6 dives from Carnival Cruise - Trip report

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FLdiver

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Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Just wanted to give a brief mention of my trip on Carnival Paradise.
First stop was in Belize City, where I took a 2-tank shore excursion with Hugh Parkey's to Turneffe Islands. The 2 pathetic sites they took us to were JO JO Split and Amberhead reef. Max depthy they allowed us was 60-70 ft. Didn't see much at all. I expected they would take us to Elbow, but with Cruise divers, they are mostly inexperienced. I payed $149 for that excursion. An option to look at is to book something yourself. somebody i met on the cruise a day later said he found an operator on the internet that flew him to Ambergris Caye, did a deep dive than a second dive at shark ray alley, and flew back in plenty of time to catch the cruise, all for $110.

Second stop, Roatan Honduras. Shore Excursion cost $99 for 2 dives with Anthony's Key. They took us to sites that were near their resort (Nothing like Mary's place), but it was excellent diving. The sites were Green Outhouse Wall and White Hole, both liimiting our depth to 70ft. To save money, I think you can get in contact with Fantasy Island Beach Resort and pay only $50 for 2 dives. Somebody at my dinner table did that and they went to Mary's Place.

Third stop was Grand Cayman- skipped the diving, been there for a week before and wasn't to impressed with the diving.

Fourth Stop, Cozumel. $70 for the 2 tank excursion, excellent diving as you can always expect from Cozumel. I forget the name of the operator, but they took us to Santa Rosa Wall and Yucab reef, limiting your depth to 80ft as Cozumel operators usually do. This included the taxi ride past Fiesta Americana, Chankanab park, to where the resort was. You could probably get a better deal else where since there is a plethora of dive shops there.
 
Sounds average but still better than staying dry and all covered with oil on a cruise ship pool deck!
 
Sounds like you needed to do some more research before going on the cruise!

Generally if you stick with the operators offered by the cruise lines you are going to get a second rate dive experience.

Maybe this is why you weren't impressed with Cayman on your last visit?

CJ
 
Good Point CJ. I booked the cruise just to see if I liked Belize or Honduras better for a 1 week trip in the Fall. Obviously Roatan is the winner. And about Grand Cayman, I stayed there for a week less than 2 years ago and was unimpressed with the diving, hence skipping out on it from the cruise.
 
FLdiver:

Where did you dive on Grand Cayman? I totally agree that the diving on 7MB is unimpressive, but I thought the wall diving on the East End was phenomenal!

Just my humble opinion...
 
GC is one of our favorite diving destinations. We go on 3-4 trips a year and one is always a week at Cayman Dive Lodge (East End) because we know we'll have great week of diving. If you're only exposure to GC dives was 7 Mile Beach, or shore dives from Eden or Sunset House, please don't think this represents all the island has to offer. Try a dive on the North Wall (shore at Cobalt Coast is good if you don't want a boat dive), then dive a wall and reef on the East End. I'd be surprised if you could still say that Grand Cayman diving is unimpressive.
 

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