anyone ever dive off a cruise ship

Before people get to excited I don't mean a giant stride off the deck of a cruise ship


So not to stir up the cold water warm water debate but i wanna try to dive somewhere not exactly local don't need to do 50 dives just a few hours will do for me


So i was looking on a vacation site and i noticed there are some really cheap 4 day cruises to ensenada that hop over to Catalina for a day as well my question is has anyone tryed to dive like this before that would have any tips

my only worry is time really the stop in Catalina is only 9 hours but with the dive park and rental gear delivery we should get at least two or three with time to relax


But in ensenada i would have no idea where to rent or were to go and you don't wanna miss the boatlol

LOL!!!! That was the first thing that ran off my mind!!!! Hilarious!!! How about a back entry from the top rail??? OMG!!!

Okay, here is a link to dive ops out of Ensenada. I have no experience diving there so I can't comment further. Just do a little research before selecting one. But cruise ship diving is very common. B.

ENSENADA Diving and Dive Shops Baja California, Mexico

Inicio - Almar Dive Center

I dove on a Caribbean cruise. Two dives in every port. I booked through the cruise line. You can book cheaper on your own but the advantages of going thru the cruise line are;
1. The dive operator will either meet you at the docks or at the cruise ship if it anchors off shore.
2. The dive op will not leave until the cruise ship customers arrive. Arrival times can be delayed by weather, sea state other issues.
3. The dive operator will return you to the ship on time. If you are late getting back the cruise ship will wait for you or arrange for you to rejoin the ship.
4. If you have an issue like gear left on the dive boat or problems with the five operator you deal with the cruise line and they resolve the issue with five operator.
5. If you make your own dive arrangements the five operator may not wait for you if the ship is late and the cruise ship assumes no responsibility if you are late getting back to the ship. If you miss the ship you are in your own.

I have not dove the Pacific in Mexico. I will just say that when I looked into a cruise from Los Angeles the ports of call were not known as all that good for scuba. The Caribbean in the other hand was awesome. Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel.


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I've dived off of 10 different cruise ships over the last four years, and am doing two more next year. I take all my gear, even two 1-pound weights for trim because it's rare to find those. The trips have been mostly Caribbean, but also Mexican Riviera and French Polynesia. It's a good way to see where you want to fly back to and spend a week or so.

maderadiver:

Before people get to excited I don't mean a giant stride off the deck of a cruise ship

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Darn, I would really love to see that.

How much gear would come off after a 20m drop too?

I have dove on most of the 15 or so Caribbean cruises we've taken. As I live in Florida, I drive to Port Everglades and hop on our ship with all my scuba gear except tanks and weights.
The dive operators used by the cruise lines have all been good. Some better than others. a couple have been great and I've returned to use them on non-cruise trips. The ops pick you up, take you back, the cruise line coordinates and life is good.

the bad news is that the cruise dives tend to be full. 20 divers on a 20 diver boat. Most of those divers are vacation divers and dive infrequently at best. With well over 100 dives a year, I tend to be popular with the passengers when someone notices that I know what I'm doing and "hey look, he has his own gear". The cruise dives also tend to be on the shallow side. the deepest cruise dive I did was 60 feet. However, diving several locations like Grand Turk, Grand Cayman, Bonaire, Aruba, Curacao, etc all in one week is awesome.

I've never dived off a cruise ship ... but if they ever managed to sink one as an artificial reef somewhere I'd sure be tempted to try it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I've heard recommendations for Dale's Dive Shop in La Bufadora, which is just south of Ensenada. Might want to contact them and see what they can arrange.

NWGratefulDiver:

I've never dived off a cruise ship ... but if they ever managed to sink one as an artificial reef somewhere I'd sure be tempted to try it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Click to expand...

Sun Vista off the coast of Penang. Resting on its port side, 48m to the starboard side.
The outdoor swimming pool needs a good scrubbing!!
Did not sink on purpose!!

Used to work on a cruise ship - and I have dove from it - we did descend using the emergency descenders from the open deck once (part training, part fun) as well as the odd entry from the tender deck / Level0 doors when we were anchored away from shore.

After working on ships, it would not be my choice of holiday, but to each there own. Choose your itinerary carefully - some itineraries have very limited time in port. 6-8 hours only is not uncommon, which means ACTUAL time in port (allowing for (dis)embarcation) may be closer to 4.5-5 hrs - and docking times are not necessarily the times you can get off the ship - arrive and depart may in fact be the times the ship is due to pull up at the dock and to leave it - allow 35 mins minimum for clearance to disembark. All aboard for guests is generally an hour before departure time - which means back at the gangway 30 mins before that. In addition, a cruise ship berth is booked by time in advance and overstay is generally an expensive prospect - if you arrive late in port even if it's the ports fault (like the pilot forgot to turn up to work that morning so it took 90 minutes to get a pilot onto the ship or they forgot the correct paperwork to immigrate the guests) they probably won't extend.

As mentioned by others - there is some security booking on board that is not offered if you source your own diving. The fines for holding the boat can be quite substantial - you do not want to be late back.