Diving from Cruise Turks/Nassau

[ronrosa]

Caicos Adventures is on Provo. I think he is talking about Grand Turk.

I've dove while on a cruise. Cayman, Aruba, Curacao, Bermuda. I prefer to book outside of the cruise ship. I haven't had any problems, but I make sure the time in port allows at least a 2 hour safety margin from my expected return. I bring all my own gear. My bc packs pretty small, so it's not too bad.

 

[timetraveler]

I take all my gear (except tanks and weights) because dive ops almost never have a BC that fits me right and just because I trust my gear more than rental gear from an unknown dive op. But I can drive to the port, so if you have to fly, it might be more convenient to use the rental gear from the ship's dive op.
Carnival's "certified dive" excursion price includes charges for rental gear whether you use it or not.

Let me edit this post to say that when we sailed on the Reef Endeavour in Australia, we didn't take any gear. Captain Cook Cruises strongly advised us not to bring it because there wasn't room on the boat. All gear was included in the price of our dive. It was safe and well-maintained, but the wet-suits only fit men with large shoulders and narrow hips, not me. Still, I would make the same decision again. Hauling dive gear to and around Australia would have been quite a challenge.

 

[CoyKoi]

What do you take with you on Cruise Dives, just basic or fulll gear?

We take all our own gear, except tanks and weights, of course. The cruise ship cabins are small, but big enough to hang wet gear around if you're creative.

We've cruised 3 times and dove from each cruise. The first time we did the ship's excursions. Since then, we've booked our own and have been very pleased. We've never had a problem not getting back in time. In Cozumel, EcoDivers got us in 3 dives, compared with the 2 the cruise ship was offering. The last dive was cutting it a bit close, but the captain put us in the water at dive #3 at a beautiful site very near the cruise ship dock. When we surfaced we were only a stone's throw from our ship.

After we independently booked a 2-tank dive with Grand Bahama in Freeport, the dive shop owner contacted us to let us know there was another couple from our cruise ship who were also interested in diving Grand Bahama and asked us if he could give the couple our email address so we could get together and share cab fare from the cruise ship port. What service!!

Have fun!!

 

[osprey]

Stuart Coves is only good operator in Nassau now

 

[mikerault]

You will be diving with Oasis divers in Grand Turk, they have the concession. They are a good group and should give you an excellent dive (tell them Mike says hi, if they have no clue, tell them the only fellow with a red BCD and they will know...). I wouldn't worry about diving with them they have a large new pontoon type dive boat and can easily handle the situation. The Turk dives usually consist of a Wall dive (about a five minute ride) then a shallow dive on coral.

The other dive operators are Sea Eye (Say Hi to Smitty) diving and Blue Water (Say Hi to Mitch), but they usually start out at 9am and 2pm for their scheduled dives.

Mike

 

[mikerault]

I usually take full gear. I like to know when gear has been serviced and by whom. If you are the trusting sort, then just whatever protective suit you want (I wouldn't suggest more than a 3 mm, I usually dive GT with just a dive skin or trunks and tee-shirt.)

Mike

 

[JAMIE MCG]

Just got in. Taking your own gear is worth it, but long walks with video eq. & gear would have been to much if not for dive buddy on ship to help carry. Anyway Grand Turk dove with Oasis divers great people, good dive. St. Thomas first shore dive, (got to love diving from a boat), too much sand in the draws, very few coral systems. Nassua, just missed Staurt cove by minutes, dove with Bahamma divers, good people, good reef lots of fish. When we boarded the ship we were informed that our itenerary had been change to avoid the tropical depression, so I was glad that I had booked everything through the ship even paying more, I looked at it like insurance. All in all it was good diving, but finding out WPB, and Key Largo must be some of the Best dive site's I've dove so far.

 

[regul8r]

which cruise line and what dates.. ? I will be on carnival in Nov myself

 

[rexman24]

I had a great experience with Stuart Coves(shark dive) so I would recommend them.

 

[regul8r]

Well we are going to be in Grand Turk on the 27th and Nassau on the 29th. Decided to just book all the dives via the cruise line. Since after contacting Oasis they told me they are handling the dives that day for the ship.. and Sturat Cove is the only show in town in Nassau they are more than likely handling the Ship there as well. Not to mention the price difference there was only 17.00 between booking direct ahead and booking through the cruise. That way if something goes wrong its easier to get a refund. Also think I am going to dive in Half Moon Kay.. just haven't made up my mind on that one yet.