My wife and I just returned from a Royal Caribbean crusie in which we planned two tank dives at each of the three locations. Not wanting to go out with a cast of thousands from the curise ship, we used dive companies that had good reviews on ScubaBoard. Being novice divers, this was our first dive trip diving in open ocean, and hopefully my comments will help other new divers planning trips to these three areas. Our first stop was Roatan, and we pre-booked our dive with Cocoanut Tree Divers on the Westend with Gaynor and PJ Roundtree as our contacts. I cannot say enough good things about the friendliness, helpfulness, and professional operation of Cocoanut Tree Divers. Although we arrived very early for our scheduled 1 PM dive, Gaynor put us on an earlier dive that would enable us to make both dives and not have to worry about making the ship's departure time. As it turned out, that was extremely fortunate because we did not realize that Roatan was not on DST as was Costa Maya and Cozumel. Had we not arrived earlier than scheduled at Coconut Tree, we may not have been able to make the second dive or may well have been late getting back to the ship. We really lucked out on that situation! One of the problems we had was we paid for the roundtrip from dock to the Westend, telling the cab driver to pick us up at 4:15. not realizing that 4:15 at Roatan was really 5:15 ships time (with a 5:30 reboarding time). Fortunately we had the cab driver's name, and Gaynor went out of her way to call the cab company and got the pickup rescheduled. Being new divers, Gaynor gave us our own divemaster so we would not have to worry about keeping up with the more experienced group. As a result, we had two fantastic dives with a great divemaster and crew that made us feel very welcome and relaxed despite our inexperience.
Our second day dive was at Costa Maya where we used Selma Nijman, Nomad Divers. Selma was a great help to us, not only before arrival by keeping close tabs on our progress through the PADI course, but by giving us encouragement and advice on equipment. She met us near the dock and set us up with a cab to the launch site (she was not allowed to pick up passengers, but made sure we got to where we were supposed to go). Unfortunately, the water was much more choppy at Costa Maya than it had been at Roatan. That, added to the fact that Selma operated from a subcontracted small boat which was launched from the beach, made for a less than ideal dive experience. Apparently the water was pretty shallow at the launch site, so the boat had to "surf" the waves going in and out. That made for a very uncomfortable ride to the dive site. Because of the chop, the boat having a flat bottom and sat low in the water, everything got soaked before we even got past the reef. By the time we did a back roll off the boat, all we wanted to do was get off the boat. The actual dive itself was very good, with Selma being an excellent divemaster who showed us a lot of things we would have missed without a very knowledgable guide. We hated to have the dive end, not only because the underwater trip was very nice, but because we dreaded the boat ride back to the beach. Getting back on the boat was also a real treat. No ladder, a bouncing boat, and a very small swim platform made getting back on the boat extremely difficult for my wife who did not have my upper body strength to help pull herself up on the platform. We finally got everyone back on board and then had another very bumpy ride back to shore. After the boat ride, we elected not to do the second dive, and Selma adjusted the dive cost accordingly which was more than fair. I would be happy to use Selma again, but would carefully consider the size boat and launch location next time. Never having been there before, perhaps all the dives are launched from shallow water, and had the water been smooth, the experience no doubt would have been a lot better.
Our third days dive was with XT Blue Sea Divers in Cozumel, who I also deserve great compliments for thier operation. They were also fantastic, and well deserved the excellent comments I read on ScubaBoard. We had six divers on XT's boat (which was spacious and well equipped) plus two divemasters, Arturo and Cevardo (spelling?). Cevardo stayed with my wife and I the entire time on both dives, and both divemasters and the captain were wonderful and attentive to all divers. They provided drinks and snacks between dives and gave absolutely superb service in setting up all equipment and tank changes for all of us. We did not have to do anthing but put on the gear and dive. It was great! Their helpfulness and friendly personalities combined with unbelievably great dive conditions, made for an exceptionally enjoyable dive trip. I can highly recommend them for any level diver.
We plan to go back to at least Roatan and Cozumel, and would also like to give Costa Maya another look.
Major lessons learned: Don't assume the local time is the same time as a neighboring country even though they are in the same time zone; make sure you know what size boat you will be using, how it is lauched, and how you will have to get on and off the boat; and finally, don't pre-pay for a round trip cab unless you know you will have a problem catching a cab back to the ship which would not have been a factor at any of the three locations we dived.
Guy
Our second day dive was at Costa Maya where we used Selma Nijman, Nomad Divers. Selma was a great help to us, not only before arrival by keeping close tabs on our progress through the PADI course, but by giving us encouragement and advice on equipment. She met us near the dock and set us up with a cab to the launch site (she was not allowed to pick up passengers, but made sure we got to where we were supposed to go). Unfortunately, the water was much more choppy at Costa Maya than it had been at Roatan. That, added to the fact that Selma operated from a subcontracted small boat which was launched from the beach, made for a less than ideal dive experience. Apparently the water was pretty shallow at the launch site, so the boat had to "surf" the waves going in and out. That made for a very uncomfortable ride to the dive site. Because of the chop, the boat having a flat bottom and sat low in the water, everything got soaked before we even got past the reef. By the time we did a back roll off the boat, all we wanted to do was get off the boat. The actual dive itself was very good, with Selma being an excellent divemaster who showed us a lot of things we would have missed without a very knowledgable guide. We hated to have the dive end, not only because the underwater trip was very nice, but because we dreaded the boat ride back to the beach. Getting back on the boat was also a real treat. No ladder, a bouncing boat, and a very small swim platform made getting back on the boat extremely difficult for my wife who did not have my upper body strength to help pull herself up on the platform. We finally got everyone back on board and then had another very bumpy ride back to shore. After the boat ride, we elected not to do the second dive, and Selma adjusted the dive cost accordingly which was more than fair. I would be happy to use Selma again, but would carefully consider the size boat and launch location next time. Never having been there before, perhaps all the dives are launched from shallow water, and had the water been smooth, the experience no doubt would have been a lot better.
Our third days dive was with XT Blue Sea Divers in Cozumel, who I also deserve great compliments for thier operation. They were also fantastic, and well deserved the excellent comments I read on ScubaBoard. We had six divers on XT's boat (which was spacious and well equipped) plus two divemasters, Arturo and Cevardo (spelling?). Cevardo stayed with my wife and I the entire time on both dives, and both divemasters and the captain were wonderful and attentive to all divers. They provided drinks and snacks between dives and gave absolutely superb service in setting up all equipment and tank changes for all of us. We did not have to do anthing but put on the gear and dive. It was great! Their helpfulness and friendly personalities combined with unbelievably great dive conditions, made for an exceptionally enjoyable dive trip. I can highly recommend them for any level diver.
We plan to go back to at least Roatan and Cozumel, and would also like to give Costa Maya another look.
Major lessons learned: Don't assume the local time is the same time as a neighboring country even though they are in the same time zone; make sure you know what size boat you will be using, how it is lauched, and how you will have to get on and off the boat; and finally, don't pre-pay for a round trip cab unless you know you will have a problem catching a cab back to the ship which would not have been a factor at any of the three locations we dived.
Guy
