Cruise-Friendly Dive Operators in Cozumel and Grand Cayman?

[griffon]

Just to build on that, off the disney cruise I used their operator at grand Caymen this year. It was ok but yeah we did not get to any of the epic sites and stayed within about 15 minutes of the boat . For money (disney tax) I was not super happy. Also the cheap unbalanced regs and gear was annoying. Bring in my own stuff next time even if I only get one dive. Switching off a bp/wing kind sucks.


We dove Eagles nest (but all the Rays had migrated to north side) and les Mesa.

Both in the preserve but the dm was touching the nurse shark that was swimming with us, and they totally tossed some chum in after us on the second dive...


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[Roatan Joe]

Just to build on that, off the disney cruise I used their operator at grand Caymen this year. It was ok but yeah we did not get to any of the epic sites and stayed within about 15 minutes of the boat . For money (disney tax) I was not super happy. Also the cheap unbalanced regs and gear was annoying. Bring in my own stuff next time even if I only get one dive. Switching off a bp/wing kind sucks.


We dove Eagles nest (but all the Rays had migrated to north side) and les Mesa.

Both in the preserve but the dm was touching the nurse shark that was swimming with us, and they totally tossed some chum in after us on the second dive...


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Very typical when using a cruise ship contracted dive shop. I don't mean to offend anyone here, but cruise ship divers are known by dive shops in the Caribbean to be some of the worst divers ever. Because of that, most cruise ship contract dive shops typically take cruise ship passengers to very easy and shallow dive sites. In Cozumel you're probably going to be diving Paradise, very close to the cruise ship piers. I think the reason this happens is because there are lots of cruise ship divers that haven't done any diving in decades. When those people sign up for cruises they see the "dive excursion" and decide to go diving. That is why I never sign up for cruise ship dive excursions. Instead I book diving myself with other local dive shops when I'm a cruise ship passenger. You will likely save a few dollars and get a better dive by scheduling it yourself.

---------- Post added November 16th, 2014 at 02:32 PM ----------

I'm a crew member on a cruise ship that goes to both of those places- I can put you in touch with a brilliant couple of operators that I always use in those places! Let me know if you want details

---------- Post added November 16th, 2014 at 01:19 PM ----------

To add- one piece of advice. I could not recommend enough to not use the cruise ships recommended operators. They are expensive, and usually you end up stuck doing 15 minute dives with gas guzzling newly qualified open circuit divers!

Good to see that you were honest about this! You are exactly right! With that said, I did my Open Water certification on a RCI cruise ship. I really enjoyed that and still keep up with my Instructor from back then. It was a fun cruise for sure, entirely focused on learning to dive.. The only downside was that it cut down on my drinking during that cruise.

 

[tazgator]

Dive with Martin ... in Cozumel

 

[mbwilliamn]

Aldora in Cozumel. Steel tanks so you get near an hour on both dives, beach SI at a restaurant (eat if you want....I recommend the fish tacos) - Small fast boats. I've dove with them on 7 or 8 cruises and always a joy. On the one time we booked late and they couldn't take us we went with Aqua Safari and it was horrible. Poor service, lots of delays, treated everyone (including their on island guests) like beginners.

 

[joh]

Aldora in Cozumel. Steel tanks so you get near an hour on both dives, beach SI at a restaurant (eat if you want....I recommend the fish tacos) - Small fast boats. I've dove with them on 7 or 8 cruises and always a joy. On the one time we booked late and they couldn't take us we went with Aqua Safari and it was horrible. Poor service, lots of delays, treated everyone (including their on island guests) like beginners.

Thanks - I have contacted Aldora and hope they can work with us. Our cruise ship arrives in Coz at 10:00 AM and departs at 7:00 PM so hopefully they can take us.

 

[pdxgal]

Bumping this thread. I am going to have one day in Cozumel off a brief cruise in March, and would like to do a dive, however I'm not sure how to arrange such a thing without going through the cruise lines. Do the OP or anyone else have advice about this?

I am on my own, and at one time did a lot of diving but in the last ten years have gone very rarely, most recently in Saba in January 2013.

TIA!

 

[robint]

Bumping this thread. I am going to have one day in Cozumel off a brief cruise in March, and would like to do a dive, however I'm not sure how to arrange such a thing without going through the cruise lines. Do the OP or anyone else have advice about this?

I am on my own, and at one time did a lot of diving but in the last ten years have gone very rarely, most recently in Saba in January 2013.

TIA!

If you are a beginner, or haven't been diving for awhile, like your profile says 0=24 dives, and you are not bringing your own gear, you are best served by going through the cruise ship to book. They all use Sand Dollar Sports and have boats and rental gear just for the cruisers. That will guarantee you the best overall experience. You can also book a private DM to dive with you for a small fee.
Just my opinion.

 

[DEEPLOU]

Bumping this thread. I am going to have one day in Cozumel off a brief cruise in March, and would like to do a dive, however I'm not sure how to arrange such a thing without going through the cruise lines. Do the OP or anyone else have advice about this?

I am on my own, and at one time did a lot of diving but in the last ten years have gone very rarely, most recently in Saba in January 2013.

TIA!

new diver or not, I would go with Aldora.
in addition to their on line reservation system they have a US phone number so you can actually speak with them.

I dive a lot more than I post. lol

 

[mbwilliamn]

Concur with Deeplou. I am a frequent cruiser and almost always make my own reservations (even when I had 7 dives). MUCH better overall getting away from the cattle boats and 30 minutes bottom times. Cozumel, Aldora is the only guys to go with as far as I'm concerned. 7 trips with them over several years from 25 dives in my log to over 600 and never a mediocre trip...always excellent! 1 hour bottom times, 2 hour SI (order the fish tacos) and a great crew always. Enjoy!

 

[pdxgal]

Concur with Deeplou. I am a frequent cruiser and almost always make my own reservations (even when I had 7 dives). MUCH better overall getting away from the cattle boats and 30 minutes bottom times. Cozumel, Aldora is the only guys to go with as far as I'm concerned. 7 trips with them over several years from 25 dives in my log to over 600 and never a mediocre trip...always excellent! 1 hour bottom times, 2 hour SI (order the fish tacos) and a great crew always. Enjoy!

Thank you all, I contacted Aldora and they were very helpful. I have dived Coz before maybe 10 years ago and can't recall who I went through (will check my book later) and had a great experience, and I'm hoping conditions there have not declined drastically.

So how do you get from the cruise ship to Aldora? Silly question, I know. Just walk out and hail a cab?