RCCL Cruise dive excursions

[jimbeeler]

Do a "discover" somewhere else with little/no current. Coz isn't the place to find out if your wife likes diving.

It's like dropping in on a race track to see if you like driving.

I was hoping they would do it in a cove or something. Even off the seawall where the cruise ships dock, I've had it take me one direction and 30 minutes later the other direction and 30 minutes after that, there was no current at all...

I wonder where they do the discover dive? My wife will not do it in the fresh water of Texas (no viz) but I thought she might like it in the caribbean. The only discover dive they offer on that cruise is in Cozumel.

Jim

 

[flots am]

I wonder where they do the discover dive? My wife will not do it in the fresh water of Texas (no viz) but I thought she might like it in the caribbean. The only discover dive they offer on that cruise is in Cozumel.

Sorry, no idea.

There's nothing wrong with Coz, if you can verify that it's going to be pretty much no current and shallow with a hard bottom.

> Even off the seawall where the cruise ships dock,

There's no diving at all near the ships (you don't want to be too close anyway).

 

[jimbeeler]

Sorry, no idea.

There's nothing wrong with Coz, if you can verify that it's going to be pretty much no current and shallow with a hard bottom.

> Even off the seawall where the cruise ships dock,

There's no diving at all near the ships (you don't want to be too close anyway).

While at El Cid snorkeling, I have seen divers diving the plane between El Cid and the ship. I have been diving probably 1/4 mile or less from the cruise dock (led by a Royal Caribbean Scuba instructor).

Perhaps things have changed in the years since I dove there and saw divers while snorkeling.

Jim

 

[diversteve]

Well... Now Roatan and Belize sound good... Now if I can get my wife to do the "Discover" dive in Cozumel, I'll be all set... I'd love to get her interested...

Jim

If you're not set on the cruise excursion, Barefoot Divers on Roatan does both - she can either snorkel or do the PADI Discover Scuba.

Dive Tours Roatán - Ship Shore Excursions - Barefoot Divers

Lunch is excellent also, Barefoot Cay's restaurant caters it. BFC is certainly the most upscale AI dive resort on Roatan.

 

[Altamira]

+1 for Barefoot Divers for Discover Scuba dives. Although they are closer to Mahogany Bay, if you work with them they can probably set up transportation to and from the ship. We took our grandkids on a Discover Scuba dive with them, and it worked very well because they had a dive that departed at 10A or so that catered to cruise divers. The Discover Scuba academic part was excellent, and they took the kids a short distance to shallow water for the first short intro dive. When finished with that, they joined us on the 10A dive boat for a dive down to 40ft, which also had other members of our family snorkeling above. Each of the two grandkids had their own instructor, and we could not have asked for a better intro program for them. I do not know where the ship runs the Discover Scuba Dives, but you can bet it will not be in a place that has any challenging currents, so I would not worry too much about that.

 

[robint]

Cozumel current is completely variable day to day and site to site. The moon and season have a lot to do with it, too. I have done a site with zero current and another trip it was a wild ride. You cannot ever say that ALL dives in Cozumel are fast current, it just isn't true.

There are dozens of dive ops that service the cruise ships in Cozumel, many pick you up right off the cruise ship dock, some require you take a taxi to a nearby pier for pickup. A Discover dive in Cozumel would probably be at Paradise Reef which is just south of the southern cruise ship dock. It is shallow, 30-40' depth and tons of fish. Many dive ops do this as the second dive several times a week as it is close to town and shallow but fishy. Roatan might be a better choice for a Discover dive since they do have "coves" with zero current.

Belize to me is all about seeing the Mayan Ruins. Just my opinion.

have a nice trip and be sure to post a Trip Report with lots of photos! My husband and I are thinking about doing this exact trip later in the year. He is recovering from surgery and doesn't want a dive intensive trip, but a couple of dives might be fun.

robin

 

[warmwaterturner]

Do a "discover" somewhere else with little/no current. Coz isn't the place to find out if your wife likes diving.

It's like dropping in on a race track to see if you like driving.

Got to agree here. If you hit a day with a good current it may put her off - especially if she is nervous about her first time. Paradise Garden in Cozumel is an amazing place for snorkeling should that be an option BUT it will be crowded when a number of ships are in port. Im not sure - but AKR in Roatan might do a DSD and there tends to be lighter currents there.

 

[LowVizWiz]

The shore excursion list for the Sept. Navigator cruises do indicate "Turneffe Atoll".

Advertising a Turneffe Atoll dive is like saying we will drop you by the coast. The Atoll is 30 miles long!
I wouldn't dive Belize again from a cruise ship unless I was guaranteed a dive in the Blue Hole which is not going to happen because of the distance.
Don't get me wrong the diving from the cruise ship in Belize is not going to be bad, just nothing special if you have already dove in the Caribbean as you say you have.

Coz and Roatan would be my choices. AKR was the cruise ship op in Roatan when I did it. In Coz I used Dive with Martin, don't know who the RCCL op is in Cozumel.

Hope this helps!

 

[fire_diver]

I'm going on a cruise next month (Royal Caribbean Navigator) and want to get a few dives in. It's going to Cozumel, Belize, and Roatan. I've been to all three many times before but have never dived. My wife doesn't dive so even though there are dive excursions on each stop, I'm probably not going to dive at each port.

I'll be using the cruise line's excursions rather than others because of the ease of cancellation (I've got sinus problems that tend to creep up at any time).

Of the three locations if I was going diving on one or two of the above ports, what would be the collective opinion of the best places to dive.

Thanks...

Jim

PLease be sure to come back and give us a trip report after your cruise! I'm going on the same itenerary in Oct and have been trying to decided which ports to take my son diving in. I've dived Coz many times, but it will all be new for my son.

 

[jimbeeler]

PLease be sure to come back and give us a trip report after your cruise! I'm going on the same itenerary in Oct and have been trying to decided which ports to take my son diving in. I've dived Coz many times, but it will all be new for my son.

Will do.... I don't know how things are going to flush out at the present time. My wife (as previously mentioned) is not a diver and she thinks we should do things together on the excursions. Generally, she wants to sit on the beach. Personally I don't see the attraction of sitting on a beach for 4-5 hours, but sometimes go with her to the beach and snorkel. I just have to remember to come in and socialize every now and then before going out snorkeling again. I like to take advantage of the times I have clear water available to me.

Jim