TLDR: The one-tank dive at CocoCay is enjoyable and reasonably priced (considering the other options). A good way to spend a few hours, especially if you don’t care about doing other things on the island.
COST / BOOKING:
Royal Caribbean offers a one-tank dive at CocoCay, their private island. My cost was $58 for the dive without equipment rental (they provide tank and weights) but I also had to book it with equipment rental for my son for $68 since the without equipment was sold out (he still used his own equipment). For our cruise they initially offered the dive without equipment which sold out 8 months before the cruise, then 3 months before the cruise, the dive with equipment was offered as well, which I believe sold out quickly. So if you’re considering doing the dive, book it as soon as you can. You can always cancel and get a refund if you change your mind.
PRE-DIVE:
Our ship unloaded at 10am and we had to be at the Diver’s Den at 10.30am (a 10 minute walk from the ship). Once there, there was 20 minutes to get your tank and assemble your gear. The tanks were standard AL80 filled to 3000psi. I believe the rental gear was AquaLung jacket BCDs with entry-level regs, but I didn’t pay close attention. They rent shorty wetsuits if you want but no one used them. There was a short briefing about the dive procedures, communicating remaining air, and forming buddies. There were 8 divers plus one dive master leading the dive.
GETTING TO DIVE SITE:
Everyone walks from the Diver’s Den to the water (about 100’), wades into the snorkeling area then surface swims about 100’ to the outer boundary of the snorkeling area. Once there, each diver is towed one at a time lying prone (face down) in a plastic stokes basket attached to a jet ski about 1/2 mile to the edge of the reef, marked by a buoy. After being dropped off, you wait on the surface by the buoy until everyone is there.
DIVE:
It’s a group dive with the DM leading the group, towing a dive marker. The jet ski operator follows along and can assist if a problem develops. It’s a shallow dive along a reef. Royal Caribbean says max depth is 40’ but I only got to 31’ and I was near the bottom a lot. The dive follows a reef out and back half-way, then turns toward the beach and if all goes well, the dive ends back in the snorkeling area so you don’t have to surface swim. There were grouper, trigger fish, and 2 sting rays. Not a lot of life but a few interesting things. The water was very clear, viz was probably about 75’. Water temp was 90F at the surface, 86F at the bottom.
The DM was good about checking with everyone about their air. One person ran low much earlier than everyone else and he helped her ascend (where I believe she was taken back to the shore by the jet ski) then continued the dive for everyone else. Since the last 10 minutes of the dive swimming back into the snorkeling area is a gradual ascent to about 5’ depth, there’s no safety stop (my NDL never went below 99min the entire dive and my SurfGF ended at 3%). The dive took 55 minutes and I only used 1500 psi since it was so shallow. As with all cruise ship dive excursions, there was a range of abilities but thankfully no one was reckless (although the DM did have to read one of the diver’s SPG for her when he asked for air). As I was with my two sons, I didn’t have to worry about the insta-buddy problem.
POST-DIVE:
If you have your own gear you can rinse it out and hang it up to dry until the end of the day if you want. Royal Caribbean says the total time is 1.5 hours but it’s more like 3 hours.
Overall I’d do it again since there’s not much else at CocoCay I’d be willing to spend money on.
COST / BOOKING:
Royal Caribbean offers a one-tank dive at CocoCay, their private island. My cost was $58 for the dive without equipment rental (they provide tank and weights) but I also had to book it with equipment rental for my son for $68 since the without equipment was sold out (he still used his own equipment). For our cruise they initially offered the dive without equipment which sold out 8 months before the cruise, then 3 months before the cruise, the dive with equipment was offered as well, which I believe sold out quickly. So if you’re considering doing the dive, book it as soon as you can. You can always cancel and get a refund if you change your mind.
PRE-DIVE:
Our ship unloaded at 10am and we had to be at the Diver’s Den at 10.30am (a 10 minute walk from the ship). Once there, there was 20 minutes to get your tank and assemble your gear. The tanks were standard AL80 filled to 3000psi. I believe the rental gear was AquaLung jacket BCDs with entry-level regs, but I didn’t pay close attention. They rent shorty wetsuits if you want but no one used them. There was a short briefing about the dive procedures, communicating remaining air, and forming buddies. There were 8 divers plus one dive master leading the dive.
GETTING TO DIVE SITE:
Everyone walks from the Diver’s Den to the water (about 100’), wades into the snorkeling area then surface swims about 100’ to the outer boundary of the snorkeling area. Once there, each diver is towed one at a time lying prone (face down) in a plastic stokes basket attached to a jet ski about 1/2 mile to the edge of the reef, marked by a buoy. After being dropped off, you wait on the surface by the buoy until everyone is there.
DIVE:
It’s a group dive with the DM leading the group, towing a dive marker. The jet ski operator follows along and can assist if a problem develops. It’s a shallow dive along a reef. Royal Caribbean says max depth is 40’ but I only got to 31’ and I was near the bottom a lot. The dive follows a reef out and back half-way, then turns toward the beach and if all goes well, the dive ends back in the snorkeling area so you don’t have to surface swim. There were grouper, trigger fish, and 2 sting rays. Not a lot of life but a few interesting things. The water was very clear, viz was probably about 75’. Water temp was 90F at the surface, 86F at the bottom.
The DM was good about checking with everyone about their air. One person ran low much earlier than everyone else and he helped her ascend (where I believe she was taken back to the shore by the jet ski) then continued the dive for everyone else. Since the last 10 minutes of the dive swimming back into the snorkeling area is a gradual ascent to about 5’ depth, there’s no safety stop (my NDL never went below 99min the entire dive and my SurfGF ended at 3%). The dive took 55 minutes and I only used 1500 psi since it was so shallow. As with all cruise ship dive excursions, there was a range of abilities but thankfully no one was reckless (although the DM did have to read one of the diver’s SPG for her when he asked for air). As I was with my two sons, I didn’t have to worry about the insta-buddy problem.
POST-DIVE:
If you have your own gear you can rinse it out and hang it up to dry until the end of the day if you want. Royal Caribbean says the total time is 1.5 hours but it’s more like 3 hours.
Overall I’d do it again since there’s not much else at CocoCay I’d be willing to spend money on.
