Need advice on cruise to Cozumel

[Scubadubes]

We are taking a short 4-day cruise in February .. destination Cozumel! We will have one day to dive there (hey.. it's not much, but it'll do!!!) Anyway, we've never been on a cruise before and we've never been to Cozumel either. The cruise line offers an arranged shore excursion for a 2 tank dive. They say they will ferry us to the pier where the DO will meet us and take us on an 80 ft dive and a 50 ft dive. They don't say who the DO is, only that it is an "independent operator", not a cruise-line employee. Should we go this route, or should we try to arrange something ourselves?? We figure this would be easy, as the cruise line would make all of the arrangements and give us the necessary transportation, but are not sure if we should gamble on an unknown operator. Has anyone been in this boat before (no pun intended!) or have a suggestion?

Thanks!

 

[bobert]

It all depends. I have been in your situation twice. Once the ship's DO took them on a deeper and maybe a more interesting dive than the one I was on through a private operator. On the other mine was vastly more interesting, at least in terms of depth. However on my two trips with Eagle Ray Divers in Cozumel I was with an excellent divemaster and no more than three other divers and on one dive I was alone with the DM. To a large degree it depends on how much time you have, how adventurous you are, as well as how much your value the quality of your dive.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

I would agree that it depends on what your experience level is and what you are expecting from your dive experience. I have dove off a cruise ship twice in Cozumel. Both times I used Aldora and I know we had a better dive experience that the cruise sponsored dive. It does cost more but it is worth it in my mind.

 

[TechBlue]

Aldora is good dive operation, what you have to bear in mind if you are using your own or borrowed gear they use HP 100's with Din valves, they do have din fittings for most regs but you could save yourself some trouble by planning ahead. Their store is in the town center so they are very close to the docks and would more than likely arrange for someone to meet you at the boat.

 

[DWJ]

Ok I'm doing the same thing in Feb on a Disney Cruise. DIN valve is a good tip. but do you recommend bringing all my gear Regs, BC, mask, fins and wetsuit or jus the regs an mask and renting the rest????

 

[TechBlue]

You are always better off using your own equipment, you know it fits and where everything is, and usually it is in much better condition. Theh only thing you'll want to rent are the weights, for travel I use a soft pack weight belt with pockets, so it's easy to put the weights in and also take them out with a minimum of fuss.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

I usually bring my own gear even if its only one day of diving off a cruise ship. Aldora's rental gear is pretty good though.

 

[Scubadubes]

I was in my LDS today and asked the owner her opinion. She thinks we would be better off to use the DO affiliated with the cruise line and go ahead and let the cruise line make the arrangements b/c if there were to be a problem, we would be more likely to be taken care of if we went through the cruise line. For example, in the unlikely event that the dive boat broke down or was running late, the cruise line would be aware that we were not back on the ship. She also said that in her experience the cruise lines usually affiliate with good, reputable DO's. You guys are probably right that it depends on what we are looking for. We are fairly new divers (20 dives) and have never been to Cozumel, so personnally, I am just excited to be going!!! I hear that all dives there are drift dives and there is always a DM with you so it sounds pretty stress free.

 

[TechBlue]

I think you will have fun regardless of which DO you use and your LDS did raise some valid points, it may put a damper on your cruise if you were to wave it off from the dive boat :luxhello:. Seeing as you don't know who you'll be diving with though you may definitely want to think about providing all your own equipment.

 

[Scubadubes]

Thanks for the advice deepblue. I thought of the equipment issue also and we are planning on taking everything except tanks and weights. I will definitely feel more comfortable with my own gear!!!
Scubadubes