First time Diving in Coz

[TxHockeyGuy]

There was another good thread on this here. I didn't dive in Cozumel on my cruise, and have been kicking myself for that, but I did in Cayman. I chose to go with the cruise booking just to avoid all the hassle. There are a lot of things that can happen (but usually don't) that can screw up your dive plans. The ship may end up getting in later than planned and may have to leave earlier than planned. Also they give first priority to the ship excursions in letting passengers get off the ship, keep this in mind. That and finding an op who can work within the time frame can be difficult in itself. I didn't want to deal with any of that and just paid the few extra dollars and dealt with the cattle boat. Given I dive Texas lakes you could put me on a 20 ft vis dead reef dive with a few fish and it would be a much better dive than I'm used to.

 

[sealskin98]

Given I dive Texas lakes you could put me on a 20 ft vis dead reef dive with a few fish and it would be a much better dive than I'm used to.

Does this mean that I can maybe consider you as a dive bud to split hotel expenses in late August or early September?

Sorry, off topic.

 

[diveborg]

The only way you are guaranteed that the ship would wait for you (in the event that the dive ran late, dive boat ran out of gas of any of your worst case situations arose) is to book with whoever they use.!

Even then, the ship only waits for it's late excursions to return as a courtesy, they are not required to wait. You are not guaranteed the ship will wait.

Personally, I'd try really hard to not go with the ship's excursion.

 

[TxHockeyGuy]

Does this mean that I can maybe consider you as a dive bud to split hotel expenses in late August or early September?

Sorry, off topic.

If you can show me how to dive doubles so I can keep up with your SAC rate.

 

[nyprrthd]

FWIW, we were on a Princess ship last February. We booked through the ship in Costa Maya (someone tried to book directly, and the dive op said no), Belize, and Cozumel. In Cozumel we dove with Dive House. Six of us reserved a boat in Playa del Carmen via the internet, and they waited until we got off the ship.

If you want to book your own dive trips in some of these ports, I suggest going to www.cruisecritic.com. They have a "Roll call" in their forums, and you can search for a thread pertaining to your sail date, after you find your ship. We connected with about 14 other divers who were going to be on our cruise. We dove with 4 of them the entire week, and had a blast.

 

[South4Scuba]

It seems like all the previous posters (is that a word?) have pretty much covered Cozumel. They offer good advice.

As far as Belize is concerned, think twice about it. The best diving is out at the barrier reef which is a long way from Belize City where the sewage spewing cruise ships dock. You will most likely have to take a 45 minute to 1 hour boat ride in an open skiff.

Diving at the Belize barrier reef is for very comfortable open water divers and best for advanced divers. This is mostly due to the typical rough water out there. In Belize you are outside a barrier reef. It's no giant swimming pool like Coz.

Don't get me wrong. Belize is a great place to dive and has made me a much better diver. It's just not some place you go on a whim to see more of the underwater world.

:14:
Enjoy,
S4S

 

[nyprrthd]

It sounds like the OP is on the same itinerary that we took last February. Belize dive excursion: We took a boat ride to a dive shop, and then another boat to Turneffe Atoll. The diving was very nice, but I still prefer Cozumel.