recommended for cruise ship pickup

[simcoediver]

We have booked a cruise that will be stopping in Roatan and we want to get some good dives in. What dive shop do you recommend I contact in Roatan? We do not want to go with a bunch of newbies thru the cruise ships dive setup.

 

[Dogbowl]

I went with West End Divers twice. They can arrange a ride for a fee. We had our own boat both times cause we were on cruise ship schedule. I would not hesitate to go with them again.

 

[Coralcomm]

Barefoot Divers is close by both cruise ship ports...signature sites like Mary's Place are within sight of their shore, so you spend most of your time diving instead of going to/from...great valet dive service in a 5 star PADI shop...knowledgeable divemasters...

 

[CajunDiva]

I would highly recommend Subway Watersports:

Roatan Tours | Subway 2 Tank Certified Dive

They have a great staff of experienced Roatan divemasters and can be trusted to lead you on a couple of great dives.

 

[diversteve]

I'll second Barefoot Divers - it's more of a boutique resort so they offer 2 dives plus lunch for the price. Also since it's a smaller upscale resort that also caters to non-divers - the day we were there, my group was their only dive business that morning. We dove Mary's Place then went over to Cocoview on their boat and dove the Prince Albert wreck. I also ate breakfast there and the food was better than average for Roatan. .

Subway is at Tuquoise Bay on the NE side of the island, West End Divers in the West End - on the NW side of the island. The cruise operator for some is Anthony's Key located North central.

On Carnival you dock at their private complex at Mahogany Bay on the south central part of the island, the other cruise lines dock in Coxen Hole on the south west. Barefoot Cay is between the two cruise ports on the south side so although you have to pay for and take a cab, it's a much shorter ride. I believe it's $20 and they will have the cab driver waiting on your arrival - we were on island already so IDK that part of it. They really do offer valet service - they'll handle your gear as much or as little as you like - clientele at Barefoot Cay tends to be a little more upscale, it's a spa, private chef in your villa sort of place.

Logistically on a cruise interval, it just makes the most sense as Mary's Place is arguably the signature Roatan dive. If you happen to be going this winter it's possible weather could impact north side dives - that almost never happens on the south side. The larger operations have the wherewithal to move boats and shuttle you south, the smaller panga operators just shut down. I believe all the operations mentioned in this post do move boats if needed.

I should mention that AKR also includes the shuttle in the price of their cruise excursion and we happened to be on their dock one day when their cruise dive returned - they offer the cruise divers their own boat and we saw them a few minutes later stop at the gift shop (it's bigger than it sounds) before boarding for the return to the port.

Subway also has a free pickup included in their operation. IDK anything else about them.

 

[Subway Watersports]

Hello Simcoediver! We recently started offering an exclusive two-tank south side dive excursion out of our second dive shop located in French Cay, just outside of French Harbour. This excursion is catered towards more experienced divers and we visit Mary's Place and one of the wreck dives, either Mr. Bud or Prince Albert. For complete details please feel free to contact us at info@subwaywatersports.com. Happy cruising if we don't see you this time around!

 

[Doc]

Good suggestions above, and if you're offered Mary's Place plus one of the CoCo View placed wrecks...go for it! (as Subway above)

.....We do not want to go with a bunch of newbies thru the cruise ships dive setup.....

All cruise ship divers (CSD's) everywhere will be treated like "noobs". This is because the dive-op will be seeing you for the very first time. You will be viewed as a distinct liability. Taking any first-day diver to their #1 dive to Mary's Place? Well, I wouldn't do it, but it ain't me. You're going to have to look very hard to find a dive-op where you'll be the only CSD on board, newbie or not.

 

[Ron reyes]

Good suggestions above, and if you're offered Mary's Place plus one of the CoCo View placed wrecks...go for it! (as Subway above)



All cruise ship divers (CSD's) everywhere will be treated like "noobs". This is because the dive-op will be seeing you for the very first time. You will be viewed as a distinct liability. Taking any first-day diver to their #1 dive to Mary's Place? Well, I wouldn't do it, but it ain't me. You're going to have to look very hard to find a dive-op where you'll be the only CSD on board, newbie or not.

good morning SIMCOEDIVER and all the dive community, here at BAREFOOT divers we cater to all type of divers and one of many good things of diving with us its that we are close to the cruise ship ports and not to far from the most popular dive sites in the island, MARY'S PLACE one of them and many more, also another great thing its that we also have few boats and if we have our normal resort guest and cruise ship divers we try to separate them due time that need to get back to cruise ship, particular request for dive site and also of course level of certification and experience, we are happy to take you dive with us, i hope that we can have you all over here so we can show you the underwater world in this part of the island.
cheers and happy diving

 

[Altamira]

+3 for Barefoot Divers. However, if your ship's dive op is Anthony's Key Resort, I would not hesitate to use them. You will get two excellent dives, with a very good dive boat, and they generally split up the divers into smaller groups based on experience levels. The past two times I used them, my dive buddy was my inexperienced 14 year old grandson, and consequently grouped with the lower experience divers, but still had two great dives with no complaints whatsoever. One diver ran out of air @25 minutes, but the DM stuck him on his octo so we still got a 40-45 minute dive. The more experienced group had slightly longer dives and I did not hear anything but positive comments from anybody on the dive boat. As with all cruise ship dives, when considering the cost differential between the ship's op and off-ship vendors, do not forget to add in the taxi costs, and available time in port. Also make sure you know if there is a time differential between ship time and Roatan time. Faulty assumptions on local time can result in getting left at the dock or at least riding back to the cruise dock with a high pucker factor.
P.S. Not all divers using cruise ships as a transportation method are newbies.

 

[Doc]

One diver ran out of air @25 minutes, but the DM stuck him on his octo so we still got a 40-45 minute dive.

Is that a good thing?

If that DM needed to actually perform an actual DM task, how would that work out?