RCI cruise questions -- Costa Maya and Cozumel

[Clearwater]

Mrs. CW and I will be on Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas leaving Galvestion on 20 Dec. Ports of call include Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico.

Both ports feature scuba shore excursions. Does anyone here know who RCI uses as their dive operator in those places? Would you recommend them, and in any case, who would you recommend?

I have read here that the shore excursions often have a high markup from the cruise line and that some money can be saved by going independent. I don't have a problem with that, but in Cozumel especially, the schedule might be bit tight if the operator's schedule doesn't accommodate that of the ship -- we're supposed to dock at 7 a.m. and leave port at 2 p.m.

Also, we currently only have 2mm shortys. Are those likely to be sufficient in early January? They were fine in Playa in October but the water was still about 88F at that time.

Thanks in advance for your help. SB is a great resource!

 

[bethbsting]

You are correct that RCL and other cruise ships have a mark up and it is high!

I think you could easily book on your own in Cozumel. Most dive ops in Cozumel run on time. We booked on our own at that stop.

RCL will use Dream Time Diving in Costa Maya. They are the worst dive op I have ever used. See below.

Costa Maya is a captive audience. There are 3 maybe 4-dive ops there. I have read bad reviews on scuba board about Blue Ocean Safari (http://www.blueoceansafari.com/).

I, however, would not dive with Dream Time again. And the 3rd is Maya Palms. (http://www.mayapalms.com/cruisers.htm). Maya Palms looks to be about 30 minutes south of what some call town. There is a 4th but I do not think he has a website and I can't remember the name. Search scuba board with the key word Mahahual or Costa Maya.

We just took the same cruise last week and dove with Dream Time Diving. All of the staff, except for the British videographer, was rude. They almost lost a diver and then really chewed him out like it was his entire fault (it was partially the dm's fault), the dm never checked with anyone to see if they were okay once we hit the water on both dives. Before the first dive we waited in the water for over 40 minutes while 2 divers had equipment problems, the dm seemed a little mad but never told the two to just call the dive. The dm gave a really bad breifing. The tanks had short fills on the second dive (2,400 psi). The boat did not offer any bottled beverages. I could go on and on. Needless to say, there were others who were dissatisfied as well.

I used a 3 mil farmer john and shortie and was fine. My husband used a 3 mil and he was fine as well. Last week the water temp was between 78 and 81 and the air temp was little cooler. There was a man who dove with us who used a shortie, he seemed fine.

Good luck and try Maya Palms, but only if your port time is generous. The island is very remote and the roads are dirt roads with potholes everywhere. The cars average about 15 miles per hour- so everything takes a long time to get to. Buy the $3.50 water from the cruise ship and take it with you.

The ocean is nice and the corals are in great shape. We had pretty bad ocean vis ( about 25 feet) due to all the rain that had just gone through Mexico. My husband says he would go back but only on a live aboard.

Good luck and hope you find a better dive op than we used. Happy diving.

 

[Scubasw]

I dove while crusing on RCI back in Sept. at Cozumel and Costa Maya. The shop at Cozumel I can't remember the name but I wasn't impressed. If your an experienced diver their OK, but if your a new diver don't count on them keeping track of you. We were met on the dock, then driven in vans (old & dirty) to their marina. The dock was in poor shape and the boat was small. The 12 divers on the excursion were very crowded. The boat was the size of a 6-pack here in the states. Split us into 2 groups with a DM each, however they made little effort to keep the group together. The dive's were good, the 1st to max of 71 feet for 35 minutes and the seond to 42 feet for 50 minutes. Drift dive of course, 87 degrees in a 3 mm shorty. I would not use them if I was booking on my own, but I didn't want to have to worry about getting back to the boat. They just put us in prepaid cabs at the end and sent us on our own back to the dock.

In Costa Maya RCI used Dream Time. Again we were trucked down to their shop? The boat is small for 12 divers plus 2 DM's plus 2 videographers, Captain and a deck hand. You do back rolls off the side, 4-6 at a time. Tanks were not topped off and averaged about 2400-2600. The DM's made some effort to keep the group together, but the videographer really pissed me off. Kept swimming into shots I was trying to take with my own camera while I was trying to get the shot. 1st dive to 74 feet for 45 minutes, Second dive to 71 for 47 minutes. Getting back into the boat wasn't the easiest. They put a wood ladder over the side. Take your gear off in the water, pass it up to them, then climb the ladder, except it broke on the second dive dropping the diver back into the water. They had to pull the rest of us over the side since no ladder. Once we got back to the shop at shore (no dock just beach) they got kind of pushy about buying the video. They didn't want to call for the cabs back to the boat until they could sell enough of the videos. I ddin't buy and didn't tip either since I didn't like their pushy attitude at the end.

Both Cozumel and Dream Time cost over $100 for the dive and I had my own gear. I wouldn't use either operator if booking on my own. All they seemed interested in was getting us in the water and out as fast as possible and then trying to sell us something. My first time diving While on a cruise and I'm not sure I'm going to bother next time. The fish/coral and visibility were great at both places and I would go back to either for more diving again, but not with the Cruise line shops.

 

[bluesbro1982]

As a former cruise ship employee (With Celebrity, owned by RCL), I can assure you that the ships have at least a 100% markup on anything you buy, with shorex markups being among the highest. The way that an operation becomes "recommended" on a ship is by greasing the palms of the line, passing a couple anonymous inspections in the first 3-4 months, and then taking whatever cut they have agreed upon with the line.

Once you are on that boat, they sap cash from you any way they can.

I would highly recommend making your own arrangements. As long as you email and confirm with the shops 2x what your arrival and departure times are, you will save yourself much cash and headache. It is easily possible to get in a dive early as long as you communicate with the cruise staff that you *need* to be off the first tender early in the morning if its a tendered port. Talk nicely with the Cruise Director the first couple nights of the cruise and mention your needs in advance and you'll be in like flynn.

Good luck and happy diving.

 

[Clearwater]

Thanks for all the great responses, especially to Beth and Steve for the heads up on dive operators as well as bluesbro for the insight on cruise ops. Looks like we'll be striking out on our own with Maya Palms in Costa Maya and an operator yet to be determined in Cozumel. I'll post a wrap-up early next year!

 

[scuba_addict]

There is another option in Costa Maya. I own a small PADI dive operation called Blue Ocean Safari. Web site is www.blueoceansafari.com. Our PADI IRRA number is 20937. We take small groups, maximum of six for extended bottom time dives. My email is phillip@blueoceansafari.com and also have a local toll free number - 1-866-520-8765

 

[Trainacomin]

Phillip,

Can you address some of the latest bad reviews(in other threads) with what you have done to improve your dive trips? We're cruising to Costa Maya in June and I'm looking now for a dive shop. My main concerns are the safety issues and low psi.

Thanks!
Clint

 

[havnmonkey]

In Jan. I went to Costa Maya on RCI...

Beforehand I did some research on various cruise websites and found that Muhuahal is a fairly new addition to the cruise scene as well as to dive tourism.

I also found that there was a TON of trashtalking on the internet between the different dive ops. there. It may have been current or ex-employees, I couldn't tell. It was really sad and frustrating.

I looked into Dreamtime, which looked good; however, at the time it was questionable whether they would book you independently if you were with RCI. They have a contract for RCI's cruise excursions. So we went with Maya Palms.

First off, "Costa Maya" is the cruise teminal and that's it. Muhuahal is the fishing to the south, it is small and rich in real culture. Costa Maya is a bunch of shops and a couple bars and some construction.

Maya Palms is indeed 30 mins to the south by taxi. They were expanding the "resort" when i was there, it was under new management and looked to be on the right track. They were looking to have a bunch of bungalows and a restaurant completed this year. It was a really cool setup with gardens and a nice beach and Mayan influenced architecture.

The diving was bad*****, virtually untouched reefs right out front (60-85'). The reef was like underwater mountains with mini-canyons and swimthroughs running between them. We (3) were the only divers around. It was awesome to have almost one-on-one DM attention. The manager and the staff were very friendly and eager for conversation, oh yeah it's also American owned so English is spoken.

If I could I would go back and just stay there for a week and explore the reef out front and go to the Chinchorro banks. I recommend them highly, especially if the same crew is there.

 

[havnmonkey]

by the way I dove Coz the day before and Costa Maya blew it out of the water...

 

[scuba_addict]

Clint, Yes we have had some growing pains and I am not going to shy away from those. Firstly as far as low air fills we have a new compressor operational. As always, DM's are instructed to check all tanks before boarding and spare tanks are onboard. All my DM's, and myself are in status PADI instructors. We are a PADI resort facility and a DAN business member. As far as safety, that has never been an issue. The safety and enjoyment of all divers, and snorkelers, is a premium. Basically I try to treat all clients as if it is myself diving and paying for the trip. We just took out a rather large group from Cruise Critics and they left favourable reviews on the cruise critic board. I will always be available to answer questions and concerns about Blue Ocean Safari, and my background in diving.