Help with dive spots in western Caribbean - Carnival

[EL Pistoffo]

My wife and I are taking a Carnival Cruise to the Western Caribbean at the end of this September. The cruise involves 4 ports and I'd like to choose 2 to dive.
These are the list of ports in order of arrival and my thoughts about each:

Cozumel: Everyone speaks highly of Cozumel and I would probably have chosen it 1st but my wife has never been to Mexico and wants to experience the culture. The idea I have for Cozumel is to go to Chankanaab Park and do a little snorkeling off the beach.

Belize: I've heard that the dive trip by boat is long (1.5 hrs each way) so I kinda opted for cave tubing with cave-tubing.com per recommendations. Edit: I just noticed no Carnival excursions for diving at this port. Bummer.

Roatan: They say the diving here is really good. Lots of Marine life. This is a present pick for diving.

Grand Cayman: Not much to see on the island in my opinion. Reminds me a lot of the FL Keys. We did the Stingray swim a few years ago. This is a Present pick for diving.

I'm looking forward to suggestions on my Itinerary/picks.

Also, should I book Carnivals dive excursions or go elsewhere? If outside Carnival, any recommendations?

Thanks

 

[diversteve]

Carnival's cruise operator on Grand Cayman is Don Fosters. Another option is one of the operators with smaller boats like Deep Blue or Wall to Wall. Both are booked thru Lobster Pot Dive. Either is in Georgetown.

Welcome to Don Foster's Dive Cayman Come Dive with Us
Cruise Ship Visitors to Grand Cayman | Scuba Diving in Grand Cayman from Lobster Pot Dive Center

Anthony's Key is the cruise operator on Roatan. They have a shuttle since they're on the north side and your ship docks at Mahogany Bay on the south. Probably a 1/2 hr. ride. Two other options there are Barefoot Divers or Subway Watersports. Some of the West End shops can also accommodate cruise divers depending on your port time. West End Divers is one. Subway also picks you up at the cruise port, Barefoot is a 10min. cab ride away. There might also be a shared ride shuttle to the West End you could take advantage of - IDK how you'd find out though. We dove with Coconut Tree Divers and twice there was someone from a cruise on the boat. I believe it was in the morning - their boat leaves at 9AM sharp.

www.anthonyskey.com
http://www.barefootdiversroatan.com/Diving/CruiseShipShoreExcursions/
http://www.subwaywatersports.com/shore_excursion.htm#.UeXiLaxdA-o
http://www.westenddivers.info/packages/

 

[EL Pistoffo]

Carnival's cruise operator on Grand Cayman is Don Fosters. Another option is one of the operators with smaller boats like Deep Blue or Wall to Wall. Both are booked thru Lobster Pot Dive. Either is in Georgetown.

Welcome to Don Foster's Dive Cayman Come Dive with Us
Cruise Ship Visitors to Grand Cayman | Scuba Diving in Grand Cayman from Lobster Pot Dive Center

Anthony's Key is the cruise operator on Roatan. They have a shuttle since they're on the north side and your ship docks at Mahogany Bay on the south. Probably a 1/2 hr. ride. Two other options there are Barefoot Divers or Subway Watersports. Some of the West End shops can also accommodate cruise divers depending on your port time. West End Divers is one. Subway also picks you up at the cruise port, Barefoot is a 10min. cab ride away. There might also be a shared ride shuttle to the West End you could take advantage of - IDK how you'd find out though. We dove with Coconut Tree Divers and twice there was someone from a cruise on the boat. I believe it was in the morning - their boat leaves at 9AM sharp.

www.anthonyskey.com
day dive packages|cruise shippers|full valet service
Isla Roatan cruise ship shore excursions / tours Western Caribbean
http://www.westenddivers.info/packages/

Thanks for the info. I just previously found out about Barefoot. They look promising.

I found this dive operator in Cayman through these forums http://www.cruisediver.net/index.htm. Any thoughts?
I will look into your Cayman links.

 

[drrich2]

Cozumel is touristy and 'experiencing the culture' may well entail getting harassed by desperate vendors. On the other hand, book independently with a private excursion like Living Underwater and you may get the option for long gives on 120 cf steel tanks.

On a Royal Caribbean cruise stop in Belize, I did an excursion taking a boat ride up the new River, did a jungle walk & visited 3 Mayan Ruins, 2 of which we climbed atop (those who wanted to). That was a nice tour.

Richard.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

Cozumel is touristy and 'experiencing the culture' may well entail getting harassed by desperate vendors. On the other hand, book independently with a private excursion like Living Underwater and you may get the option for long gives on 120 cf steel tanks.

On a Royal Caribbean cruise stop in Belize, I did an excursion taking a boat ride up the new River, did a jungle walk & visited 3 Mayan Ruins, 2 of which we climbed atop (those who wanted to). That was a nice tour.

Richard.

Yeah, my wife is from Nicaragua, so poverty and desperate vendors is nothing new to us. If it were up to me i'd dive BUT she wants to check out Cozumel so i guess that's settled.

I've been going through dive shop recommendations from the members here and I've decided to skip the ship excursions and go private. I'm not clueless to getting around places or reading a watch, plus my knowing Spanish wont hurt.

This is what I have so far:

Roatan - Barefoot divers

Cayman - The Lobster Pot

Only thing that could change are the 2 ports I've chosen dive at. Maybe it's worth swapping out one of my picks for Belize? If I were to choose Belize i'd dive with Sea Sports.

Any thoughts?

 

[diversteve]

I found this dive operator in Cayman through these forums Cruise Diver dive snorkel trip for cruise ship passengers Cayman Islands. Any thoughts?
I will look into your Cayman links.

I forgot about them. If you read the About page, they're actually Divers Down. Although I have no personal exp. with them you should find some positive reviews here. Check the Cayman Islands forum also. It's a toss-up for me although I have some personal knowledge of Wall to Wall ( at LobsterPot), they're a good outfit. If there's time they'll offer you a free tank to dive Cheeseburger - their house reef. It's not a great dive being in town but it is getting wet a third time.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

Got my dive with Barefoot Divers at Roatan booked. Could only do one tank dive here due to time constraints.

Also have my dives with Deep Blue Divers at Grand Cayman setup.

Thanks for the help folks.

 

[vladimir]

I think the diving off Belize's outer atolls is among the best in the Caribbean. The logistics might be challenging within the time constraint of a cruise ship visit.

 

[diversteve]

Unless you're really short on time, buy lunch thru Barefoot also. It's an upscale resort so good food. They have tables on the patio in front of the dive shop right on the water. (channel)

Dive Mary's Place, although you can literally see it from Barefoot Cay, it's one of the signature Roatan dives.

One of Roatan’s most spectacular dive sites, famous for its deep crack that was formed by volcanic activity and extends down 95 feet

If you're not Advanced, go somewhere else as staying on top isn't as good. I've heard Insidious Reef is excellent also.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

Unless you're really short on time, buy lunch thru Barefoot also. It's an upscale resort so good food. They have tables on the patio in front of the dive shop right on the water. (channel)

Dive Mary's Place, although you can literally see it from Barefoot Cay, it's one of the signature Roatan dives.
If you're not Advanced, go somewhere else as staying on top isn't as good. I've heard Insidious Reef is excellent also.

Unfortunately my wife and I are not AOW yet. So it will have to be somewhere else.

Yes, I am planning on buying lunch through them.