Nervous Novice diver - help please

[sunshineminnie]

Hi to everyone!

 

I am sailing on the Grand Princess in November with my best friend from high school to celebrate our 40th birthdays! We are both certified but only have two dives under our belts. One 30ft in Jamaica and one aquarium dive at Epcot. (very fun by the way).

 

We are hoping to get two dives in on our cruise. Right now we have reserved the dives with the ship's shore excursions. I am wondering if this is the best way to go. Is is better to go on your own? I am thinking less people?

 

The dives we have scheduled are New Waves certified Reef on Grand Cayman and New Waves Scuba at Cozumel.

 

We would love to do a wall dive and see some great reefs. Any suggestions or coments are welcome.

 

Thanks so much!:D

[scubamargie]

I've heard that tendering can be a problem with Princess in Grand Cayman so I'd stick with the ship on that one since if they are late the operator will wait for you. One other option is to plan a shore dive in Cayman, which is very easy and right near the pier with either Eden Rock (short walk http://www.edenrockdive.com ) or Sunset House (1/2 mile or so further but still within walking distance http://www.sunsethouse.com/ ). Would be cheaper too.

 

In Cozumel it's pretty easy to arrange your own operator. Our favorites, both great with new divers, take just 6 divers. They are:

Diving with Alison ( http://www.scubawithalison.com ) and

Blue XT ( http://www.bluextseadiving.com/ )

You will absolutely love diving Cozumel!!:)

[sunshineminnie]

Thanks Brain and Margie!

 

So, do you not tender in Cozumel? Just walk right off? Have you ever been on a dive with the ship? Is it crazy with people?

 

What are the best dives on both islands? walls? reefs? shore dives?

 

Sorry for all of the questions. I really appreciate the help. I just want to make sure that we have a great, stressfree time and above all are safe!

 

Take care,

Jill

[bruce-r]

Thanks Brian and Margie!

 

So, do you not tender in Cozumel? Just walk right off? Have you ever been on a dive with the ship? Is it crazy with people?

That is correct. The rest of the info B & M gave is pretty good. If you do go with the shore dives in Grand Cayman, you would probably have a much better time if you hired a guide and did guided shore dives. The typical ship dive excursions do have larger groups of lesser experienced divers, but they do divide up the divers, usually around 6-8 for each DM. As you guessed, smaller groups are better, that is why I prefer to make my own arrangements. In Cozumel you can even hire a private DM for the day. It isn't very expensive and it is an excellent way of getting the personal attention beginning divers sometimes need.

 

In Cozumel, their recommendations are excellent choices, especially BlueXTSea. The owner Christi is a friend of mine. She provides excellent customer service. Her operation is popular and she does fill up, so you'd want to contact her soon. If she is full, she can make recommendations, so ask her. I know she recommends Alison in such cases.

 

What are the best dives on both islands? walls? reefs? shore dives?

If the only two dives you have done are Jamaica (ick) and the Living Seas (whoo hoo), then any of the dives you do in either GCM or CZM will be considerably better than Jamaica.

 

You definitely want to do boat dives in Cozumel and they will be drift dives there. You'll all stay together as a group with the DM who will have a float for the boat to follow. It is easy diving, but be SURE to tell the DM your newbie status so he can keep an eye on you a little more closely than the more experienced divers.

[sunshineminnie]

Thanks Bruce-r!

 

I am already feeling a little bit better getting some info from everyone. I appreciate it!

Jill

[scubamargie]

We have dove via the ship's excursion on several occasions, usually in Belize, with positive results. It is much more convenient, however the experience depends on which dive operator the ship is using. You can probably find out who Princess is using in Cayman by looking through the boards here and can then find out the reviews of this operator (see scubaboard.com if necessary). If it's good then stick with the ship's operator and enjoy the wall dive. I agree with Bruce-r on using a dive master if you decide to shore dive. They will know where to find all the good stuff!

[tootsiescurly]

We normally book our dive excursions privately. As a novice diver do yourselves a favor and book your own dives. Diving with the ship is less than desirable! Diving with the ship is fine if you like cattleboat diving with people you would never choose to dive with!

[sunshineminnie]

Thanks everyone. I think that we may try and be brave and book on our own. I'll get in touch with the dive operators that you all have suggested. Are there any particular questions that I should ask? What time should I schedule the dives for? As in, how long after/before the ship arrives and departs.

 

Thanks. You all are the best!:D

Jill

[Wild Bill]

If you contact folks for dive excursions on your own, you usually just have to tell them the name of your ship, and the day you will be there, and tell them your experience level, so they can pick sites that you can feel comfortable in. They know the ships schedule, and will tell you where and when to meet them.

As far as the dives go, Cozumel will probably be the best reef that you will see! Grand Cayman is supposed to have great diving, but the best dive sites are on the opposit side of the island from the docks, and the dive operators usually don't want to take ship passengers there, because of the time concerns. We did the ship dive in GC, and it was with in view of the ship. I think it was with RCCL though, so I don't know if Princess uses the same operators. The dive wasn't that impressive, and we could have done the same dive on our own with Eden Rock, since it was in the same area.

We usually send out a bunch of e-mails to dive operators in the ports that we are going to, and then see who is offering what we want, for a good price.

Have a Great time!

Kathy

[georoc01]

I have dove with both of the ship contracted dive ops off of Princess, Dive House in Cozumel and Don Fosters in Grand Caymans. I thought both did decent jobs and would be satisfactory if you go that route. The plus in the Caymans is that they will drop you off right at the ship afterwards so no tendering.

 

The other thing to do is when you first get on the ship is to contact the dive instructors through the tour desk. Most likely they will have a review during the first morning at sea prior to your stops where you can refresh your skills since its been a while.

[cameron168]

Hi to everyone!

 

I am sailing on the Grand Princess in November with my best friend from high school to celebrate our 40th birthdays! We are both certified but only have two dives under our belts. One 30ft in Jamaica and one aquarium dive at Epcot. (very fun by the way).

 

We are hoping to get two dives in on our cruise. Right now we have reserved the dives with the ship's shore excursions. I am wondering if this is the best way to go. Is is better to go on your own? I am thinking less people?

 

The dives we have scheduled are New Waves certified Reef on Grand Cayman and New Waves Scuba at Cozumel.

 

We would love to do a wall dive and see some great reefs. Any suggestions or coments are welcome.

 

Thanks so much!:D

I booked a dive in Cozumel and dove palancar reef.. drift diving and wonderful. you won't have any problems there.. easy diving. In Grand Caymen i didnt book a dive but i was carrying my mask and snorkel with me and just dove right in the water near edens rock and it was the best snorkeling ive ever done.. and it was free! there are some steps by the tables at the eden rock resturaunt that you can walk right down into the water.

[Tandoorii]

I think that we may try and be brave and book on our own. Jill

 

I have a different POV for you to consider.

 

As a newbie, the experience of diving with others (they're not all novices off the ship) is that you'll have a chance to check out and confirm, or unconfirm (is that a word?), how other divers practice their sport. By going with a group and not on your own, you'll have a level of comfort knowing there is a qualified dive master on the boat. And you may learn something that you likely wouldnt "on your own."

 

I really can't speak to the cattlecalls. I've not seen one. I've cruised 5 times since certifying. In fact, one ship-scheduled dive boat was canceled as I was the only one on it! I guess not much of a stampede that day.

 

Being safe is better than being brave. There IS safety in numbers.

 

I'm a Rescue Diver just 63 times underwater.

 

Safe diving...

[tootsiescurly]

We dove with the ship in Belize our cruise in May. Belize is a port where diving with the ship is much easier.

 

The dive operator - Hugh Parkey's was outstanding. That being said, we had approximately 20 people in our group. They divided us into 5 groups.

 

One group had individuals who had no respect for the reef. They destroyed at least 2 barrel corals and several fans.

 

Our group had people who were in our estimation dangerous. They did not pay attention to the terrain or people around them. I was getting ready to go thru an arch and a lady in our group, who was not paying attention, nearly slammed me into the sand. (I was about 2 ft. from the bottom.) I took my hand and pushed her up. She had the audacity to make a comment to me about pushing her off of me when we surfaced. Diving should be enjoyable. You should not have to worry about being slammed into the bottom or having the regulator kicked out of your mouth or your mask kicked off.

 

You have been lucky. Every time we dive with the ships excursion we have an incident similar to this.

[Tandoorii]

You have been lucky. Every time we dive with the ships excursion we have an incident similar to this.

 

I don't doubt you a bit. It's amazing how may divers are out there who have so little appreciation and understanding about what they are doing. I've actually seen the kind of behaviour you describe with a group from our own local dive shops! One wonders about the process where they were certified.

 

As a moderately experienced diver, I would always try to engage a local non-ship diver operation. But, like Belize, where there are tenders, it's most difficult to make an early dive time. The ship excursions get off first and to try to squeeze in to the front of the line without an "official" tender pass is a bit of a chore!

 

I just think newbies should try to dive with as many divers as possible for a while before venturing off on their own. For some destinations, I still feel that way.

 

Happy cruising...and diving.

[sunshineminnie]

Thank you all so much for your opinions and insight. I already feel better prepared and much more knowledgable having read your comments. A lot of it is the fear of the unknown. And while this will still be a fairly new experience for me, I do feel like I am going in to it with a little more of an idea of what to expect. Thanks!

 

My friend is amazed at all of the info that these boards provide. It is great to hear from those who have experienced it!

 

Take care all, and thanks so much. You have know idea how much more at ease I feel!

Jill

[swanny727]

There is a difference between "diving on your own" and "booking on your own". I would reccomend bookiing on your own. But, Specify that you want a guide to dive with you. This way it will be more personal. The guide will make sure you are safe and also knows where to find the sea life. The ship dives ae usually the "cattlecar" mentioned before. 20 people going down in the same place, stirring up sand, getting in your way, many times without a guide. They just tell you which direction to swim and where to turn around and come back. Or, there will be 1 or 2 guides for the entire group. Not the best for novice divers. On your own excursion, it will be just you and the guide plus a person that stays with the boat.

[JaimeJ]

Sunshine, I am right there with you! In fact, I'm less experienced than you are. My boyfriend and I were just certified in June, and we've not had a chance to go out and practice yet. Cozumel drift diving will be our first "real" dive (outside of the check-out dives for the class, which were in a quarry).. and then onto Belize for another day of diving.

 

I'm a little apprehensive about being the newbie.. hopefully we will have a kind and patient DM who will keep an eye on us. And, hopefully we won't need much babysitting. I feel fairly comfy in the water, and am going with the attitude that we still have ALOT to learn. I plan on getting out my materials and reviewing before leaving.

 

My biggest concern is controlling buoyancy. I don't want to unintentionally be the idiot who breaks off beautiful coral or kicks a fellow diver in the face. I also worry about breathing all of my air up, and having to end the dive early. I think my first dives will be fun, but I forsee myself being so conscious of trying to control my buoyancy and and be aware of other divers and the environment, etc. (and concentrating on breathing slowly to conserve air) that I probably won't appreciate/take in the cool stuff we went there to see!

 

BTW - what *does* happen.. if we are in a group of 4-5 people with a DM and I go thru my tank quickly? It's not going to ruin other peoples' fun, is it? Can I just ascend and everyone else can carry on? I would feel terrible!

[Bassethound]

JaimeJ, you sure ask alot of questions!!;)

 

Of course, that is the only way you learn. I recently earned my Master Diver certificate and (supposedly) am now certified to give advice, although a board like this is not exactly personal.

 

First, I fully agree with the difference between booking your own and diving by yourself. DON'T dive by yourself. DO book your own trip, unless you have a veery short port time and/or are tendering. Also, if you have concerns about making it back to the ship at all, do the ship dive. Otherwise you will be anxious and not have either as good or as long of a dive (ie you will likely use more air unconsciously).

 

You might use air faster than your dive companions. Let your divemaster know that and keep track of yours. Don't worry about the others, let the DM handle that. He might change how he reacts depending on the experience of the other divers and the location/conditions. This is especially true if you booked your own.

 

In some conditions, when the first is low on air (500 - 1000 lbs, depending on conditions, again) everybody goes to safety stop.

 

As to familiarizing yourself into neutral buoyancy, you will have time to get the feel of it during your drift dive. That is basically what it is, get your buoyancy neutral and just let the current take you. You can move up and down from there just be controlling your breathing, etc as you were taught. Drift diving can be done so it takes very little effort and, consequently, uses much less gas, which, consequently, increases your dive time.:)

 

If you should dive with Paradise in Cozumel, their guides are great. Especially Gato and Jose'.

[JaimeJ]

Hah - sorry for all of the questions.. I've been saving 'em up for a kind soul like you to answer :) Congrats on the master diver certification! How neat!

 

We are booked through the cruise line on both of our excursions (Cozumel and Belize). Since this is our first set of real dives, we didn't want to have the additional worry of the dive operator maybe not getting us back to the ship on time. And - of course we'd *never* just go off on our own...

 

I suppose if the cruise operation ends up being a cattle herd.. we'll (my boyfriend/dive buddy and myself) just have to do the best we can. I'll definitely let the DM know how inexperienced we are and how we suck the air down :) We may not be *that* bad.. I just noticed in our check-out dives, our instructor still had 1500 psi after our dive, I had about 800, and boyfriend was at 500. I'm sure the instructor probably had better equipment AND he's been diving for 30 years.

 

Again, thanks for the answers :) You eased my mind on a couple of topics. :)

[Mekamax]

I am still a nervous diver as there are so many things that can go wrong and when only diving once a year you don't really ever gain confidence with that said these are my favorite dives in Cozumel and Cayman - no fuss, no get up early and no ship excursions (a dive boat I was on independantly in Cozumel had to call the excursion boat to tell them they had 20-25 divers on the serfuce - they hadn't seen them and anyone that has been to Cozumel knows how dangerous it is to be on the surface with all the dive boats flying by...) So ...

 

Cozumel - cab to Chankanaab Park - $10. ENtrance fee $15 a person (print off coupon on net for $3 off if want to). Go to last dive hut on the beach and ask for Fabio (that's right Fabio! :rolleyes: :D ), He is a great dive guide and will take great care of you. He is very patient and watches out for you. You dive from the beach ($40) each including guide (I of course tip afterwards) and you are down about 50 minutes no deeper than 40 feet. There is cave and a few swim throughs and a TON of fish including Tarpon. It is a great relaxing dive and just the two of you.

 

Cayman - get off ship and walk to the right of the tenders to Edan Rock Dive Shop. You will see the dive shop flags from the tender. The pier off the back is public and you only pay for the gear to rent about $40 a person for full gear. You can pay more for the guide if you want or not. Great diving and snorkeling. Probably 40-45 feet.

 

Much cheaper and safer way to get used to diving.. Hope this helps. I do not like cattle boats that can't keep up with their people and charge a fortune. Debbie

[bruce-r]

 

Cozumel - cab to Chankanaab Park - $10. ENtrance fee $15 a person (print off coupon on net for $3 off if want to). Go to last dive hut on the beach and ask for Fabio (that's right Fabio! :rolleyes: :D ), He is a great dive guide and will take great care of you. He is very patient and watches out for you. You dive from the beach ($40) each including guide (I of course tip afterwards) and you are down about 50 minutes no deeper than 40 feet. There is cave and a few swim throughs and a TON of fish including Tarpon. It is a great relaxing dive and just the two of you.and snorkeling. Probably 40-45 feet.

I believe that your information regarding shore diving at Chankanaab is a bit dated. I don't think that there has been an on-site dive operator there since wilma.

[Mekamax]

I am very happy to say :D that this is up to date info as I just dove with them in May. They are back up and running and the park looked great - and there are more fish than ever there. The tarpon are back in the cave too. Debbie

[jmps]

I will second some of these thoughts...

 

In Cozumel I would suggest booking with an operator that gives very personal attention like ScubawithAlison or BlueXTSea. They use small boats (6 divers) and very good DMs. Let them know you are new to the sport and they will take that into account. All you have to do is get a taxi to the marina. In Cozumel you will be with a DM.

 

On Grand Cayman going to Eden Rock is a good idea. Hire a DM and enjoy the shore diving.

 

The advice to work on your bouancy is VERY good. You don't want to be hitting the reef. This is also THE most important safety skill in diving in my book. It also makes diving a joy rather than work.

[Bassethound]

BTW, you can work on your buoyancy if you get in the water first and test while descending. Dump your air, descend along the line, and fill slowly until you are moving up slightly when you are breathing in. Then dump a little air and let out of your lungs. You should sink very slowly (you can tell by the line if there is not particulate in the water.) Then breathe in normally. If you rise when you have nearly full lungs, then you are essentially neutral. :) Breathe out and join your team. (You can do the same on the SANDY bottom, but the DM will tell you whether to use the line or the bottom). In Cozumel you will likely have a sandy bottom where you enter.:)

[bruce-r]

I am very happy to say :D that this is up to date info as I just dove with them in May. They are back up and running and the park looked great - and there are more fish than ever there. The tarpon are back in the cave too. Debbie

 

In that case, thank you for the update.