Which places should I dive?

[pasley]

Feb 2008 I dove with Carnival on the Valor, Ports of call were: Grand Cayman, Rotan, Belize and Cozumel. I dove in every port. I booked through the cruise ship for the following reasons:
1. If you are on the first boat to shore, or first off the ship if docked.
2. In one port we were tendered (anchored) and the dive operator came to the cruise ship to pick us up. If you booked your own dive trip you would have to grab the tender to shore and then get on your dive boat. Meanwhile I was on a dive boat.
3. The dive boat will not leave until the cruise ship gets its passengers there. When operating on the ocean, schedules are rough ideas and very flexible depending on weather and mechanical issues etc. The dive boat leaves when you get there. When ever that is.
4. If late getting back, the cruise ship is responsible for getting me to the cruise ship. If I booked my own trip, well, your on your own.
5. The cruise ship has checked into the dive operator and since they hired them they are interested in good performance as there performance reflects on the cruise line.
6. If you forget something (like my regulator and dive computer at the last port, hanging up next to the rinse tank) the cruise ship will help you make contact and get it back. If you booked your own, your on your own (they asked if I had booked though them first thing).
7. If you have an issue with the dive boat operator, he is interested in making you happy for fear of losing his contract.
8. Normally you will have a few hours after the dive in town to see some sights.

The down side of booking through the cruise ship.
1. Yes, it cost more.
2. Cruise ship tour boats have a lot of vacation divers who dive once a year while on a cruise. I was the only diver on my ship who hit all 4 ports. The other divers ran through air quickly and the dive was over. I learned to point to my dive computer and claim I had deco to do.....yeah, yeah, I know,.... I am going to hell for lying. But I paid for a dive and I am going to enjoy my hour dive. I can't see leaving the 80F ocean with over 1/2 a tank of air left. In Cozumel, after I escorted my insta-buddy to the surface and turned him over to the control of the dive boat, the DM and I enjoyed another 30 minutes of drift diving just chilling at 20 feet.

 

[cb5150]

Thanks for the reply. I will have to make sure the cruise offers dives. Have you dove Grand Turk or St.Thomas. Those are the only other cruise dives I have done...

Ah, that is an awesome idea. On our last cruise we cleaned our gear in the shower, and then try to let it dry.. It didn't turn out well.

We did a beach dive at Coki Point in St. Thomas. It turned out to only be 1 tank so that kind of sucked but they did let us stay down for almost an hour. Not much to see underwater. We also took a two-tank boat dive in St. Lucia. It was really beautiful and definitely worth the money.

 

[DEEPLOU]

Done that itenary many times.
Costa Maya is very small " town" . Last year booked privately don't remember cost. This year booked through ship. Was costly but were very good. There's not much to this port. I would stay with the ship excursion here.
Grand Cayman used Off the Wall Divers. Very good, went to sites I didn't even get to when I was there for a week. Last trip we had 5 people on the boat and 3 of them were crew. Great dives and they worked with cruise schedule.
Cozumel used Aldora Divers. They are right down town. $8 cab from Carnival pier and 8 minute walk from the downtown pier (where NCL docked). Steel 120's and different sites.
Roatan haven't booked privately so far. Anthony s Key who most cruise lines use is good but seems to go to same sites with cruise excursions. Not an issue if it's your first time, but I've been there many times.

I post video on YouTube of these places. Check them out, deeplou1



Forgot to mention, I found booking privately I don't get to meet other divers from the ship, which may or may not be of interest.



Missed you're going to Belize. Usually it's Belize or Costa Maya, not both.
Belize ship anchors out it's a half hour tender ride to the actual port.
If you do Belize, go through ship. The dive operator picks you up at the ship and returns you back to the ship. It is an expensive trip but I have found the dive excursions not much more expensive than private

I've done the MB and Coz dives off a crusie ship. Lots of fun. Some folks will criticize cruise ship dives as being to short or restrictive. I tend to just go with the flow, have fun and meet new people. Never did the dives in Belize or Costa Maya so I can't help with those.

Here is a tip for cruise ship diving:

If you take your own gear, you can rinse it (and yourself) in the outdoor showers by the pool then go up on deck and sit in the sun with a cold beverage while you and your gear dry off. If you have a balcony cabin, you can dry your stuff on the baclony but make sure you buy some plastic clamps from Home Depot to secure stuff that might blow away.

Whatever you decide...have fun, dive safe and just remember that there will be a cold adult beverage waiting for you on the ship when you return.

Haven't had anything blow off the balcony, only hang stuff on chairs.
With an inside closet, I mean cabin it's little more tricky, your suggestion may work.

 

[ScubaFireDiver]

You guys are awesome! Thanks again for all the help!! I will look into all the places ya'll suggested.

Has anyone done the dolphin dive that is sold on the cruise ship? It runs about $199. My gf loves them, and think that would be an awesome day.