Princess W. Caribbean

[Scotto97]

I'm think of taking the Grand Princess out of Galveston on 11/26. It visits some great dive spots as follows:

 

Belize 1PM-7PM

Grand Cayman 12PM - 7PM

Cozumel 10AM-6PM

 

As you can see, the ship does not arrive in the morning (usual dive time) Has anyone taken this trip and can tell me if Princess arranges dives during these odd arrival times? Thanks

[Tos]

I've done dives in each of those places within the last 6 months. You'll enjoy Cozumel the most provided you get hooked up with the right dive operator. Belize is the next best and unfortunately with the devistation the hurricane envoked on the Caymans, it will be the least colorful dive of the bunch.

[Jersey42]

We were on the Grand in April. We arrived almost two hours late in Belize. I understand this happens fairly often. We didn't dive in Belize because we were going to go cave tubing. Because of our late arrival, cave tubing was canceled. However, the ship's tour picked the divers up at the ship and headed directly for the long trip to dive site. With the late arrival, they only got in one dive. If you want to dive in Belize, the ship’s tour is the only option.

 

We dove in Grand Cayman with the ship's tour (Don Foster's). Both sites were fairly close to shore, and they were in great shape. We were hesitant because of the hurricane, but we were not disappointed.

 

We dove with Blue Ha (now Dreamtime) in Mahahual. This is the only port where there is no ship's dive tour. We made our own reservations via e-mail and everything worked out great. The dive shop is a short cab ride from the pier, and the reef is only a short boat ride from the dive shop. The dive boat was tiny, but we only had three divers on each dive. The reef is pristine, the canyons are interesting and the dive operation is great. They just updated their website (http://www.dreamtimediving.com/) with pictures and videos. Tanya will be very helpful.

 

Finally Cozumel remains a diver’s paradise. With the Grand's late arrival, the ship's tour is probably your best bet. There are lots of dive operators in Cozumel. You might want to e-mail some of the ones recommended in the posts and see if they can accommodate the mid morning arrival.

[bruce-r]

Also, for Cozumel, many of the dive operations do afternoon dives that leave around 1:00 PM , so that should work for you there.

 

Check this thread for some dive op recommendations:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=94710