Cruising Gear and more

[local76sparky]

Thanks for all the input everyone. I definitely can't bring any tanks on board of any kind so the pony is out. Even to bring a knife on board it has to be checked in and out so I will be slimming the gear down quite a bit. I've sent off some emails to Coki and a couple other LDS between the various ports. Trying to convince my wife to let me do some "quick" shore dives in as many ports as possible. Then meet up for the afternoon for some fun. The Rhone is definitely on my list. I've been looking at that one for a couple years now. She hasn't dove in just about a year so not sure if the Rhone would be good to do with her or not though? Hopefully get her out locally a couple times before the cruise to freshen her up a bit!

 

[diversteve]

It's mostly a wreck dive done from the outside. If you don't do the bow penetration it's a pretty benign dive - even that isn't difficult, it's a big ship and the sides of the hull are somewhat gone in front so you see daylight and have a lot of "outs" if necessary. The back half has collapsed enough that it's not possible to get inside - there's one area where you can duck under the deck but it's totally open. Most of the deck is missing so you see the ribs exposed, the driveshaft and other machinery. At the very back the prop is wedged between some rocks - since it's about 15' tall you can swim between it and the rudder. My buddy's g/f did the entire dive(s) on about her 20th dive - however we'd been diving 3-4 dives daily all week by then.This will give you a pretty good idea (not my video): RMS Rhone - YouTube

My personal opinion is that there are lots of better dives off St. Thomas than Coki Beach. It's pretty shallow, there's not a lot of reef there, we used it as a warm-up dive one afternoon then did better dives via boat off the East End. I personally wouldn't waste the hour+ it's going to take you to get out there and back. We also got stuck in traffic near there one day - sat for about 20mins. so factor that into your plans also.

 

[mbwilliamn]

I've been cruising and diving for 12 years, starting as an OW diver. How much gear to bring depends on several things. First is how comfortable you are in using different gear. If you are not comfortable, bring all of your own gear....last thing you need in an emergency is fumbling with unfamiliar equipment. Regardless of this I will not travel without my own computer and regulator (and of course mask, fins, snorkel) Second question is how much are the shops charging for their rental gear. Western Caribbean tends to charge for each piece, while many of the Eastern Caribbean only charge $10 for everything. Not that big of a deal with one diver, but my whole family dives so I can get into 80-100 per trip for renting a BC and wetsuit. Next: What kind of room do you have? We always get a balcony room primarily so we can put our gear outside between dives after rinsing in the shower. An ocean view or interior room can get pretty ripe by the end of the cruise.

So all of this adds up to basically three scenarios. 1. Take minimal gear...mask, fins etc, plus computer, regulator and basic tools/save a dive). We packed the fins and boots in a checked bag and carried the regs, computers and masks on the boat in a pull behind. 2. Add your BC and rent wetsuits. Huge benefit here is the clean up....the one item that will weigh you down and also smell up your cabin is the wet suit. We added the BC to the bag with fins and checked it. 3. Bring all of your own gear. This is the most comfortable for diving because you already know exactly what weight you will need, it fits right and you know where every thing is, BUT its a lot of gear to schlep on and off of the boat every port. For the ones you are going on the ports are all well maintained and easy to navigate, so not as big of a deal. Some place like Grand Cayman where you tender in (little boat to shore) that can be a real hassle.

One other option we usually take for our sensitive gear is to pack it all in a tote. We use an 18x24x18 tote, put the regs, drybag with computers, cameras and masks in it. I drilled a hole in each end and put a master lock on one end and a TSA lock on the other. Works great and the baggage guys can't crush your important stuff.

Last thing to think about is your accessory gear. If you choose to rent a BC, make sure to pull off your whistle and See Me Buoy. I usually leave my knives at home, but leave my shears in place. The shears are more functional for safety and the security guys don't make you turn them in every time you get on the boat.

Now for the dive locations. I went on this exact cruise in Dec, but I didn't make my dive plans early enough and got shut out of diving. I would recommend booking with the cruise line right now while you work your own plans, that way you are guaranteed a dive in each port (only time I've ever used the cruise line is Belize). Some friends on the ship dove all 3 locations and enjoyed all. The only one they used the cruise line for was Tortola. We did a snorkel trip to the Rhone and they dove on it. It was a good dive but not worth two tanks. The shallow end is about 30-40 feet and I free dove down and got some great pictures. In Antiqua they dove with Extreme Scuba and would recommend them. Nice operation. The most recommended operations in the other locations (scuba board and travel advisor) were Admiralty Dive Center and blue Island Dive Center in St Thomas and Dive BVI and Sail Caribbean Divers in Tortola.

Hope this all helps! Enjoy!

 

[Tangled Rope]

Check out St. Thomas Diving Club. They picked me up at the ship. Did two dives, just three of us. Then they brought me back to the ship with plenty of time to kill.

 

[petsin]

In Novemeber last year I took a Royal Caribbean to the Eastern Caribbean. This was my third "cruise and dive" trip together with my non diver girlfriend, making BVI, St. Maarten, Antigua, Dominica and St. Kitts. I used the ship dive operators in BVI, St. Maarten and Dominica, while I contacted directly operators in Antigua and St. Kitts. I had good experiences with all of them. It was my first cruise where I used the ship operators and though they were clearly more expensive, sometimes you were picked up right at the ship pier! Of course I went to the Rhone on Tortola and had a great two tank dive. I can't recall the operator's name now, but was very professional and they had a large boat, though the group was not more than 10 divers. In St. Maarten, the dive boat was really packed and we were split in 4 groups for the diving, with about 5-6 divers each, so under the water was not so bad, but on board the dive boat it was a bit too crowded for my taste. In Antigua I chose Indigo Divers from a web search. They operate from Jolly Harbor which is about 20min from the cruise port. I took a taxi and arranged with the driver to pick me up on my return. The Dive Operator was Ok, though they had a full, small and very slow boat where we had to navigate for almost 40min to the dive sites. Most divers were from local hotels and there was only one other diver from the cruise ship. The DM lady was Ok though the boat captain (her husband) was not very friendly I must say. The dives were nice, split in two groups of about 6 divers, though nothing really impresive, healthy corals and fish life but unremarkable. Where I really loved the diving was in Dominica. I used the ship operator Dive Dominica which was great! they were really friendly and with a big confortable boat. We made two of the most memorable dives I remember: l'abyss and Champagne. The island is beautiful too and I made a 2 hour sightseing tour contracted directly with a taxi driver for me and my girlfriend. In St. Kitts I used the Dive St. Kitts to make a single tank morning dive. I made only one dive because I wanted to take the St. Kitts Touristic train later on. The dive was on a nearby wreck and I was the only diver! The DM had no problem with this and guided the dive just for me... he was very friendly and you could tell he loved his work. They sent a van to pick us up at the cruise port and brought us back. My girlfriend got a day pass on the resort where Dive St. Kitts is located. All in all, a very enjoyable cruise!!!
Well, if anybody wants more details, just ask.
-> I forgot to say that I do travel with all my dive gear (I use mostly travel (light) gear: BCD Zuma, Apeks Flight reg, Scuba Pro Seawing Nova fins and 3mm full wetsuit). I never had trouble with my small dive knife... actually they never detected it because they don't want to put wet stuff on their X-ray scanner so they do a very broad hand search on my mesh dive bag, looking mostly for liquor bottles...