Norwegian Cruise to Coz, Belize, Roatan, Cancun

[Aquatic Eagle]

There's a reason they don't have a dive operator in Belize.

When I did the Norwegian "Texarribean" cruise in January, there was a diving excursion in Belize. The boat left seven of us stranded in the Carribean for about an hour and a half (not including the 35 minute dive) before we were picked up again.

Needless to say, they refunded our money and dropped the dive op from the excursion list.

We do have an operator in Belize now. We used to use someone called I think it was Aqua Divers or something similar and yes, several people were left by the boat and so NCL stopped using them. Since then however, we have picked up an operator called Hugh Parkey's Dive Center. Maybe www.belizediving.com. Anyway, all we have ever gotten as far as feedback on these guys is great, excellent, and etc. These guys are well organized, very friendly and very knowledgable. So now NCL has dives in all three of those ports. I take it you are going on the Norwegian Sea? I was on the Wind and we did a similar run, replace Cancun with Grand Cayman. If I were to dive just one of those spots, it would be either Roatan, or Cozumel. I dove in Cozumel and one one dive saw a nurse and tiger shark. So that's Cozumel and in Roatan the reefs are beautiful and the island itself is a beautiful island. NCL uses Anthony's Key Resort on Roatan, The Snorkel Center on Cozumel, and Hugh Parkey's on Belize. I'm not sure about Cancun because I haven't been put in that port yet but I can find out if you'd like.

 

[NINman]

I would add another vote for Cozumel here. I did some really nice dives there. Did a bit of snorkling in Roatan and that was amazing. Hope this helps.

 

[Foo]

Hemlon,
We did this cruise in February: Because we had so little time in Cozumel, and it was my first time to dive after open water, we opted to take the taxi to Chankanaab Marine Park and do shore dives. I'm so glad we did, it was great, filled with life and we even went in a cavern (locked arm & arm with our divemaster).

Then Roatan- this was the best diving. Don't miss it. We went with Coconut Tree Divers, as did 8 other cruise ship peeps, and we all went out together, then had lots of fun with one another for the balance of the cruise. Cocunut Tree (on the West End $10 taxi ride but it's a round trip deal, and you dont pay them until the PICK you up at the end of the day) accomodated the time schedule of the ship, working around us for start and end dive times.

Belize- We were unsure about Belize, and whether we wanted to dive there, but the ship's excursion was $160 per person after tips. We said no thanks. In retrospect, I wish we had tried a little harder to find another op, because we woke up the next morning (supposed to dive in Cancun) and were very disappointed to find that we didnt even get to stop in Cancun due to extremely choppy surf.

So, the moral of this story is, be sure and dive Coz & Roatan. Then if you miss one of the other ports, you will not be out in the cold from not diving at all! Have a great time, just be prepared for the tiiiiiiiiiiiiny staterooms. But the Norwegian staff works really hard to make sure you have a great time.

Foo

 

[NINman]

Hemlon,
tiiiiiiiiiiiiny staterooms.

I guess I was spoiled, we had a suite with a balc =)