Reccomendations on Dive OP in Belize, Roatan and Costa Maya MX

[nuts4corals]

Hello All,
Going to be on a cruise in late October early November 2024.

I will have single shore days at the following. Shore days will be 8am-5:30pm.

1. Harvest Kay, Belize
2. Roatan, Honduras (coxen hole)
3. Costa Maya, MX

I would like to do some diving in all three places. I'm usually a 2 tank drift diver like most of us, I guess. I want to see the wildlife and corals mostly reef not into wreak diving. I do have close to 500 dives with my own gear. However, I am not sure I will be taking my gear with me this time so may be renting.

I would love some reccomendations from experts here on the three ports of call above. Preferably with dive ops that will pick up and drop off at or walking distance to the cruise port... Harvest cay is NCLs private island. Is there any good diving down that way south? I know turneffe, lighthouse reef are excellent but those would be too far. Any ops that would pick up divers from harvest cay or is that not happening?

Also have a question about dive knives and equipment on cruise ships... specifically Norwegian. Do they allow you to bring equipment (less tank) on board? Anyone have expierience with this? When I fly, it hasn't been an issue as long as it's in the check in never brought it on a cruise ship b4.

Thanks in advance for any and all reccomendations offered.

 

[BigDaddyGlad]

On a private island, you're typically restricted to the cruiseline's dive operation on the island, if there is one. I don't sail NCL (or, to be more exact, won't ever sail NCL again), but I know RCL has a shop on Perfect Day at Coco Cay, but not on Labadee.

In Roatan, most ship dive excursions use Anthony's Key. You could probably try to call them to book direct, but I suspect they'll just tell you to book through the cruise excursion.

In Costa Maya, you'll have to take a short cab ride to Muhahal, the nearest town. It's got a great boardwalk with shops, hotels, restaurants, and of course, dive shops. My recommendation in Muhahal is Gypsea Divers. Catherine is the owner there and is absolutely lovely. When I last dove with them, I was the only diver, so the boat was the captain, the guide and me. Fantastic experience.

Again, I don't sail NCL, but I always take all my gear if I'm planning to dive on the cruise. It's never been an issue, and I leave everything to dry on the balcony between dive stops. Leave the knife at home, though.

 

[nuts4corals]

Thanks for all of your info. Just wondering if you can elaborate more on why you don't sail NCL or won't ever again? It's only my second cruise and never experienced any other cruise company. So I have alot to learn in this way.

On the diving... is Anthony's Kay good diving compared to other locations in beleize? Whats the distance in time of Anthony's key from NCLs harvest key?

 

[BigDaddyGlad]

This isn't exactly the forum to get into cruiseline reviews, but I will answer your question to say I have sailed with Royal Caribbean more than 15 times when travelling with our kids, and with Celebrity 5 times without. We tried NCL Prima back in April 2022, just a few weeks after her inauguration and we found the ship design very passenger-unfriendly, the venues all too small to accommodate the number of passengers, and the constant upselling annoying. Perhaps we were spoiled by RCL/X, but I won't give NCL another chance, given the high-cost of cruising. I know NCL has many loyal customers, so they must be doing something right by somebody. Just not for us, I guess.

Roatan is one of the few islands I haven't cruise-dived yet. We've only had one itinerary which stopped there, and my kids wanted to see the sloths, so it was a dry day.

 

[Wants2divemore]

I just dove Roatan and Costa Maya on a Royal Caribbean cruise several weeks ago. Here are my reviews for Anthony's Key (Roatan) and Gypsea Divers (Costa Maya).

Trip Report - Anthony’s Key Resort on a cruise - Roatan

TLDR - Good dives with established operator, but questionable safety on dive. Would not dive with them again on a cruise excursion. I took an official Royal Caribbean shore excursion dive with Anthony’s Key resort on April 10, 2024. When booking the dive, it was advertised as being with...

scubaboard.com

Trip Report - Puerto Costa Maya / Mahahual - Gypsea Divers

TLDR - Good operator, would use again. Easy to get to from the Puerto Costa Maya (Mahahual) cruise terminal if you’re coming in on a cruise. I dove with Gypsea Divers on April 8, 2024 while on a cruise stop in Puerto Costa Maya, which is a marketing term for the cruise terminal just north of...

scubaboard.com

As I mention in my review, Anthony's Key was well run and easy (because it was an official cruise excursion). If it's an official excursion, check with them to see if there are any limitations that the cruise company puts on them. On my excursion, the guide mentioned that Royal Caribbean set a max depth of 60' (which wasn't mentioned anywhere in the excursion information). Anthony's Key chose 2 sites very close to their docks which were okay. I've never been to Roatan before but read that there are other better areas than we dove. If you're timing allows it, I'd consider another operator. Island Diving Center dives in the West End area (which from what I've read has better diving than where AKR is) and also has a lot of good SB reviews. They'll pick you up and drop you off at the cruise terminal.

I also recommend Gypsea Divers in Costa Maya. From what I can tell, there are no dive shops within walking distance of the cruise port. Their rental gear looked fine if you're not bringing your own. Doctor Dive has also gotten good SB reviews, but I don't have any experience with them.

As for bringing knives and other gear, NCL should have an official policy on what's permitted. I know that Royal Caribbean prohibits knives and I would expect that NCL does too.

 

[nuts4corals]

Thank you so much for all of this great info. I WILL check our island diving on west end and I already saw your other reviews as I have been scanning your material lol. Very good reviews BTW and I already watch a few you tube vids in that regard. So thankful.