Best snorkeling & ethical dilemma

[davidBZ]

I will be embarking on my first cruise and first trip to the Caribbean this September (yeah hurricane season I know). Provided the weather cooperates, I would like to spend a good portion of my time in Cozumel and Grand Cayman snorkeling. I've been researching the forums trying to figure out the best spots to go, and have in the process come upon a dilemma.

 

I am very much in favor of preserving ecological purity and the undisturbed balance of nature and would much prefer to be a discrete observer of a natural habitat. However, I also realize that my time in port is very limited, and I would like to experience as wide an array of the marine ecosystem as possible. I keep seeing recommendations for great snorkeling spots mere sentences apart from recommendations for the best things to feed the fish. I don't in any way, shape, or form want to support or condone this behavior, but at the same time I do want to actually have a fun time snorkeling. Are there any spots anybody can recommend that might be more "off the beaten path" where I can find nature undisturbed, or have all the good places become too commercialized?

 

Side note - I had considered scuba (as it seems snorkeling is the "kiddie pool" version of diving), but figured the expense for the limited time I have off the cruise ship wouldn't be worth it for my first trip. If I'm wrong and scuba is really the way to go, let me know!

[davidBZ]

86 views an no responses ... am I the only one who feels this way?

[Hilary]

Okay, I'll bite. I would really recommend that if you want to experience the marine environment as it is naturally, that you seriously consider spending the time, energy, and money to do a "discover scuba" excursion instead of a snorkeling one.

 

There is simply no comparison between the experience of snorkeling vs. diving IMO.

[sea-jay]

I will second Hilary's suggestion. Scuba is the way to go. This is May and you have until September to get certified. If you work at it and your dive instructor can spare the time, this can be done in as little as two weeks like I did. If not, do a "Discover Scuba" excursion.

 

Don't worry about the short time you will have in port. Once you start cruising, you get addicted and you will return many times and will manage to see most of what you want to. (I have been in Nassau 4 times so far and will be there again next week and been in Cozumel and Grand Cayman three times and have only cruised 6 times alltogether.)

 

You didn't say what ports you would be stopping at. Nassau, Cozumel and Grand Cayman are great scuba ports as are the islands in the southern Caribbean. Roatan is also good (I will be diving there in Jan). St Thomas' Coki Beach is great for a beginner or discover scuba course as it is an easy beach dive, water is generally calm as it's in a slight bay area, and the reefs are not very deep.

 

Happy Bubbles!!

[davidBZ]

Thanks for the replies. My cruise is stopping in Key West, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.

 

Any idea how much certification usually costs?

[sea-jay]

I paid about $250 which included the printed material (books), classroom instruction, pool work, and 4 dives, two of which were open water (ocean) dives and two were confined (lake dives) here in central Florida. This was a few years ago. Check with any local dive shop in your area and shop around. Ask questions of some of the divers in your area (you'll usually find them hanging around dive shops on the weekends (especially in the early morning as they get ready to head out on a dive:) )

 

You can also take a discover scuba course aboard most of the cruise ships. Generally, you can't get a full certification aboard ship because of the number of dives you have to complete. However, any training is good if all you want to do is experience it to find out if you want to get into it in a big way. Your posts don't say what part of the country you live in but if its near water, you may find you can't stay away once you get down the first time.:D

 

Just for the record - I was 60 when I got my cert.

 

Happy bubbles

[scubaran]

Thanks for the replies. My cruise is stopping in Key West, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.

 

Any idea how much certification usually costs?

 

Hi,

 

First off, to answer your question, finding a spot that may be "off the beaten path" is not possible in KW, GC or Coz where multiple cruise ships arrive every day. They're just to touristey and you'll have to accept that where you go, many have gone before. Does that mean that all the fish are dead and the coral is bleached out, no, but don't expect pristine either. GC and Coz are good places to explore underwater, especially if you haven't cruised before. The snorkeling/diving is good in either case and I'm sure you'll be thrilled with the life that is there (GC is known for its turtles, tarpon and stingrays). Though I'm a certified diver, and thus biased towards diving experiences, I still agree at minimum you should do a "discover dive". This is where they will take you in a body of confined water, either a pool or small shallow cove, and teach you the basics behind handling scuba gear. It's not that difficult and the main difference in these and official certification is the depth of knowledge they cover, the level of details on equipment functions, and of course the practice and skills you need to develop to dive without supervision. But believe me, the pool time makes up for the freedom in the water. Snorkel excursions, which I was subjected to on a cruise three weeks ago, usually consists of 10-20 people, all inexperienced in the water, kicking each other in the head with their fins, coughing up water from improper use of their snorkels and standing on shallow reefs, killing them while adjusting their masks. I'm not bitter, this is what I saw, and experienced, three weeks ago (and 10 years ago when I started going to the Caribbean). With discover dives, you typically will stay above 25' below the water, the safest part of the water column, where you can hover over the reef without the need to stand on it, see the best fish (mature fish go deeper than what normal snorkel waters allow) and have a smaller group (because of the need to supervise discover divers, on most islands dive masters are limited in the number of people they can have in their groups (usually I experienced less than 6 people)). In addition, since you have up-down, left-right, there are less collisions with others (I remember in Star Trek the Wrath of Khan, when Spock said, "Khan exibits a two-dimentional approach to problems" :) ). Anyway, the reefs and waters in both islands are great and I'm glad that someone new is wanting to experience the sights and sounds that others in this thread have had the luck to experience.

 

Hope this helped,

Randall

[Lou33]

David,

 

Your cruise is going to some of the best snorkeling/scuba places in the world. I disagree that snorkeling cannot compare to scuba. I am a certified diver, but I usually go snorkeling. You can see just about everything snorkeling as you can scuba diving. Especially if you can free dive down to 10 ft or so.

 

Scuba diving is great, but I also recommend that you get certified and not do the "discovery" type dives. No place in the US will let you scuba dive without being certified, and there is a good reason for that, and it is safety.

 

When you go to Cozumel, *dont take the ships excursion*, if you go snorkeling. There is no reason for that. Just take a taxi to Dzul-Ha or Corona beach. You can go at your leisure, you can escape the cruise crowds, and it is free. They also have food, drinks, lockers, showers, rentals available.

 

In Grand Caymen, consider going to Stingray City, but don't book this on the ship, go to a place like Capt Marvins. It is cheaper, less crowded, and they make more stops.

 

Both Cozumel and Grand Caymen are also excellent for Scuba Diving. Some of the best diving in the world. Have fun.

[scubaran]

Oh, forgot, the cost of certification depends on where you are. In my area it's $385 for a PADI Open Water certification. However the price can vary up dramatically depending if you do it in the Caribbean, Florida, a land locked state and other countries. Look for a few local dive shops in your area and inquire.

[davidBZ]

I'm in the Dallas, TX area, and it does look like it'll be about $300 or so per person. I'm not sure I'm up for a $600 + equipment investment for this trip. However, I'm very much open to the possibility that I'll be hooked on vacationing in the Caribbean as some of you suggested. At that point I'm pretty sure I'll be getting PADI Open Water certified so that I can experience it the "real way". In the meantime (and in expectation of that eventuality) I'll put some money into decent gear that I can still use if I do decide to get certified for diving.

 

And yeah, I'm not a big fan of the whole "big group guided tour get herded around like cattle" style of vacationing, so I doubt I'll be going with ship excursions or probably any structured excursions at all.

 

Thanks for all the information. You guys have been a great help!

[Middleager]

I'll add another vote for scuba vs snorkelng. I was at an AI resort in Jamaica 3 years ago and it included scuba diving. I signed up for the 3hr pool lesson, went out shallow diving, then decided I wanted get certified. I'm not a good swimming, and the hardest part of the lesson was passing the initial swim test (which I almost didn't make). It was an eye-opener being able to see/move underwater.

 

Don't spend too much on equipment yet. The mask/snorkel are the beginning, maybe fins, and the rest you can rent.

 

You can buy some material beforehand. PADI and NAUI (and others) also have tapes/DVDs you can buy to start to learn some basics. The Open Water certification requires 4 OW dives. So you can do all the course work, pool sessions, and do the OW "referral" dives on your trip. Almost all dive ops will do the referral dives. But another option is the PADI Scuba diver "certificatin" where you go halfway with 2 OW dives and get some credits for it, and you have one year to complete the rest.

[JodiBB]

I'll also jump on the bandwagon and suggest scuba over snorkeling...you may want to get certified before going on your trip so that you don't have to spend part of your vacation studying and practicing...you can spend all your time enjoying your dives!

[cruzegirl]

I will echo everyone else here.... Invest in doing the scuba.... And to see if it's for you, do a discover scuba at your local dive shop.... Most of the time the discover scuba is free... but you can see if you like it and then if you do, go forward..... I wouldn't purchase gear until you are certified... Number 1 to use what they have and get a feel for what you like and want.... But number 2 to make sure you DO like it..... Invest in a snorkel, mask and fins.... You'll need those for snorkeling anyways.... I dive and snorkel so you can have fun at both... And if you work on it now, you can take your time and do it right.... Then you'll enjoy those ports even more.... :D

Hope that helps......

[berniemom]

hi,

done both.

both r great.

more heavier equip for scuba, depends on which U like better.

gc= stingrays***** -EXCELLENT, the stores (atleast the trip we did) just seemed to want the $. so the snorkeling was way better then the shopping.

Shopping was much better in cozumel.

 

Cruiseline set ups, too crowded .

 

Cozumel= awsome snorkeling, take a cab for about 10.00 , and they will take u too beaches , where the locals like to go, and u can rent equip if needed, they have bar service, and a really cool little store set up with really cool items you can barter for.

 

enjoy a negro medalla - a local beer , or a bohemia also good.

 

also they have these bed like places too lay out on , as well as tables with umbrellas .

 

u can just walk right into the water.

 

Loved Cozumel so much, we set up another cruise for a return trip there.

I've even been learning Spanish in the hopes it helps even more.

 

Yes there was ALOT of damage from the hurricanes, but it was still pretty, i'm sure when they get everything done it will be breath taking.

[Host Star]

David,

 

Your cruise is going to some of the best snorkeling/scuba places in the world. I disagree that snorkeling cannot compare to scuba. I am a certified diver, but I usually go snorkeling. You can see just about everything snorkeling as you can scuba diving. Especially if you can free dive down to 10 ft or so.

 

Scuba diving is great, but I also recommend that you get certified and not do the "discovery" type dives. No place in the US will let you scuba dive without being certified, and there is a good reason for that, and it is safety.

 

When you go to Cozumel, *dont take the ships excursion*, if you go snorkeling. There is no reason for that. Just take a taxi to Dzul-Ha or Corona beach. You can go at your leisure, you can escape the cruise crowds, and it is free. They also have food, drinks, lockers, showers, rentals available.

 

In Grand Caymen, consider going to Stingray City, but don't book this on the ship, go to a place like Capt Marvins. It is cheaper, less crowded, and they make more stops.

 

Both Cozumel and Grand Caymen are also excellent for Scuba Diving. Some of the best diving in the world. Have fun.

In cozumel Dzul ha , Corona and Chankanaab have not recovered from the hurricane damage to the inshore reefs.. in Cozumel you should take a excursion out to the fabulous reefs for some snorkeling.. either the ship's excursion or an independent one.. in Grand Caymen capt. marvin or Nativeway are two that make more than one stop when dong sting rays and less crowded than the ships excursions..

[SeaBunny]

I have been diving and snorkeling for ages. DH and I have pretty much given up diving now because so many of the dive operators are less than stellar. Seems they only want to dump you in deeper water, tell you to come back in 20 minutes (even if you have a dive computer) and then dump you in shallow water. It felt like we were making an huge investment in time and money and not getting much bottom time in return.

 

Part of our complaint is that we have done a number of live-aboard dive-boats, where you freedom to dive as you wish and the diving convenience is so extraordinary. If you do get certified (and it is well worth the effort and invstment), you must try this at least once. It's diving heaven (but, of course none of the cruise comforts you're accustomed to).

 

That said, we have the same negative feeling towards snorkeling excursions, whether ship run or not. As mentioned earlier, all the inexperienced folks can make it miserable. Your best defense is to be the first into the water (everyone will take their time) and get away from the crowd.

 

You'll see more variety of sea life and better color snorkeling than you wil on any dive of much depth. Colors fade away the deeper you dive. We uswd to carry small underwater flashlights on daytime dives just to see the brilliant color on deeper dives.

 

There's a decent snorkel site just to the right (facing shore) of the dock at Grand Cayman. Cruise ships used to use it, but no one as there when we were on the Carnival Miracle last fall.

 

As to feeding the fish -- don't do it. But, you can have fun with them in places where they're used to being fed by holding your hand in a fist. Honest! We did this in Cozumel last fall and it was hysterical to see swarms of Sargent Majors and other fishies head for us as fast as can be.