Which places should I dive?

[ScubaFireDiver]

Hello, I will be going on a 7 day Carnival Cruise in September this year. My GF and I will be attending 4 ports this year. We would like to dive as much as possible and would love to hear some reviews. I have done tons of research while on scuba board and just wanted to get some more information.

Cozumel, Mexico; 10:00a - 6:00p
Belize; 8:00a - 6:00p
Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan; 9:00a - 6:00p
Costa Maya, Mexico; 7:00a - 2:00p

I have read that Cozumel and Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan; are the better diving of the four. I would love to hear from everyone.

Thanks.

 

[cb5150]

I've done the MB and Coz dives off a crusie ship. Lots of fun. Some folks will criticize cruise ship dives as being to short or restrictive. I tend to just go with the flow, have fun and meet new people. Never did the dives in Belize or Costa Maya so I can't help with those.

Here is a tip for cruise ship diving:

If you take your own gear, you can rinse it (and yourself) in the outdoor showers by the pool then go up on deck and sit in the sun with a cold beverage while you and your gear dry off. If you have a balcony cabin, you can dry your stuff on the baclony but make sure you buy some plastic clamps from Home Depot to secure stuff that might blow away.

Whatever you decide...have fun, dive safe and just remember that there will be a cold adult beverage waiting for you on the ship when you return.

 

[ScubaFireDiver]

Thanks for the reply. I will have to make sure the cruise offers dives. Have you dove Grand Turk or St.Thomas. Those are the only other cruise dives I have done...

Ah, that is an awesome idea. On our last cruise we cleaned our gear in the shower, and then try to let it dry.. It didn't turn out well.

 

[diversteve]

Mahogany Bay is the cruise port on the south side of Roatan. Anthony's Key is the cruise operator but on the north side. They shuttle you over and back. It's possible you'll dive Overheat Reef with them - some of the previous cruise excursions have. Not a bad dive but not the best. Anthony's Key Resort - Roatan - Honduras

Subway Watersports will also pick you up at the cruise port. IDK anything about their program or where they take you. Subway is at Turquoise Bay also on the north side. Isla Roatan cruise ship shore excursions / tours Western Caribbean

My usual suggestion is the cruise program with Barefoot Divers instead. You have to take a cab from Mahogany Bay but it's the closest and their program includes 2 dives and a nice lunch - their resort restaurant provides it. If you have non-divers with you, they have a nice beach and a snorkel off the Cay. Also kayak rentals, a day spa etc. day dive packages|cruise shippers|full valet service

A lot of SB members think the better diving is Roatan's south side. Mary's Place, the "signature" Roatan dive - is five minutes from Barefoot's Dock. We dove it and then rode over to Cocoview on their boat and dove the Prince Albert with them one morning. It's a 10-15 min. ride along Roatan's south side so you see some of the island from the water.

 

[ScubaFireDiver]

Awesome. Thanks for the info. I will look into these sites and see what I can come up with..

Thanks again.

 

[Mossman]

There is a forum that concentrates on cruiseship diving, there's probably more information in there.

Where possible, you may be better off diving with an outside dive op instead of the one booked by the cruiseship. I've seen prices around double that charged by outside operators. For that, you get the guarantee that you'll get back to the boat, but if the outside dive op won't be cutting the time too closely, you probably don't need to spend double just to get that assurance. Also, I've heard reports that cruiseships tend to favor cattleboat operations, whatever you might think of those.

In Cozumel at least, there are at least a few dive ops that will cater to cruiseship schedules and probably give you much more bang for your buck. Post or do a search on the Cozumel forum for more information.

 

[ScubaFireDiver]

I will look into that. Thanks for the info.

 

[drrich2]

I dove with Living Underwater in Cozumel, booked privately, for 2 dives during a cruise ship stop & had a really good time; the sites we hit were Palancar Garden and Santa Rosa. They offered steel 120's.

One tip with cruise ship diving and booking private excursions; find out whether 'ship time' is the same as local time. In my case, I learned we got there an hour early, and were due back an hour earlier than we had planned.

Whether a ship goes by local time, or sticks with the time it set sail under, can vary. I've seen it done both ways. I have not cruised with Carnival, though.

Richard.

 

[knotical]

We have only done a cruise line scuba excursion once, in Belize. It worked out extremely well. There were only four customers, and we happened to all be fairly experienced so the dive up gave us two good, lengthy dives on very healthy reefs. And it was very convenient because they picked us up and delivered us back right at the ship.

However, this can obviously vary dramatically with the diver operator; and if possible that is where I would focus. Ask the cruise line what operators they use, and research them.

 

[tdchandl]

Spent a day with sea sports in belize city prior to heading out for a week. Good day good service.