Good dives for beginners in the Caribbean?

[DukeAMO]

(Sorry for the back to back posts... I have lots of questions) ;-)

My husband and I are working on our PADI Open Water Diver certifications right now (checkout dives at the end of March - wish us luck!). We're also going on a cruise this summer, with stops at Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize, and Roatan. I think we'll probably want to go diving on two or three of those days, and snorkel on one or two days. (Scuba diving is more demanding and more expensive, and we don't want to get burned out on vacation!) Can you recommend specific sites at those four locations that are good for beginner scuba divers (not really deep or too technical, pretty, lots of life)? If you had to choose 2 to dive at and 2 to snorkel at, which would you do? Thanks!

 

[diversteve]

Hard to pick 2/2. Typically (not always) 1st dives on Cayman are deeper down the wall. Since the wall often starts around 60' there's not always a shallower option. 50 yards from the cruise tender port on Grand Cayman is Eden Rock/Devils Grotto. The reef comes within a few feet of the surface there - even the dive is only to about 40' or it might be a good snorkel. Cayman's Best Boat and Shore Diving The current cruise dive operator is Don Fosters if you want to see what they offer. You might also really enjoy the Stingray City dive - it's billed as the most fun you can have in 15' of water. There's both a dive and a snorkel at Sandbar nearby - the snorkel will be really crowded with your fellow cruisers. If you can - do the dive.

Another fairly easy shore dive option is Sunset House - a 5 min cab ride from the cruise port. Unless you're off the boat late then it's 10mins. thru traffic. The famous Mermaid is at 55' and there's some interesting reef structure in the area. Also very easy entry - via ladder, giant stride or they also have the salt water pool - it's open to the ocean at one end. My Bar there is good for lunch.

One advantage shore diving has is that your costs would be tank rental plus any needed gear. Of course you'd be on your own also. At Eden Rock that wouldn't be a concern, Sunset House does at times have a slight current.

Much of Cozumel is deeper drift diving - I don't know anything about snorkeling there. For new divers that would be the last place I'd suggest to dive.

The cruise operator on Roatan is Anthony's Key Resort. A dive they often do with cruise divers is Overheat Reef. Also they have some of the easier to board boats on Roatan - they were bought as dive boats. There's also good snorkeling on Roatan in some areas. Most of the day accessible diving on Roatan is boat diving - the operator will pick the site based on conditions and diver skill level. Or you might be able to snorkel with the Dolphins at AKR depending on your ship schedule.

Never been to Belize. I know one advantage for diving there is that the dive operators pick you up off the ship - they moor offshore and tender everyone else in. Generally Belize diving tends to be shallower - or at least has a shallow component. The exception is the Blue Hole but at your skill level you shouldn't go near it.

 

[DukeAMO]

I'd be willing to try booking on our own instead of going through the cruise. It sounds like we'd probably get better prices, possibly a more customized trip, and a little less crowding that way. I'd probably lean toward getting our own trip everywhere except Roatan, where I've heard that things can get a little too third-world for comfort once you get out of the port area.

On that note, does anyone else have any especially good dive shops/charters/trips to recommend on these islands?

If we do book through the cruise for one or more of these, we'll have to decide which of the excursions to take. Here's a list of the options for our specific cruise:

Scuba:
Grand Cayman
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417074
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417005 << Too deep for beginners, right? I think we are supposed to stay above 60ft?
Cozumel
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/304007 << Same depth as the one above, 80ft.
Belize
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/509011
Roatan
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/518058

Snorkeling:
Belize
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/509028
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/509019
Cozumel
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/304062
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/304137
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/304003
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/304102
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/304118
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/304006
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/304105
Grand Cayman
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417082
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417070
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417031
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417085
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417037
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417053
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417079
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417084
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417087
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417056
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417052
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417078
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417019
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417086
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417049
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417089
Roatan
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/518068
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/518056
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/518023
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/518061
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/518012
www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/518055

 

[MMM]

Diving in Cozumel is excellent and many new divers dive here. That said, the current can add an additional degree of difficulty depending on how hard it is running in any particular site; it varies considerably. Or it can make it easier by reducing the amount of swimming you need to so and the boat picks you up where you surface as opposing to you having to do much if any navigation. Pretty much all diving here in Coz is by boat. Maybe you can get less expensive shore diving at the other ports???

I have done a bit of snorkelling in Cozumel and it is OK, but it is really a diving destination. You will probably find prettier beaches elsewhere on your trip.

 

[diversteve]

Scuba:
Grand Cayman
Certified Shore Dive

Casuarina Point is where Don Foster's is located. The reef there is an extension of the Devils Grotto site - also called Cheeseburger Reef. $70 seems kind of high when a tank rental at Eden Rock is $12.50. Assuming you'll have at least some of your own gear.

Certified Two Tank Dive << Too deep for beginners, right? I think we are supposed to stay above 60ft?

It's not that it's 80' - most certified divers can do that. It just may be a little too much task loading - especially if that's your first dive after certification. Air consumption might also be a factor.The wall off Cayman is sort of a plateau then it drops fast. If they moor on the plateau you'd have plenty to see shallower - off the plateau you'd be swimming in blue water watching the divers below you.

[-]I'm not sure about the "shuttle" either - I'm fairly sure it's a short walk to Fosters from the cruise port.
[/-]see post 13 below...

Belize
Turneffe Atoll Two Tank Dive w/ equipment
Turneffe is supposed to be a very good dive. How good are you on small boats in open water for 2 hrs. each way?

Roatan
Certified 2 Tank Dive
As mentioned in the description it's a dive off Anthonys Key. Mahogany Bay is the cruise port on the south side of Roatan, they shuttle you to AKR on the north side. Somewhere - Cruise critic or here on SB - someone posted the dives they typically do with the cruise traffic. It's how I knew about Overheat Reef.

Don't snorkel so no input on those sites. Here's the reality at the Cayman Sandbar Snorkel though - it's not one guy in the water like their picture...lol.


And here's the dive:


Ambassador Divers on Cayman gets good reviews. They'll only take six divers max. They book thru Lobster Pot Dive Center in town.

I often recommend Barefoot Divers on Roatan. They're the closest dive operator to Mahogany Bay and offer true "valet" diving, they handle all your gear, group by experience level and only do small group DM-escorted diving. The 7 of us were their business one morning the last week of March - seemed to be slow season on Roatan. It will cost you $20pp to get there via cab - prices go up as soon as your ship docks...The south side is generally going to be calmer, shallower diving also - lots of macro stuff to see. Most of Roatan is also, there's hardly anything big spotted there.

 

[DukeAMO]

Actually, since I'm such a newbie, I'd probably be happiest with more shallow dives anyway... and 60ft would be the max allowed. (Know your limits, right?)

I love the specific site recommendations, keep 'em coming!

Oh, just saw the "small boats" question. We haven't been on a boat in the last few years. We might take seasickness meds just in case. But in the past we've had fun on catamarans, ferries, and the like. So we're probably OK.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I am going to suggest that the easiest place to go diving on Grand Cayman from a cruise ship is at Eden Rock. It is diving from shore into a very calm environment, lots of fish, maximum depths 40 feet or less. You can walk there from the cruise ship dock in maybe 10 minutes, and they will rent you any gear you need. It's also a terrific snorkel sight. Lots to see. There is a decent restaurant right there, and a bar for after diving is done. There are other places on Grand Cayman where you will catch a shuttle from the cruise ship dock to a dive center or boat. If you go on one of those, many people are into sting ray bay, a 12 foot dive max with no real reefs or corals, but dozens of sting rays. That can also be a good snorkel site, but you need a boat ride to get there.
Cozumel is Cozumel. Lots of dive operations. Dive Paradise is the biggest and we have had good experience with them. Snorkeling on Cozumel is not great. As to Belize, no comment. Roatan will have lots of options, and there are good snorkel spots as well as decent beginning diving. Have a great time!
DivemasterDennis

 

[kimbalabala]

The only place on your list I've been to is Grand Cayman and I thought it was fantastic. We stayed at Sunset House and went out to see the mermaid - it's a shore dive (not from a boat). One teensy warning is that there is a little bit of a current that will take to to the "left" so keep that in mind if you are trying to find the mermaid on your own. If it's possible to do a morning or afternoon boat dive with Sunset House I would absolutely do that because they put a guide in the water with you - not that they will keep track of your air & depth (we're certified and responsible for that stuff, right?), but you can follow them around and see the critters and the swim throughs that you might otherwise miss. I'd go back there in a heartbeat ... sigh ... sigh again ... One more thing ... become very good friends with your dive computer. You want to be able to recognize what all the numbers and alarms mean - you don't want to be in the water wondering "what the heck was that beep for?".

 

[drrich2]

I've had cruise stops in Grand Cayman, Cozumel & Belize. What I did:

1.) Grand Cayman: dove with the cruise ship excursion & liked it fine. Wish I had larger than an 80 AL tank, though. On another trip, did the dolphin encounter/turtle farm and enjoyed that a lot.

2.) Cozumel - booked privately with Living Underwater. Loved it. Big 120 cf Steel Tanks, and an air hog like me loves big tanks. Hope to dive with them again someday. With private bookings be mindful the ship's posted arrival & departure times may not match the local time zone, which can create big problems.

3.) Belize - the a boat tour up the New River, with a walking tour in the jungle (an area where the name means 'Submerged Crocodile'), and visited 3 Mayan ruins (climbed atop 2 of them).

Richard.

 

[CaliDenna]

Sunset House is an amazing place and perfect for beginners! I went there with a group last year immediately after I certified OW and had an awesome time. The boat crew and divemasters were absolutely phenomenal! Our group loved it and when we started planning our trips for this year, they all resoundingly said Sunset House was top of the list! We are going on March 28 and our groups are comprised of everyone from working on being certified, AOW, Rescue Divers, Divemasters and Master Instructor...so quite a diverse group and everyone had a great time.

Many of the sites they took us to last year each has choices for that site, if you wanted to go deep you go could off that direction, if you wanted to stay shallower, go that way and if you wanted guided tour, to this way with Divemaster.

As mentioned above, you can also giant stride right off the shore there which I found very cool as a new diver last year. I hadn't done any boat diving yet so it was a nice warmup for a brand new diver.

My Bar sits right next to the ocean and is a great place to relive that last dive, share stories and photos, meet new friends and have something to eat and drink.

I highly recommend them! Hope you have a GREAT time!!