Dive choice

[jradcliff]

Afternoon everyone looking for a little advice.

My g/f and I are taking a trip on a cruise ship in the beginning of August. We are stopping at Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize and Coasta Maya.

We will be diving at least one day in there. Recommendations? I am thinking either Belize and/or Roatan is a must. Recommendations for dive shops in those locations? Not to miss dive spots?

Thanks for the help...

John

 

[timetraveler]

You're on the Western Caribbean dive cruise Grand Cayman, Roatan, and Belize are all musts. When we docked at Costa Maya, there was no opportunity for diving, but someone posted elsewhere that there is now.

Your path of least resistance is to book your ship's dive tour. It will leave after the ship docks and get you back before sailing. But there are disadvantages. The ship's tour usually costs more. Sometimes they charge for equipment rental even if you don't need it. There are often a lot of novice divers on the ship's dives. The dive boats can be crowded. Sometimes the dive operator takes the ship's tour to the less interesting sites.

Good luck in finding an operator to dive with independently. First you have the logistics to deal with. If you can't book the dive before you leave home, you might find no availability by the time you get to the island and have no time to search out another operator.
We're going on a cruise that stops in Grand Turk. We don't want to take the ship's dive tour for all the reasons I listed. But, most of the dive operators we were able to contact told us that they can't take independent cruise ship passengers

 

[Jcsgt]

Afternoon everyone looking for a little advice.

My g/f and I are taking a trip on a cruise ship in the beginning of August. We are stopping at Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize and Coasta Maya.

We will be diving at least one day in there. Recommendations? I am thinking either Belize and/or Roatan is a must. Recommendations for dive shops in those locations? Not to miss dive spots?

Thanks for the help...

John

Which cruise line and ship are you traveling with?

Sometimes, if they automatically charge you extra for equipment rental, you can get a discount on the advertised rate if you don't need it. I did this, last year, with Carnival.

Timetraveler makes some very good suggestions.

 

[jradcliff]

We are going to be on the Carnival Valor. Last year we were on Celebrity cruise lines and booked our own dive on Bermuda. Granted we were in port for 2 days!

I would love to dive at every stop, but we are traveling with 2 non-divers. Well, one I think - the other guy dove with the military. He really does not have much interest in getting back into the water, and his g/f is not certified. So, my g/f and I do not want to abandon them every port for many hours. And there are many other things to do.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I will ask Carnival if they offer discounts.

Next time.....

 

[timetraveler]

Jcsgt, Can you tell us how you got the no-equipment-needed discount? For our upcoming cruise on the Fantasy, we emailed their tours desk and the response was that we had to pay for the equipment rental whether or not we wanted it.

John, Please post the response you get from Carnival about the equipment rental charge.

A good thing about cruises is that there's something for everyone to do and lots of time on board to be with family and friends. It would be a shame to visit these places and not dive.

 

[jradcliff]

I was just looking on the Carnival website - one of the options for Belize is Scuba or Scuba w/o equipment ($165 vs $145). All I have to say is wow.

Looks like diving though the boat in Rotan is $99 (no option for with or with out equipment).

 

[Cary_Roberts]

This is true... it would be a shame to visit all these places and not dive. And as much as I love diving, I also love exploring on land as well. (I'm John's g/f, and I appreciate everyone's comments/thoughts as well). But I would really like to do a jungle tour in either Belize or Roatan. I've heard Belize is the best dive spot in the world, so I would like some feedback on that. If you had to choose between Belize, Roatan or Grand Cayman for the diving... which one would you dive at? And has anyone come up from under the sea long enough to do a Canopy Tour, and what did you think of it?

 

[Doc]

I've heard Belize is the best dive spot in the world, so I would like some feedback on that.

It is certainly in the top 5 Caribbean destinations for diving. Remember that Belize is a country made up of the mainland where cruise ships dock- and also of the many barrier "cays" lying well offshore to the east. That's where the diving of note is- some considerable distance from your cruise ship. For this reason- absolutely go with the cruise ship's program. They had better be keeping you moving from the minute you disembark!

If you had to choose between Belize, Roatan or Grand Cayman for the diving... which one would you dive at?

This largely depends upon your needs and abilities. You can't beat the experience of StingRay City in Cayman. Deeper- there is Tarpon Alley. Right near the docks- the Labrynth of Eden Rocks. Quite barren but fun.

Roatan is best done a week-at-a-time, you have to get hooked up with a good DM to see the "small stuff"... that which Roatan is best known for. It takes a few days to get your buoyancy under control to see such macro critters. Most come to Roatan and are disappointed because they can't see any "big fish". This is quite true, but then again, either their DM's are inept of the divers themselves are incapable of seeing the pointed-out Seahorses and Pipefish and tiny colorful cool stuff that this diving is all about.

Most Roatan cruise ship visitors get shuttled over to Anthony's Key Resort for the Dolphin Show. There are two day-dive ops worthy of note: Native Sons and my far and away choice- Subway. They will meet and move you to their ops.

Other AI's can and will arrange visits, but this would be desirable if you were thinking of spending a week "next time".

And has anyone come up from under the sea long enough to do a Canopy Tour, and what did you think of it?

A lot of folks come back grinning from the Roatan canopy tour which is essentialy a harnessed-in zip line "slide for life" gravity powered thrill ride along a cable. It's not diving.

 

[cruisegirl]

Hi,
I'm new here and this is my first post.. Does anyone have any further info. on diving in Costa Maya other than the ships excursion?? Any info. on Ocean Blue Safari?? I am hoping the divers here will have some imput... Thanks..

 

[jradcliff]

When are you going down there CG? If it is not until we get back (Aug 13th) I will let you know what I find.