Non-diving spouce and I cruised the HAL Massdam out of Norfork Virginia 2/9/06. I booked dives with the ship for four of our six ports. This was our first cruisae with HAL and we enjoyed it very much. It was an even older crowd than us on this ship, and we are no spring chickens at 58 and 59.
Half Moon Cay:
Was a good refresher dive for me. I had not been diving for 53 weeks (not that I was counting). The ship offered a cne tank dive for $69.00. It was a nice shallow dive, some fun swim throughs, nothing spactacular but just what I needed to practice my diving skills.
St. Thomas:
Two tank dive for $99.00 Dive op was Underwater Safari.The first dive was a nice reef dive called Reef Flats. I saw my first shark and a ray. The second dive was Navy Ships. We toured the remains of two WWII barges.
Dominica:
One tank dive: $79.00. Dive Op. Nature Island Divers. Beautiful, healthy reef with spectacular visibilities. The only problem here was that the shop did not seem to be ready for us when we arrived. We waited well over an hour before we ever got on the boat. The ride to the dive shop is an experience not to be forgotten. Narrow winding roads, left hand driving, beautiful scenery.
St. Kitts:
Two tank dive for $119.00. Dive op. Kenneth Dive Center. The dive boat in St. Kitts was located just a short walk from the cruise dock, super easy. First dive was called Brimstone Reef. The second dive was Camps Reef. Because this site was so near the shore the visibility was quite poor, but we saw lots of big lobsters, many rays half burried in the sand. and lots of garden eels.
For the most part I was pleased with the dives booked on this cruise. All of the operations seemed well run and tried hard to provide great dives. Booking the dives through the ship was stress free. All equiptment (except wet suits on some of the dives) was included in in the price of the dives. A few other divers from the ship went diving with me each day.
I found it worked well to rinse my gear in my cabin's shower and hang on the line to dry. Once I even took my wetsuit poolside with me to dry.
Half Moon Cay:
Was a good refresher dive for me. I had not been diving for 53 weeks (not that I was counting). The ship offered a cne tank dive for $69.00. It was a nice shallow dive, some fun swim throughs, nothing spactacular but just what I needed to practice my diving skills.
St. Thomas:
Two tank dive for $99.00 Dive op was Underwater Safari.The first dive was a nice reef dive called Reef Flats. I saw my first shark and a ray. The second dive was Navy Ships. We toured the remains of two WWII barges.
Dominica:
One tank dive: $79.00. Dive Op. Nature Island Divers. Beautiful, healthy reef with spectacular visibilities. The only problem here was that the shop did not seem to be ready for us when we arrived. We waited well over an hour before we ever got on the boat. The ride to the dive shop is an experience not to be forgotten. Narrow winding roads, left hand driving, beautiful scenery.
St. Kitts:
Two tank dive for $119.00. Dive op. Kenneth Dive Center. The dive boat in St. Kitts was located just a short walk from the cruise dock, super easy. First dive was called Brimstone Reef. The second dive was Camps Reef. Because this site was so near the shore the visibility was quite poor, but we saw lots of big lobsters, many rays half burried in the sand. and lots of garden eels.
For the most part I was pleased with the dives booked on this cruise. All of the operations seemed well run and tried hard to provide great dives. Booking the dives through the ship was stress free. All equiptment (except wet suits on some of the dives) was included in in the price of the dives. A few other divers from the ship went diving with me each day.
I found it worked well to rinse my gear in my cabin's shower and hang on the line to dry. Once I even took my wetsuit poolside with me to dry.
