Diving off cruise ship?

[Altamira]

Don't be hesitant about using the ship's dive op for your dive and snorkel excursions. I cruise a lot, have used both the ship's ops and off ship vendors, and rarely find that much difference between the cost or quality of dives. I have never had a bad dive in any port with any vendor, so I would not worry about your expectations. Just enjoy yourself. All of the ship's excursions include transportation if needed, and the dive equipment (less wetsuit). If you are going to compare pricing, make sure you include equipment rental and taxi costs. Some of your cruise stops have very long port times so you won't have to worry about missing the ship's departure which gives you wide latitude as to who you select as your dive/snorkel op. With short port times, I would usually just use the ship's op for less hassle and stress. One thing not mentioned (unless I missed it) in other responses is the added benefit of using the ship's op to preclude losing your dive/snorkel trip if the ship is late getting into port, or there is a delay getting off the ship for any number of reasons. On more than a few occasions, those of us on the ship's dive excursion got to dive, while the off-ship divers missed their trips because their dive boats had already departed before they were able to disembark. From my wife's standpoint, the biggest advantages of me using the ship's dive op is her not having to worry about whether I am going to miss my dive, and more importantly, not miss the ship departure time. She would not be pleased with me spending a bunch of extra money and days trying to catch up to the ship if I was late for ship departure time.
Edit: When I am on vacation, I try to reduce my stress and aggravation as much as possible.

 

[dflaher]

All valid pros and cons of ship vs DIY dive booking. Here's a con to booking through the ship: A woman was on our dive boat in Cozumel last week from a cruise ship. I asked her if she booked through the ship, and she replied that she did, but at the last minute the ship canceled the excursion due to "lack of participation". She then had to scramble and find a local shop,on her own. Perhaps this can be avoided by asking the excursion desk what the minimums are, and whether they have been attained at the time of booking,.

 

[Altamira]

All valid pros and cons of ship vs DIY dive booking. Here's a con to booking through the ship: A woman was on our dive boat in Cozumel last week from a cruise ship. I asked her if she booked through the ship, and she replied that she did, but at the last minute the ship canceled the excursion due to "lack of participation". She then had to scramble and find a local shop,on her own. Perhaps this can be avoided by asking the excursion desk what the minimums are, and whether they have been attained at the time of booking,.

It is true that can happen on occasion. One way to mitigate the problem is to stay in close contact with the Shore Excursion folks and the PADI kiosk (if there is one) on your ship. If it looks like they are going to likely cancel, you should have time to contact the ship's dive op by phone or email and they will usually be happy to slide you on to their other dive boats. I have had pretty good luck getting the ship's Shore Excursion staff to make that contact and request for me. Being nice to the staff goes a long way toward getting their help when you need it.

 

[maj2]

It has been a very long time since I have been on a cruise, but I was able to connect with a diver and do do some diving in Ketchikan, Alaska from our cruise ship. Some of my most memorable dives of all time for the size and quantity of life that I saw! And the water was warmer than my usual spots in Lake Huron!

When I saw that the cruise offered a snorkelling excursion, I went online and tracked down a local diver who picked me up from the cruise ship, set me up with tanks and weights, and took me diving for the day. I did this planning from home, a few weeks before departure.

While setting up, breaking down and during our surface interval, we were within sight of the snorkelling excursion, so were able to keep an eye on them for their departure back to the ship. I ended up back in plenty of time, and even got to do some of my own sightseeing around town.

Logistically, bringing dive gear on a cruise can be a bit challenging-- especially big, bulky cold water gear. As the gear was drying, there was not much space left in the cabin for us.

 

[Eric802]

I dove in Aruba on a Royal Caribbean cruise in May, booked as an excursion through the cruise line. Went with my son, and these were his first dives since being certified. I did a little poking around online ahead of time and was pretty sure they were using Red Sail Sports, and that was the case. I think we had 12-15 divers on the boat, but it didn't seem overly crowded. IMO, if you just want to get in the water and dive somewhere new, especially as a "vacation diver" or someone relatively inexperienced, it's not a bad way to go. You don't get any personalized attention, and you can probably expect to just follow the DM around whatever dive site you're on. All the gear was included in the price - my son had literally none of his own gear, so he was using rental stuff from mask to fins and everything in between.

We've got another cruise coming up in December, and I'm booking to dive in St. Kitts as an excursion on that one as well. No idea what operator they use for that yet. We're also stopping in Bonaire, and for whatever reason they don't even offer a diving excursion there. I'm planning on booking with a local operator to go out - the ship is there from like 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., so there's plenty of time.

I think if you're very experienced and used to being able to just go down on your own and do your own thing, you'd likely find the cruise excursion experience lacking. OTOH, if you're less experienced, just looking to get out and dive a new place, and can manage your expectations, it's not a bad way to kill half a day on a cruise.

 

[ROUS]

I was able to connect with a diver and do do some diving in Ketchikan, Alaska

Thanks for sharing that. We had a stop in Ketchikan a few weeks ago, but I never considered diving there. I should have. I was pretty bored strolling around the town and it just seemed 'touristy' and just full of souvenir shops. Next time, I'll follow your lead and look under the water.

 

[Eric802]

I just got off an Alaskan cruise on Monday - never would've occurred to me to try to go diving!

 

[maj2]

Thanks for sharing that. We had a stop in Ketchikan a few weeks ago, but I never considered diving there. I should have. I was pretty bored strolling around the town and it just seemed 'touristy' and just full of souvenir shops. Next time, I'll follow your lead and look under the water.

I looked at the excursions ahead of time and saw the snorkelling trip.

We were on Royal Caribbean, and at the time, they offered a "Mountain Point Snorkelling Adventure." Looks like they still offer it.

Naturally, I thought "If there is something worth snorkelling, there must be something worth diving!"

Water was 55F down to about 75ft as I recall. Lots of huge sea stars, huge urchins, wolf eels, rockfish, etc. Even a giant pacific octopus that came out to check us out. Lovely dives!

 

[Altamira]

...We've got another cruise coming up in December, and I'm booking to dive in St. Kitts as an excursion on that one as well. No idea what operator they use for that yet. We're also stopping in Bonaire, and for whatever reason they don't even offer a diving excursion there. I'm planning on booking with a local operator to go out - the ship is there from like 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., so there's plenty of time...

@Eric802. I can highly recommend Dive Friends Bonaire, who have a dive shop right across the street from the cruise terminal. They normally have boat dives available, and you can arrange shore dives as well. The last time I was there, I booked a private DM and two shore dives, the first one in front of the dive shop and the second one at Delfins Beach Resort. After the first dive, the DM drove me down to Delfins which was also a very nice dive. You might also contact the Habitat and Buddy Dive to see if you can set up shore dives from their respective piers.

 

[Eric802]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll check them out!