Scuba Diving sites? Ocho Rios Jamaica,George Town Grand Cayman, or Cozumel Meixco

[NewCop26]

I will be on a cruise in early September. I will be stopping in Ocho Rios Jamaica, George Town Grand Cayman, and Cozumel Mexico.

Has anyone ever been scuba diving at these areas? Which would be the best place to dive? If all goes well I may try to dive in two of the three places. If anyone can make suggestions to me on which places are best and if you used the cruise ship or reserved it on your own that would be great. I just got back from diving in St. Thomas and used the ship to book my excursion. It was ok, but I think I could get more out of doing it on my own. Any suggestions/recommendations will be appreciated....Thanks!!

 

Brandon :)

[diverearl]

Hey Brandon, Cozumel is a sure dive and personally my other dive would be on Cayman. I always book our dives with locals but it would be a personal preference of how each person feels. Google up www Cozumel.net for a lot of good helpful information. I've used a lot of different operators over the years and never had a really bad one some are just a lot better than others, I like Dive with Martin or Dive with Cristina and best Scuba with Alison. Be sure to reserve ahead and good luck.

[bruce-r]

You can start by reading This Thread I wrote about the Pro's and Con's of diving with the ship's excursion.

 

Personally, I always try to make my own arrangements, because being a more advanced diver than the typical cruise diver, I would find being herded on a follow the leader dive to very unsatisfactory.

 

Do people actually even scuba diving in Jamaica? Well, I've read trip reports about diving there, but for the most part, cruise divers will find the diving there marginal at best. I wouldn't even go on a cruise that stopped in Jamaica, but that is just my own personal prejudice.

 

I would definitely dive both Cozumel and Grand Cayman. I'm not sure who I'd recommend in Cozumel. My favorite dive op there isn't currently taking cruise passengers unless they have a group of at least 4 divers, (but I think she'd make an exception for me). I'd contact http://www.scubatony.com or http://www.divewithalison.com, both of who are small boat operators who are personally involved with their diving. Lots so cruise divers like http://www.eagleraydivers.com

 

In Grand Cayman, my definite first choice for a boat dive would be http://www.neptunesdivers.com You can tell Casey that Bruce sent you. If you have a buddy, you can do a pretty nice shore dive in GCM at http://www.divetech.com 's turtle farm dive site. Lots of people go to Eden Rock for diving and snorkeling too.

[Planer's Edge]

I could not agree with Bruce more. Jamaica has done absolutely nothing to preserve their reefs. The divingsnorkeling there is extremely marginal at best.

 

Of the other ports I would personally rank them as Cozumel then Cayman. I really like the lack of effort provided by drift diving and I am not much of a wreck dive afficienado. In Cozumel my preferred operator is Papa Hog. They are a small operation with "fast" boats.

 

Now if you prefer wreck diving and being able to lollygag around the wall you might rank these as Cayman then Cozumel.

 

YMMV

 

PE<---leaves nothing but bubbles...:cool:

[sportsterjohn]

I agree with everyone else. Cozumel has fantastic reefs and dozens of quality dive operatiors. I dove with cozumel equalizers and eagle ray divers and was satisfied with both although I think eagle rays was more organized. I used neptune divers in GC for a wreck dive and was happy with them as well as the dive in GC. A fun thing to do in Jamaica is the origional canopy tour, that is a total blast!

[NewCop26]

Thanks everyone for all of your input thus far. Keep it coming. I am researching all of the companies everyone has listed. Thanks again!!

 

Brandon :)

[Middleager]

I learned to dive with Beaches reosort in Ocho Rios 3 years ago. After that, have dived in Cuba (Veradero and Bay of Pigs), and then Hawaii (west Oahu and Kona). Although I was excited when learning to dive in Ocho Rios, having seen other places I can certainly say Ocho Rios doesn't compare. They overfished and don't know about environmental sustainment.

 

In Ocho Rios one of the best tourist attraction is Dunns River falls. Also buy some Blue Mountain coffee, they're good. In my Aug. cruise I'm going to to dive in Cayman, Cozumel, Belize, Costa Maya, all are supposed to have superb diving.

[dive1]

I went diving at Grand Caymans and Cozumel last summer (6/05) arranged by the cruise ship. The price was just a little higher for the Caymans and about 50 dollars more than the going rate in Cozumel. I dove with Fosters in the Caymans http://www.donfosters.com/ . They were able to get us to the dive operation and into the water very quickly. We were in the water by 9:33am, which allowed time to explore the town afterwards. The diving there was from an anchored boat. We dove a wall dive and a second shallow dive. I made the mistake of not bringing my own dive gear. The gauge hose leaked and the fins were too small. There is some current there which made swimming to the boat a little difficult.

 

The next stop was Cozumel where I dove with Sand Dollar, arranged by the cruise line. This outing was disorganized. We had to wait for another cruise ship to arrive and then we took an hour boat ride to the dive shop. We finally got in the water at 2:50pm and did the last dive next to the cruise terminal at 4:00pm we had to rush the dive to catch the ship. The diving was great and with the drift diving we covered more ground. Again the gauges leaked and the equipment was poor. Also, one of the divers got on the wrong boat and we had to go get him. http://www.sanddollarsports.net/sd_certified.php

 

I just got back from diving in Cozumel in May 06. Hurricane Wilma damaged some of the reefs and others seemed to be fine. I dove for eight days with Scuba Club Cozumel and had a great time. Overall, I liked the diving in Cozumel the best. Also, I recommend bringing your own quality equipment.

[Middleager]

I went diving at Grand Caymans and Cozumel last summer (6/05) arranged by the cruise ship. The price was just a little higher for the Caymans and about 50 dollars more than the going rate in Cozumel. I dove with Fosters in the Caymans http://www.donfosters.com/ . They were able to get us to the dive operation and into the water very quickly. We were in the water by 9:33am, which allowed time to explore the town afterwards. The diving there was from an anchored boat. We dove a wall dive and a second shallow dive. I made the mistake of not bringing my own dive gear. The gauge hose leaked and the fins were too small. There is some current there which made swimming to the boat a little difficult.

 

The next stop was Cozumel where I dove with Sand Dollar, arranged by the cruise line. This outing was disorganized. We had to wait for another cruise ship to arrive and then we took an hour boat ride to the dive shop. We finally got in the water at 2:50pm and did the last dive next to the cruise terminal at 4:00pm we had to rush the dive to catch the ship. The diving was great and with the drift diving we covered more ground. Again the gauges leaked and the equipment was poor. Also, one of the divers got on the wrong boat and we had to go get him. http://www.sanddollarsports.net/sd_certified.php

 

I just got back from diving in Cozumel in May 06. Hurricane Wilma damaged some of the reefs and others seemed to be fine. I dove for eight days with Scuba Club Cozumel and had a great time. Overall, I liked the diving in Cozumel the best. Also, I recommend bringing your own quality equipment.

 

That's really bad when those dive ops had poor leaky equipment, and they charge a lot more than if you booked yourself. I always try to book my own excursions rather than the ship's cattleboat, but wouldn't think their equipment would have such problems. Glad I won't be going with either on my upcoming cruise and diving trip.

[Host Star]

I will be on a cruise in early September. I will be stopping in Ocho Rios Jamaica, George Town Grand Cayman, and Cozumel Mexico.

Has anyone ever been scuba diving at these areas? Which would be the best place to dive? If all goes well I may try to dive in two of the three places. If anyone can make suggestions to me on which places are best and if you used the cruise ship or reserved it on your own that would be great. I just got back from diving in St. Thomas and used the ship to book my excursion. It was ok, but I think I could get more out of doing it on my own. Any suggestions/recommendations will be appreciated....Thanks!!

 

Brandon :)

check with Eden Roc in Grand Caymen,, not far from the pier and have an excellent reputation..