Roatan & Cozumel
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BigDaddyGlad
Contributor
I dive frequently off cruise ships. In Cozumel, my operator of choice is Dive Paradise. I like them because they offer a 10:00 a.m. Express Boat, whereas most shops on the island head out at 8:30 or 9:00. This gives you a little extra buffer time to account for ship Customs clearance. I've used them 4 times now, and never had more than 5 other divers on the boat (usually only 2 or 3). Their state-side rep, Susan, is very good at coordinating with other divers coming in on other cruise ships so for us solo divers, there isn't the worry of finding other divers to fill the boat.
The shop is also close to the pier. It's across the road from the Wyndham Hotel, so every cab driver knows where it is and it's only an $8 cab ride.
The only thing I don't like about them is that they don't have fresh water on the boat, nor do they provide any sort of surface interval refreshment, so I just make sure to toss a few bottles of water in my dive bag before I get off the ship. I've tried to take some fruit, too, but they often have dogs at the pier and they'll confiscate any unwrapped food!
The shop is also close to the pier. It's across the road from the Wyndham Hotel, so every cab driver knows where it is and it's only an $8 cab ride.
The only thing I don't like about them is that they don't have fresh water on the boat, nor do they provide any sort of surface interval refreshment, so I just make sure to toss a few bottles of water in my dive bag before I get off the ship. I've tried to take some fruit, too, but they often have dogs at the pier and they'll confiscate any unwrapped food!
zarlor
Registered
I have a similar trip coming in March 2024 on NCL. I also have a Carnival cruise in late November this year that goes to Cozumel and while, based on the above, I tried to book with Dive Paradise their form wouldn't let me book the 10:00 am Express as a solo, it would have to be for at least 2 people. Instead I decided to book with Blue Note Scuba (and they do provide lunch during their surface intervals, at least) so I'll have to report back on how they were and if I could even make it (0800 ship arrival with an 0900 dive boat departure, but it's just down the road, walkable but I expect I'll have to grab a taxi to get there as quick as I can). It does sound like they do some shore diving if I miss the boat, but I guess we'll have to see and that will determine if I want to consider going with them again for that March trip.
As for Roatan I've been looking at reviews for Anthony's Key as noted here, especially since they have an excursion through the cruise line, but the price through the cruise seems to add a good $50 to what it probably should be, and they do sound like they might be more crowded from reviews and such I'd seen here which makes me a bit leery about them. As a less experienced diver (but one who does like to get into the pool regularly to work on buoyancy and trim and I work hard to dive more like a tech diver as my buddy is an experienced cave diver so I keep a similar long-hose set-up to his) I'm not as worried about where the shops go, though. Just getting in the water to see just about anything is still awesome for me. Still I feel very comfortable staying in a flat trim, not touching anything and frog (and modified frog) kicking everywhere and have a decent SAC rate so I don't mind, and actively enjoy, getting the chance to hang with more experienced divers (heck, my buddy hasn't gotten sick of my lack of experience yet, so that's something!) All of which is to say I think I'll be looking closer at some of the other dive shops mentioned.
Any good experiences diving with those from a cruise ship and any advice on the best ways to work with them when coordinating off of a cruise ship?
As for Roatan I've been looking at reviews for Anthony's Key as noted here, especially since they have an excursion through the cruise line, but the price through the cruise seems to add a good $50 to what it probably should be, and they do sound like they might be more crowded from reviews and such I'd seen here which makes me a bit leery about them. As a less experienced diver (but one who does like to get into the pool regularly to work on buoyancy and trim and I work hard to dive more like a tech diver as my buddy is an experienced cave diver so I keep a similar long-hose set-up to his) I'm not as worried about where the shops go, though. Just getting in the water to see just about anything is still awesome for me. Still I feel very comfortable staying in a flat trim, not touching anything and frog (and modified frog) kicking everywhere and have a decent SAC rate so I don't mind, and actively enjoy, getting the chance to hang with more experienced divers (heck, my buddy hasn't gotten sick of my lack of experience yet, so that's something!) All of which is to say I think I'll be looking closer at some of the other dive shops mentioned.
Any good experiences diving with those from a cruise ship and any advice on the best ways to work with them when coordinating off of a cruise ship?
I've been diving with Anthony's Key through the cruise ship a few times. They have enough cruise ship divers that they have a boat dedicated to that group, so you're not diving with the guests of the resort. It tends to be very crowded, but the timing to the sites is also different from the resort guests so you don't have overcrowding at the sites. It's typical the cruise line will charge more than booking directly, but booking through the cruise ship gets you the transportation and guarantees your arrival back to the ship on time. Some dive ops throughout the Caribbean won't even take an individual booking if you're a cruise ship passenger because it violates the terms of their contract with the cruise line.
The drinking water on the boat is from an orange jug. I never drink out of these, but, instead, bring bottled water from the ship. The last time I dived with Anthony's Key, every passenger from my ship that drank that water was sick the next day. There were about 7 of us.
This year, I booked independently with Subway Sports out of Turquoise Bay Resort, and they provided the transportation. I really enjoyed it, and it was a nice day of diving. There were only two of us on the boat for two dives (starting at 10:00 a.m.), and they got me back to the ship with plenty of time to spare.
The drinking water on the boat is from an orange jug. I never drink out of these, but, instead, bring bottled water from the ship. The last time I dived with Anthony's Key, every passenger from my ship that drank that water was sick the next day. There were about 7 of us.
This year, I booked independently with Subway Sports out of Turquoise Bay Resort, and they provided the transportation. I really enjoyed it, and it was a nice day of diving. There were only two of us on the boat for two dives (starting at 10:00 a.m.), and they got me back to the ship with plenty of time to spare.
zarlor
Registered
I do know many folks worry about excursions that aren't through the cruise ship company not being as careful for their times to get you back to the ship, and the cruise ship excursions generally provide a guarantee of either being back on time, holding the ship if they are late for some reason, or ensuring they get you to the next port to meet with the ship if there is a significant issue. Personally I've never had any issues with 3rd part excursions (honestly they'll probably not stay in business that long if they kept getting lots of passengers back to the ships late, and you'd certainly see lots of negative reviews if that were the case and I can't think of one I've ever seen like that for the excursion companies I've used in the past... plus, in part, that's what you get travel insurance for if a worst case scenario hits).
From that perspective not using Anthony's Key isn't part of that equation for me. From the reviews I had read having separate boats for the cruise ships also was part of the problem for them. Some reviews mentioned not only the crowding but also that even for those who had used Anthony's Key before as a resort felt that the cruise ship crew were less attentive. In other words the crew for the resort knew they would likely see you again the next day so better to treat you like they may be dealing with your for a while, while with cruise ship passengers they knew they wouldn't have to see you again so it didn't matter to them as much. Being a larger operation may be a hindrance there, as well, since you can break out your crews that way maybe making sure the folks your guests love the most are working the resort quests rather than with the cruise ship guests. Personally, as an introvert, the less crowding the better, for me so that seems to suggest another hit on AK, too (although I feel like you never really know what you're going to get on that front with any of them since you never know how many other folks just happened to book with the same operator on any given day).
I'll have to take a look at Subway Sports, though. Thank you for that suggestion!
From that perspective not using Anthony's Key isn't part of that equation for me. From the reviews I had read having separate boats for the cruise ships also was part of the problem for them. Some reviews mentioned not only the crowding but also that even for those who had used Anthony's Key before as a resort felt that the cruise ship crew were less attentive. In other words the crew for the resort knew they would likely see you again the next day so better to treat you like they may be dealing with your for a while, while with cruise ship passengers they knew they wouldn't have to see you again so it didn't matter to them as much. Being a larger operation may be a hindrance there, as well, since you can break out your crews that way maybe making sure the folks your guests love the most are working the resort quests rather than with the cruise ship guests. Personally, as an introvert, the less crowding the better, for me so that seems to suggest another hit on AK, too (although I feel like you never really know what you're going to get on that front with any of them since you never know how many other folks just happened to book with the same operator on any given day).
I'll have to take a look at Subway Sports, though. Thank you for that suggestion!
As I mentioned before I used West End Divers in Roatan. Simply booked online after contacting them via email.
What I didn't mention before is that we also set up a discovery dive for my brothers and snorkeling for the wives. They bent over backwards to make everything work. They set up transportation to/from the port. The women went snorkeling off the same boat as I and a group of other divers. It was a long boat, not crowded at all. I am a fairly new diver so they put me with one other diver and a guide. My brothers did their discovery dives from shore. Then we all came back to the dock for the interval.
I had arranged for my brothers to do a boat dive with me on my second dive. The women came along to snorkel and all us went into the water. I got to dive with my brothers and the women got to watch from above.
It was really a good setup and a great experience. I'd do West End again. But frankly, I'm sure just about any operation on Roatan would be fine.
What I didn't mention before is that we also set up a discovery dive for my brothers and snorkeling for the wives. They bent over backwards to make everything work. They set up transportation to/from the port. The women went snorkeling off the same boat as I and a group of other divers. It was a long boat, not crowded at all. I am a fairly new diver so they put me with one other diver and a guide. My brothers did their discovery dives from shore. Then we all came back to the dock for the interval.
I had arranged for my brothers to do a boat dive with me on my second dive. The women came along to snorkel and all us went into the water. I got to dive with my brothers and the women got to watch from above.
It was really a good setup and a great experience. I'd do West End again. But frankly, I'm sure just about any operation on Roatan would be fine.
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