Cruise and diving in May

[keller34]

So I have a family vacation setup in May. We will be hitting Key West and Coz as it stands right now. 3 of us will be diving and maybe a 4th if I can get him certified before then. I have never dove Coz and we will be arriving at 1:30pm and leaving at 10:00pm. In that time we would like to dive and try to get 2 tanks in. I have been trying to see about maybe renting tanks and just shore diving but would not mind a boat. I want to have decent vis, keep in mind we are used to shore diving the GOM and vis at most is 8ft if lucky, and lots of sea life if possible.

Keep in mind one diver will be a newbie but I will be trying to take him out on dives before then to get him more comfortable and not so noobish, hell I am still learning myself and will be until I die of old age like most of us are.

So with the info posted what would you do for diving? I would like to dive KW as we are there from 7:30am-1:30pm. What sive ops would you use or shore dive would you do?

I had such a great response from my GC trip and use the suggestions here and had a great time so I figured I would do it again!

 

[Zman96]

I would definitely do boat dives, hands down. While there are a few decent places to dive from shore, it pales in comparison to the reefs. Your time in to port may limit your op choice, since most run 2 tank am trips between 730 and 9 am departure times. You will have to get in on an afternoon trip with an op, which if you do have 4 divers should make it easier since that should satisfy many ops minimum.

 

[keller34]

Yea I was kinda bummed when i saw we was getting there at 1:30. I am trying to get it changed to GC and Coz because of the times at port. Any ops you recommend?

 

[MMM]

Very, very few operators regularly schedule afternoon dive trips; I would start by trying Blue Angel and Aldora as I think they sometimes schedule afternoon trips. I would say "night dives" but they don't tend to be regularly scheduled either and I don't know how dive ops would view taking a few divers they have not ever dived with on a night dive; I know I wouldn't want to. Chartering your own boat to take you may be your only realistic option, in which case you could begin contacting some of the regularly mentioned ops on this forum, especially those that cater to cruisers: Dive with Martin, Scuba with Alison and Albatros Charters come to mind.

 

[sharky60]

check with some of the more "independent" dive ops. they're schedule may allow for a 2pm(+-) pick up,

Scuba with Alison, Bottom Time Divers, Tres Pelicanos, Scuba Tony, possibly BlueXTSea come to mind ...

 

[keller34]

I talked it over with the wife and she does not dive but loves to go snorkeling. She said she wants to charter a boat so there will be 4 divers and 2 snorkeling.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added November 18th, 2014 at 12:27 PM ----------

OK I emailed all of the one suggested and waiting a response to see about chartering and maybe doing an afternoon dive and a twilight dive. The new diver will be staying by my side unless I get him where I feel comfortable to let him dive without a "tether" .

 

[Zman96]

I talked it over with the wife and she does not dive but loves to go snorkeling. She said she wants to charter a boat so there will be 4 divers and 2 snorkeling.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added November 18th, 2014 at 12:27 PM ----------

OK I emailed all of the one suggested and waiting a response to see about chartering and maybe doing an afternoon dive and a twilight dive. The new diver will be staying by my side unless I get him where I feel comfortable to let him dive without a "tether" .

Don't forget when you are diving in the Park you will have a dive guide and they will keep you together as a group as per the Marine Park regulations.

 

[JFS]

Chi Chi Charters does mixed snorkeling and diving as well.

 

[Ron Lee]

aldora.com is a good option.

Note that you are unlikely to be on the boat for your first dive until 300 PM or so. On a positive, sunset is around 715 PM if the site I used is correct. Ideally you would still be able to enjoy some beach time between dives.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Dear Keller,

Check with the cruise line as many of them stay on Miami time which means you may be arriving at 12:30 Cozumel time and that could work for a two tank trip. As it is getting dark shortly after 5 pm I just don't think you could get a quality 2 tank dive in. We do have special trips for cruise ship divers so take a look at our web page for info.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

Bienvenidos - Aldora Divers | Only the best of Cozumel