. 

The water temperature is stable all year, fluctuating between 26°C-29°C (79°F-84°F) in the warmer months, which are around January and February, down to 22°C-24°C (72°F-75°F) in colder August. Visibility is usually excellent year round, reaching 30 meters (98 feet) or more depending on the site. 

The hurricane season runs from June to November, though the island isn’t inside the worst of the hurricane area.
 

The majority of dive sites here are colorful reefs and wrecks with some breathtaking topography thrown into the mix. Boat diving is the most common practice, though there are a few shore diving opportunities at shallow reef sites. 

The beautiful reefs all around the island are normally shallow and very easy with mild to zero current, promising a relaxing dive for divers of all levels of experience. 

For shipwreck enthusiasts, there are around ten wrecks to explore, and are all taken over by nature, encrusted by corals and sponges and home to an array of tropical fish species. The most famous wreck is the HMS Proselyte, which sank in 1801 and is now located in the Proselyte Reef. 
 

A wealth of vibrant marine life and underwater habitats can be discovered all around St Maarten, from diverse hard and soft coral species, sea fans, gorgonians, hydroids, sponges and lava rocks, to critters both big and small, from frogfish, seahorses and hundreds of reef fish, to moray eels, blue tangs, lobsters, schooling fish, trumpetfish, barracuda, tarpon, stingrays and even eagle rays, reef and nurse sharks, to only name a few. 

Proselyte is a beautiful reef site combined with a shipwreck dive, the famous HMS Proselyte. It’s now part of the reef, where its 13 cannons and three huge anchors, all encrusted with corals rest at the bottom. Colorful fish, coral and sponges surround these artifacts, along with some sublime walls. 

Great photo opportunities abound at The Bridge, which is the old Simpson Bay Bridge that’s surrounded by 3 sunken sailboats. The bridge, now overgrown with corals and sponges, serves as a magnificent artificial reef hosting a myriad of life, including lobsters, schools of fish and the occasional reef shark. 

Long Bay Reef is a beautiful site with lovely topography, like caves and cracks where king crabs and lobsters hide. Expect lots of color, hard and soft corals and plenty of reef fish. It's also a good place to find turtles. 

Finally, we have the awesome Fish Bowl, which boasts swim-throughs, fantastic corals and sponges and an epic amount of colorful marine life.  What’s more, reef sharks are often spotted here.