Western Caribbean Cruise October

[swaarm]

My wife and I will be taking a cruise on Carnival "Valor" on October 14th to mix a little R&R and diving. We will be diving in Roatan and Belize (and maybe Coz). Anyone else aboard? Would like advice with regard to operators and diving in these spots while on a cruise. We recenty dove Grand Cayman and Cozumel so it sounded like fun to try Belize and Roatan while on a cruise. Expectations are not unrealistic, just want to have fun and adventure while relaxing. First time on a cruise ship. Not my usual way of traveling. Let me know!
Thanks
Scott

 

[LowVizWiz]

Hehe! I'm leaving on that same cruise tomorrow.

I'll be diving with Anthony's Key Resort in Roatan, I'm not sure about the other stops yet. I will be taking the family to Stingray City in GC.

They have cenote dives out of Calica/Playa del Carmen Mex. This ship doesn't usually go to that port, but Costa Maya is "not operational" at least for the time being according to Carnival so they changed the last stop. We may end up doing Cozumel instead.

I'll let you know in a week, time to pack!

Wys.

 

[swaarm]

Wys
Let me know how your trip goes and and any info regarding your dive bookings. Have a great trip Scott

 

[peterbj7]

Diving in Belize is usually a problem because the cruise ships operate to a very tight itinerary. Best take any dive trip the ship is offering even if it seems expensive. Failing that you MAY be able to organise some dives with one of the two main dive operators in Belize City (Belize Dive Connection and Sea Sports Belize), though timing is a particular problem. Or you can taxi to the local airstrip and fly up here to Ambergris Caye, where you will probably have time for two dives, lunch and some relaxation. The only downside is that you'll have to fly each way, though the small planes don't go anywhere near as high as the minimum recognised by DAN as "flying", and lots of people have done it without mishap.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Thats interesting, we were looking at RCL(sun) to do the above itinerary. Now we will also look at Carnival

 

[LowVizWiz]

Swarm, I just got back today and I have to say it was incredible!

Great fun, amazingly clear water and lots of friendly people.

In GC we did not dive, but swam with the stingrays and snorkel at the coral gardens. I tried to book before hand with Moby Dick Tours, but they didn't get back to me on time. I did see them at the dock, but I had already paid for the tour with another vendor. The excursion to do the same with the ship was packed with people not to mention that it was twice as expensive. So I would not recommend doing it with the ship. There were stingrays everywhere!

I have some pictures from GC here

The was a couple who did a dive with Off The Wall Divers and another couple who booked with the ship. The first couple had a great time while the ship excursion left a lot to be desired according to them.

In Roatan I decided to book with the ship since the excursion was with Anthony's Key Resort. I knew I couldn't go wrong with them. They were excellent, nice big 48' boats and great guides.

We took a short bus ride from the port to the resort and we began to set up our gear, they asked us to check our buoyancy before we left the resort and then we were off.

We did 2 wall dives. One at a site called Harvey's Fantasy and after a nice SI at Fins & Flippers we did a site called Key Hole. We even got to see the dolphin encounter as part of our SI.

The water was about 84 and visibility was incredible even though the day was cloudy you could see over 100'. My max depth during dive one was 87' and if it wasn't because I looked at my depth gauge I would have guessed 40'. I was following a grouper that wanted to show me the sand at well over 250' according to our guide. Lots of fish life!

Dive 2 was just as good, we started so close to shore I couldn't believe the drop off. We stayed at around 50-60 feet for most of the dive, but we were in an abyss... We gently drifted along the wall for 45 minutes then went back over the reef. We did not see as much fish life on the second dive but the nooks and crannies and crevices were more interesting on this site.

They were both divemaster-lead dives, but they weren't sticklers. They briefed the sites thoroughly and let us explore at leisure while always keeping and eye on everyone. We had about 12 divers on the group and there were 2 divemasters with us. We were only limited by our air not by their time schedule which was nice since the second dive was so close to the ship. We made it back just in time for the first sitting !

I have some pictures here. I shot a lot more, but at that depth they just don't look good IMO so I didn't post them. This was my first attempt at underwater photography so there's lots of room for improvement.

I have to get some rest now, but I'll post some more about Belize and Cozumel tomorrow.

Wys.

 

[swaarm]

Wys
Thanks for the report. Glad you had fun. We dove in GC last year and did Stingray City on Scuba. It was a lot of fun and a riot with the rays swirling all around. We dove with Sunset House (we stayed there also and it was a great place) and probably won't dive there on this trip. We dove Coz 2 years ago and stayed at a resort with an onsite dive operater (Dive Palancar). Lots of good dives and only 5 minutes to the reef. We are looking forward to Roatan and Belize. I'll look forward to your report on Belize.
Thanks
Scott

 

[deeper thoughts]

Keep em coming, we are planning on going on this cruise ourselves

 

[LowVizWiz]

Argggh! I lost my post after spending and hour writing a detailed report! On Belize and Cozumel!

I'll just give you the Reader's Digets version now...

Belize is a very poor country with friendly and fun loving people they were grateful to have the cruise ships come in so they could be employed, at least the tour we had with Cave-tubing.com For half the price of the ship excursion we got the not so touristy city tour we even saw this. The caves were excellent! The trek to the caves is not difficult, but it does have its' challenges... My 8 year old daughter did it without complaining too much and I did it with my 3 year old on my shoulders! I don't have pictures of the caves because my son was on my lap the whole time. Oh well, I'll just have to go back to Belize!

The ship offers a dive in the Turneffe Island's Atoll which is what I would have done, some of the other cruisers dived with Hugh Parkey, but they didn't give me much to report on they enjoyed their dive tho. Turneffe Island's are about 25+ miles from Belize City, so I would suggest booking with the ship. In Belize there's a 25 to 30 minute tender ride to and from the port as well so keep this in mind. Also, some of the snorkelers in my group were under-whelmed by Belize's snorkeling. They booked through the ship and I assume they were taken fairly close to shore while most of the better sites are a good while away. They liked Cozumel much better!

Cozumel by contrast, was a total tourist town! Shops everywhere... We used Dive with Martin which was very nice because they are right outside the pier (International Pier) not Punta Langosta. No need to log your gear to the taxis outside the terminal to drive to your op! There's no lack of dive ops on the island either.

Water clarity in Cozumel was excellent! 100+ feet. We dove Palancar Reef and Fantasy Reef which are fairly close to the ship! The water was so nice I would have jumped in right next to the ship and would have been happy. Lot's of life, we found a bait ball stalked by a 'cuda as well as the usual cast of characters in the tropics.
We were back in plenty of time to get a late lunch clean up and hit the shops outside the terminal (My wife's idea of a vacation)

We had a great time in all the ports, I only wish I had more time in each one of them. The food on the ship was good, not great. They did have the occasional outstanding dish and the shows are a good way to spend the time between ports.

All in all, it was well worth the price!

Good luck,
Wys.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Thnx any pix of the boat and the towns?