Diving
St Eustatius National Marine Park ranked in the top five sites in the Caribbean in terms of healthy corals and fish populations (AGRRA 2003). The more than 30 dive sites on St Eustatius offer a varied diving for both novice and experienced divers, from shallow dives, deep dives, wreck dives, wall dives to sand dives. One of the largest wrecks in the Caribbean (Charles L. Brown) is located just outside the Marine Park and is a must if you come to Statia.
Most of the dive sites has a bouy and the majority of the dive sites are located on the Caribbean side of the Island and ranges from a depth of 12 m (40 ft) to 40 m + (130 ft), most of which can be reached by boat within 5 to 20 min. Most of the coral reefs on St Eustatius have developed on either the remains of the two volcanoes that dominate the landscape or on boulders and lava flows from the volcanoes. There are also a number of wrecks in the Marine Park were corals reefs have developed to a varied degree.
Marine life
There are 3 types of coral reefs within the Marine Park, coral reefs that have developed on the remains of the extinct volcano in the northern part of the park and on the dormant volcano in the southern part of the park, coral reefs that have developed on lava blocks and solified lava flows shaped like fingers and also artificial reefs that have been created both deliberately and undeliberately on the numerous wrecks in the park, both modern and historical.
A wide array of tropical reef creatures resides in and around these reefs. Among these species are: Angelfish, Butterflyfish, Flying Gurnard, Moray Eels, Spotted Drums, Frogfish, Sea Horses, Octopus, Lobster, Rays, Sharks, and Turtles.
Wreck sites
Historical wreck sites
There are a number of remains from ships that sank during the 1600s and 1700s in OranjeBay today. The wooden ships that sank are since long gone although the canons, anchors and ballast stones have been left behind and can be seen on a number of dive sites located in OranjeBay (Double wreck, Triple wreck). Some sections of the old ships have been incorporated into the corals reef and are no longer distinguishable from the other parts of the reefs.
Modern wreck sites
STENAPA Reef was created when the Marine Park was established in 1997 as a fish attracting site for fishermen to compensate for the loss of fishing grounds. The site consists among other things of a 70 m (230 ft)long barge, part of a tanker and a 15 m (49 ft) long tug boat. The site is located at a depth of 22 m (72 ft).
Chien Tong is a Taiwanese fishing boat that was deliberately sunk in 2004. The vessel is 30 m (100 ft) long and sits upright on the sand at a depth of 21 m (69 ft).
The Charles L. Brown is a 100 m (328 ft) long cable laying ship and is one of the largest dive wrecks in the Caribbean. The ship was purchased for a symbolic 1 US dollar in 2002 by the Islands government of St Eustatius. The ship was sunk in July 2003 and now lies on its side at a depth of 31 m (105 ft).
Archeological interesting dive sites
There are a number of archeological interesting dive sites in the Marine Park were one can see old cannons and anchors from old 1600s and 1700s trading ships. One can also find old plates, wine bottles and old Dutch clay pipes. All historical objects are of course not allowed to touch or remove from its location. The only object that is allowed to remove from within the Marine Park is the Statia blue bead if you happened to be one of the lucky that finds one.