Going to school in the Caribbean

i dont know anything about the island for spearing, but a friend of mine went to school on st maarten and it was a good time...a bit wild, in the good and bad sense

grenada is beautiful "the spice island" cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, lots of conch.

I have heard Saba is beautiful and a favorite amongst people who go to those surrounding areas, but, I believe it was mentioned that every were around the entire island is a marine santuary and there is no spearing allowed...at least with a gun. You may want to also e-mail the Islands city hall/tourism centers to ask if spearfishing is allowed on the Islands, again many of the areas there are marine santuaries and spearfishing is illegal for the most part.

All the former French, British and Dutch islands are a no go for spearing.

Try to stay in the states, you'll get much better residencies once you graduate and not loose a year in the transition.

Pretty sure you can spear the French side of St. maarten, but like Rolo said, The Dutch part and Saba are no goes. Saba is also about the size of the pimple on my butt. I think you'd go nuts there if you couldn't dive. Pple are nice though, and it is really pretty.

Another thing about the 2 Dutch Islands. St Maarten will soon become independent. I think this could cause some instability. Saba is about to become a province of the Netherlands on 10/10 of this year. In this case, I think it will be positive for those living there.

Don't know to much about the other islands...

I went to St. Maarten about 7 years ago and in the french side there was a dive shop that sold spearguns.

Don't know anything about the others, except that sealife is great in all the Caribbean... I sure know that spearing is not allowed in any british island.

My buddy from high school studied medicine in Cuba. He thinks he a got a great education, and is now a practicing doctor in Curaçao...

Don't worry about the spearing to much, focus on your education. Then when rich and successful, you'll have plenty of time to spearfish!

the school in st maarten is somehow an accredited american school...you get the same resinecies and rotations with good scores.

cool, so you wont lose out by doing it this way

Because is not allowed.

Now, seriously, in Mayaguez, PR you can study Medicine and is the USA.

My Friend finished his first 2 years of med school down in Grenada. If you have questions about the school, I can put you in touch with him. He started his rotations a couple months ago in NJ.

Jason.

Quote from gerald

My buddy from high school studied medicine in Cuba. He thinks he a got a great education, and is now a practicing doctor in Curaçao...

Don't worry about the spearing to much, focus on your education. Then when rich and successful, you'll have plenty of time to spearfish!

I agree, dont think too much about the spearing, focus on your education, we might sound like mom and dad,but
this is serious , If i were you, would be asking were to study were spearing was not allowed.

Definitely be careful about which school you go to in the Caribbean since many of the med schools there make it difficult to get licensed and get your residency programs needed to graduate. I had a friend go to one down there and she was told that it wouldn't be an issue but found that not to be true when she tried coming back state side for residency. Just be sure to really research and check their accreditation with the boards, not just at those schools; they have funny ways of bending and contorting words in legal but misleading ways.
That being said, does Univ of the VI's have one; think it's on St John? That would be epic though.

Quote from Rolo

All the former French, British and Dutch islands are a no go for spear .

i think it would be important to do some serious research on wich islands have what exactly laws about spearfishing. to my knowledge there are spearfishing in guadeloupe and martinique(french) as well in barbados, jamaica,and grenada(british)in grenada for sure for locals, dont know for foreigners. heard of other islands too, but dont know if legal.

Fishingdude, I found this forum looking for the answer to your question. Im a 4th semester here at AUC from what i've been told spearfishing is ok on the french side not on the dutch. The thing is there is absolutely no regulation of any sorts on the island so things be legal or or not don't make much of a difference. I'm looking to get a polespear and try my luck on the french side. Tons of nice size yellow tails and gray snapper off the beaches. You'll find The occasional big grouper as well. I see them so rarely though that I'd probably leave them alone. Lobster is plentiful too and as long as you're snorkeling theres no rules on taking a few with you. It's a fun place just get your studying done and spend a little time fishing, scuba, and snorkeling.