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Where doing a cruise this fall which includes Grand Caymen, Roatan & Cozmel. We have done several cruises, but all in the Eastern Caribbean. Never done the Western Caribbean before. Since it's not our normal week long [dive till ya drop] dive vacation we thought we would try something different. Anyone done the dolphin dive with Anthony's in Roatan? How about some good dive operator's on Grand Caymen and Cozmel..........

 

[DonWinchester]

My wife and I did the dolphin dive through Anthony's Key back in 2005. Couldn't recommend it with any greater enthusiasm! You are introduced to the dolphins at the dock behind the research center. They are free to come and go as they please but they are trained to allow inspection and you actually sit with one on your lap. The operators take the dive group out a small distance and you dive to about 60 ft. to kneel on a sandy bottom. The dolphin zip around and play and the trainer tries to keep them out of his pocket… where the treats are stashed. It looks like a pet trying to get the trainer to release some goodies.

They glide and swim just inches away from you. Just when I thought our dolphin was going to slice my head off with a pectoral fin, the dolphin retracted it and cleared my mask so closely that I instinctively yanked my head backward to get out of the way. They say not to touch them but that’s a hard, hard choice to make when they are so affectionate. However, I didn’t see anybody corrected for touching. BTW, one of the pair that were supposed to accompany us decided he didn’t want to play so he left unexpectedly (was it something I said?) while the party remained until each diver had about 700 lbs, then you were sent up to your safety stop. So my wife got to spend significantly more time with the dolphin than was I. I’ve been working on my breathing ever since.

We have not dived Cozumel and only did our very first “Discover Scuba” dive with Bob Soto’s Reef Divers in Georgetown, Grand Cayman in 2003. Unfortunately, the dive could easily have put a quick end to our diving together as the young divemaster was just trying to get through her day and used uncommon means to complete the dive with the rest of the group while my wife had clearing and buoyancy problems. She ignored the signals my wife gave her and apparently did not know how to correct the situation. The subsequent yo-yoing and changes in pressure ruptured my wife’s ear drum which we did not notice until while heading back to the cruise ship, I spotted blood coming from her ear.

Of course the good part of the story is that my wife came back from that to become a Master Diver.

Good luck.

 

[pamawi]

I dove with Carnival's dive operator in Grand Cayman Don Foster. The shop was fine, but they had a lot of newbies doing checkout dives and took us to a pretty dead looking reef, so I was disappointed. We had a pretty long walk with gear around the harbor down past eden rock. We thought we were getting off the tender to get on a bus/van to be taken to the dive shop.

In Cozumel, I dove with Dive with Alison. She has a small boat and only takes out a small number of people (I think 6-8). She's American and very easy to communicate with online and responded quickly. She works well with cruise passengers and almost everyone on her boat that day was from different ships. I had to take a short cab ride to the marina where her boat was and she waited on me when my ship stopped letting people off while another boat docked. I did call and check in from my cell. You don't have to pay til you get there. The seas were rough that day and the ship cancelled all it's water based excursions, but she went out anyway. She was fine if I had wanted to cancel but I went anyway and it was great underwater. She's really patient with less experienced divers in the party but that can also slow down the rest of the group who do the drift together. I have stayed in Cozumel and dove for a week with Dive Paradise who was also very good. I do think the local dive masters might be better at finding and pointing out hidden special stuff like splendid toadfish, eels and huge lobsters hiding under ledges. I haven't heard anything about the dive op that Carnival ship uses in Cozumel.

 

[pamawi]

If you haven't done it yet, I would consider doing the stingray city sandbar in Grand Cayman. I did it as a snorkel trip with non-diving family and it was great. The water was only chest deep. As I understand it you can also do a stingray city dive, but I haven't done that and don't know how they compare.

I've had a lot of people recommend doing shore diving in Grand Cayman around Eden Rock and Cemetary reef. You would probably have time to do both a Stingray snorkel and a shore dive while in port. I think I've heard that you can get a dive trip that includes Stingray City and a reef/wall.

I'd be interested to hear what you did in GC for when I go back again.

Be warned, I've seen delays coming into GC more than once because of rough conditions for the tender boats at the docks.

 

[mbwilliamn]

Been to both several times. I highly recommend Neptunes Divers in Grand Cayman. Taxi ride to and from 7 mile beach (easy) and Nitrox is avail. They cater primarily to island guests but work great with Cruise guests as well (dove with them 3 separate trips)

For Cozumel Aldora is awesome! They run multiple boats and will leave very early to accommodate cruise guests. Also group up by abilities, so you'll have a good dive (3 times with them as well). They also have Nitrox and use 100CF tanks standard. They take a nice long surface interval (lunch not included) and will drop you at the dock next to the Cruise Pier.

 

[mestill]

Married couple here looking for other divers to share private boat with when in Grand Cayman and Cozumel. So, if you are a fellow certified diver, let us know. We would rather not go the cruise ship cattle boat route and can get reasonable prices for boats that take up to 8 people. Thanks.

 

[mbwilliamn]

Mestill, see the post right above yours. No need to book the entire boat. Both of these operators take your bookings and will run as required. My first dive with Neptunes, it was just myself and the DM! (Oh, and the Carnival vendor canceled due to weather on that trip!).

 

[scubapro50]

Just booked a cruise to Cozumel for November really cheap. A 4 day cruise on Carnival from Galveston starting at $345 and a two tank dive for $85. I can't get airfare that cheap much less room and meals.

 

[sawyersdad]

Does anyone have any reccomendations for dive operations in Grand Cayman??? I will be on a cruise and need it to be an easy transition from Carnival Conquest to dive operation. Also, has anyone tried to set up a dive outside of the "Excursion" Carnival" offers, I feel that $100/diver is way to expensive.

 

[mbwilliamn]

Sawyersdad, here is my previous post.

"Been to both (Cozumel and Grand Cayman) several times. I highly recommend Neptunes Divers in Grand Cayman. Taxi ride to and from 7 mile beach (easy) and Nitrox is avail. They cater primarily to island guests but work great with Cruise guests as well (dove with them 3 separate trips)"...one time it was just me and the DM (the cruise line canceled their dives due to weather!)

There's some other good info in posts in this thread as well. I NEVER book with the cruiseline.
Mike