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I just found this forum...wow...so much info...so little time...
I could use some advice on an upcoming cruise, sorry for the double posts but I think this forum could really help with some decisions on my part.
In April we are taking a Carnival Cruise to W Caribbean. We are stopping in:
1) Cozumel
2) Isla Roatan
3) Belize
4) Costa Maya.
All have 2 tank dive excursions offered by the cruise line. I don't typically take cruise dive excursions...of these 4 how would you rank them? I am assuming I will do the cruise packages becuase of time constraints but if anyone has other advise that would also be greatly appreciated!
Also, my son, 16, is coming along and he is not Certified. I want him to take the bait. Which of these locations would be the best intro 'resort dive' location?
I just found this forum...wow...so much info...so little time...
I could use some advice on an upcoming cruise, sorry for the double posts but I think this forum could really help with some decisions on my part.
In April we are taking a Carnival Cruise to W Caribbean. We are stopping in:
1) Cozumel
2) Isla Roatan
3) Belize
4) Costa Maya.
All have 2 tank dive excursions offered by the cruise line. I don't typically take cruise dive excursions...of these 4 how would you rank them? I am assuming I will do the cruise packages becuase of time constraints but if anyone has other advise that would also be greatly appreciated!
Also, my son, 16, is coming along and he is not Certified. I want him to take the bait. Which of these locations would be the best intro 'resort dive' location?
Thanks!
If you really want to dive in Belize, that is the only one I would go with the ship op in because it's at least a 45 minute tender ride from the boat to shore. You'll have plenty of time in Cozumel if you book with an outside op. There's plenty of good ones to choose from.
I'd second that thought on Cozumel, since there are plenty of dive ops that will cater to the cruiseship schedule and even pick up at the dock if they're allowed to, which will save you money and perhaps allow you more exciting dives (or at least cut down on the number of people you're sharing the site with). I've dove with Cabellitos del Caribe several times and know that they cater well to cruise ship divers' schedules. That said, Cozumel diving can be difficult at times depending on how the currents are running. With limited experience, you might want to stick with the "safer" cruiseship option unless you're really confident in your skills.
Likewise due to the currents and "drift diving", I don't Cozumel is the best option for the discover dive for the lad. The other three options will work better for this.
I went on a week trip this last Nov (for Thanksgiving with my family). One note on Roatan, Carnival now has a new pier. When I inquired to some local shops then, they told me that Carnival restricts access to their peir and they require you to pay for a taxi (in other words, they don't allow out side vendors to do pick ups).
Due to the short window in port, I opted to do the dives through Carnival. Their guides actually had the boat waiting and ready at the same pier. We just had to walk off our boat and on to theirs. The weather wasn't good, the dive ok (little light, it was raining) but the crew was excellent. It was also a little less expensive than some of the other shops. We had about 20 folks on our dive boat.
Also, on Belize, most of the forum advice I got (then) was that the really good diving is much further out The port of Belize isn't the best place to go as the runs don't take you out to the main barrier reef, instead it is to the local reefs closer to the coast and the port. Hope that helps a little. Regardless, I hope you enjoy your cruise, it has to be better than the 9-5!
Also, to save some time in Coz., it may be possible to have whichever op you chose meet you at the Caleta marina (if they leave from there), with all of the gear you will need (and waiver forms). You just have to let them know your sizes. I have done it many a time and it saves a good hour+ in the end.
You might want to consider a Mayan ruins outing in belize.
If you have not done - you should
ditto... you really should do a day trip to Mayan ruins instead of diving in Belize. The dive ops there take you to areas close in, not the great diving farther out.
A friend of mine made this mistake on a cruise a few years ago and she hated it. She said by the time they got to the dive shop to get gear for everyone on boat, then rode out to reefs, they had very limited dive time and reefs were far from interesting. It was a full day of running around and very little time underwater on some pretty boring reefs. She wished she had done a land tour there and did her one dive day in Cozumel instead.
dive Cozumel and Roatan, do a land tour on Belize! Belize has some of the most amazing Mayan ruins in all of Central America. They really shouldn't be missed in favor of mediocre diving. (If you want to great diving in Belize, do it another trip, land-based out of Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, Turneffe Caye, etc.)
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Originally Posted by chrishet
