Need help with scuba dives

[RockyTop2]

Cruising in 8 days and taking adult sons who are both experienced scuba divers. Due to a death of a parent following a lengthy illness, I find myself with no plans. I know there is a wealth of info on this board, but I am so pressed for time. We will be on Celebrity Eclipse Dec. 11 with the following ports...Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Roatan, and Costa Maya...all good ports for diving. Should I just settle for the ship dive excursions or do you have suggestions for independent dives through local shops. I am sorry to have to make this plea, I usually have all my research done well in advance plus, I am not a diver myself. This is a Christmas gift for my sons and I told them I would make all the arrangements and I do not have the heart to tell them I have failed!

[Scooby450]

I am researching dives myself but I have no advice for you as I have not been diving in a long time. But my legwork has led me to believe that diving the cruise line dives is not much fun for experienced divers. They are big dive boats with too many people in the water at once. May I suggest you find a dive forum and get in touch with some local dive shops to plan your dives. That is what I am doing. Best of luck. And sorry for your lose.

[Capt_BJ]

most of my dives with the ship tours have had less than a dozen signed up.

 

I don't find that an oppressive number.

 

Last experience was two weeks ago on RCL to Nassau - ship's tour was with Stuart's Cove which I suspect ALL the ships use given the crowd at the dive shop - but each ship loaded to a different boat and I didn't see other divers in the water where I went down.

 

In Grand Cayman look into shore dives at Eden Rock or Sunset House to save aggrivation....

 

certified over 30 years ago by PADI instructor #6 .... stopped counting dives a long time back . . .

[Middleager]

Cruising in 8 days and taking adult sons who are both experienced scuba divers. .. This is a Christmas gift for my sons and I told them I would make all the arrangements and I do not have the heart to tell them I have failed!

No need to feel you failed. Tell them you began to look into arranging scuba, but found out as a non-diver it's going to require their input.

 

If they are experienced, ask them to begin to make arrangements by giving them the cruise details, with the time in port. If they want to haul their own gears, that's one thing. If they want to just rent gears there, that's another type of arrangement.

 

Do they like boat dives? In Cozumel it's drift diving, and does need to go on a boat. Will it just be the 2 of them diving, or are there others joining, or are there others to go as snorkelers. Do they like/want to use nitrox (enhanced oxygen)? Are they fine with 80 cf tanks or like larger tanks (I go thru air quick so I usually request 100 cf if possible).

 

I am a diver. If someone whose a non-diver says they'll take me to a trip and make the arrangements, I'd be interested in what they want to set up and won't be surprised if they then ask me to get involved in the actual planning/booking. If gear rental is required, the sizes, at least the BCD (air vest) and/or wetsuit and full or shortie and thickness (thicker if one usually gets cold easy). So it's no problem to tell them you need them to get involved.

[Scooby450]

most of my dives with the ship tours have had less than a dozen signed up.

 

I don't find that an oppressive number.

 

Last experience was two weeks ago on RCL to Nassau - ship's tour was with Stuart's Cove which I suspect ALL the ships use given the crowd at the dive shop - but each ship loaded to a different boat and I didn't see other divers in the water where I went down.

 

In Grand Cayman look into shore dives at Eden Rock or Sunset House to save aggravation....

 

certified over 30 years ago by PADI instructor #6 .... stopped counting dives a long time back . . .

 

Thank you Capt. for the response. I stand corrected and I apologize for commenting on a subject I can truly say I have no experience. Your response is diametrically opposed to any I have read before. As stated on here often, I should have taken what was written on the threads with a grain of salt. And with your comment I shall give a closer look into diving with the cruise line's excursion.

[hmp2z]

We'd done exhaustive reviews before booking our dive excursions, and, in every port except Belize, we'd read pretty negative reviews of the dive operations used by the cruise lines. I should add that the negative reviews weren't all on this board, but were on the Scuba Boards as well, with a good number of serious divers.

Our choices were as follows:

Nomad Divers for Costa Maya - that was amazing! We were the only 2 people with Selma for that dive, and she is so laid back that it felt very leisurely.

Subway Sports for Roatan - this was pretty good, with small dive boats of no more than 8 people per boat.

Sea Sports Belize - this was, again, a small boat with no more than 8 people per boat. Very good outfit, and they made sure that we were back in plenty of time to tender to our ship.

Cheers!

Heather W

[hmp2z]

Just wanted to post our reviews, since this board provided useful tips to me when we were planning.

Costa Maya: We went with Nomad Divers, and this was the best diving experience of our lives! The reefs were gorgeous; we went to 40 Canyons & Las Jardines. We saw two sea turtles, a hawksbill and a green turtle, and both were quite close. Selma was very patient and laid back; she worked with our pace, and never tried to rush us. We were the only 2 divers on our boat, but the maximum she will take is 6 divers, so this will always be a very personalized trip. We would highly recommend Selma and Nomad Divers!

 

Roatan: We used Subway Watersports here, and they were quite good. No more than 8 people per boat, and they kept fresh, juicy watermelons for us to eat after each dive. So refreshing! We dove a wreck here, as well as the keyhole reef, and the keyhole reef was very neat. Saw some huge Goliath grouper at the wreck, too. I will add here that we had a bit of an unpleasant experience, but it was caused by a fellow cruiser, not by the dive operation. We were getting picked up at the stop at a set time, but some snorkelers from our boat were getting picked up as well. The snorkelers were 45 minutes late, which left us sitting on the curb waiting for them. As a result, our dive boat left late, which meant that the snorkelers then had to wait 45 minutes for US before the bus would bring us back to the port. We got to the port 2 hours before the ship left, so no worries, but one of the snorkeling party was very ugly to my husband, yelling at him, and he is so nice that he just took it and didn't reply that it was her own fault for being late that morning! Ah, well.

 

Belize City: We used Sea Sports Belize here, but this was our least favorite of the 3 dive sites. The dive operation was pretty good; again, they made sure to bring us back in a timely fashion. The lunch that was provided was not good at all, but getting to eat it on the tiny fishing cay was a very unique experience. No more than 8 people per boat here, which, again, was good to have a small group. Some of the other divers on the boat were heavy breathers, but the dive master just sent them up to the surface and stayed down diving with those who'd mastered breathing techniques in order to maximize below-water time.

[RockyTop2]

Thanks to all of you for your responses! I did email them both the ship dives and ports. They have less time than me, which is the main reason I am in this pinch. The one who dives the most is on a big project and works 6 days a week, 12 hours a day (yes, this is not a typo!) and his brother is out of the country on at the moment.

 

I read about Eden and Sunset rock with most people preferring Sunset since there is a wreck there and a statue. Problem here is one is taking all his own equipment and the other is renting. Is there a place near Sunset to get equipment? Or is there a dive shop at that location?

 

Also, is it too late to set up dives with the dive shops less than a week away? They are both away until Monday.

 

Snorkeling-I would enjoy that if it were where they were, but cruise enough that I would be ok if I did not get it in this trip.

[scuba214]

I haven't used them yet but Bananarama in Roatan usually gets good reviews. I plan on using them in Feb. You can snorkel from the beach while they dive. They have a package you can book with them that includes transportation.

http://www.bananaramadive.com/cruise-shippers/cruiseship-pkg.html

 

You can also snorkel at Eden Rock while they dive. ( I've never been to Sunset) The dive at Eden Rock was nice.

[Capt_BJ]

I rented at Sunset in May - the gear (regs and BCD) was SCUBAPRO

 

They have a very good dive shop.

 

But EDEN has a shop too - and also rents.... I don't think you'll run into poor rental gear in Cayman. It's been a destination for hard core divers for too long to have a shop survive renting poor gear. Now renting in Jamacia on the other hand . . .

 

Both have web-sites with the prices.

 

To shore dive either of these two, nothing needs to be set up unless they want a guided dive (which I feel is un-necessary unless these are their first open water dives after certification). But Sunset responded to my e-mails very quickly in May when I wanted to set up a discovery dive for dd.

[Chillyjilly]

We came in on the Tahitian Princess in Jan 2009. Arranged diving with Cayman Diving College/Divers Down, in Georgetown online. Easy to find, clean shop. We had our own regs and masks and rented everything else. Us and one other diver! And the boat went!

[RockyTop2]

This is great! I keep forwarding all your replies to my sons. I very much appreciate all your help.

[parasailor]

Rockytop: My sympathies on your loss. You seem to be in good shape now; dives can be arranged in a hurry via phone or email. I think trip advisor is a very good source if you want another one.

I wish you a great--and healing--cruise

[CaribKng]

Cruising in 8 days and taking adult sons who are both experienced scuba divers. Due to a death of a parent following a lengthy illness, I find myself with no plans. I know there is a wealth of info on this board, but I am so pressed for time. We will be on Celebrity Eclipse Dec. 11 with the following ports...Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Roatan, and Costa Maya...all good ports for diving. Should I just settle for the ship dive excursions or do you have suggestions for independent dives through local shops. I am sorry to have to make this plea, I usually have all my research done well in advance plus, I am not a diver myself. This is a Christmas gift for my sons and I told them I would make all the arrangements and I do not have the heart to tell them I have failed!

 

I don't know if you will get this in time, but for Grand Cayman you can also try Neptune Divers. They have had a lot of positive reviews. We were going to use them in Feb, but our ship had mechanical problems and we did not make it to Grand Cayman. Sorry for your loss and I hope you and your sons have a fun and safe trip.