Diving off cruise ship?
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rmssetc
Contributor
BigDaddyGlad
Contributor
I've also used VIP Diving in Bonaire off a cruise ship. It was one of the best dive experiences I've ever had. Pick up right at the pier, short drive to the dive shop for paperwork and gear fitting (if you need it), and then out on the truck for two amazing shore dives.
It was only me and one other passenger off the ship, with the guide. They got us back to the ship in plenty of time.
Tigerfish
Registered
I am doing a first time cruise this December to the western Caribbean. I was planning on using the ships dive excursions just to make things easy on me while I get the lay of the land so to speak.
However the ship is not offering any dive excursions in Belize or Costa Maya so I am on my own. Does anyone have any suggestions on a dive charter for these two ports of call?
However the ship is not offering any dive excursions in Belize or Costa Maya so I am on my own. Does anyone have any suggestions on a dive charter for these two ports of call?
BigDaddyGlad
Contributor
Belize is tough, because all the dive shops are in San Pedro, and the cruise ships typically tender into Belize City. If that's your situation, your only option in Belize City is Sea Sports Belize. Linda is (or at least was, pre-COVID) the owner there and she's very accommodating to coordinate with any other cruise passengers in port that day. The shop is also a short walk from the tender terminal, so you will save on taxis.
In Costa Maya, you'll have to take a cab into Mahuahal, the nearby town (negotiable from $8 pp). My recommendation there is Gypsea Divers. I had a couple fantastic dives there. Catherine is the owner of that shop, and she and her staff are wonderful. I was just there a few weeks ago, and wouldn't hesitate to go back and dive with them. Mahuahal isn't as well-known a diving location, so the reefs are in great shape with lots of sealife. The malecon is nice to walk as well, post-dive.
jonhall
Contributor
Take the following with a grain of salt as I still am not a cruise diver. On my 1 and only Caribbean cruise in Jan. 2020, I used the cruise line to book a dive (I've forgotten which island) only to have it cancelled. We are in the early planning stages of another in the spring - mainly to use left over cruise credit we have from a rebooked Alaska cruise (that's another story!) Reading through the comments though, I had some thoughts to share.
* When my dive was cancelled by the dive op, Carnival gave me an instant refund. No hassle. With Covid still a possible factor (for example, cancellations) knowing I would only have to deal with the cruise ship for a refund makes that part of the deal stress-free.
* I didn't have phone service, so wasn't able to call any of the ops that I had spent time researching to book dives myself. Didn't think to use the Shore Excursion staff.
* Found that if you are waiting to get off the ship and you see a group of people with scuba gear also waiting to get off the ship, they can be a great source to hook you up with who to dive with. When I told them of my cancellation, they invited me to go with them - that the dive op they had used before would probably welcome me to dive - I had already accepted the fact that my dive was cancelled and planned for something else.
Maybe next spring will be my first cruise dives! Hope you get everything worked out and have a great time!
I know others have done this also: if it's about the diving that would take you back for a longer stay, keep in mind that one day of diving may not be indicative of what the diving is normally like. The first time I went to St. Maarten, I spent several days diving pretty much near one of the more eastern bays - IMO at the time, the wrecks were good but everything else was lacking - I wouldn't have recommended diving in St. Maarten. The second time I went, I dove closer to Great Bay - really enjoyed it and changed my opinion of St. Maarten pretty quick.
Good choices. Although it wouldn't have been a problem for me planning to do only one day of diving on a 7 day cruise, you're doing multiple days of diving and that's where using your own computer pays off. My mask is prescription, so it's a must for me.
Great advice! I, being a spreadsheet kind of guy, researched the dive shops at each island, coming up with 3-5 possible choices per island. I knew the likely cruise ship terminal we were pulling into; dive ops that catered to cruisers; which ops were located within a short (10 min) walk, provided transportation from cruise ship, or required a taxi (and how much taxi would be); which op was the cruise ship op; the prices and cancellation policies (wanted to know how easy it would be to get my money back); whether or not the op visited the same sites for cruisers or if they were open to going to other sites; contact info, and some other basic info I was interested in. If I had really wanted to book a dive after mine through Carnival was cancelled, I had the resources.
I've found through the past several years reading threads on SB, if you want to know something about diving while on a cruise, @Altamira probably has the answer or good advice.
* When my dive was cancelled by the dive op, Carnival gave me an instant refund. No hassle. With Covid still a possible factor (for example, cancellations) knowing I would only have to deal with the cruise ship for a refund makes that part of the deal stress-free.
* I didn't have phone service, so wasn't able to call any of the ops that I had spent time researching to book dives myself. Didn't think to use the Shore Excursion staff.
* Found that if you are waiting to get off the ship and you see a group of people with scuba gear also waiting to get off the ship, they can be a great source to hook you up with who to dive with. When I told them of my cancellation, they invited me to go with them - that the dive op they had used before would probably welcome me to dive - I had already accepted the fact that my dive was cancelled and planned for something else.
Maybe next spring will be my first cruise dives! Hope you get everything worked out and have a great time!
BlueWaterDiver2
Registered
I have taken some Scuba Diving shore excursions from a few cruise ships. My experiences have been good. The cruise ship provides transportation to and from the dive boat and always waits for your return. That may not sound like much but take a look at some of the YouTube videos of cruise passengers arriving late to a departing ship. Sad but pretty funny. In my experience also the cruise ship uses higher end dive operations which has consistently given me a better experience. I also bring my mask and wetsuit, but rent all of the other gear.
We've done the cruise that stops in Cost Maya, Cozumel, Roatan, Belize a few times. All good diving spots. While we enjoyed it, we had the impression that the cruise ship marked up the diving a fair bit, and the dives were often shorter (40mins even). We did bring our own gear once but dragging it on/off the ship and cleaning it in the small cabin was not practical. We'd do the cruise again but have enjoyed staying for a week at the location more .. All the same, it was nice to have dives in some exotic places. Very true what a prior poster said about first impressions with a single dive on a single day not being enough to size up a spot for diving... but that said, we enjoyed the spots enough to return for a week of diving at different times
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