Carnival Valor & Diving

[Tuckster]

This itinery out of Miami (October 2nd) looks very interesting.
1. Belize (I know this dive involves a 2 hr boat ride)
2. Roatan Island (Is this a "dock" or anchor & shuttle)
3. Grand Caymen (anchor)
4. Cozumel (dock)

... This looks like it could be a rather affordable trip. We've done the cruise thing once & enjoyed it . We were planning a weeks trip to Cozumel but with the airfare it becomes a little expensive. I can get to Miami cheap (FLL).
I welcome all comments etc as I can't make up my mind...

Thanks

 

[diveborg]

Well, since you asked for comments, I'll give you some of mine.

Make your own arrangements for diving, especially in Grand Cayman and Cozumel. I'd probably just go with the ship's excursion in Belize because of logistics even though it is way more expensive. You can also do your own trip in Roatan, but I haven't done any research for there.

In Grand Cayman contact www.neptunesdivers.com They are pretty good working with a cruise divers schedule. They also let you do your own dive if you want, or you can follow the guide. Nice people too.

In Cozumel there are sooo many dive operators, it is easy to find one that fits your diving wants and needs. Lots of cruise divers like www.eagleraydivers.com I haven't used them, but they are very popular on www.cruisecritic.com

I like www.bluextseadiving.com and would definitely go with Christi's op next time I'm in Cozumel. I also have gone with Caribbean Divers and they were nice, and lead good dives, but their boat is larger and slow. Some people don't mind this and I sure was happy to find them when a Norte close the port for the small boat from going out. www.scubawithalison.com also is worth contacting. I have only read positive reports about her. www.divewithmartin.com is another operator worth considering. They are a good budget operation with a shop fairly close to at least one of the cruise docks. I just can't remember which one of the 3 it is.

Hope this helps,
Bruce

 

[tx.lakerats]

I agree with diveborg on this one!

 

[chuck e]

This itinery out of Miami (October 2nd) looks very interesting.
1. Belize (I know this dive involves a 2 hr boat ride)
2. Roatan Island (Is this a "dock" or anchor & shuttle)
3. Grand Caymen (anchor)
4. Cozumel (dock)

... This looks like it could be a rather affordable trip. We've done the cruise thing once & enjoyed it . We were planning a weeks trip to Cozumel but with the airfare it becomes a little expensive. I can get to Miami cheap (FLL).
I welcome all comments etc as I can't make up my mind...

Thanks

OK. in Belize do the boat excursion with Hugh Parkley. Only way to Turneffe. In Roatan we did Subway Watersports. Will take you to Marys Place. The boat does dock. Grand Cayman I recommend a shore dive because the timing for boat dives are tight. Take a cab or bus to the Dive TecH shop near the Turtle Farm. In Coz I recommend Dive with Alison because she will work with your schedule. See the thread below.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=96776&highlight=cobalt+coast

 

[tropicalfan]

We did this cruise in January. I have to say, as a diver it was my first (and last cruise).
On the plus side:
The itinerary. And there is enought room, if you get a balcony, to wash your gear in the shower and dry it on your balcony for the next day's use.
The down side:
It is a pain in the rear to schlep your wet gear from dive site to ship every day. There are ablebodied, lazy people waiting in humungous lines to take the elevators while you are carrying 50# of wet gear on your back. Yes, we ended up taking the stairs up 8 flight instead of waiting. Figured it would help burn off the food that we ate all cruise.
We did the ship's dive off Roatan. Big mistake. It was AKR which is a great place, but there were 24 divers on the dive boat. Some had never been in the ocean. It was a cattle car at it's worst.
In GC we had arranged ahead to dive with Neptune divers. They were fabulous. I highly recommend them. In Cozumel we had previously arranged to go with "scuba with Allison". They were also great. There had evidently been a cancelllation, so it was my husband and I and the DM. Wow! A private dive. Also fabulous. we skipped diving in belize because we knew we were going back there in May. I can see crusing for families who have other vacation needs. But it is not they way to go for a dive vacation.

 

[diverrick]

I have also done this very itinerary. I would skip Belize as far as diving goes. It is a Very long trip to anything worth going to. I am with Borg on the other sites. Make your own plans. We did Eden rock in GC (great shore dive) but I hear they may not be there anymore due to last years hurricanes. Turtle Farm as well as Sunset house are not too far away for a good two tank shore dive. Lots of places to choose from In CZM. take your choice there. RTB is usually a docked kind of thing for the cruise ship, but this year it may be different as there are more ships in port this year than ever before, so some may have to anchor out and do the pod shuttle thing, but most places like CCV and BIBR will gladly pick you up and drop you back off, with an island tour as your cross the island thrown in by the driver.

 

[49thdiver]

We are doing the Carnival Valor in Sept.
Have booked two dives through the ship, AKR and GC.
Going to do the Maya tour in Belize.
Open for Cozumel and may go with your recomendations here.
My questions are about gear. I plan on taking my mask and snorkel, should I take my regs. Should i take a different wip for their BC's. We want to travel lite so want to take as little as possible. Should I take any exposure protection, water temps in sept, we are cold water drysuit divers so have no thin exposure gear. ?

Any other general cruise tips would be appreciated too.

Peter

 

[chuck e]

We are doing the Carnival Valor in Sept.
Have booked two dives through the ship, AKR and GC.
Going to do the Maya tour in Belize.
Open for Cozumel and may go with your recomendations here.
My questions are about gear. I plan on taking my mask and snorkel, should I take my regs. Should i take a different wip for their BC's. We want to travel lite so want to take as little as possible. Should I take any exposure protection, water temps in sept, we are cold water drysuit divers so have no thin exposure gear. ?

Any other general cruise tips would be appreciated too.

Peter

I wouldn't bother bringing all my gear just for 3 days diving, just mask, and regs. You can rent everything else. I assume you are 2 divers. That's enough to carry. There are stairs on the boat, and long exit ramps at Roatan and Coz to contend with. Unless you have a balcony cabin, rinsing and drying wet suits and BC's are a challenge in the small cabin showers. We took all our gear cause we dove every port, but hauling it all around was not fun. Water temps should be 80ish in Sept. Have fun!

Chuck

 

[cbpraigg]

Doing the Valor myself in October. Thanks for all of the great suggestions. I think I will book with Neptune in GC, Subway Watersports in Roatan, skip Belize and Scuba With Allison in Coz. Looking forward to this! Chuck e, would love to hear how it goes for you and if you have any suggestions being fresh off the boat. Thanks in advance. -Charles

 

[Doc]

Doing the Valor myself in October. Thanks for all of the great suggestions. I think I will book with Neptune in GC, Subway Watersports in Roatan, skip Belize and Scuba With Allison in Coz. Looking forward to this! Chuck e, would love to hear how it goes for you and if you have any suggestions being fresh off the boat. Thanks in advance. -Charles

.........................

1498 days ! :doh:

The info you are basing your decisions on is now from a thread that is 4 years old. Some dive ops have come and gone... and development of infrastructure available... a lot has changed everywhere.

here in this forum for more recent cruise ship/dive op posts. Search the individual forums for each individual destination as well.