That's a good place to start.
Diving and island while visiting from a cruise ship is sometimes pretty difficult for a key factor...
- Cruise Ship docks are not located anywhere near the better diving.
This has a double meaning. Not only is the diving usually sucky-bad within a quick ride of the actual ship's dock, but quite often, islands that have cruise ship docks have a long history of development- thus the local diving (in general) has suffered from the run-off and siltation.
So, you have some different ways to work around this- One is to find dive-ops on developed islands that are remotely located from the population center. Belize is a classic example. Or you can travel to the "next big thing" Islands, such as Roatan- which for the next ten minutes still remains kinda' almost a virgin, kind of.
A lot of people figure diving on Cayman is a thing of the last century, and they have a pretty good argument, but anybody that tells you that StingRay City isn't just a hoot is likely trying to sound like a super-diver. I'm not arguing the environmental efficacy of it, I'm just sayin', that's all. Go do it!
In Belize, you see a magnified example of the need to dive "away from the dock". Any diving of any real worth (and it is worth it), is located quite a boat ride from the docks. They are very good at doing this- but it is quite a haul. The same thing applies on other islands, but instead you might have to make arrangements for quick transitions from ship to cab to dive-op and boat... and return.
Here's a major exception- in St Croix, one of the most spectacular dives is under the cruise ship pier, itself... Which, unfortunately is off limits during harborages due to TSA type regs. But you can get a cab and buzz over to the North side where the cool diving lies.
If you are really talking the distinction between Bahamas vs the Caribbean for cruise ship diver access to "good diving"? I would say the Caribbean would win, hands down. Cruise ships do not make port close to any of the superb diving that the Bahamas has to offer.
Dive-ops that cater to cruise ships can indeed fluctuate with their service and attitudes. I know there are many good ones out there, but you really don't hear complaints about Anthony's Key Resort in Roatan. They specialize in that business. The Dolphin Encounter is a huge deal. The Roatan Shark dive is also very well done (again, for a canned Shark-dive rodeo), but not for the beginner diver who is unsure of their abilities or skills. There are numerous posts here on SB that describe in great detail both of these dives.
Otherwise, the board is full of other island experiences that were perceived as absolutely horrid by visiting cruise ship divers. And some chime in saying, "Wow that was the bestest dive masters ever!", but their lifetime dive experience makes either description somewhat dubious.
Thus it comes full circle- dive ops don't generally give Cruise Ship divers much run on the leash. This can irritate divers, with or sometimes without a good reason.
