Review: diving Grand Cayman, Roatan, Costa Maya

[osufhorn]

I've finally gotten a chance to sit down and let you all know about my cruise on Carnival Valor May 14-21st. It was definitely a cruise for divers with 4 great diving ports: Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize, and Costa Maya.

 

Grand Cayman: Dove with the ship's excursion who used Don Foster's. This was unfortunately the worst pair of dives I have every been on. The divemasters and boat captain were awful. The seas were fairly rough that day and the boat was bouncing up and down quite a lot. None of the crew ever offered a finger to help steady anyone getting into or out of the water. The divemasters were very unconcerned with safety. Very novice divers diving with us were given little instruction or help and not watched out for at all. The dives began with a tough swim through large waves to the mooring line whereupon the divemaster signaled down and just took off. He never once looked back and was unaware that several divers from our group surfaced due to various problems. The reef they took us to was a dead bunch of broken coral with few fish. Getting back on the boat was a nightmare with the stern rising and falling 6-8 feet in the swell. It would have been easier if the crew had helped you on the boat, but none lifted a finger. The 2nd dive was more of the same, after which the crew had the audacity to demand tips. I will never dive with Don Foster's again. Back on the Valor, I did hear very good things about Neptune divers from a couple who booked privately.

 

Roatan: Again dove with the ship's tour through Anthony's Key. This time we had a wonderful experience. The crew and divemasters were very considerate and took us around to the calm side of the island to a beautiful vibrant healthy reef. The diving was excellent and we even saw a nurse shark. The only downside to this dive was that instead of splitting the boat of 20+ divers into 2 groups with 2 divemasters, the whole boat dove in one group, so it did get a little crowded.

 

Belize: Didn't dive here as I did cave tubing with my non-diver friends, but have dove with Hugh Parkey's in the past and they are a great outfit and I heard nothing but praise for them back onboard Valor.

 

Costa Maya: This was the best stop of the trip. I booked independantly with Dreamtime Diving. They were very easy to set up with and I reserved a 3 tank dive. I got off the ship and hopped a taxi to dreamtime with another group. The dive shop is a small concrete building next to the beach and is very rustic. I am told that it is very much like Cozumel 30 years ago. You walked across the road to the beach and the dive boat. The 1st dive was with a group of 5 and myself. The dive was customized to the considerable experience of the group and was both long and deep. It was the first time in the week that I manged to go under 1000 PSI on a dive! The reefs there are great and virtually untouched. There were lots of spiny lobster and a gigantic green sea turtle. The other 2 dives were more of the same, lots of fish and healthy coral. We were joined on the boat by several other divers from the ship, but they were split into their own dive group with another divemaster so no one dove in a group larger than 6 or 8. The guys at Dreamtime were very professional and a great group to dive with. I would highly recommend diving with them if you get a chance.

[Middleager]

Thanks for your review. I'll be on Miracle in Aug. with similar itinery (Cayman, Coz, Belize, and Costa Maya), so the only difference is Coz vs Roatan.

 

I've heard mixed review on Don Foster in Cayman where they are supposed to be good, but not with cruisers. Your experience just reinforced that. Neptune Diver has good reputation but does not pick up from Georgetown. I'm booked with Wall to Wall, who takes max 8 divers. So that should be better than Don Fosters big group.

 

Just curious, where did they take you, was it straight out at west wall, or did they even try to go a little further (south wall or north wall) to find calmer waters.

 

 

In Belize I booked with ecotours that will fly you over the reef system on the way to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye before the diving and for my wife snorkeling. That should be an interesting encounter.

 

 

In Costa Maya, DreamTime would have been good, but they just signed up to be Carnival's contractor. You must have signed up with the directly before they become Carnival's contractor, otherwise you would have to pay double. Although they have good reputation, I won't pay double, so guess you lucked out there. One shop that is starting up sounds good from their web site and my contact with the owner, so I'll be going with Blue Ocean Safari there.

 

Thanks for your review. I look forward to my own dives there. (Yes, I'll provide a review after my trip.)

[w&k]

Thanks for taking the time to do your review - we really appreciate them (I'm still working on some from our last trip).

 

When we did GC, I got the tip for Neptune's divers off this board, and it was wonderful. The divers I ran into in the Schooner bar afterward had an experience similar to yours with the shorex (although I thought they said Red Sail?).

 

In Belize, now that you've done cave tubing, you can go diving next time! We did the shorex with Hugh Parkey's the first time, Linda & John with SeaSports Belize the second, and back to SeaSports the third. SeaSports is definitely #1 in my book, but the shorex is quite good as well.

 

We had booked with Dreamtime for CM, but unfortunately our ship did not dock due to high waves.

 

Anthony's Key in Roatan has a great reputation - glad you enjoyed your dives there. We've only stopped at Roatan once, and unfortunately did not dive on that trip.

 

Wendy

[osufhorn]

Sounds like I lucked out in Costa Maya. Being Carnival's contractor will undoubtedly make Dreamtime lots of $ but will unfortunately ruin them for everyone else. I must have went with them just before that happened.

 

As for Don Foster's in Grand Cayman, we went directly out to the west wall with no attempt to go anywhere else. I heard from a couple who booked with Neptune that they took them to the sheltered side of the island.

[cruzegirl]

Loved reading the dive review.... Thanks for sharing........

Middleager,

I can't wait to hear what you have to say about Blue Ocean Safari.... I am considering them for December.... They are an up/coming dive shop so will look forward to your review.... Julie, one of the partners has been in excellent communication with me....

[kmsolo]

In Belize I booked with ecotours that will fly you over the reef system on the way to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye before the diving and for my wife snorkeling. That should be an interesting encounter.

 

You are going to love this excursion. We did this last year and feel in love with San Pedro. We had enough time to sit on the beach and drink some beers before flying back to catch the tender. Have a blast and make sure to get some pictures of the reefs while flying over- it makes all your friends at home so jealous! :)

[lovecruising2006]

I have a small group sailing on Carnival Valor Dec 10-17 and looking forward to canopy tours and scuba diving. I am now concerned about the dive in Grand Cayman for my husband and sister-in-law that I paid for. You said it was Don Fosters, I called Carnival and asked who the tour company was, they said that was "internal", and don't give out that info....Do you know if that is the only company that is used for diving in Grand Cayman?

And my husband wants to also dive in Costa Maya, so I will try to get Dreamtime Diving if possible since you said they were great.

thanks so much for all the info