Diving Cozumel, Roatan and Belize

[joediver]

We just returned from a cruise on the NCL Dream. One of the main reasons we booked this cruise was because of the itinerary made for diving.

 

I booked Cozumel with Dive w/ Martin. After filling out my paperwork I jumped in the boat with about 5 other divers and discovered they were all in a class with one DM. When we reached the dive site I discovered I had a DM all to myself. Great diving even though the shallower reefs were still covered with sand.

 

NCL uses Anthony's Key for their excursions in Roatan and that's about the only way to get a taste of Anthony's without actually staying there. We were anxious to check out the resort for a future week long family vacation. My wife and 3 other non-divers in the family booked the Dolphin Encounter and had a wonderful time! My 12 year old son and I booked the wall and reef dives and I'm sorry to say we were rather disappointed. The whole group of 30 divers were made to dive in one large group with 2 dive masters leading us around. Aside from being against PADI guidelines, it made the diving really slow and crowded. Anytime the DM would point out anything of interest people were bumping into each other trying to see what he was showing us. This was far from the outstanding service I was expecting from all I've read. My son had difficulty equalizing on the first dive and I had to take him back to the boat. No DM came to check if there was a problem nor did they ask about his welfare between dives. They did not appear to even realize that he had returned to the boat or that I was missing from the group for the first 15 minutes of the dive.

 

Hugh Parkey's in Belize was outstanding service! We were in nice small groups (no more than 8). DM's were very careful to make sure everyone in the group saw all the interesting marine life and answered all questions (Karim was our DM). Careful attention was paid to all the environmental rules of the marine park. During our surface interval there was plenty of water and real coke in bottles along with all the fresh fruit and home made raisin bread you could eat. I would recommend Hugh Parkey's to anyone going to Belize looking for first class service.

[bruce-r]

Thanks for taking the time to post a trip report.

 

.....The whole group of 30 divers were made to dive in one large group with 2 dive masters leading us around. Aside from being against PADI guidelines, it made the diving really slow and crowded.

I don't know about it being against PADI guidelines, but a dive like that is certainly against my personal diving guidelines.

[captainron]

Hi,

Dove in Cozumel with Sand Dollar Sports while there on the EOS in 2005.

Laura and her crew are great.

 

We used 80s with standard kit and had no more than 8 in our boat. We did a drift dive on Santa Rosa reef with 2 DMs and after tugging the fins of one, told him we wanted to go down the wall. As we all had enough air we went over the edge down to 110 feet and at the same time all rolled over on our backs.

 

Vis 200 feet plus, drift dive with current of 2.5-3 knots, water warm, some wore skins...others shorties. Viktor is a fantastic DM who took us through some underwater caves, and over the edge.

 

Can't beat drifting along with angels, blue tang and barracudas...a very relaxing way to dive even with our decompress for a bit on the way up.

 

Strongly recommend Laura and her crew. Here's the website:

 

http://www.sanddollarsports.net/

 

Enjoy diving Cozumel, whether Santa Rosa reef or The Wall or Playancar.

 

Ciao for now!!!