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jayray87

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Long time reader first time poster.

My wife and I are OW certified and we have dove in Cayman and Florida only. Will be on a cruise in April with some family members. The cruise visits Cozumel, Belize City, Roatan, and Costa Maya. I am planning on diving as much as possible, but need to have at least one destination set aside for family (who will be on land).

Based on others experiences, which places would be the best to dive and which would be the best to stay on land. Also where should I look to dive in that place.

Appreciate the recommendations, love this board.


Thanks.
 
The logistics of gettting to the better diving off Belize make that one probably the best for your land-based family activity since there's so many tours available: Mayan ruins, the zoo, cave tubing etc. river trips, multiple nature preserves etc.. I'm more familiar with southern Belize so don't know which are available as cruise excursions since they tender you into Belize City to the north. The zoo is surprisingly good - I have a friend who lives there and said so.

I'd dive in Roatan - there's not a lot else to do there. On Carnival you'll dock at their private harbor - Mahogany Bay - other lines dock in Coxen Hole downtown. The 2nd word of the name pretty well describes it.

Gumbalimba Park may be a ship excursion option but it's just average. The water is kind of weedy off the beach. I doubt you'll all want to zipline either right? The family will probably like West Bay beach - it's a nice one. Some nice beachfront restaurants if you spend the day there. The West End (2 miles east) is a little grittier but has most of the shops/restaurants in that area. There's water taxi's that run between them should the family want to see both.

Anthony's Key is the cruise operator - they pick you up at the port. Dive Excursions - Anthony's Key Resort - Roatan - Honduras The family might enjoy some of the dolphin encounters also available there - no idea which your cruise offers. Dolphin Programs - Anthony's Key Resort - Roatan - Honduras

Other dive options are Barefoot Divers http://barefootdiversroatan.com/diving/cruise-ship-shore-excursions/ - if you've got snorkelers they can accommodate them also. A cab from the cruise port will be $20. Barefoot is a much smaller operator but even at AKR the cruise divers get their own boat. We dove one morning with Barefoot and 7 of us were their business for that day. I've also dove at AKR but my personal choice would be Barefoot.

or Subway Watersports - no personal experience with them but they do pick you up for free: Isla Roatan cruise ship shore excursions / tours Western Caribbean

Can't help with the Mexico options, never been to either.
 
On a cruise stop in Belize, we did the excursion heading by boat up the New River to Lamanai, where we did a jungle tour, saw 3 Mayan ruins (Mask Temple, Tall Temple I think it was, Jaguar Temple) & got to climb atop the 1st 2, taking photos and enjoying one sweet view.

If the family handle a walk and some climbing, this can be a lot of fun.

Richard.

---------- Post added October 8th, 2014 at 11:21 PM ----------

Okay, I've been meaning to get a few shots from that excursion online one of these days, and this just gave me an excuse. When I used to hear 'ruins,' it didn't sound appealing. But these were really nice.

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Good memories.

Richard.
 
Cozumel and Roatan would be my choices too...
Cave tubing in Belize was fun for our family.
Diving from the cruise in Belize was not that great; It's way better if you are staying there.
 
I used to work as marine biologist/underwater videographer on the Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic eco-cruise ship going from Belize City to Utila and back. We would make stops for diving in many of the offshore cayes (including Lighthouse Reef), but none in Belize City so I can't say anything about the diving excursions from there. I would probably agree that Cozumel and Roatan would be your best bets.
 
Hey, Rich. I'm going to be there next month with Carnival Cruise Line. We'd like to take this hike. Who's the tour operator?
 
I don't recall the operator name. I booked the excursion with Royal Caribbean as we were on Liberty of the Seas. Here is a link to what I believe is the same excursion on the Royal Caribbean website.

I went to Carnival's website and didn't see anything quite like it. You might find it at TripAdvisor.com though. The thing on Carnival's site that looked the most similar was the Altun Ha Mayan Site & River Wallace excursion. On Trip Advisor, there's Lamanai Maya Ruins Tour by Lamanai Tours.- Day Tours and here's another, Lamanai Belize Tours.

Richard.
 
I'll be on a cruise next week, Carnival Magic, doing Belize ruins, Xunantunich tour.
When I get back I should have some photos and videos to share of our whole experience. So excited!!!
And yes, my husband's hip surgery is still an issue keeping us from diving, hence a cruise. We will be snorkeling, however, at Cozumel and Roatan.

robin
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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