Anyone on NCL Sun Week of 2/26?

[reefseal]

Looking for pot'l dive buddies to go on shore excursions with. Itinerary Western Caribbean (Cayman, Roatan, Belize, Conzumel) I will not likely be able to dive every day but hope to at least get 1/2 day (2 tank) dives in Cayman or Conzumel..

Advance OW, 500+ logged dives.

Appreciate any recent experiences others have had on this cruise and what worked for them on trips organized on own, lessons learned if you had to over again, etc,.

Please don't hesitate to e-mail me directly lfiguero@gmail.com

Luis F.

 

[MSilvia]

I highly recommend xtabay divers in Coz. I dove with them when I did the NCL western caribbean trip in january, and was very happy with the private trip, reasonable price, and great service. As far as other advice, book your own trips rather than paying double price for an overbooked shore excursion.

 

[reefseal]

I highly recommend xtabay divers in Coz. I dove with them when I did the NCL western caribbean trip in january, and was very happy with the private trip, reasonable price, and great service. As far as other advice, book your own trips rather than paying double price for an overbooked shore excursion.

Matt,

Thanks for response. Will look into them along with Papa Hogs, Aldora Divers and Living underwater which others recommended.

Did you do any diving at any other stops? I would like to know which operators NCL uses. I like the idea of booking direct by phone or web with same operator the cruise line uses. This way, on same boat as other cruise mates so guarenteed not to be left behind. Assuming not cattle car operation and willing to wait for me if don't get off boat right away. Will probably do for Belize as it's a tender stop

I can only get a couple days of diving in as will have family. Would welcome which locations (coz, GC, Belize, Roaton) best for using as diving days.

 

[reefseal]

Anybody else going on NCL SUN week of 2/26??

Planning on diving Beliz w/ NCL operator and with Papa Hogs in Coz.

 

[robz]

Don't use the ships operator in Grand Cayman. Bad sites and tons of people. I believe Eden Rock is within walking distance and you can do shore dives for cheap. In Roatan we did the shark dive with the ships operator and had a great time. I believe there were only 8 of us on this trip. In Belize we used the ships operator. They pick you up at the ship. There were about 18 people or so on our boat but they broke us up into groups of 6. Beware of about an hour long boat ride which could be rough. The guides were great but we thought the dive sites were so-so. Could have just been the location we went to that day since the water was rough. In Cozumel we used Dive with Allison and had a great time. We would definitely dive with her again.

 

[jstuart1]

Looks like I'm going to just miss you. We leave Sat the 7th. Plan to dive Roatan with Subway Watersports, Belize and Cozumel with the ships operator. Just plan to sight see in Cancun.

 

[reefseal]

Looks like I'm going to just miss you. We leave Sat the 7th. Plan to dive Roatan with Subway Watersports, Belize and Cozumel with the ships operator. Just plan to sight see in Cancun.

Thank! Read your note on NCL Sea. I enjoyed your write up on Belize which is one of sites plan on diving.

Thanks!

 

[MedicDiverLB]

I will also be on NCL on 3/7. I have contacted Subway Watersports and plan to make reservations with them. I'm not sure about the other destinations. Is there a particular reason you decided to go with the ship operator in Belize and Cozumel? Have you dove these areas before? I'm sure I'll see you in a couple of weeks.

Looks like I'm going to just miss you. We leave Sat the 7th. Plan to dive Roatan with Subway Watersports, Belize and Cozumel with the ships operator. Just plan to sight see in Cancun.

 

[jstuart1]

I will also be on NCL on 3/7. I have contacted Subway Watersports and plan to make reservations with them. I'm not sure about the other destinations. Is there a particular reason you decided to go with the ship operator in Belize and Cozumel? Have you dove these areas before? I'm sure I'll see you in a couple of weeks.

This was the second time I dove cozumel. I don't really have a particular reason why I used the ships operator here other than it was just easy and there are so many choices there I didn't know who to pick. Belize was an easy choice. I had not been diving there before and we were in port only a short time. The operator picked us up right from the boat and returned us there. No waiting for tenders. If I go on the NCL Sea again though I will most likely book privately. There were a couple of things that happened on the Belize trip that I didn't feel comfortable with.

 

[colonelchuck]

Just finished a week on the Sun. Dove the ships operator in Roatan and Belize. In both cases the groups were small and the operators good.

In Roatan, we dove with AKR. They had the very nice touch of having all guests check their buoyancy at the dock rather than waiting while somebody floundered around out on the dive site. Dive groups were small and the DMs generally led us around the reef, pointed out some interesting stuff and left us alone. My assigned buddy and I were allowed to dive until we got to 500 lbs and decided to surface. One dive was 57 minutes. Dive briefings were good and the boat (for just us cruise divers) had lots of room. Surface interval was spent back at the resort since the dive sites were only about 10 minutes out. A very agreeable experience.

Belize - as previously mentioned - includes anchoring well out from town. Hugh Parkey's Belize Dive Connection is the operator. They picked us up off the ship. Their boat had plenty of room. We stopped at their shop out on one of the atolls on the way to the dive site so folks could pick up rental equipment. Although I had my own, what I saw of the rental stuff was good. Excellent dive briefing, small groups with each DM and freedom to enjoy the dive was the order of the day. When someone ran low on air, the DMs let them go up with others of their kind and let those with plenty of air stay down. The DMs were especially good at pointing out hard to see stuff and making sure that we could get a picture.

Didn't dive Coz since I will be back there next month.

Grand Cayman really took a hit from the hurricane. We went on the Sting Ray experience. It was a cattle boat and a collection of heavy duty tourists. Sting Ray City was a zoo. That said, getting up close and personal with that many rays - who act like puppies, was an experience not to be forgotten. I recommend that you do it once. You can likely just ride the tender in and get a Sting Ray city tour on the dock for half the ship price.

The ship itself was well run, the crew excellent, friendly and helpful. The specialty restaurants were excellent and worth the $15 to use them. Breakfast on the fantail was great except for the damn smokers, but I guess they should get to smoke somewhere. I would not recommend cruising as a way to get the best diving experience, but it proved to be an excellent way to check out several destinations for future diving experiences - and my non diving wife had a great time as well.