Suggestions for 1 day in Cozumel with Royal Caribbean cruise?

[brianstclair]

My girlfriend and I will be in Cozumel from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM on December 17th as part of a four night, western Caribbean cruise with Royal Caribbean. They have some scuba diving shore excursions available, arranged through the cruise ship, but I was curious if anyone had any better suggestions? I'd love to catch a charter around noon for one or two tanks. I'm OW and cavern certified - won't have AOW by then.

Anyone been on a Royal Caribbean cruise to Cozumel? Been on the dive excursions? How are they?

What about suggestions for the non-diving half of this trip? SNUBA is offered as one of the shore excursions. Are we better off snorkeling?

Thanks in advance!

Brian

 

[diveborg]

Anyone been on a Royal Caribbean cruise to Cozumel? Been on the dive excursions? How are they?

can you say Mooo?

What about suggestions for the non-diving half of this trip? SNUBA is offered as one of the shore excursions.

The thing you might consider is taking a taxi to Chankanaab park. You can both snuba there, then while she is relaxing with a cool one, you could do a guided shore dive. Here is one trip report about the shore dive there. Sounds worth it.

The other choice is a combo snorkel/dive trip. Blue Angel offers one that leaves late enough for your schedule.

If you can manage to get her to agree, you could get her to do a discover scuba and you could tag along on the dive. Don't go thru the ship's excursion for this or you probably won't be able to participate without paying for a discover scuba for yourself.

Are we better off snorkeling?

You are kidding, right?

Check cozumelinsider for more options for shore activities.

 

[boulderjohn]

I would say a big "No" to the Chankanaab excursion--it is a very brief and very shallow dive--you could do most of it snorkeling and see the same thing.

I have no idea what dives your excursions will do or with whom, but I can suggest the places for the best bang for a two tank dive.

Two tank dives in Cozumel all follow the same pattern: the first dive is a relatively deep and exciting tour or outstanding coral formations, and the second is a shallower dive that gives more colorful coral and more fish life. Many boats just set out with no specific location and then ask where people want to do the first dive while they are the way to the reefs. All the first choices are good.

For the first dive, I would recommend asking for any Palancar (Caves, Garden, or Horseshoe) or the Santa Rosa Wall.

You will not find any decent place where one can dive and the other snorkel. Don't go to one of the world's great dive locations and not dive, though!

 

[brianstclair]

You are kidding, right?

(Where's the little "emoticon" for hanging your head in shame? Or better yet, where's "snorkelboard.com"?)

That actually sounds like a pretty cool shore dive - thanks for the link, that's a great trip report and some nice pictures, too! Way cheaper than the $90 scuba excursions through the cruiseline - I could put the money I save towards some of those nice cruiseline towels!

Hey boulderjohn, any idea if that timeframe (10:00 AM - 8:00 PM) seems reasonable to get a boat dive in? I have no idea how far the Caribbean piers are from the dive boats, or how far the dive boats are from the dive spots...

Much appreciated advice!

 

[diveborg]

I would say a big "No" to the Chankanaab excursion--it is a very brief and very shallow dive--you could do most of it snorkeling and see the same thing.

Obviously, a different opinion here. You can read the report I linked to and make up your own mind.

I do agree about this: while there are some decent shore dives in Cozumel, they are definitely not as good as the worst boat dive there. The shore dive at Caribe Blue has also been recommended on scubaboard. The on-site dive op will rent tanks/weights. Your GF can snorkel there too.

I have no idea what dives your excursions will do or with whom, but I can suggest the places for the best bang for a two tank dive.

If you go with the ship's excursion, you likely won't have any say in which sites you dive. They have a weekly schedule that they follow.

Don't go to one of the world's great dive locations and not dive, though!

Definitely no argument about this.

Sorry, I forgot the little smiley thingy. Snorkeling just isn't my thing, unless during a surface interval dolphins, whale sharks, or sea lions show up, then I"ll get it out of the bag and put it on.

I wish I could thing of some one to recommend that leaves after your ship arrives. Check with www.scubawithalison.com and www.eagleraydivers.com or perhaps http://www.cozumel-diving.net/caribbean_divers/. Maybe one of them can help you out. If they can't accommodate your schedule, be sure to ask them to recommend someone else who might. Lots of the dive op's in Cozumel are friends and often help each other out with recommendations.

 

[idocsteve]

I dove with my local scuba club in Cozumel last May. We were down there for a week, and it is the most beautiful diving I have ever done. Cozumel is known for its deep walls, and most diving in this area is drift diving. Although you don't need a drift diving certification to dive there, it might be helpful to read up on the techniques. I have found that shore excursions only offer one benefit: You are usually guaranteed that the ship will not leave port without you! You will usually pay more for the dives booked through the ship than you would if you contact a local dive op directly. We dove with Dive Paradise, located at Hotel Cozumel, a short taxi ride from the cruise terminal. You can contact them and set up your dives directly with them. The one place that you can snorkel and scuba is an airplane wreck; which is near the cruise ship pier in relatively shallow water. It is located off of La Ceba hotel; they can provide you with gear on the spot.

 

[tiggy]

We actually just got back from a RCCL cruise with a stop in Coz. (Yes, I'm working on a trip report.) We chose to use Dive with Martin since they're located right on the pier Royal Caribbean uses. Our ship was due to arrive at 7am ship time (6am in Coz) at leave at 5pm, so we did a 3-tank morning dive with them. I'm pretty sure Dive with Martin offers afternoon dives though. Simply put, the whole experience was amazing and we never worried about missing the ship.

RCCL uses Sand Dollar Sports as their operator in Coz. I'm sure there are a bunch of reviews on this board regarding them. We ran into numerous divers on board and no one had booked through them. Cost and quality were the major factors in going with independent excurisons. (We paid $75 for a 3-tank dive, RCCL wanted $95 for a 2-tank. You do the math.)

If you and your non-diving half want to stick together, you may want to look at Eagle Ray Divers. They offer both snorkeling and diving, usually on the same boat. It would give you an opportunity to spend time together while both doing your preferred activities. Otherwise, a popular cruise thing in Coz is to head to one of the many beach clubs. Not our scene, but we talked with tons of people who did this and absolutely loved it.

If you have any questions, let me know. Trust me, I'd rather be back on the ship than at work today.

 

[diverkristi]

I have done the Chakkanab State Park thing and agree.

It's a great place to Dive, Snorkel, laze on the beach and walk the gardens. Dive ops right on the beach there.

Take a cab there, not a tour. There is an entry fee into the park.

Also cool are the Dolphin encounters that you can do (pricey) or watch from the deck.

It's a nice way to spend the day.

You'll have a blast. RCL knows how to do it. If you are having a blast at your dinner table, your waiter might recomment the capt or engineer as your "guest" . It's a bunch of fun, and the buy all the liquor for the night.

 

[MtnDiver]

We did Chankanaab Park over Labor Day weekend this year as our shore excursion from a Carnival cruise. Here's a link to the review I posted along with some other info.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=107807

I would have to disagree with boulderjohn. In our one long shore dive in Chankanaab, we saw more different types of marine life than a friend of mine who decided to do the two tank excursion through the cruise line. We were telling him all the stuff we saw and he said "I should have gone with you guys". Sure it is pretty shallow, but there is plenty to see and the shallowness gives you that much more bottom time.

There is an operator in the park that has SNUBA available (over by the dolphin encounter, which another friend did and said was awesome).

 

[diveborg]

Sure it is pretty shallow, but there is plenty to see and the shallowness gives you that much more bottom time.

Shallow dive = long bottom time, if you want it.

There is an operator in the park that has SNUBA available (over by the dolphin encounter, which another friend did and said was awesome).

probably better than the "helmut dive" where you don't really dive, but walk on the sea floor.