Dawn Scuba Diving excursions

[banjohed]

Hi, I am new to this forum and have only cruised a few times in my life (twice as a kid and once for work.) My significant other and I are going on the NCL Dawn on January 18, 2015 and are avid scuba divers. We are wonderign if any has booked the scuba diving adventure in Roatan through the ship that uses Anthony's Key dive shop? If so, how was the excursion? Was it overly crowded or were people put in small groups? Was it more intimate and personalized or was it like herding cattle? We've looked into going through a different Dive Shop, Bananarama (which was highly recommended by family members), on our own but they require 4 divers in order to go out, and so far on that day, January 22, we are the only 2 people who have inquired about their 2 tank dive. Anyone out there want to join us at Bananarama? Thanks!

[pisenor]

Hi banjohed and welcome to Cruise Critic. I am also on that sailing. I unfortunately do not dive so I have no feedback for the excursions but I might suggest you have a look at our roll call and ask you dive questions there as well. You never know you might get another couple to join you for that dive.

 

Here is a link to our roll call:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1981969

 

Best of luck finding the info you are seeking.

[stevenq99]

Anthonys key Resort is beautiful and I am sure they would treat you well. They have nice boats and the dive sites are close. We were there in April for a week and really want to go back.

 

I have heard good things about West End divers and Coconut Tree divers if you need to find anouther choice.

[dalgirl]

DH has dived in Roatan with NCL and it was a very good experience. In fact, because they do such a good job he always takes the ships excursions when available because he knows they will be set up with a good company and back on time. You can't go wrong booking with the ship for this particular excursion. FYI: if you want to make sure that you only dive with others who are certified make sure that is the dive that you choose when you book and don't forget your dive card!

[cliffd64]

Did that excursion before and it was excellent! AKR is a great dive company, they will take care of you!

[banjohed]

Thanks Pisenor! Being new to Cruise Critic I didn't even knwo about the Roll Call. I have posted a message there as well!

[banjohed]

Thanks Cliff! Good to know we will be in great hands with NCL and AKR!

[sparkinator]

I'm on that sailing as well. Not sure yet who I'm diving with in Roatan.

 

Have used Barefoot and Bananarama. Both were great. The only problem we had with Bananarama was my wife didn't enjoy the beach that well. There is another little shop, I believe Maya divers, that is supposed to be good as well. They also have a good rep for non-divers as well.

 

I'm diving Costa Maya with Bucaneros Del Caribe (Jorge is really great to dive with), and Aldora divers in Cozumel.

 

You really picked a good cruise to dive from.

[Kells3738]

We were on the Jewel last week and dived in both Belize and Roatan, arranged through the ship. I would assume NCL uses the same outfits for all of their ships. Both were very professional. In Belize there was one divemaster for each four divers; they were happy to set up the rigs if you wanted them to do so; they triple checked everyone. In Roatan (Anthony's Key Resort), there were two divemasters for six or eight divers, with the captain helping out as a deckhand. Both were combination reef and wall dives; in Roatan, one of the dives was a drift dive, which was nice. Depths were generally 45-80. Getting the equipment was fast and easy at each site; everything seemed fairly new, clean, and well maintained. They were meticulous about checking everyone's certification cards; in Roatan, they were able to look up the PADI number of someone who left the card home, but mentioned that the internet connection sometimes goes out, and in that case you would not be able to dive. Would happily dive with each outfit again.

[bondkjs]

I will be on the cruise the week before you, I plan on doing the Dolphin Scuba Dive in Roatan with the Cruise ship and the Two tank dive in Costa Maya.

 

I'm pretty new to scuba diving as I have only dived for my certification and I'm the only one in my family going on the cruise that dives so I'm hoping they will match me up with a buddy.

[hillbilly73]

We were on the Jewel last week and dived in both Belize and Roatan, arranged through the ship. I would assume NCL uses the same outfits for all of their ships. Both were very professional. In Belize there was one divemaster for each four divers; they were happy to set up the rigs if you wanted them to do so; they triple checked everyone. In Roatan (Anthony's Key Resort), there were two divemasters for six or eight divers, with the captain helping out as a deckhand. Both were combination reef and wall dives; in Roatan, one of the dives was a drift dive, which was nice. Depths were generally 45-80. Getting the equipment was fast and easy at each site; everything seemed fairly new, clean, and well maintained. They were meticulous about checking everyone's certification cards; in Roatan, they were able to look up the PADI number of someone who left the card home, but mentioned that the internet connection sometimes goes out, and in that case you would not be able to dive. Would happily dive with each outfit again.

 

Belize did the operator use weight belts or integrated BCDs? Thanks for the good report on the ship excursion for Belize we are booked and worried about over crowding and hurried dives.

[Kells3738]

They used belts in Belize and integrated weights in Roatan. Most of us dove without wetsuits (the water was pretty warm, about 82, in both places, and the dives were about 50 minutes). A few people wore suits, generally if they had brought them. My son and I both did just fine without. The divemasters were very helpful to the people who weren't sure how much weight to use, particularly the newer divers or those who had mostly done lake or quarry diving and weren't used to salt water. We thought the operators had a good feel for the number of divers per divemaster, and never got the feel they were hurrying the dives. We also noticed that one family had arranged for a private divermaster for their young son; she seemed very good with a new, nervous diver.

[Host Star]

op has found and posted on their roll call... all tour shares must be posted on the roll call board for your cruise.

 

happy Sailings

Edited January 1, 2015 by Host Star