1-Day Coz Stop on Cruise
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jonhall
Contributor
Never dove off of a cruise ship, but this is from my observations and prior research when I thought I was going to dive off of a cruise ship.
*As mentioned already, make it stress free and book with the cruise ship. A plus might be others also diving from the ship who have done it on previous cruises to Coz and know the op that the cruise ship uses. Worst case scenario (and the reason I haven't dove off of ship - but it wasn't in Coz) is the dive is cancelled for some reason and then you're scrambling to find an alternative, with possibly limited communications. But at least you get a hassle-free refund from the cruise ship.
*A factor could be which cruise ship pier you pull into. It would help to know. Definitely count on it taking 15-30 minutes to get off of the ship - and as mentioned earlier maybe 45 minutes. Expect the unexpected! If you pull into the International Pier, a short 10-15 minute walk can get you to Roberta's Scuba Shack or Jungle Divers. Add 10 minutes from Puerto Maya pier. If it's the Punta Langosta pier, these ops won't work. Roberta's Scuba Shack and Jungle Divers are both good ops (I dove with Roberta's, but both get good reviews from SB members.) Roberta's is well run and provides rental gear if you don't have your own - the process is pretty fast - you should be ready to go before your assigned boat goes out. You could easily make it to Roberta's, dive 2 tanks (you'd be back in to shore by 1:30 PM at the latest,) and have plenty of time to stop and have a drink on the way back to the ship. Jungle Divers does leave later, as mentioned earlier, so returns later. If the weather is good, the dive site doesn't make any difference - you'll like it. If the weather is bad and the dives are blown out (and the dive op is closed) you'll have to figure out how to get a refund - another reason for booking through the cruise ship.
Roberta's Scuba Shack:
scubashackcoz.com
Just in case you want more options here's a link to a Google spreadsheet with Cozumel dive ops (post #125):
scubaboard.com
*As mentioned already, make it stress free and book with the cruise ship. A plus might be others also diving from the ship who have done it on previous cruises to Coz and know the op that the cruise ship uses. Worst case scenario (and the reason I haven't dove off of ship - but it wasn't in Coz) is the dive is cancelled for some reason and then you're scrambling to find an alternative, with possibly limited communications. But at least you get a hassle-free refund from the cruise ship.
*A factor could be which cruise ship pier you pull into. It would help to know. Definitely count on it taking 15-30 minutes to get off of the ship - and as mentioned earlier maybe 45 minutes. Expect the unexpected! If you pull into the International Pier, a short 10-15 minute walk can get you to Roberta's Scuba Shack or Jungle Divers. Add 10 minutes from Puerto Maya pier. If it's the Punta Langosta pier, these ops won't work. Roberta's Scuba Shack and Jungle Divers are both good ops (I dove with Roberta's, but both get good reviews from SB members.) Roberta's is well run and provides rental gear if you don't have your own - the process is pretty fast - you should be ready to go before your assigned boat goes out. You could easily make it to Roberta's, dive 2 tanks (you'd be back in to shore by 1:30 PM at the latest,) and have plenty of time to stop and have a drink on the way back to the ship. Jungle Divers does leave later, as mentioned earlier, so returns later. If the weather is good, the dive site doesn't make any difference - you'll like it. If the weather is bad and the dives are blown out (and the dive op is closed) you'll have to figure out how to get a refund - another reason for booking through the cruise ship.
Roberta's Scuba Shack:
Scuba Diving Cozumel MX - Roberta's Scuba Shack
Top rated scuba diving dive shop in Cozumel, Mexico. We've been here in business for over 30 years. Snorkeling trips. Learn to Scuba Dive with our experienced dive masters. Hotel accommodations also available on site.
scubashackcoz.com
Just in case you want more options here's a link to a Google spreadsheet with Cozumel dive ops (post #125):
Finding a (Best) Dive Op in Cozumel
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KDAD
Contributor
Admittedly it has been a few years since I did the cruise ship dive with Dive with Martin so I may not remember being a van ride to the marina - I did think that the dive boat was right by the cruise ship. Possibly the boat picked us up by the cruise ship and dropped off by the marina - I do remember being let off at the marina?
It did work out fine, either way. Here is the exact language from the confirmation of the reservation that I received:
"After you get off ship, please make your way to the dive shop as soon as possible. The shop is located at the International Pier, which is where your ship will dock. You'll just get off the ship and walk down the pier to the dive shop, which is at the base of the pier."
Based on the above I booked direct plus being stubborn...
I agree that booking direct with the cruise ship is stress-free.
BigDaddyGlad
Contributor
I have dived in Cozumel on three occasions off cruise ships. I don't typically use the cruise excursion for diving, as I find those operators tend to run the less-appealing larger "cattle boats." The last two times, I've gone with Dive Paradise. They are located just across the street from the Wyndham Hotel, which was an $8 cab ride last time (I think rates have gone up a bit since then).
I also believe Dive with Martin (mentioned upthread) has moved from their location directly at the pier, so they aren't quite the convenient operator they used to be.
The reason I use Dive Paradise is that they offer what I believe to be the only 10:00 a.m. 2-tank Express Boat, and you really need that extra time because can't rely 100% on getting clearance to disembark any time quickly. You may be scheduled to arrive in port at 7:00 a.m., but that may be ship time vs local time, and you may be an hour behind. Then, it could take 45 minutes for officials to clear the ship, and the next thing you know, you've missed your dive.
Dive Paradise's state-side rep, Susan, is great to work with, and I've not had more than 4 other divers on the boat with me. Susan is great at connecting individual divers from different ships. I will be diving with them at the end of this month off Symphony of the Seas; I had originally booked with the cruise line, but Susan reached out to me a few weeks ago because she found another diver looking for a seat on the day I wanted.
I also believe Dive with Martin (mentioned upthread) has moved from their location directly at the pier, so they aren't quite the convenient operator they used to be.
The reason I use Dive Paradise is that they offer what I believe to be the only 10:00 a.m. 2-tank Express Boat, and you really need that extra time because can't rely 100% on getting clearance to disembark any time quickly. You may be scheduled to arrive in port at 7:00 a.m., but that may be ship time vs local time, and you may be an hour behind. Then, it could take 45 minutes for officials to clear the ship, and the next thing you know, you've missed your dive.
Dive Paradise's state-side rep, Susan, is great to work with, and I've not had more than 4 other divers on the boat with me. Susan is great at connecting individual divers from different ships. I will be diving with them at the end of this month off Symphony of the Seas; I had originally booked with the cruise line, but Susan reached out to me a few weeks ago because she found another diver looking for a seat on the day I wanted.
I do a lot of dives on cruises, and from my experience, you should not have a problem getting to almost any dive op with a 0700 port time. Sometimes I use the ship's dive op, and other times use off ship vendors, depending on a lot of factors. However, I am not sure why you would discount diving with the ship's dive op at Cozumel. I dove six dives at Coz in March and May on three cruises using the ship's dive op, and had very nice dives on each cruise stop. Sand Dollar was the ship's dive op for RCCL and Carnival, and I had no complaints about the dive op, crew, boat, or dive profiles. Sand Dollar picked up the group at the pier then a 2 minute walk to the boat, followed a short ride boat ride north to their shop for gear rental and paperwork check. Drop off after the dives was a 2 minute walk back to the pier. NO TAXI REQUIRED. My shortest dive was 42 minutes and the longest 59 minutes. The shorter dive was caused by me having a minor problem with my own dive gear, but it did not affect the other divers' dive time. The dive op broke up the boat group into 4-6 divers per DM, somewhat grouped by experience, with each group splashing at a different time. I liked the fact that they did not terminate the dive when the first diver reached the briefed min air to surface. Instead, the DM shot a DSMB, and the diver(s) that needed to surface, did so and staying with the DSMB at the surface until picked up by the boat. The remaining divers continued their dive until the DM indicated it was time for all to surface.
Can the ship cancel an excursion on short notice? Yes, but the same thing can happen to off-ship vendors. If the ship is late getting to port for any number of reasons, will the off-ship vendor wait for you? Probably not, but the ship's op will adjust the dive time to accommodate ship arrival/departure times. It's a crap shoot in either case. The only real downside to using the ships' op is that you likely won't be going to the more southern sites like Palancar.
Can the ship cancel an excursion on short notice? Yes, but the same thing can happen to off-ship vendors. If the ship is late getting to port for any number of reasons, will the off-ship vendor wait for you? Probably not, but the ship's op will adjust the dive time to accommodate ship arrival/departure times. It's a crap shoot in either case. The only real downside to using the ships' op is that you likely won't be going to the more southern sites like Palancar.
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