Carnival cruise Grand Turk

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seagrave

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Messages
34
Reaction score
0
Location
N-Alabama
# of dives
50 - 99
Does anyone know who carnival uses as a dive tour in Grand Turk.Ill be diving and wife would like to come along as a rider only.any help would be greatly appreciated.we leave on july 14.
 
I don't know the answer, but usually the Carnival website will show those details this close to your sail date...
 

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I dove Grand Turk while cruising with Princess Cruise Lines. It was the first time I went with the excursion booked by the boat. We have been on a number of cruises and I have always booked a charter other than the one contracted by the cruise line. When we were in Grand Turk the dive operator contracted with Princess was Oasis. It wasn't bad, but I will say I felt rushed, and I felt like the profiles were very, very conservative. There were a lot of people diving and they broke us into 2 groups. When one person in the group came up we all came up. To be honest I felt a little cheated because you basically catered to the person in the group with the worst SAC rate. Of course booking with a non-sanctioned dive operator you run the risk of something happening and not making it back to the boat but honestly, Grand Turk is so small and the wall starts so close to shore, personally I would take the risk. It's not like the boat is going to break down miles from shore. I'm not saying it couldn't happen though. I think there is a dive operator called Blue Water Divers or something like that that runs a six pack. I heard good things about them. It's been a couple years but if I remember right that was the name. It's worth checking in to.
 
I do recommend Blue Water Divers in Grand Turk for diving. I don't know that you're wife would have all that much fun going along for the ride. Basically, there isn't anything for her to do on the small boat during the dives. The boat will be tied to the mooring ball. The boat driver is the DM, so the boat will be empty during the dives except for your wife and it is a small boat.
 
I dove with Oasis while on a Carnival cruise last year. I agree that the dives were conservative, but expected. I think I would do the same if I were the DM, knowing at least a couple of divers are going to crash into the reef.

I had a great time on both dives, nearly an hour each. We saw Hawksbill turtles, a couple of large Nassau Grouper, garden eels, trumpetfish, and much more. It might not be the best dives of your life, but I'm sure you'll enjoy every minute of it.

By the way, there was a nondiver on the boat with us. She snorkeled while we were in the water. There was also a deck hand tending the boat.
 
C-Eye diving, Blue Water and Oasis are all great dive services. Oasis serves the cruise boats. I am afraid most of the dives in Grand Turk are shallow unless you go down the wall. Amphitheater is a sand chute that empties out through a hole at 90 feet right over the wall that goes down several hundred feet, that is about the deepest dive there.
 
I dove with Oasis while on a Carnival cruise last year. I agree that the dives were conservative, but expected. I think I would do the same if I were the DM, knowing at least a couple of divers are going to crash into the reef.

I had a great time on both dives, nearly an hour each. We saw Hawksbill turtles, a couple of large Nassau Grouper, garden eels, trumpetfish, and much more. It might not be the best dives of your life, but I'm sure you'll enjoy every minute of it.

By the way, there was a nondiver on the boat with us. She snorkeled while we were in the water. There was also a deck hand tending the boat.

I agree. I don't fault them for leaning to the conservative side. As a general rule on a cruise ship dive you usually have people who haven't been in the water for awhile or have not been certified for long. My point was that you might want to think about spending a little extra money and doing something a little more intimate. After all, who knows when you might make it back there so try to have the best experince you can.
 
C-Eye diving, Blue Water and Oasis are all great dive services. Oasis serves the cruise boats.

Are they still in business?

I don't think you can book directly with Oasis if you are on a cruise. They have an exclusive agreement with the cruise lines so they are obligated to tell you to go thru the ship's excursion.
 
Don't know if C-eye is still up, but I believe Smitty Algrove has set up his own operation.

Mike
 

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