Where to dive?

[BMETdiver]

My wife and I are taking a cruise in December and these are the locations we will be going to:
Labadee, Hispaniola
Ocho Rios, Jamaica
George Town, Grand Cayman
Cozumel, Mexico

So if you could only dive one which would you choose? And why? My wife has finally decided that she will get her OW but will only have the training dives, probably Quarry so I want her to have memorable dives to really get her hooked. Thanks for your input.

 

[BurBunny]

For ease of logistics, I'd choose Cozumel. Because you'll likely dock there, you can easily and reliably get ashore in a timely manner to catch the local boats. Definitely book on your own - head down to the Cozumel forum here for good recommendations (Blue XT, Dive with Alison and others). Part of what factors in here is the time of your arrival. Some of the Royal Caribbean ships (which I know you're on because of your stop in Labadee) don't arrive early in the AM, which can complicate matters.

However, for ease of diving, it depends on your wife's buoyancy skills. Some new divers find the currents and drift diving in Cozumel to be a bit challenging. If she's still rough around the edges that way, you might want to consider Grand Cayman instead, and I'd recommend either the ship's excursion there due to times in port, or Neptunes Divers. But be aware that time of year you have perhaps a 20% chance of not making the port, so make contingency plans in Cozumel just in case

Don't even think about diving in Ocho Rios or Labadee - not worth the time or effort, especially for that "wow" effect.

 

[Dave Zimmerly]

Agree with BurBunny. Recommend Dive Paradise to dive with.

 

[BMETdiver]

Thanks for the advice, at this time it will be me with gear and my wife with out any. The ship is supposed to get in at 0800 and leave at 1700. If I wanted to do a dive other than with the ship, who is available in that area?
Do they guide tours or is it here is the reef go for it? Any advice/ information on diving in that area would be appreciated. Thanks Lee

 

[BurBunny]

Both GC and Cozumel are generally guided dives (especially Cozumel). If you're in port from 8A, Neptunes would be easily arranged. www.neptunesdivers.com.

 

[blawler1]

For a brand new diver, I would do the afternoon one tank dive to Paradise reef with Paradise Divers in Cozumel. This is a very fun, easy shallow dive (40') with tons of stuff to see (including the only sea horses I've seen in Cozumel), and your wife can get a taste of Cozumel drift diving without facing a +90' advanced wall dive over the abyss as her first time off the back of the boat. Its cheap (about 35$), easy to get to from the pier and you won't be pressed for time to make it back to the ship. Besides, it gives you all morning to go shopping.

On Grand Cayman you could go two ways. If your ship gets in early enough, you could check out a morning two tank to the west side with or without the ship.

What I would do instead is head over to the Eden Rock dive shop just south of the cruise pier and do a couple of shore dives on Eden Rock/Devi's Grotto reef. This is a fun and easy shore dive that bottoms out at about 35'. It has very good visibility and lots of stuff to see. Also, you'll want to take a light as there are many cool swimthroughs in both sites. At about $8 a tank, you can't go wrong as its probably the cheapest thing you'll find on Cayman period.

Either way you go, you could also squeeze in an afternoon one tank boat trip to Stingray City. I know it's cheesy and not really a real dive (its only 12'), but it's just so much fun interacting with the friendly sting rays. Its about $50 each if you don't go through the ship.

 

[tangfish]

I just wrote a recent post about diving Cozumel and the Cenotes along the Riviera Maya (cenotes are freshwater cave systems). You can't go wrong with making it over to Cozumel. The hurricane damaged the town of San Miguel on the island pretty badly, but the diving conditions are still pretty good, according to a dive operator I know there.

 

[H2Andy]

i second blawler1's georgetown suggestions, and if at all possible,
do the Stingray City dive... it's really a unique expereince.

(never been to Coz, so no help there)

 

[Dave Zimmerly]

Cozumel...great drift diving, excellent viz, abundant and varied sealife and the people of Coz are so warm and friendly. Go once, and you will be going back.

For what its worth

Dave (aka "Squirt)

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

If money is not an object consider chartering a boat for the afternoon. Aldora Divers can arrange. We did it on a cruise and recruited two divers off the boat so there were fourt of us. It ended up being cheaper than the ship sponsored dive and it was two of the best dives I have ever done in Cozumel.