Dec. 13, 2001 — Once again, the U.S. Virgin Islands ranked high in a scuba diving magazine's annual poll of readers.
Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine recently released the results of its annual top-100 Reader's Rate Poll. The 2001 poll is an on-going survey conducted by the magazine through mail-in survey cards inserted into subscriber's magazines and through the publication's website.
And like last year, the territory was one of the top-ten dive destinations in the Caribbean-Atlantic region.
The U.S. Virgin Islands ranked third for best shore diving, as it did last year. The territory also took the third spot for best beginner diving, again as it did last year.
The V.I. gained a spot from last year, landing at number nine for best dive destinations. It was ranked number five for best macro life. The territory gained two spots over last year, ranking number two for best snorkeling.
In a coup for a St. Croix dive shop, St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures was ranked number four as one of the top dive operators in the world.
"We are once again thrilled to have been rated so highly by our customers." said Ed Buckley, co- owner of SCUBA. "Last year Rodale's divided up the dive operators by regions and we ranked in the Top 10 for the second year in a row in the Caribbean / Atlantic region. So making it to 4th in the world is awesome."
When asked how the survey was conducted Buckley said that "throughout the year Rodale's includes surveys in the paid subscription editions of the magazine, as opposed to ones that are purchased on newsstands. There's also an on-line survey available on their website.
"So the survey isn't driven by how much advertising one purchases from Rodale's, or the Caymans would be the winner in every category, but rather it's determined by the votes of those divers who've been customers of the dive shops and took the time to tell everyone else about the shop and the destination they visited", Buckley said. "They even take the time to verify each entry to keep shops and destinations from loading up the results with their own votes."
