Shore diving

[DivingPrincessE]

The only catch is, if you booked your dive through the cruise ship, you would know that they will HOLD THE SHIP for you if you returned late.

My mom and I are pretty avid cruisers and they will not hold the ship for you, even if you are with their excursion. All they do is pay to fly you to the next island...and if you have just been diving you aren't going to be able to fly for 12-18 hours. If you have good travel insurance with trip interruption and other options, you get flown to the next island for no cost anyway. I wouldn't book a dive at an island unless we were going to be there all day anway. All of the dive trips I have planned for my next cruise pick me up at the pier, 15-30 minutes after we dock. The dive trip is planned for four hours...but even if things go wrong I doubt it will take 8 hours.

Even though they won't hold the ship for you until you get back, they do delay it. There was a couple that was left at Cozumel on our last cruise and the ship left about 45 minutes late. About 20 minutes after we had left we saw a smaller motor boat leave the ship and it returned shortly with the people we left behind.

The only time a ship might wait for people on an excursion is a large percentage of passengers are on that excursion, like was the case for the zipline/cave tubing in Belize. I'm not saying they returned late (they didn't), but it seems like hundreds of people did that (about 3/4 of the auditorium) and I doubt they would leave that many people behind. They might hold the boat for the 15 or so divers, but I wouldn't want to be one of the 2 or 3 on the deep sea fishing exursion if there were delays.

 

[hokie_diver]

I've done Coki Beach at St. Thomas. We had been diving out of one of the resorts, but took a day trip to Coki just to see what's there.

It's not a bad dive, and it is pretty easy, but I was somewhat underwhelmed. I suppose I sort of felt that way about St. Thomas as a whole, though...

As long as the price is right, go for it.

 

[MoneyGuy]

My mom and I are pretty avid cruisers and they will not hold the ship for you, even if you are with their excursion. All they do is pay to fly you to the next island...and if you have just been diving you aren't going to be able to fly for 12-18 hours. If you have good travel insurance with trip interruption and other options, you get flown to the next island for no cost anyway. I wouldn't book a dive at an island unless we were going to be there all day anway. All of the dive trips I have planned for my next cruise pick me up at the pier, 15-30 minutes after we dock. The dive trip is planned for four hours...but even if things go wrong I doubt it will take 8 hours.

Even though they won't hold the ship for you until you get back, they do delay it. There was a couple that was left at Cozumel on our last cruise and the ship left about 45 minutes late. About 20 minutes after we had left we saw a smaller motor boat leave the ship and it returned shortly with the people we left behind.

The only time a ship might wait for people on an excursion is a large percentage of passengers are on that excursion, like was the case for the zipline/cave tubing in Belize. I'm not saying they returned late (they didn't), but it seems like hundreds of people did that (about 3/4 of the auditorium) and I doubt they would leave that many people behind. They might hold the boat for the 15 or so divers, but I wouldn't want to be one of the 2 or 3 on the deep sea fishing exursion if there were delays.

Sure they hold ships for people on ship-sponsored excursions. I've seen it. Maybe not for one person 10 hours late, but to say they DON'T hold ships is incorrect.

Thanks for the good responses to my questions. I'm glad I found this wonderful site.

 

[editmojo]

I snorkeled Coki before I was certified. It was ok but crowed as it is popular with the cruse crowd. And they feed the fish so it felt very unnatural to be hounded by all the fish looking for hand outs.

Check out the Greater Antilles regional board. There are several dive outfits listed for St T. We stayed at Bolongo Bay which had a dive shop. I wasn't diving then so I couldn't rate them. We saw at least 2 or 3 others on the island.

But Coki sure beats not diving.

 

[MoneyGuy]

I also have the option of boat diving on St. Thomas with the same operator. Should I do that instead of the shore dives? Price is a little more for the boat but that doesn't matter for me. I want the best experience.

 

[hokie_diver]

If the price is similar for a two tank boat dive and the two tank shore dive, I'd personally hop on the boat.

The shore dive is fine, but $50 (or $70 for two-tank) is pretty expensive for what it is. I think we used that op when we dove there, but we didn't pay for a guide... It's not necessary. We basically just brought mask/fins/snorkel and rented vests at the beach.

On the other hand, after the shore dive you can lounge about on the beach. The food stands have waiters that roam around, ours was hilarious. You can grab a burger and a cocktail. Stay away from the bathrooms, the one I changed in was filthy and had drug paraphenalia laying around. Overall, Coki Beach was pretty overrated I thought.

 

[editmojo]

I'd sure consider a boat dive. There are suppose to be some unusual sites. I remember some guys talking about calf and cow rock that have very unique structure.

Google "St Thomas dive sites" and check out some of the dive maps. And on a boat you can easily dive 2 sites.

 

[CFDAlden]

We did a cruise booked 2 tank dive in St. Martin, and it was fine. 7 people in the group, not overloaded at all.

As far as safety, our DM had a "discussion" with the guy who blew his safety stop because he "didn't need to". 60' dive for 35 minutes. She (our DM) was not a happy camper.

 

[DivingPrincessE]

Sure they hold ships for people on ship-sponsored excursions. I've seen it. Maybe not for one person 10 hours late, but to say they DON'T hold ships is incorrect.

Thanks for the good responses to my questions. I'm glad I found this wonderful site.

I said in my post they held the ship for 45 minutes or so for two joe schmo's not on an excursion...just walking around. They will the hold the ship to an extent for excursions or non-excurions...but just because you are on an excursion does not mean they will hold the ship for you. If you don't believe me, then ask them. They will tell you point blank, "No we will not hold the ship for you" They will delay the departure somewhat and if you are on an excursion booked through the ship they will pay to fly you to the next island. Like I said, I cruise a lot...just ask them...

 

[peterbj7]

They will always hold the boat for you if you're on an excursion booked by them, but often won't if you booked privately. I know people who've been left behind, so this isn't academic. A strong incentive for using the in-house arrangements, however financially unattractive they may be.

On shore diving in rough conditions, my experience is that it isn't the entrance that's difficult but the exit. On a dive off SE England with biggish waves and a strong surge, with steep shingle beaches, it took us over 15 minutes from when we were first standing in shallow water.