Carnival freedom March 21-28

[khatley]

Hey guys, last minute cruise to Roatan, Belize and Cozumel. Planning to dive in all 3 locations. I have only been on one cruise and we dove twice from the ships operators and they were the two worst dives I have ever experienced. We are planning to book our own this time and was wondering if any had any recommendations or are there any other divers going on that ship w us so we can charter some dives with enough people. I know Cozumel well and would love to get a dive to punta sur which I know can be a challenge. We usually dive with Martin but they leave at 8 and we don't get there until 9 so would love to charter our own or other recommendations are welcome. Looks like subway is who I will call in roatan and not sure on Belize.

 

[diversteve]

Subway could be a good call on Roatan but the actual cruise operator there is Anthony's Key Resort. Cruise divers get their own boat. Book it thru your ship.
Roatan Dive Excursions - Anthony's Key Resort - Roatan - Honduras

I often recommend Barefoot Divers also. With your experience they'll take you to Mary's Place - one of the signature Roatan dives. For our 2nd dive we ran over to Cocoview and dove the Prince Albert. It's also on the south side a little east of Mahogany Bay so a short - you pay - cab ride over. I think they'll set up the ride if asked but there's going to be cabs waiting at Mahogany Bay - the cruise resort complex owned by Carnival. Dive Tours - Cruise Ship Shore Excursions

Hugh Parkeys is still the Belize cruise operator afaik. They're convenient in that they'll pick you up off the ship which will moor out since there's no Belize cruise dock. There's also another operator near the tender port if you do that instead.

 

[claymore]

On Cozumel Blue Angel has a boat that goes out at 10:00am and I booked with them. I am in the same boat as you with the arrival time. My ship is supposed to dock at 8:00am on the 25th of March.
i think all the cruise lines use Sand Dollar Sports for their dive operator. They are not a bad operator, I dove with them the last time I was in Coz, they just don't go out of their way to get you the best dives. They will probably do Santa Rosa Wall and Pardise Gardens, easy dives close to the pier.
Most of the Shops will not take you to Punta Sur without having seen you dive.

In Belize you are probably better off using the cruise line operator as they are the only ones who can pick you up at the ship, it anchors off shore and everybody tenders in to port. If you use another operator you have to tender in to shore and meet the operator there, take the boat out to the Cays where the best diving is, do your dives go back to shore and catch a tender back to the ship. Getting a tender at the time you need one can be problematic as almost every one who goes ashore has to take a tender.

 

[cb5150]

Cuzumel Marine World. Ask for Jeremiah.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

I went with Deep Blue in Coz off the cruise ship. If your ship docks in the north port, I think it's a short walk. If you dock at the south port, its a $6-7 dollar taxi trip.

 

[robint]

I am just back off the Carnival Freedom.... here is the issue I see.

1. It all depends on your port time in Cozumel. Our ship was not scheduled to dock until 10am, which was 11am in Cozumel. None of the dive ops I contacted were going to have a boat going out until afternoon, and they all needed 4 or more divers to confirm us. This was a real issue for us. Also, we were told the ship would dock at Puerta Maya (one of the 3 docks in Cozumel) but we found out the night before we arrived that the ship would dock downtown at Puerta Langosta. We had already decided not to dive, but if we had booked this would have been a total mess for us.
SO.... what I am telling you is ---- check your port arrival time and dock. Make sure before you book in Cozumel that you know both and that THEY know both.
There are dozens of dive ops that can take out divers from a cruise ship. You are best served to find at least a group of 4 before you try to book. That way you can tell them and what time YOU want to be picked up and go out. This is really important.

2. All diving in Cozumel is great. Period. You do NOT need to go out to the more advanced sites, like the south tip of the island. We dived this past week in Grand Cayman and were really disappointed in it. It did not compare to the incredible reefs or fishlife of Cozumel. NOT EVEN CLOSE. I highly recommend for your first dive to request any section of Palancar Reef, my favorite is Palancar Bricks. Incredible reef, just breathtaking. After that, they will move up north and do one of the shallower reefs, any will be fishy and worth it. I really miss all those gorgeous sponges and color on the reefs. Like I said, Grand Cayman was just okay diving, not as pretty or fishy as ANY dive in Cozumel.

As far as diving in Roatan.... the cruise ships all use Anthony's Key Resort. From what I have been told, they do a great job and all the diving in Roatan is pretty easy. We have been there twice on land-based trips (CCV resort on southside) and love it.

Belize.... I have heard so many negatives about diving there from a cruise ship. The ships dock so far from any good reef that you spend a great deal of time traveling to and from the dive sites. Also, the dives they take the cruisers to are not the best dive sites. Since Belize is a tender port, I think it is better to use the cruise excursion to ensure you get back on time. Just my opinion.

robin

 

[bilboinsa]

First, have a great time. Sounds like you know Coz and Roatan. If you are still hunting, I just dove off-ship (Royal Caribbean last week) with Aldora Divers in Coz. We were advertised to dock at 7:00 a.m. (8:00 a.m. Coz time), and we did. Your port times are well-known to these dive ops in town.

IDK who Carnival uses in Belize. RCCL uses Hugh Parkey Belize Adventures, and we booked the cruise line excursion ($185 with gear pp). Can not compare it to an independent off-ship experience, but our time with Parkey was well-spent. Other than the convenience factor (we were the first to leave the ship from those waiting in the excursion staging area), Parkey goes beyond the barrier reef and takes you out to Turneffe Atoll. None of the dive ops on shore (other than hiring a private charter) can do that given cost, time and distance factors. And when you look at the cost of a Turneffe trip from shore (even if you did have the time) the ship excursion was even cheaper! You also get to see PArkey's resort and get away from Port tourists. Big boat picks you up. Ours had 17 divers but 3 DMs, so ratio was OK.

Good luck, have fun, and enjoy your trip! PM if you have any Qs.

 

[ScubaTom59]

I know this is too late for you, but still wanted to post in case others were looking for the same information. We just got back from a cruise to Grand Cayman and Cozumel. In Grand Cayman we booked our dive with the cruise ship, and it was just OK dove really close to the cruise ships, didn't really see too much. For Cozumel we booked a trip with Aldora several weeks in advance. I emailed them the day before we left on the cruise to confirm our reservation, they replied back right away with confirmation that they would be waiting for us. Once in Cozumel it was just a short taxi ride to the dive shop, while we were getting signed in, the guide, DM and Captain took our gear to the boat a half block away from the dive shop. a short walk to the boat and we find our gear unpacked and setup ready to go. both dive were great, they told us usually they go to the beach between dives and eat and rest, but the Wife and Daughter wanted to get back as early as they could to have a little shore time. so we just moved to the second dive spot and waited in the boat until time to dive. After the dive they dropped us off at a dock close to the cruise ship so a short walk to put our gear up and we had time to eat and walk around. A couple things about Aldora, We I confirmed our reservation I asked about getting a 100AL tank for me since I am an air hog, and they told me not to worry about that and informed me that I would be using a steel LP120 and the Wife and Daughter would have steel LP100. I was also concerned about how many people would be on the dive boat with us, but it was just the 3 of us plus the guide, DM and the Captain. We had great time with them and are planning to fly down sometime soon so we can dive several days there.

 

[krimney]

I was in Belize a few years ago. There was a dive shop walking distance from where I got off the tender from the ship. It was call Sea Sports and was run by a nice guy named John. I thoroughly enjoyed my dives with them. Am planning on looking them up again when I am through there in November. I have done many cruses and will avoid booking through the ship if at all possible.

 

[khatley]

Not sure why I didn't get an email on all these other replies? Anyhow, thanks for them guys. We ended up doing seasports in roatan and they were great, seasports in Belize was terrible...tiny boat that left almost 3 hours late for one couple in our group and we were there for well over an hour loaded up on a tiny boat with no cover in the sun smelling exhaust. Ride was extremely rough in that small boat, two got sick. First dive they said vis was not good enough so we went to a crap dive running low on time, second dive get this....the exact same dive. They called it something different but I cam across an old anchor at the start of both dives... I wish we would have booked early and went off the ship, we did try but it was full. We also considered taking a small plane to the Caye which was about the same but reviews were mixed. Someone told me not to dive Belize when cruising and I will listen next time. We ended up getting to dive with Martin after all in Coz. They found us someone local that would leave late. Always great there and going back in two weeks! Chartered a private boat this time.