Anybody Know Which Dive Shop Carnival Uses in Cozumel ?

[dlhamlten]

Coming into Cozumel Sept 20th on the Carnival MIRACLE. Trying to evaluate arranging an independent two-tank AM dive versus booking thru the cruiseline. I know there are pros and cons to each approach......

 

I just wondered if anyone had been diving off any Carnival ship lately in Cozumel, what operator they used, and how the dive experience was ???

[Middleager]

There is a Cozumel port forum. I asked that question before and a local answered:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=348138

 

My wife and I are going on Miracle Aug. 27 and I will be diving in all ports, booking independently at each of them. Cozumel is the only one I haven't booked with a dive op. There are 130+ dive ops there but most go out early in the morning, too early for cruise passengers.

[dlhamlten]

If we do book the Dive thru Carnival, it will be the only excursion we do thru the ship.

 

With all the uncertainty of meeting an independent Dive operator while stressing about delayed tendering procedures, it seemed like Cozumel was a good port to get an early ticket off. I know the independents may be $ 15 to 25 pp cheaper.

 

In St. Thomas -where we dove thru Royal caribbean in April- the price of the Dive Shop we wanted was the same whether booked independently or thru the ship since they used the same operator. I also like having recourse to the cruiseline if bad weather hits, but my Wife and I don't like the cattle cars that some ship tours have.

 

So if anybody has experienced a Cozumel Dive thru Carnival, I would love some feedback.

[Middleager]

Your experience with the dive shop in St. Thomas is not the norm. For example, a dive shop in Costa Maya charges $75. They just signed up to be a Carnival contractor. On cruise day you as a cruiser cannot book with them directly, you can only book thru Carnival at twice the price. In Cayman, Don Fosters is Carnival's contractor and they also would not book you directly, you have to pay a lot more to Carnival. The difference is usually not $15/p more, but 100% more, without gear rental.

 

If wheather is good, tendering in Grand Cayman is supposed very fast, and not too bad in Cozumel. You might even dock in Cozumel depending on what other ships are in port. The only port with long tendering process is Belize. In Costa Maya you dock.

 

For you interest to consider. In Belize people had good experience booking thru Carnival with Hugh Parkey, $150, to the Turneoff Atoll). I opted to book with ecotours http://www.ecotoursbelize.com/tours.html for $145 including rental gears and they fly (1500' high, so ok to dive after) you over the reef system to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, for 2-tank boat dives, then fly you back. So you get to see Belize by sea, land, and air.

 

In Costa Maya, the shop Carnival uses is reputable, but not worth paying twice the price to Carnival. I signed up with a new shop

http://www.blueoceansafari.com/ and had been communication with the owner Phillip phillip@blueoceansafari.com They charge less, had a good deal on gear rental, and allow you to use their kayaks afterward. My wife can on a boat snorkel trip with them for $20. Costa Maya is supposed to have great pristine diving, similar to Cozumel was 30 yrs ago before it became very much commercialized. So don't be surprised to find more dive ops starting up there.

[dlhamlten]

I had done a dive in St. Thomas 2 yrs ago that was fantastic and wanted my Wife to experience it too. So I contacted Underwater Safaris on the internet, got their price and they told me that they handled all the Carnival business. By contractual agreement with Carnival, they agreed not to lower their price below the Ship's. I checked with other unknown operations that were recommended on these Boards and the price difference was negligible.

 

The Carnival Excursion price for a two-tank dive in Cozumel including Equipment and surface drinks/snacks is $ 99 per person. That is how I got the approx $ 15 difference which is reasonable to me.

 

Thanks for your input.

[DHappyCruiser]

Hello dhamlten,

 

We were on the 6/5/06 Inspiration cruise to Cozumel (also out of Tampa) and we booked the 2 tank certified dive through Carnival. They used "Aquaworld". Nice operation - we were lucky - only 12 divers on a boat that could take at least 24! There were 4 crewmembers: Captain, Captain's assistant (aka: Tank lugger), and 2 divemasters. They split us into 2 groups so there were only 6 people per divemaster. The boat met us at the pier, they had all of the gear on board (for the people who were renting - we lugged our own equipment). We went to Santa Rosa wall (80ft for 35min) and then to Paradise Reef (35-50ft for 60min). Two great dives - get Jorge as your DM if possible - really great guy. And if you go to Paradise Reef keep a look out for a GIANT 4-5ft lobster in one of the big holes in the reef - it is absolutely HUGE - Jorge saw it too so you can ask him!

 

Hope you'll have a great cruise and dives!

 

 

P.S. We dove in Grand Cayman also - Cozumel was A LOT better - better vis, more critters, healthier coral - seemed like Cayman's hurricane damage (from 2 yrs ago) was worse than Cozumel's (from 1 yr ago). Unless it was just the sites they took us to in Cayman: Eagle's Nest and Wildlife Reef. There was still a lot of sand/sediment in Cozumel but there were plenty of nonsandy areas too - and you just can't beat their visibility!

[DHappyCruiser]

I forgot to mention one thing that could be important to you - the dive boat from Aquaworld did not have a bathroom (or at least an operating one) - so we had to act like the fishies and do it in the ocean. Not a big deal to me but I thought I should throw that in just in case it makes a difference to you.

 

Also - they did not provide snacks - just drinking water. We brought our own bottles of water anyway and granola bars/twizzlers for in between the dives. The 10-2pm time straddles lunch so I got hungry! They still had lunch in the buffet restaurant when we go back on board so we didn't miss it - just really late for my tummy!

[diverearl]

A couple of years ago Carnival used Sand Dollar in Cozumel. If really pressed for time it was a good experience and they did great video work.

[dlhamlten]

I appreciate your responses and good information contained therein !

[Middleager]

Several dive ops in Cozumel have large tanks as their regular tanks. Most are 100cf. Aldora has 120cf. Aldora boasts bottom times of more than 1hr even for the first dive. With long SI, Aldora mentions that their second dive is often like the first dive of other ops. If you book independently, I find most ops can also get the 100cf tanks by request. This is something Carnival cannot do.

 

 

Aldora is the one I would have liked to use, except they go out at 7:30am. For me I'd need to either charter ($350 for up to 4 divers), or sign up as "stand-by" and they try to find other divers who can go with the cruise times. They said 90% of the time they get the minimum 4 divers to go on the "stand-by" way, and the other 10% they'll refund, and line you up with another dive op, so you still get to dive. So now I'm considering that option myself. The >1hr bottom time sounds so good.

 

After learning about the possibility to request for larger tanks, I've now lined up my diving in Belize and Costa Maya to use the larger tanks for more bottom time.

[jetskier]

Coming into Cozumel Sept 20th on the Carnival MIRACLE. Trying to evaluate arranging an independent two-tank AM dive versus booking thru the cruiseline. I know there are pros and cons to each approach......

 

I just wondered if anyone had been diving off any Carnival ship lately in Cozumel, what operator they used, and how the dive experience was ???

 

dlhamlten,

Not sure who Carnival uses but we have used scubawithalison.com on 3 of our cruises. Her rates are reasonable and she caters to the customer. Our last trip there in January, we had to tender in and she rearranged her schedule for us.

 

When we go in Oct, we are doing a one tank dive and then going to PB so Alison can do a Discover scuba course for two people in our group. We will then go and do our second tank dive.

 

I have not done a dive excursion through the ship because of the cattle herding. A small group appeals to us more by booking independantly.

 

Dave

[scubamama]

We took Allison :) in April 2006 and it was GREAT. Very pro and safe. Go for it:D