Coming in on cruise ship ???

[Islandheart]

Should I just take the ship's contract dive charter or can someone recommend a dive operation I should use when the ship pulls in.

I have used the ship's operation in Grand Cayman and I used shore operations in Cozumel but have never dived in Belize.

Thanks for your replies !

Bob

 

[Gaz]

Bob

Your choices are limited when arriving via cruise ship and its not the best option for diving Belize but you can get a couple of dives in on the Belize Barrier Reef when visit, however please dont say I dove Belize after as the sites you go to are more picked to slot in with Cruise schedule rather than the best diving available which you dont have time to do.

Using the ships dive op for whats available is fine

One thing is for sure anyone coming to Belize on a cruise ship should do a tour of some sort and not go exploring on there own in Belize city as that would be a waste of a day.

 

[mooney]

Another thing with Belize, the cruise ships anchor quite aways from shore then take a 20 minute tender ride into port. If you book thru the cruise the dive boat picks you up/drops you off at the ship, you don't have to waste time waiting on the tender. Especially since the tender port is in the opposite direction of the reefs. Now there may be some other ops that pick you up at the ship but I'm not sure. I cruised there about 3 weeks ago.

 

[Islandheart]

Thanks.....

We stopped there last Apr and I did not get to dive at all. We did the airboat tour and wow is all I can say........ never again.

I like it that the dive ops will pickup at the ship. I'll look closer into that.

Regards,
Bob C.

 

[Gaz]

The dive shops as far as I am aware do not pick up from the Cruise ship if you book outside of what teh cruise ship offers you have to take the tender in and meet your dive op at the cruise village exit where they will be waiting holding up a sign with your name on it.

As far as pick up from the ship I dont think so.

Gaz

 

[Web Monkey]

The dive shops as far as I am aware do not pick up from the Cruise ship if you book outside of what teh cruise ship offers you have to take the tender in and meet your dive op at the cruise village exit where they will be waiting holding up a sign with your name on it.

As far as pick up from the ship I dont think so.

Gaz

I've done it a few times and was always picked up right at the ship. Usually by Hugh Parkey.

You do need to book it through the ship, though, since there's a lot of traveling involved (ship -> dive shop -> dive sites -> dive shop -> ship) and you'll have a really hard time coordinating it all and getting back on time.

Terry


Terry

 

[Gaz]

Ahh thats what I meant I did not think the ship would allow any old dive boat to come and pick up at the ship it makes sense that they would arrange it with there own service providers which sound like is the case.

Gaz

 

[hpbelize]

We have been offering ship excursions for several years now and service all major lines coming to port. Your experience will depend a lot on the weather. The time slot is around six hours giving us plenty of time to pick you up, gear you up, go diving, and get you back to the ship. We offer Turneffe Atoll, which is within half hour from our shop. We can always find a leeward side over there as well as some of the best diving around here. The Barrier Reef is only 10 minutes away from our shop and is in better shape than up North. However, due to prevailing southeasterly winds (and strong northerlies during cold fronts) we cannot guarantee good diving on any specific day in advanced at the Barrier Reef. Our service is personalized and professional with top-of-the-line custom dive boats without the "cattle boat" feel as others would perceive. You can Google "cruise ship diving Belize City" or anything in that vein and get several results with links to operators offering you Barrier reef dives for less. The Barrier Reef is a hit or miss dive. When it's good it's excellent but when it's bad it's horrible.

Take all the time you need, do your research and enjoy your Belize diving.

 

[chrishet]

Great post...coming to Belize in April as well on a cruise, Carnival. I do not normally do excursion dives but will this trip....