Cozmuel, Belize, or Mahogany Bay/Isla Rotan?

[justonemore]

Hi all,

I hope this is at least partially the correct forum for this....

I'm taking a 7 cruise out of Texas in late October. Our ports are Cozumel, Belize, and MAhogany Bay/Isla Rotan...I am going on this cruise with family (all non-SCUBA certified)... but would still like to do at least 1 actual dive. Any suggestions as to which one would be my best best?

Thanks in advance...

 

[Altamira]

All good dive locations, so you can't make a bad choice. Cozumel and Roatan are both docked locations so you can choose to use the ship's op or any of the great off-ship ops that are well reviewed on SB. The ship's op at Cozumel is Sand Dollar which can be hit or miss depending on the crew, but the diving is good. Coz is a dive location where I would use one of the off-ship dive ops if timing works for you. One of the advantages of doing the dive in Belize is the dive op, Hugh Parkey, is very good and picks you up and returns you to the ship without having to deal with using the tenders. In Belize, you will dive Turneffe Atoll, which I have found to be very nice dives, and the crews and dive boat have been very good as well. If you dive in Roatan, AKR is the dive op and we have had very good dives with them as well. An advantage of using AKR is that you will get two very nice dives with a relaxing surface interval at their resort which also has rinse tanks, etc. Also near Mahogany Bay, is Barefoot divers, who I have used and can highly recommend. They have a late morning dive that is designed to accommodate cruise divers as the ships normally come in too close to the early morning dive departures, and then you can do a second dive after enjoying a tasty lunch near the dive shop.
A bit of advice: No matter where you dive, if you do not use the ship's dive op, make sure you know whether the ship's clock is the same as local time. If you don't pay attention to that, it can bite you in the rear. Have a great cruise.

 

[Skittl1321]

We are doing that cruise in September Husband is diving Cozumel and Roatan. The only reason he isn't doing Belize is because we are cave tubing . (I can't dive because I'm pregnant).

He seemed to have no problem saying "I'll spend the sea days with you". You could try that

If WE had to pick one, I'd pick Roatan, but only because we have dove Cozumel multiple times and plan to do more; and we have other things we planned in Belize. Flying to Roatan is really expensive from where we live. But man, I love diving in Cozumel. I've heard Roatan has better beaches and snorkeling, so perhaps that's an argument to dive Cozumel and hang out with your family in Roatan. The only things I've heard good about Belize are cave tubing or diving, or a long trip to ruins. So there's a long, ambivalent answer....

 

[Altamira]

Just realized I did not answer your initial question. I would dive Belize, Roatan, and Coz in that order. Belize because I like the reefs at Turneffe Atoll, the dive op and boat are very good, the surface interval is great, they will have a complimentary rum punch for you after the dive, you can rinse your gear (if you take your own) so you don't have to try to rinse your gear in those luxuriously large bathrooms on the ship, and you get picked up and returned directly to the ship.

 

[diversteve]

Altamira covered the Roatan options pretty well. Subway Watersports is a third option also - they'll pick you up at the port. I'd go with Barefoot though also - they really offer valet diving. Depending on your dive count/cert level they could dive Mary's Place - one of Roatan's signature dives - it's ten minutes off their dock.

Dive Tours Roatan - Ship Shore Ecursions

 

[sharky60]

my wife did that cruise. she snorkeled Roatan and dove Belize (used Hugh Parkey (sp?) through the cruise line & had a very positive experience)

she said she would have liked to dive Roatan, looked very nice from the surface & LOVED diving Belize. She was VERY impressed.

 

[mmmbelows]

Having dived all three places multiple times each, I'd say dive at whichever one works easiest for you. The diving is all going to be very similar and a little different, but a lot similar, especially since you'll be a cruise ship diver anyways. I wouldn't put a lot of time splitting hairs over the three places as to which is the 'best' diving, rather just decide based on which is going to be the easiest for you based on whatever critieria you have, like logistics, cost, how it will effect your family time etc... again, the diving is going to be basically the same...when you're talking about 2 dives coming in on a cruise ship.

 

[justonemore]

Thanks to all for your responses.

I suppose that as there's no clear winner, I will do as mmmbelows mentions...and put the dive wherever it most conveniently fits in with everyone's schedule.

Skittl1321... I might try the "I'll spend the sea days with you" excuse if I were going with my wife (who would be more than happy to be rid of me for a few hours)...but alas, the cruise is technically in celebration of my mother's 60th and I'll be lucky to sneak off on my own for even a single dive..