Ships dives in general - Mariner specifically

[Treeppl]

Mariner 10-23-05

 

Second time cruising, first time diving, after being certified WAY ;) back in 1989.

 

I've been told by the person getting things together, "The issue we were running in to was that everything was making it way too tight to make it back to the ship and we did not want to dive through the ship because the dives they do are really crowded and not very good."

 

Is this info true? I'm thinking that as a noobie, almost anything short of a being crammed into a boat like sardines would be good. (This coming from a guy who dove down to the bottom to watch a couple of fish swim around a rock in the middle of the sand in Montego Bay.)

 

So right now, we're planning a shore dive in Grand Cayman (our last port). I don't want to wait until the last day for my diving. I'd like to either go it alone in one of the other ports or have info that disputes the "crowded and not very good" theory and talk the others into going another time too. We'll be in the following places....

 

Cococay - 8 am -5 pm

Costa Maya - 7 am -7pm

Cozumel - 7 am - 4 pm

Grand Cayman - 9 am - 5 pm

 

Unless I'm seeing things, if 9am to 5pm is long enough to get a dive in, then 8-5, 7-7 and 7-4 should also be plenty of time. :confused:

 

Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[bruce-r]

"The issue we were running in to was that everything was making it way too tight to make it back to the ship and we did not want to dive through the ship because the dives they do are really crowded and not very good."

I'm not quite clear on what it is that is making it too tight getting back to the ship in time. Just what is the "everything"?

 

So right now, we're planning a shore dive in Grand Cayman (our last port). I don't want to wait until the last day for my diving. I'd like to either go it alone in one of the other ports or have info that disputes the "crowded and not very good" theory and talk the others into going another time too. We'll be in the following places....

 

Cococay - 8 am -5 pm

Costa Maya - 7 am -7pm

Cozumel - 7 am - 4 pm

Grand Cayman - 9 am - 5 pm

With these times you will be in port, you should have no problem in doing a 2 tank dive then making it back to the ship in time. Usually, morning dive trips are done by 1:00, 2:00 at the latest.

 

Now on to my opinions about the ports for diving.

 

Cococay - Only choice here is to go with the ship's shore dive

 

Costa Maya - There are only a couple of choices for diving here. www.dreamtimediving.com is one choice. You will have to take a taxi from the port of Costa Maya, (a fake, disneyland, cruiseline built facility) to Mahahual.

 

Cozumel - If you don't dive here, you can't call yourself a diver ;)

 

There are about 70 different dive operators in Cozumel, so you should have no problem finding a dive operator that will take you out for some excellent dives. I like www.bluextseadiving.com but Christi is popular so she will probably be full. www.divewithallison.com would be another good choice. I've only read good things about her. Also contact www.divewithmartin.com If you get 4 divers together, you can charter your own boat with them. You will definitely not be crowded. wwweagleraydivers.com is popular with many cruise divers

 

Grand Cayman - A shore dive is a good, economical option here. Eden rock is the usual place recommended for cruise divers, but there are a couple of other choices. Sunset House has an onsite dive shop and a decent shore dive site. It is a few blocks past eden rock to the right of where the tenders dock. www.divetech.com also has a good shore dive at their turtle farm location. You will need to take a taxi to get there. In any case, you will either need a buddy or hire a guide to dive. They don't rent tanks to solo divers I've been told.

 

For a boat dive, www.neptunesdivers.com is an excellent choice. I've gone out the Keith and Casey and they are good with noobs as well as advanced divers.

[cal2632]

Mariner 10-23-05

 

Second time cruising, first time diving, after being certified WAY ;) back in 1989.]

 

OK - I'm assuming that you mean first time diving while on a cruise? Not first time diving since certification, right?

[Treeppl]

Bruce, thanks for the info. I'm not actually sure what the "everything" is either, maybe just a lack of wanting to do the planning. So far we've just been emailing, I need to call to find out the whole scoop.

 

The dive we're planning in GC is with divetech. I looked on their site and it showed two locations. Not sure which my cousin/"planner" had in mind.

 

I think my buddies have already planned to swim with the dolphins in Cozumel. Are buddyless people normally able to team up with others (frightful thought, having to talk to people I don't know :o )

 

Cal - Yup, first time diving since certification. I've got a tune-up class scheduled soon. So I guess one thing that I do need to take into account in planning for this trip is to not go somewhere I will be "getting in over my head" - pun intended.

[bruce-r]

The dive we're planning in GC is with divetech. I looked on their site and it showed two locations. Not sure which my cousin/"planner" had in mind.

 

I think my buddies have already planned to swim with the dolphins in Cozumel. Are buddyless people normally able to team up with others (frightful thought, having to talk to people I don't know :o )

I think the divetech choice in GCM is a good one.

 

I'm the lone diver in my family, so I'm always "buddyless". It has never been a problem. If there are no other single divers, the DM will keep a watch on you.

[Capt_BJ]

"Yup, first time diving since certification" ... in 89.....

 

You may have a card ... but you are not certified.

 

Don't dive near me.

 

Sorry guy - get real. I once went 3 years between dives and cut up my card. I started over.

 

No respectible dive operator would take you out on a boat...

 

Refresh class - let me guess, PADI right? Don't get me wrong, I was originally certified by a 2 digit instructor number PADI guy in 1973 - 2 hose regs rule....

 

but my recommendation is CUT UP YOUR CARD and take a different shore excusion

 

or

 

if u want to dive, pay a dive master to be your buddy. My profession includes the opportunity to fly divers who exceeded their skill level to medical help. Your skill level is zero....

 

Not a slam....a strong desire to see you come home....

[Woodsmaster]

Go take a refresher course. Cut up my C card... BS..... But you should go take a refresher course at a minimum. I have dove off and on since 1973. I still have my card from Naui. In the last few years I have upgraded skills to Rescue Diver.

 

My longest layoff was five years and I did not cut up my card. Nor was I a Hazard to anyone around me either. I did sit in a class while my kids were being certified. I am not the most experienced diver in the world, but I have enough dives to know that you need to be comfortable in the water with your gear and your own skills. You have to be comfortable that if you don't feel good about a dive that you do what it takes to get comfortable or you don't go.

 

I saw two divers this past July from Florida who claimed to have over a thousand dives under their belts and had been diving the week before the cruise. They were the two sorriest, sloppiest, and biggest slob divers that I have ever been around. They dumped their air from thier BC's and dropped to the bottom and stood on coral and fans. I watched them break off coral and pull sponges up. They were ripping through the water and nothing had value to them. They grabbed hold of a turtle after the divemaster explicitly signaled them to leave it alone. They were grabbing sea cucumbers and throwing them in the "air". Same thing for any creature they came upon. One of them ran out of air early and was breathing on his buddies octopus and they kept their dive at 65 feet going with both breathing on one tank..... They missed their safety stop entirely.....ran out of air on the way up at about 15 feet. They were dangerous.

 

My younger brother was with us and this was to be his third and fourth salt water dives...... He refused to go in on the last dive. Didn't feel good and did not want to dive with them.

 

If you are comfortable with yourself, your gear, and your surroundings, then there is no real reason that with a refresher course you should not go diving on your cruise.

[Treeppl]

Capt_BJ - Cut up my card? That seems A LITTLE EXTREME, especially since I look so young in the picture. Maybe if I go to class next tuesday and feel like a complete dipsh_t, I'll reconsider diving, but not until then.

 

"Refresh class - let me guess, PADI right?" Uh, yeah, who else might certify divers? You think I should go find a NAUI class?

[budaman]

First...Woods. love your avatar of breaking the sound barrier. So small though can't make out if F-15,18 of maybe B-1.

 

Tree...RCI uses Red Sail Sports in GC. We used them on the Rhapsody and there were 16 on the boat. Split us into groups of 8. Took us to Little Tunnels & La Mesa off SMB. The dives were interesting and everyone seemed comfortable with the crew & fellow divers. This was a good dive for me because it enabled me to get a gremlin off my back that has been there since 1999, the last time I dove GC. Had a bad experience related to equipment and also dive conditions that made me very aprehensive prior to the dive. This was much more mental than anything else because I have had many excellent dives since 1999 in Hawaii and Cozumel and never felt that aprehension. Once getting over that, the second dive and our following dives in Cozumel were extremely enjoyable. The link below has pictures & video from those dives so you can see the condition of the reefs as of April 2005. Don't know how the reefs in Cozumel faired after the hurricane earlier this year.

 

Mike

 

www.homepage.mac.com/csealove/

[Capt_BJ]

No dive since 89

 

but if you can achieve:

"If you are comfortable with yourself, your gear, and your surroundings, then there is no real reason that with a refresher course you should not go diving on your cruise."

 

Then no problem

 

let's see

 

any general eqipment changes since 89? Diving with owned gear? Familiar with many varieties? Sure a quicky course fills in those blanks.

 

Lots of bottom time?????

 

At least pay DAN....if you end up on my 'ride' Mr tax payer will eat the cost. But we don't pay for a chamber ride.

 

As I said, 90 times out of 100 you will be OK. But I don't like watching the other 10 turn blue. And your specifics suggest a higher probability of joining that group.

 

But I anxiously await you're teling me you survived, cuz 9 of 10 times you will.

 

I drive the boat that brings the bodies back:(

[BMETdiver]

I would have to say if it has been 15 years you may want to look into starting over. It will cost a little more but at the same time your life is worth it isn't it? If you remember all the gas physics and how pressure acts on the human body and gasses in it you may be in good shape to get a refresher and work on bouyancy but other wise a 15 year gap is like starting over.

[JimHam4]

I was first certified in '85 by NAUI and did several dives, but was never totally comfortable and had no steady dive partner so stopped going out. My daughter has been bugging me forever to get certified so I signed us both up rather than just taking some kind of refresher for myself. Very glad I did, new charts, computers and reinforcing old memories have changed the way I feel in the water completely and make my dives much more comfortable and fun. I train people on SCBA's and still benefitted from going through the program again.

 

Hoping to never meet CPT BJ (or at least be one of his passengers):)