- Messages
- 26,281
- Reaction score
- 5,875
- # of dives
- I'm a Fish!
OK, reality. Like Doc said: "You will not be given a lot of margin for error, you will be tended to, much as one herds cats,"
The cruise operator on Roatan is Anthony's Key. You're not going the be the only diver who hasn't dove in a while off your big ship. They deal with it every single day and know it. So they're either going to ask you to do a refresher with their staff and/or watch you closely. They also take you to Overheat Reef typically since it's conveniently near so they can do two dives and shuttle you back across the island for your sailing time. Cruise divers get their own boat so you won't be mixed with more advanced divers staying there.
Another option would be to go with Barefoot Divers. They're closer - on the south side near both ports and you book privately with them so probably cheaper than the ship excursion. It will cost you $20 for a cab ride since you're cruise tourists but I think they even set that up. Their advantage will be less divers on the boat and they also do the DSD simultaneously with prior arrangements so that site is not going to be very deep either.
Their staff is extraordinarily attentive also as frankly they get a lot of rich folks who don't dive much staying in the villas at the resort - it's pretty upscale. They really do mean valet service also so let them set up your gear while you watch - then check it. If you're renting gear - they have newer looking ScubaPro gear - my buddy laughed that it was better than his.
Maybe they'll take you to the Prince Albert off Cocoview - the top deck is 25' IIRC. The bottom is 70'. We did our 2nd dive there. Also:"PADI instructors and divemasters as dive leads" - ours was. You can hire a private guide but they train DM's also so maybe you'll have a couple along and won't need to. Dive Tours Roatán - Ship Shore Excursions - Barefoot Divers - Buy lunch, it's very good also - catered by the resort restaurant over on the Cay.
Cayman is similar. There is the potential for deeper dives there with some of the smaller operators but Fosters or Red Sail handle the cruise business daily - there's a lot of it with 4-5 ships in daily - so know where to take newer divers. And they group by experience level also on their larger boats. Cayman regulations require a DM in the water with every 8 divers. So each group gets their own.
The flipside is if you choose a smaller op you could be 2 of 6 diving with them and have a lot of input in where they go. Based on conditions some operators ask their group what they want to do that day. Aquarium is a really good boat dive just off the west side that's about 45' deep max - unless you swim over and drop down the wall. In town, walking distance north from the port, there's three other operators at Lobster Pot dive center: Off the Wall, Wall to Wall or Deep Blue. I personally recommend WtoW often but they may get a more advanced group. http://www.lobsterpotdivecenter.com/cruise-ship-visitors/
Options on Cayman are to dive the Kittiwake or Stingray City also. The Kitiwake regulations require a DM per group also - your daughter can even snorkel on top if she wanted. SRC is 14' deep. We had kids on our dive trip who snorkeled down by their parents. They probably saw as much as we did. One of the kids could hold his breath a couple minutes so Mom would smear the squid all over his hands so they'd follow him back up.
Not to be confused with Sandbar which is the 4' snorkel nearby. Most of the cruise sponsored snorkel trips will be going there. Literally hundreds - of people standing around from any number of a dozen plus large boats.
If you do shoredive on GC try Sunset House. Eden Rock is pretty tired since it's 500' from the port. A couple minute cab ride south and you'll still see your ship moored from there. Almost everybody there is a diver so probably fairly easy to find a buddy. Simple entry from the Saltwater Pool also.
I didn't read the thread linked to above but CruiseDiver.net is a division of Divers Down so may not be the best choice if they were in fact responsible.
The cruise operator on Roatan is Anthony's Key. You're not going the be the only diver who hasn't dove in a while off your big ship. They deal with it every single day and know it. So they're either going to ask you to do a refresher with their staff and/or watch you closely. They also take you to Overheat Reef typically since it's conveniently near so they can do two dives and shuttle you back across the island for your sailing time. Cruise divers get their own boat so you won't be mixed with more advanced divers staying there.
Overheat Reef
Difficulty: Easy
Minimum Depth: 6m/20ft
Maximum Depth: 30m/100ft
Another option would be to go with Barefoot Divers. They're closer - on the south side near both ports and you book privately with them so probably cheaper than the ship excursion. It will cost you $20 for a cab ride since you're cruise tourists but I think they even set that up. Their advantage will be less divers on the boat and they also do the DSD simultaneously with prior arrangements so that site is not going to be very deep either.
Their staff is extraordinarily attentive also as frankly they get a lot of rich folks who don't dive much staying in the villas at the resort - it's pretty upscale. They really do mean valet service also so let them set up your gear while you watch - then check it. If you're renting gear - they have newer looking ScubaPro gear - my buddy laughed that it was better than his.
Maybe they'll take you to the Prince Albert off Cocoview - the top deck is 25' IIRC. The bottom is 70'. We did our 2nd dive there. Also:"PADI instructors and divemasters as dive leads" - ours was. You can hire a private guide but they train DM's also so maybe you'll have a couple along and won't need to. Dive Tours Roatán - Ship Shore Excursions - Barefoot Divers - Buy lunch, it's very good also - catered by the resort restaurant over on the Cay.
Cayman is similar. There is the potential for deeper dives there with some of the smaller operators but Fosters or Red Sail handle the cruise business daily - there's a lot of it with 4-5 ships in daily - so know where to take newer divers. And they group by experience level also on their larger boats. Cayman regulations require a DM in the water with every 8 divers. So each group gets their own.
The flipside is if you choose a smaller op you could be 2 of 6 diving with them and have a lot of input in where they go. Based on conditions some operators ask their group what they want to do that day. Aquarium is a really good boat dive just off the west side that's about 45' deep max - unless you swim over and drop down the wall. In town, walking distance north from the port, there's three other operators at Lobster Pot dive center: Off the Wall, Wall to Wall or Deep Blue. I personally recommend WtoW often but they may get a more advanced group. http://www.lobsterpotdivecenter.com/cruise-ship-visitors/
Options on Cayman are to dive the Kittiwake or Stingray City also. The Kitiwake regulations require a DM per group also - your daughter can even snorkel on top if she wanted. SRC is 14' deep. We had kids on our dive trip who snorkeled down by their parents. They probably saw as much as we did. One of the kids could hold his breath a couple minutes so Mom would smear the squid all over his hands so they'd follow him back up.
Not to be confused with Sandbar which is the 4' snorkel nearby. Most of the cruise sponsored snorkel trips will be going there. Literally hundreds - of people standing around from any number of a dozen plus large boats.
If you do shoredive on GC try Sunset House. Eden Rock is pretty tired since it's 500' from the port. A couple minute cab ride south and you'll still see your ship moored from there. Almost everybody there is a diver so probably fairly easy to find a buddy. Simple entry from the Saltwater Pool also.
I didn't read the thread linked to above but CruiseDiver.net is a division of Divers Down so may not be the best choice if they were in fact responsible.
Last edited: