Recommendations for diving at Princess ports?

[lumpkin]

We are going next summer (mid August 2007) on the Crown Princess, and would like to know if the ship's excursions are any good for diving. We are a family with 2 experienced divers (but from longgggg ago--we last wore horsecollar BCs!) and our 2 newbies (ages 13 and 10). Would need an easy, shallow dive (nervous about the kids' lungs being damaged if too deep), but want a good operation. Are the ones offered by the ship any good? Our stops are West End Bermuda, Grand Turk, St. Thomas, and San Juan. We know ship excursions are pricier, but like the convenience, if they are any good.

Thanks.

[bruce-r]

First, you might get a little information if you read this comparison of ship's excursion dives VS make you own plans.

 

You might as well plan something else for Puerto Rico. The "good" diving there is over 2 hours away from San Juan. Perhaps the rain forest tour would be a better choice.

 

There are only 3 dive operators on Grand Turk, but Grand Turk has probably the best diving of all your ports. Oasis Divers is the operation that contracts with the cruise lines to provide the ship's dive excursions. Oasis generally gets positive comments for people who stay on the island. I think they probably do a decent job with the cruise dives too. They don't mix dives staying on the island with the ship's divers, so you'll probably be on one of their larger boats, but they will have more than one divemaster for a larger group. The other dive operations are Bluewater Divers and Sea Eye Diving.

 

It is possible, that with a group of 4 such as yourselves, you could charter your own trip. That way you'd have the boat to yourself. You'd be able to pick the dive sites and you'd get all of the DM's attention.

 

In St. Thomas, Coki Beach Dive Club might be a good choice for you. The dive site there is decent and fairly shallow. Plus, being a shore dive, it is considerably less expensive for 4 divers to dive there compared to a boat dive.

 

If you want a better dive than Coki Beach, you'll want to do a boat dive. Again it might be possible to have a boat to yourselves if you go with a small boat operator. Admiralty Dive center uses small boats and might be able to pick up at Crown Point (where Princess will dock in St. Thomas). You'll need to contact them to find out for sure.

 

I'm afraid that I can't help for the Bermuda.

 

Hope this helps,

Bruce

[lumpkin]

Terrific info! Thanks so much for your quick response....

[Jacqueline]

I was also thinking of Coki Beach,as it is the forst port of call for us on our annual Southern Carribean cruise.. Its a good place for divers to check out without any stress.

But in this itinerary you will go to Bermuda first. I have gone out with Blue Water divers the last two summers. They are not too far from where the Princess docks.They run a very safe operation. The diving in Bermuda is shallow with easy conditions and a DM will guide you if you like.

On a safety issues, the kids lungs do not get damaged by going deep, but by ASCENDING too quickly . You can kill yourself from 20ft if you hold your breath on an ascent. Remember Boyles law? The greatest relative change in pressure is within the first 10 metres (30ft).

Is your 10 year old certified?

I have done the Princess dive excursions many times just for ease of use. They subcontract out pretty carefully. At least they have vetted the dive shops for good equipment, safety concerns and so on. I have met plenty of veteran divers who use them for a variety of reasons rather than going off on their own.

[lumpkin]

Thanks, I have forgotten Boyles law....I certified about 25-30 yrs ago!!! And have not gone diving in over 20 yrs! My kids have never gone diving, and only snorkeled once. We did do a helmet dive last cruise and they were amazed, so I think they would love to try a scuba dive. I think a shore dive might be the best, altho the Admiralty operation sounds great. I will have to check out the ship;s excursions (not posted yet since the cruise is 10 months away).