Scuba in Belize, Honduras or Cozumel with Princess?

[homeofthehound]

Wondering if anyone has any scuba diving comments, especially related to Princess excursions in Belize, Honduras or Cozumel? Are Princess scuba excursions worthwhile? My husband is looking for dives/groups that will be beyond "first time" skill level. Any comments would be appreciated! Thanks.

[Stevesan]

You will have a better experience, and price, booking scuba dives directly with local operators. Visit the "ports of call" and "scuba and snorkel" boards for recommendations.

[Laurie S.]

Agreed, do it on your own! It will cost considerably less, you'll have fewer divers on the boat, and, most likely, much better dive sites.

 

Suggestions:

 

Roatan - Subway, Barefoot Divers, Bananarama

 

Belize - Seasports Belize

 

Cozumel - Lots! I don't know a bad one there. I've dived with BlueXTSea and Opal's Dream, both excellent.

[homeofthehound]

Agreed, do it on your own! It will cost considerably less, you'll have fewer divers on the boat, and, most likely, much better dive sites.

 

Suggestions:

 

Roatan - Subway, Barefoot Divers, Bananarama

 

Belize - Seasports Belize

 

Cozumel - Lots! I don't know a bad one there. I've dived with BlueXTSea and Opal's Dream, both excellent.

 

 

Thank you for these suggestions. I will pass them along to my hubby.... I am always concerned that with local excursions, you take the chance that you will be delayed and miss the ship... but I suppose it is just a slim chance :confused:

[Laurie S.]

The local operators are very aware of the time constraints, so don't worry. Barefoot Divers is only five minutes from the terminal, and Seasports Belize bring you right back to the pier by the tenders. And, it's very easy to catch a taxi back to the ship in Cozumel. The operators will even arrange one to be there to take you back.

[Whodat26]

I give another vote for local operators. And if I were you I would dive at all three ports. :) I have used Alex scuba in Cozumel and he was great. No more than six to eight divers and for that many he uses two dive masters and separates divers according to experiance. I also like to go between Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor to find out more about dive operators. Make sure to come back to this thread and tell us who you used and the experience you had. Who knows we might want to use who you chose some

day.

[beckyjohns]

I would definitely recommend local operators in Cozumel and Roatan. Our favorites in Cozumel are Aldora and BlueXTsea. Not from personal experience, but I've heard good things about Barefoot Divers in Roatan.

 

As for Belize, that is the one port where we do actually use the ship excursion and here's why. The tender ride in Belize is long, maybe 20-30 minutes, including loading and unloading. In order to use a local operator, you have to tender in 30 minutes, then catch the charter that takes you on a boat right back out to sea again. When your dives are done, repeat that process again. It's a LONG day and depending how long you're in port, you may be cutting it close. Not to mention, the first tenders take the ship-sponsered tours first which means you won't even get the first few tenders and you may be late meeting your dive operator. The ship sponsored dive trip will have you board the dive boat DIRECTLY from the ship (no tender) and deliver you back DIRECTLY to the ship. In my opinion, well worth the little bit of extra money.

[Laurie S.]

We did use the ship's excursion on a B2B over New Year's last year. On the first leg, we went to Seasports Belize, with whom I had dived before. On the second leg, we wanted to go to Turneffe Atoll, so we went with the ship's excursion. It was about one dollar difference in price. Even the DM at Seasports said to do that because the excursion dive boats were big and much faster than the pangas that they used.

[homeofthehound]

I would definitely recommend local operators in Cozumel and Roatan. Our favorites in Cozumel are Aldora and BlueXTsea. Not from personal experience, but I've heard good things about Barefoot Divers in Roatan.

 

As for Belize, that is the one port where we do actually use the ship excursion and here's why. The tender ride in Belize is long, maybe 20-30 minutes, including loading and unloading. In order to use a local operator, you have to tender in 30 minutes, then catch the charter that takes you on a boat right back out to sea again. When your dives are done, repeat that process again. It's a LONG day and depending how long you're in port, you may be cutting it close. Not to mention, the first tenders take the ship-sponsered tours first which means you won't even get the first few tenders and you may be late meeting your dive operator. The ship sponsored dive trip will have you board the dive boat DIRECTLY from the ship (no tender) and deliver you back DIRECTLY to the ship. In my opinion, well worth the little bit of extra money.

 

Very good points on the tenders! While I have tendered before and know how it takes some extra time, I hadn't given it much thought about meeting a local tour for an early timeframe.... thanks for the reminder :)!