Dive in Belize

[claxorn]

Thank you for your advice DeputyDan,
since you did the same cruise, do you mind to give me some suggestion for other diving localities in the same route.
I thought Cayman should be great, because beside Belize I want to dive in an other place as well.
Thank you for your replay.
Claxorn

 

[daveytrackels]

I don't really understand..

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

Thank you for your advice DeputyDan,
since you did the same cruise, do you mind to give me some suggestion for other diving localities in the same route.
I thought Cayman should be great, because beside Belize I want to dive in an other place as well.
Thank you for your replay.
Claxorn

I would look up Hugh Parkey's dive shop. They work with some of the cruise lines and will pick up at the ship offshore. They run a great operation and take you out for a couple dives to Turneffe Atoll. It's a full day but you won't miss much in Belize City except the opportunity for some cheap antibiotics.

In Grand Cayman you can do a great double dive to the North Wall and Stingray City. Grand Cayman diving can be different depending on your level of training but if you can show them an advanced card then you can go to the North Wall. It's about a 90 foot max depth and takes you through a nice coral canyon before opening up over the wall. There it drops down over 6,000 feet! It's a pretty dramatic dive. Stingray City is about 15 feet deep and you'll stingrays swimming all around your head. I've got some great pictures from that dive.

I used to work for a cruise line in the Shore Excursion department so I might be able to help a bit. What other ports are you stopping in other than Cayman?

 

[claxorn]

Thank you for your suggestion, and I would appreciate anyfurther suggestion for the various locations. The Cruise that we're going to have in May will dock in: Cozumel, GranCayman, Roatan, belize.
Thanks again for your precious advise.
Claudio

 

[DeputyDan]

Thank you for your advice DeputyDan,
since you did the same cruise, do you mind to give me some suggestion for other diving localities in the same route.
I thought Cayman should be great, because beside Belize I want to dive in an other place as well.
Thank you for your replay.
Claxorn

I have never done a cruise !!!!!!!

However, each locale has its own unique set of rules.
In Belize the cruise ship does not dock and due to the time out to the dive sites you have no "safe" choice other that use the cruise line recommended operator.

I have done liveaboards in Belize but that is different.

 

[scubadivingshopsde]

Its better to have vacation in belize when its not a summer peak season i hope this will help to you

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

I'll second that it's better to vacation in Belize than take a cruise there. The diving is great but the Mayan ruins are also a must-see and there's no possible way to do both on one cruise day. It's tight doing just one of them actually. There are many cruise ports where it is feasible to do your own thing but Belize is the one port that we always suggested that passengers stick with cruise excursions. Most of the interesting sights are too far away to trust a private tour operator. We have heard too many times of passengers not making it back to the dock in time and having to pay for a flight to the next port of call. That is something that will ruin the vacation. If you take a cruise excursion, the shore excursion dept. knows that your tour is running late and the ship will not leave until the shoe excursion department has verified that all ship-arranged shore excursions have returned. It's a nice bit of insurance that will be worth paying a bit more for a ship-arranged tour. I would highly recommend it.

 

[claxorn]

Thank you for your suggestion, and I agree with you that a vacation in Belize is much better than a cruise. I'll put on the list. But at moment I've this and I'd like to take the best out of this cruise.
Definitly convinced that booking with the cuise line for the diving is Belize is the best option.
What do you think about Isla Roatan and Gran Cayman. which one could be the best place where to dive again? thank you for the replay.
Claudio

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

Thank you for your suggestion, and I agree with you that a vacation in Belize is much better than a cruise. I'll put on the list. But at moment I've this and I'd like to take the best out of this cruise.
Definitly convinced that booking with the cuise line for the diving is Belize is the best option.
What do you think about Isla Roatan and Gran Cayman. which one could be the best place where to dive again? thank you for the replay.
Claudio

It depends on what you want I guess. If you really love looking at coral then Roatan is the way to go. It is, by far, my favorite dive destination for coral and fish. It is a gorgeous island above and below though. If you are interested in a wildlife encounter then I would choose Grand Cayman for the dive. Usually the cruise line will offer an excursion that offers two dives. One will be to the North Wall and the other to Stingray City. The North Wall dive will require you to be Advanced or show proof of a few deep dives as the dive typically reaches around 85'-90'. It is a gorgeous canyon that opens up and drops off into the Cayman Trench. It's very cool. Afterward you will drive to Stingray City, about 20 feet deep, and dive with the stingrays swimming all around and over your head.

Again, Roatan is my favorite for diving but if you don't want to dive both places then you'd be better off diving Grand Cayman and touring Roatan because Roatan is a gorgeous island while Grand Cayman is nothing but tourist shops and has no topography. Roatan is a mountain island with gorgeous green forests and amazing views from the hills.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions about cruising, too. I didn't work for Carnival but most cruise lines operate in the same manner. I'd be happy to help!

 

[olphart]

I don't believe that you MUST take your dive trip from the ship. Unfortunately this old brain can't remember the name of the shop, (It's just up the street from the dock, an easy walk with your gear). they assured me that they would get me back to the ship in lots of time and after 2 great dives and a very nice surface interval, lunch on a key, somewhere out in the ocean, they dropped me off at the dock in lots of time. I think there are outfits that will drop you off at the ship as well.
These shops are very careful not to have customers left at the pier watching their ship leave. It would make for very poor advertising.
YMMV, but I would never use the cruise ship offerings. You get cattle boats full of a real mixed bag of divers at inflated prices. It's one more middleperson to pay, right? Do the research and choose wisely