ScubaSamScubaStevesFather
Contributor
What does this normally look like? Dock at a port and then scuba dive with a local island shop, then get back on the cruise ship?
Diving off cruise ship?
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Pretty much. You have a choice of whether to book the diving through the ship, or DIY and book your own. Advantage to the ship approach is they'll wait for you if you're late, but you'll likely pay for it.
myshadeofred
Contributor
The drawback to the ship they only do certain companies....however, if you go through a local and they run late...it's your $$$ to get back to the ship. Food for thought.
It looks, feels, and is a cattle boat most of the time.
I'll be doing this in January. We'll be on a 21-day cruise in the Caribbean and there are a half-dozen islands that I'll try to dive (eg, the ABCs, T&C, etc). I'll snorkel with the wife on quite a few more. I understand that these dives won't have time (and experienced customers) to visit their top sites and I won't expect the ultimate dive experience. Rather, I'm considering this loop through the Caribe as a scouting run. This will let me get a taste of these dive islands and I'll plan follow-up trips with longer stays in the future. It's all about expectations management on the diving front and some quality time with the wife in some special places.
For a three week cruise, it would be a lot of research effort, but what we did was find a dive company on the particular island with a good reputation that understands the problems of cruise ship divers and dive with a company using 6-pack boats. I HATE cattle boats, short dives, crap equipment, crowded boats, and everything else about them. For what you will pay for the cruise ship company, you can catch a cab to a pick up point, dive with a better company, have longer better dives, and still be back to the boat with plenty of time to watch the drunk cruisers come stumbling back to the boat.
the biggest problem with a cruise ship is knowing what time you can get off the boat. It may take over an hour from the time you dock to actually make your way across the gang plank. Most day trips are plenty long enough for great 2 tank dive, but no real way to commit to a pick up time.
We took all our own gear and it was not that big of a deal. I’d at least take my own regs too.
Good Luck, safe travels,
Jay
the biggest problem with a cruise ship is knowing what time you can get off the boat. It may take over an hour from the time you dock to actually make your way across the gang plank. Most day trips are plenty long enough for great 2 tank dive, but no real way to commit to a pick up time.
We took all our own gear and it was not that big of a deal. I’d at least take my own regs too.
Good Luck, safe travels,
Jay
BigDaddyGlad
Contributor
Good advice here, Jay.
I've now got 37 logged dives, with the majority of them coming off cruise ships. Almost all of those dives were booked directly with a local dive shop, avoiding the cruise ship excursions. I've never had an issue with time, typically getting back to the ship by 2:00 at the latest. Most ships will have a 4:30 all-aboard time.
Do your research ahead of time, and find the shops that will accommodate cruisers. That usually means a little later start than they like, as most ships won't have clearance to open the gangway until 8:30. I'm happy to provide some recommendations for shops I've used with success, as I've dived the ABCs, Belize, Cozumel, Costa Maya and more from cruise ships.
I take all my own gear, needing only tanks and weights. I've found the quality of the rental gear to be suspect in some of these places, not to mention the confidence that comes with gear familiarity.
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