Cruse to George Town Cayman and Cozumel

[Adventure Traveler]

I'm taking a Royal Caribbean cruse next month, stopping in George Town and Cozumel. I haven't been to either island, or on a large cruse.

Any suggestion for diving both places? Should I just dive with the cruse operators for convenience, or are there very good operators that you recommend who can manage the time constraints of a cruse ship?

Thansk!

 

[KathyV]

Cozumel has a pier that cruise ships use to dock but you will need to be tendered back and forth when you are in George Town - so you might get off the boat quicker if you use the cruise ship excursion operator - but I don't know that for sure, perhaps others can advise you.

However, the Grand Cayman dive ops are very aware of the schedule for the cruise ships and many of them try to offer dive trips that are convenient for cruise passengers, so you should have a number of good choices available. Have fun!

 

[Dogbowl]

My advice is do not dive with the cruise operator on either island. There are many shops on both islands that can accommodate cruise ship passengers.

My personal preference on Cozumel is Tres Pelicanos. And I’ve dove with Off the Wall on Cayman. These are just my preferences. There are many, many others.

Some shops won’t take cruise divers; others will take you but grudgingly so. I know the 2 above have no problem and was easy to work with.

You will need to look at your time in port and see if your schedule fits within the shop’s dive schedule. You’ll also need to be aware of the dock you will dock at (Cozumel has 3). Cayman has 2 docks where the tenders dock but are close to each other. You will also need to figure out ship’s time vs island time, which might affect your meeting time with the dive op. There’s a lot to figure out but the effort is worth it for a much better experience.

 

[Altamira]

Whether to use the ship's dive op at GC depends on several factors. First, it is a tender port, so if you do not have access to Royal Caribbean's loyalty program for priority tendering, using the ship's op may be your best option. If you can get priority tendering, and/or you arrive early enough to easily make the local dive ops departure times without priority tendering, you have a wide selection of dive operators. It also depends on your arrival and departure time with reference to when most dive ops depart and return. If it is a close call, again, the ship's op might be your best bet. Since I have priority tendering at GC, most of the time, I use Lobster Pot or their partners, Wall to Wall and Deep Blue Divers if arrival/departure timing are not an issue. They are located a short walk from the tender pier, and excellent dive ops.

Cozumel is much easier since the ship docks and you do not have to worry about tendering. But you do need to be aware of ship arrival/departure times with reference to when the dive ops depart and arrive. There are many dive ops that can work for you assuming arrival and departure times are not an issue.

You appear to be a relatively new diver, and if that is the case, the ship's dive ops should be just fine for you because there will likely be more inexperienced divers in that mix than on many of the "SB recommended" dive ops in GC or Coz, so the dives may be less challenging. Also, with the ship's dive op, you can concentrate on enjoying the dives without worrying about getting back to the ship on time. That can be very important if your time in port is a bit short, or if the weather might be iffy as the day progresses

Caution: If you use and off ship vendor, you really need to understand any differences between "ship's time" and local time. I am pretty sure that Royal Caribbean uses local times for arrivals and departures, but make sure so you do not miss the dive ops departure time or ship departure time because of time differences. Second, if you use an off ship dive op, leave your name, dive op, and phone numbers with Guest Services to help them track you down if you might be late getting back to the ship.

 

[Altamira]

In general, I do what Dogbowl said above, but I have also got to dive using the ship's dive op when the ship was delayed getting into port, while other divers using outside vendors missed their dive ops departure time. I have used ship's dive ops and off ship vendors at most of the Caribbean ports, and rarely have had bad dives with any of them. If you are an experienced diver with a great SAC, and if squeezing every last psi out of your tank, or getting the longest dive possible is your priority, then you might not be happy with the ship's excursion. But, all of the options that are available to you are going to have pros and cons, and you will have to decide what is best for you, your diving experience, and risk tolerance.

 

[caydiver]

There are a number of dive ops very close to the port in George Town. We and several others run from Lobster Pot which is a short walk. The biggest challenge is to get one of the first tenders off so you can make the boat. Apparently you can sign up for this. Most ops leave at 8:30 but there are a couple who leave a bit later and even earlier so their guests get choice of dive sites so it is definitely doable. Another option is to do a private charter (which can actually be economical if there is a group) and then they can arrange the trip on your schedule. There are also several spots where you can shore dive (Lobster Pot, Eden Rock, Sunset House, etc) very near the port. You will need a buddy.

 

[Adventure Traveler]

Great info....thank you all very much. I have plenty of experience, but not dealing with a short window, tenders, big crowds, etc. For this go around, I'll probably work with the boat options since it's low stress. Will be great to just get in the water in two places I've been looking to dive.