RumJunkie
Registered
This was our first cruise ship diving vacation as we prefer flying to our destination but we opted for something different this year. It may be beginner's luck as we were very pleased with the way our diving went in 3 of 4 ports of call: Roatan, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. We chose not to dive in Belize, because the ship didn't pull into port. It anchored offshore and shuttled people via tender.
In Roatan, we did 2 dives with Barefoot Divers and received great treatment from the staff and Dive Master. It really wasn't much of a hassle catching a cab from Coxen Hole (port). We paid $40 + tip for round-trip fare (2 of us). I shouldn't have paid the driver the full fare upon arrival at Barefoot Divers, but I did. Thankfully, he did return at 3:30 and we were back at the ship in plenty of time after having 2 dives with surface interval. Barefoot Divers had a nice dive boat that allowed us to enter the water my preferred way (giant stride) vs. rolling off the pangas at our other locations.
Our next stop was Belize. We didn't dive here due to not pulling into a port. Instead, we chose to take the excursion to Banister Island for beach time and Belikin beers. This worked out well, as we didn't have the opportunity for beach time at our our other ports of call.
After Belize, it was onto Costa Maya, Mexico. I was really looking forward to diving Costa Maya after seeing the Maya Palms Resort website. It was a little complicated catching a taxi at the port, but remember to EXIT the port and take the Yellow Taxis at the official taxi building. You will see it down the street AFTER exiting the port. Cab fare was $40 + tip for the two of us. We dove with Maya Palms Resort and received great treatment from Ken and Mark. Ken was our DM and Mark was the front desk agent. We really lucked out as we were the only 2 divers today. We did our first dive, and then came back to the resort (5-10 minute boat ride) for lunch. Mark fed us some Mexican Food that was plate licking good. We did 2 dives with surface interval, a few after-dive brews and the driver showed up at about 3:30. It really was Happy Thanksgiving for us! Hopefully, we can make it back here to stay for a week next year as this is our laid back style for a dive vacation.
Last, but certainly not least was Cozumel, Mexico. We dove with Aldora Divers on the leeward side of the island on the Palancar Reef. This was our favorite diving of the 3 locations, as the visibility and fish population was outstanding on this reef. After the first dive, we took our surface interval at this fun beach resort called Mr. Sancho's. Diving in Coz from the cruise ship was really low hassle because we didn't need to take a cab to the dive shop. We exited the port shopping area and walked down a few streets turned right and there was the dive shop. And, a few more streets from the shop is the dive boat. Very nice setup.
Diving in Roatan, Costa Maya, and Cozumel was outstanding in my opinion and we were very pleased with all 3 of our dive operators. They were all professional, patient, and friendly. I wouldn't have changed a thing as far as the choice of cruise ship, dive operators, or ports of call. One more thing, we used rental equipment in all 3 locations and didn't have any issues.
In Roatan, we did 2 dives with Barefoot Divers and received great treatment from the staff and Dive Master. It really wasn't much of a hassle catching a cab from Coxen Hole (port). We paid $40 + tip for round-trip fare (2 of us). I shouldn't have paid the driver the full fare upon arrival at Barefoot Divers, but I did. Thankfully, he did return at 3:30 and we were back at the ship in plenty of time after having 2 dives with surface interval. Barefoot Divers had a nice dive boat that allowed us to enter the water my preferred way (giant stride) vs. rolling off the pangas at our other locations.
Our next stop was Belize. We didn't dive here due to not pulling into a port. Instead, we chose to take the excursion to Banister Island for beach time and Belikin beers. This worked out well, as we didn't have the opportunity for beach time at our our other ports of call.
After Belize, it was onto Costa Maya, Mexico. I was really looking forward to diving Costa Maya after seeing the Maya Palms Resort website. It was a little complicated catching a taxi at the port, but remember to EXIT the port and take the Yellow Taxis at the official taxi building. You will see it down the street AFTER exiting the port. Cab fare was $40 + tip for the two of us. We dove with Maya Palms Resort and received great treatment from Ken and Mark. Ken was our DM and Mark was the front desk agent. We really lucked out as we were the only 2 divers today. We did our first dive, and then came back to the resort (5-10 minute boat ride) for lunch. Mark fed us some Mexican Food that was plate licking good. We did 2 dives with surface interval, a few after-dive brews and the driver showed up at about 3:30. It really was Happy Thanksgiving for us! Hopefully, we can make it back here to stay for a week next year as this is our laid back style for a dive vacation.
Last, but certainly not least was Cozumel, Mexico. We dove with Aldora Divers on the leeward side of the island on the Palancar Reef. This was our favorite diving of the 3 locations, as the visibility and fish population was outstanding on this reef. After the first dive, we took our surface interval at this fun beach resort called Mr. Sancho's. Diving in Coz from the cruise ship was really low hassle because we didn't need to take a cab to the dive shop. We exited the port shopping area and walked down a few streets turned right and there was the dive shop. And, a few more streets from the shop is the dive boat. Very nice setup.
Diving in Roatan, Costa Maya, and Cozumel was outstanding in my opinion and we were very pleased with all 3 of our dive operators. They were all professional, patient, and friendly. I wouldn't have changed a thing as far as the choice of cruise ship, dive operators, or ports of call. One more thing, we used rental equipment in all 3 locations and didn't have any issues.
