Cruise Ship Diving or Independent Dive Shop?

[DEEPLOU]

Just got back from western Caribbean on Carnival Glory. Used Aldora in Cozumel. Great operation, steel 120's rather than usual AL80's. Our second dive was a little short compared to the first, it was only 70 minutes vs. 72. There were only 5 on the boat, but I think they only take 6 max. Then in Costa Maya used Nomad Divers. A very small operation, but very personable and accommodating. Our dives were only limited by how far we could take our air supply and computers. Roatan, booked with the ship, as the operator I called said they were fully booked for the two morning dives and only one open was the 2pm trip. But we were due back on the ship by 2pm (local time). Also since the ship was almost 2 hours behind when it docked, it worked out the best (except for the crowd) to have booked with the ship. In Grand Cayman, used Off the Wall divers. Another excellent operation. They work with a couple of other boats out of the "Lobster Pot". They said they take a max of 8 divers, but for our trip it was just me and my buddy (and guide and driver). We did the wall for the first dive and the Kittywake for the second. Again our dives were limited to how long we could stretch our tanks and NDL's

 

[DEEPLOU]

OH! BTW: all the operators asked before we set out what time we needed to be back. They all got us back with plenty of time to spare. Maybe too much time to spare as we spent a little too much time at Fat Tuesday's on the pier and a local watering hole in GC having a post dive libation.

 

[clevie]

The cruise ship is not always the most expensive or the most crowded. You have to see what is factored in. Most times they include gear, if needed, and transportation, which will balance out the cost. In Roatan, it costs a bit to get out to the west end by taxi, or I can go with Anthony's Key and get picked up at the pier. Depends how much time in port we have. I know in DR it was a deal to go with the ship. We had researched dive ops, chose one only to find out thats who had the contract with Carnival, and then booked with the ship. Only 4 of us on the dive, got picked up at the pier, no $75 r/t ride to bayahibe.

In places like Coz, GC, grand turk, we would always use private ops.

---------- Post added February 26th, 2013 at 10:29 PM ----------

View attachment 148593View attachment 148594View attachment 148595 In Grand Cayman, used Off the Wall divers. Another excellent operation. They work with a couple of other boats out of the "Lobster Pot". They said they take a max of 8 divers, but for our trip it was just me and my buddy (and guide and driver). We did the wall for the first dive and the Kittywake for the second. Again our dives were limited to how long we could stretch our tanks and NDL's

We are looking at using OTW for our next cruise stop on GC instead of shore diving. Was the wall/kittiwake a custom dive for you all? Or is that something they routinely do?

 

[ProtectSharks]

just contact the ship and ask what dive operator they are using on the Location , you can always contact the Dive Operator then and let them know that you are coming and tell them what you are looking for ..

 

[DEEPLOU]

Off the Wall asked up what we wanted to do. Wall and a reef, reef and a reef, wall and Kittywake, Kittywake and a reef.
If you do the Kittywake for first dive its a shallow reef for dive 2 as they don't want to
do reverse profile (a wise thing) We opted to do the Wall for first dive and Kittywake for the second.
Sorry no response sooner, but was incommunicato on a cruise from Buenos Aires, Argentina to NYC, NY with several ports but no diving.

 

[Andy Lazar]

I was on a cruise last week and did both, boat arranged in Rotan and one I lined up in costa Maya. Both were great dives with one not being better than the other and I'm glad I did both. In Rotan we boarded our dive boat a few hundred yards from our cruise ship and were in the water within minutes of leaving thew dock. In Costa Maya we took a cab to town and the family hung out at a beach club and I did a 2 tank dive with their sister company / dive operator. In Rotan the price I paid was actually cheeper than the local off site operators I looked into (including the company that actually did our dive) and in Costa Maya the boat dive would have been exactly 2 times what I paid.

Bottom line, just do your homework.