Book dive through ship, dive shop or on shore after landing

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lowlysubaruguy

Contributor
Messages
171
Reaction score
60
Location
The Gorge
# of dives
100 - 199
We have only been on one cruise we booked our dive through the ship. My experience booking through the ship wasn’t what I’d call stellar the boat was overloaded the pick up and drop offs from other boats was agonizing it was hot And it ate up about 4 hours just picking up and dropping offf divers all over the place on another note the dives were great. No complaints but it leaves me with questions.

This was in Cozumel When we got off the boat there were dive operators everywhere standing on shore with signs looking for divers And there were also a number of dive outfits that did smaller groups if I booked them myself. We opted to book through the cruise because they guarantee to get us back on the boat.

Upcoming trip two places that we cold dive from

10 hours at shore Puerto Vallarta and 12 hours at shore Cabo San Lucas we are at both ports with what I think is plenty of safety time even if things go mildly wrong if things go majorly wrong well thats another story all together. Any recommendations on how to book a dive or even wait and find a dive shop as we port.

thanks
 
I've been out of the water for several years. Actually servicing some gear now so I can get back in the water soon :) In any event I took a discover scuba in St. Thomas from a cruise ship and that's how I got the diving bug. I recall it being a very "rushed" process as a whole to get everyone in and out of the water and back on the boat in time. I would suggest calling ahead to some reputable dive shops and get the scoop from them as they do this all day long. Do some research and find a decent shop with a good reputation.
 
I have not dived Puerta Vallarta or Cabo, but if you want to increase the probability of diving, I would pre-book your dives with either the ship or an outside vendor that you have previously researched. I am not a fan of just hoping a reputable dive op will be waiting on the dock for my arrival. I want to know, and choose, who I will be diving with before I get to the port, preferably based on SB reviews.
 
I would only pre-research and book ahead with a specific shop. You'll probably get a better operator and likely a better price.

Give them your itinerary and they'll take care of you I'm sure. Do make sure they have your cruise ship's local contact info just in case something happens to the dive boat and there's an unexpected delay though.
 
I have never booked a dive trip through the cruise line, but have been on a number of cruises. Looking from the perspective of having stayed at a few places that catered to day trip cruise passengers. It always appeared to me that the operation took the cruise ship folks to poor dive sites. They had a tendency to put more people on a boat, dive masters going through the motions, take your money and "we'll probably never see you again" attitude. The dive sites they always did were at least one dive at what I call "the check out dive" site. Shallow, close by, coral in poor shape, you know the type. I think we've done about 6 cruises and early on I booked one excursion through the cruise line. After that I did my research ahead of time, booked all my own excursions did it better and cheaper then what the cruise was offering.
 
I don't have cruise ship diving experience (I will in about 2 weeks though!) but did dive in Banderas Bay which is where you dive in Puerto Vallarta - I was next door in Nuevo Vallarta. I hope someone who has done the cruise you're doing responds with great advice.

There are only a handful of dive sites where you will be. They are anywhere from 20 - 60 minutes away from the port. If you go with the cruise ship dive excursion, chances are you will get more than just diving (such as beach time or a party boat after the diving) and the "dive" boat may include snorkelers or people doing an excursion that you are really just a part of. I did a dive excursion through Vallarta Adventures where I wound up being the only diver (which was nice) but it was tied into beach time with food and drink. It was nice in the regard that while I was diving, my wife and friends did the beach time. I joined them after my dive. A cruise ship excursion in PV is probably going to last 6-7 hours.

It may require some research on your part to find a dive only op because I'm pretty sure several include other activity along with the diving - probably snorkeling and/or kayaking.

In Cabo San Lucas, it will be a little easier as dive ops are close by the cruise ship pier and the popular dive sites in the bay are only 5-10 minutes away. Time-wise, there won't be a problem getting back back to your ship. Manta Scuba is nearby. I dove with Cabo Adventures (I know, Vallarta Adventures in PV and Cabo Adventures in CSL - but we did all of our dives in Cabo ½ price - couldn't pass that up.) Think you need to look up and/or contact a few of the dive ops to see if they cater to cruise ship divers. If not, that is the benefit of booking through the cruise ship.

I feel that whether you do the cruise ship excursions or book with ops nearby, that in these two ports, you will wind up going to the same popular sites anyway. Hope you get some better help other than my speculation.
 
Having sometimes gone with cruise ship dive excursions, but mostly with dive shops that I've booked, I much prefer booking with a dive shop myself.

Cruise dive excursions tend to take longer to corral everyone together, tend to be on a large but crowded boat, go to very close and unimpressive dive sites near the cruise ship pier, and are usually more expensive. Once in a while, there is an Advanced dive cruise excursion, which is a little better, but generally there is only one excursion, which is suitable for any newly certified diver or others.

I've never wanted to grab a dive while at the pier because I want to research the dive ops and have everything set up in advance, including picking me up shortly after my cruise ship docks and getting me back normally around 5 hours later. You can tell them about your experience and what kind of sites you might be interested in, and they will usually try to accommodate. Many have more than one boat and are able to place divers with similarly experienced divers.

I'll be on a cruise ship in March stopping in Puerto Vallarta, but since it's primarily a family trip, we're going to go on a whale watching boat tour that day. I did initially do research on Puerto Vallarta, though, and a dive shop that was recommended here on SB was Puerto Vallarta Ocean Tours. Some of the top diving sites in Puerto Vallarta according to a SB member were Los Arcos, Mahajuitas, and Yelapa, so you could always ask about those.

Have fun! :)
 
Yesterday was a bust. I am chalking it up to being Monday. On my lunch break I tried calling and emailing a few dive shops in both cities. One company has a great web sight I sent them a detailed email through there contact form. Which promptly linked me right back to the contact form meaning it doesn’t work and no one knows it doesn’t work.
No return phone calls on the messages only talked to one person who was sure they could get us in the water but knew nothing about how I get from the port to there shop.
I only reached out to places that were supposed to be open by there web site but web sights are often put up then ignored. So I will keep trying. We have plenty of time and there’s lots to do if the dive goes south not to mention booking a dive doesn’t mean the weathers going to cooperate any way.
 
No return phone calls on the messages only talked to one person who was sure they could get us in the water but knew nothing about how I get from the port to there shop.

If you post details of what you've done (i.e. who you talked to, etc), there's likely people on this board that can fill in the gaps for you... like how to get there from the port and such.

I've done a lot of cruise ship diving over the years all over the Caribbean, have always booked in advance independent of the ship, have never had a problem... but I've learned what it takes to put it together. (We're going on another trip in a couple weeks, diving St Thomas, St Maarten, St Kitts, St Lucia and Barbados... five different shops, all booked directly.)
 
There were a few suggestions listed in a response above that I did reach out to, like you I have never had issues gaining info or booking in the Caribbean, Mexico on the West side is new to me.

I’m going to reach out to more today and tomorrow thinking that it was Monday and some of them might be closed on Mondays or short staffed. When I get more info I will post.
 

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