Diving from Cruise Ship

[Mike Petrik]

I'm doing a cruise in March, and have a group of 4-6 that want to dive when we land in Belize City. I have only been there once, and did the Aggressor....LOVED IT!!! However, have been reading posts saying that diving from Belize City is not ideal. I was wondering if any of the diveshops pick up near the cruise port and if the diving that can be accessed from that area is worth our time. Appreciate any info!

Mike

 

[Pat.D]

It depends which cruise line you're sailing with. If you're on an NCL ship, they do not go to Belize city but a private island with the closest mainland city being Placentia. You'll need to book a $25 ferry (return) to the mainland and find a dive shop there.

If you're on any other cruise line, you're going to Belize City and this is where things get interesting. Belize City has no deep sea port for cruise ships so they park far out and you tender into the port (15-20 minutes tender boat ride). Diving excursions with locals will usually require at least an hour long boat ride from the port to the dive sites.

Belize is one of the ports I would suggest you book the dive excursion with the cruise line because in most cases the dive operator will pick up the divers right at the ship, saving you lots of travel to the dive site.

 

[Tool Belt]

I have not dove off cruise ships in many years. But, the 2 or 3 times we did at Belize the "shore excursion" dive boat picked you up off the ship at the aforementioned deep water (away from shore) anchorage. It was a great setup.

 

[Bert van den Berg]

Please find out the cruise ship's expected arrival time and the time it takes to get ashore and to the dive shop. My wife and I were hoping to do some scuba diving on our cruise but only discovered too late that all the dive boats left way before our cruise ship arrived at the destination.

 

[Damselfish]

I'm doing a cruise in March, and have a group of 4-6 that want to dive when we land in Belize City. I have only been there once, and did the Aggressor....LOVED IT!!! However, have been reading posts saying that diving from Belize City is not ideal.

Are they saying the diving available from a cruise is not ideal, or that you shouldn't base yourself in Belize City for a land-based dive trip? I don't know about the former other than it won't be as good as the far out atolls. The latter is certainly true.

Please find out the cruise ship's expected arrival time and the time it takes to get ashore and to the dive shop. My wife and I were hoping to do some scuba diving on our cruise but only discovered too late that all the dive boats left way before our cruise ship arrived at the destination.

Are you talking specifically about a stop in Belize City like the OP asked about, or some other port? Belize is a case where it takes too much time to tender to shore, not to mention getting to dive sites, and timing doesn't work. Plus AFAIK there is only one dive op running out of Belize City (which I've always heard does a pretty good job on the cruise ship excursions.) Pretty much everyone seems to agree that sticking with the cruise ship excursion is the way to go.

Every cruise and port is going to be different. If there is a cruise ship scuba excursion available obviously you don't have to worry about the timing, often it will be a dedicated trip for cruise ship passengers that specifically goes at the right time. Sometimes people prefer to make their own arrangements, finding they can get better dives for less money, and the timing can work in some situations.

 

[robint]

Belize City... booking thru your ship = dive op picks you up at the ship, no tendering so no wasted time. We will be doing this next week, I will report back afterwards.
It is over an hour each way out to the reefs (Turniffe) where they take you, its an all day thing with lunch include by the dive op. Sounds good to us. As I said, we'll let you know.

 

[robint]

Back from our cruise. Husband did dive Belize, dive op from the cruise ship, and has 2 things to say.
1. The dive op was fantastic, and the provided lunch was really good.
2. That was his favorite dives of the trip (also dived at Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Roatan).

He shot some video, which I will edit soon, and post. Otherwise, I can say he loved the dives they did... whic were at Turneffe, an hour boat ride from the ship.