Returned from our trip. For anyone curious:
The dive shop for the “Certified Dive” for Roatan, Honduras port is Anthony’s Key. You take a tour bus (rustic, no AC) from the cruise port to Anthony’s Key Resort. It’s about a 20 minute ride to Anthony’s Key Resort from the cruise port. We hopped on one of their dive boats - we had about 20 or so divers onboard, all were from our cruise ship. We took a 4-5 minute boat ride to the first dive site. Had about a 40 minute dive. Then returned to the boat dock. At the dock they switched out empty tanks, and we had a few minutes to eat, drink water, use the bathroom, etc. they also send a cameraman with the group and you can see his videos/photos during this downtime. No food was provided with the excursion. They had a water cooler on board the boat. The 2nd dive was another short boat ride to the dive site. Saw lots of grouper on the 2nd dive. About a 40 minute dive again, then back to the docks, then back on the tour bus to go back to Port. We got back to port about 2 hours before gangway up. The port itself did not have much to do or see.
The dive shop for Cozumel is Sand Dollar Sports. Meet at the end of the pier, filled out some paperwork, then got right on the dive boat and went to the rental shop- maybe a 4-5 minute boat ride. People picked up /signed out their rental equipment there. Then about a 45 minute boat ride to Palancar site. We dove the Palancar caves site first. Max depth on this dive was supposed to be 80 feet but the guide took us down to 90’. Definitely have to monitor your own depth. 2nd dive site was about 20 minutes close to the cruise port, not as deep, maybe only 50’ max. They offered some cut up fruit and water on the boat. We did not return to the shop in between dives.
Cozumel notes: I am very happy that I brought my own SMB- there is A LOT of boat traffic. The dive shop did not supply an SMB with gear rental. I think most of the dive boat captains are responsible and acutely aware of all the divers in the water, but being able to inflate my own SMB for when we drifted away from the guide was a great comfort to me and my wife, especially if we came up a few minutes earlier than the guide. The guide did send up a DSMB on a reel towards the end of each dive, and towed it around for about the last 10-15 minutes of the dive. The guide just informed people who came up early to stay close to the buoy. The boats never anchored, they were constantly moving. Sand Dollar did not do a vocal role call at the end of the dive. I cannot say whether they were counting heads at the end of each dive or had some other system. I can understand how a diver could be left behind. Also Cozumel has really choppy waters it seems any time of year. Just keep this in mind if you’re prone to motion sickness. The Anthony’s Key dive sites were only minutes from the boat dock...
General notes: the excursion price included transportation to/from dive shops, BCD, Regulator, Wrights, Mask, Fins. Sand Dollar did not provide a snorkel from what I could see. None of the shops included wetsuits or dive computers. The regulator setup was 1st/2nd/Octo/Depth/PSI at both places. I brought my own reg setup and had no problem setting it up with their tanks. All tanks were yoke, I did not see any DIN setups.
If you have specific questions, I’m happy to answer them. I may edit this post in a few days to supplement with anything else I remember or that I think you may find useful.
