Carnival Cruise from NOLA in April.. Picking a dive excursion

[MissBubbles205]

Hello fellow divers! I haven't been on here in so long, sadly. I actually haven't dove since I got pregnant with my son back in 2014. I know I'll need and want to do some refreshers to get my feet wet and my five log up to date.
We have a cruise coming up in April and my dad is going with (and finally certified) so I have a buddy! We have 4 stops that are offering dive excursions. Has anyone ever dove at one of these sites and have a preference on if it was a great site or not? Many thanks in advance!

 

[claymore]

My picks would be Cozumel and then Costa Maya. Jamaca's diving is not that great and Belize is a very long boat ride to the best diving.
I like Coz the best of any of the Caribben sites I have done. If time permits in Coz try and book your diving on your own. The cruise line operator is Sand Dollar Sports and they take you to the closest dives to the pier. They are not bad dives but there are better ones father away. Sand Dollar is not a bad operator but the get as many divers on a boat as they can and they have a financial reason to get you in and out as fast and as close as they can. The sites they pick are rated easy because the get a lot of new, and vacation divers that do not have a lot of experience and do not dive often.
Costa Maya is good diving and close to the Cruise port.

I would look into doing a scuba review at a local dive shop before you go. I just did one for a young man going to the Cayman Islands. I would ask for a Scuba Review not the PADI Reactivate as they cover basically the same skills but the Reactivate is probably going to be a lot more money.

 

[robint]

ROATAN is easiest diving, and would be best for both you and your new cert buddy.
Belize diving is far from the cruise ships, so at least an hour boat ride each direction.
Cozumel is great diving, but you can see my comments on the other threads in this forum.

If you are just planning to dive 1 day, go with Roatan. If you are going to do more days, then it is a toss up on any of the other locations.

 

[MissBubbles205]

I heard Belize is the most amazing diving, I wish the ride wasn't sooo darn long. If we weren't on a cruise I would do that one no questions asked. I know they say the boat won't leave you but I'm a worry wart and my 1.5 yr old will be back on the boat with my mom and husband.

The only salt water dives I have done has actually been Jamaica when we stayed at the sandals resort, which I absolutely loved. We saw stings Rays, giant eels, got to hold a blow fish and saw huge sea turtles. Maybe we just got lucky when we were there though. There were very few of us out there too. But our cruise is stopping at mahagony bay Roatan and not Jamaica.

I am a vacation diver too sadly. I wish we could go more often. My husband works for the railroad so we have learned to vaca a lot without him. Maybe when my son is of age to get certified he will love it and be my buddy.

I would love to dive at each stop, but I think it's all I am going to be able to do to get my dad to do 1.

 

[MissBubbles205]

I will also check into a scuba review at my local shop! Thank you for recommending that.