Diving Recommendations for Cruise to Norway

[Tigerpaw]

Have a cruise planned for Norway in May 2024! I'm currently in the planning stages and am trying to pick out the best cruise ports to go diving. I will be planning dives not affiliated with the cruise ship, which means that due to the limited time in port, short commutes to the dive shop and short boat rides are preferred.

Since the wife will be with me, I won't be able to dive at each port call, out of the 7 stops listed, I can probably get away with diving 3 of them. Out of the stops I have listed, which are the most noteworthy for diving? Looking forward to your input and suggestions. Thanks!

GEIRANGER, NORWAY
TROMSO, NORWAY
HONNINGSVAG, NORWAY
ALESUND, NORWAY
FLAM, NORWAY
STAVANGER, NORWAY
KRISTIANSAND, NORWAY

 

[mortenscuba]

You will probably find some good diving in all of those places.
Cold water, with dry-suit diving.
We have a lot of 2. world war wrecks all along the norwegian coast.
There is also good dives in kelp forrests etc.

There is no dive shops in Geiranger, Honningsvåg or Flåm.

Dive shops in:
KRISTIANSAND: Home english
2 Dive shops in STAVANGER: Stavanger Dykkersenter or Jæren Dykkersenter-Stavanger - Dykkerkurs-Utstyr-Service-Dykkerklubb
ALESUND: Ålesund Dykkersenter – Du finner oss i brosundet, Brunholmgt. 2, den blå døra
TROMSØ: DYKKER SENTRET AS

Some of the web-pages are in norwegian, but if you contact them they will be able to comunicate in english.

Dive shops in Norway are focused on running courses.
Some dive shops arrange dive-trips, mostly in the week-ends.
They are not focused on cruise tourists.
I think you will struggle to find a dive shop that can help you, because of your limited time in port.
Unless of course you want to pay loads of money to make them change their schedule.

Most divers in Norway dive in dive-clubs or by themselves with their own dive-equipment.

The only place I have dived a lot out of the 7 stops is Flåm. There is a wreck there from 2. world war.
An article in Norwegian:

Senket av norske styrker

Bladet for dykkeinteresserte!

dykking.no

There is no organized dive trips there at the moment.

Just some information to help you on your way

Morten

 

[Tigerpaw]

You will probably find some good diving in all of those places.
Cold water, with dry-suit diving.
We have a lot of 2. world war wrecks all along the norwegian coast.
There is also good dives in kelp forrests etc.

Thank you so much for the reply, I was begging to get concerned. I'm glad I don't wait until the last minute as this will take some time to organized.

 

[Tigerpaw]

I only heard back from Ålesund Dykkersenter, but they didn't provide any details or information. This is getting difficult but I'm hanging in there and trying.

 

[Tigerpaw]

Great news, Alesund Dykkersenter finally replied back and said they can accommodate me!!! So I get at least one dive in.
Hoping to get dives in two more ports and Amsterdam!

 

[Frogman82]

To dive the wreck Begonia in Flåm you need a scooter or a boat. The most common entry point will give you a very, very long surface swim if you don't.

 

[steinbil]

Great news, Alesund Dykkersenter finally replied back and said they can accommodate me!!! So I get at least one dive in.
Hoping to get dives in two more ports and Amsterdam!

Great! Any luck contacting the dive clubs I DM'ed you about?

 

[Tigerpaw]

Great! Any luck contacting the dive clubs I DM'ed you about?

Not yet, no responses. I may send a follow up message next week and see if they respond. I was told that diving Norway the shops and clubs don't really cater to cruise ship passengers but I'm not giving up hope.

 

[steinbil]

I was recently recommended One Ocean Dive resort (Home english) in Kristiansand, maybe they could accommodate you?

 

[Tigerpaw]

I was recently recommended One Ocean Dive resort (Home english) in Kristiansand, maybe they could accommodate you?

Thanks for checking in on my progress. I have sent them an e-mail but haven't heard back from them yet. The good news is that I heard back from Alesund Dykkersenter and they say they can accommodate me and have added me to the calendar. I would need to contact them about a month out to reconfirm and pay! So that's one down and I'm looking for 2 - 3 more.