Cayman? Roatan? Belize? or Cozumel? FOR NOVICE SCUBA DIVERS

[sonofasonofasailor]

We are planning a cruise in October and have recently been certified for scuba. Which 2 of the following would offer the best experience for 2 novice scuba divers (Cozumel, Cayman, Roatan, or Belize) ? Also, if you could recommend quality dive operators and tips to have a great time under the surface I would really appreciate it. Thanks and happy cruising!:cool:

[tootsiescurly]

Grand Cayman and Cozumel will probably be the best for a novice. Try Scuba with Alison in Cozumel. She is outstanding and as a novice diver will make you feel very comfortable.

[rogerp5]

I'll second Scuba with Alison. I dove with Chucho who works with her in January. These were my first dives after certification and I could not have been happier. I had two great dives. Here is a link to her webiste http://www.scubawithalison.com/

[cdiver]

My son and will be diving in GC, Coz and Roatan later this month. I'll let you know how it goes by operator!! I can tell you that in Coz we will be diving with Alison, and all the posts regarding her operation on this board and others are all very positive, and that made our decision easier.

Happy diving and good trip!! Look for my reply early April!

[gmcrow]

Obviously there's a reason you only want to dive twice. We'd opt to dive all 4 stops, but if your reasoning is that you want to do other things besides diving, then Coz and Roatan are the best choices.

 

Coz because you don't want to miss Cozumel diving, and there's usually time to shop or whatever afterwards.

 

There really isn't much to do on Roatan besides water activites like snorkeling or beach sitting, so diving there makes perfect sense.

 

In GC there are tons of choices, including the aforementioned beach sitting, shopping, etc., but also some great things like the Turtle Farm and Stingray City that you can't do anywhere else.

 

In Belize, there are cave tubing, rafting, zip lines, and the zoo.

http://www.cruisedivers.blogspot.com

[reddi]

We have also used Alison in Cozumel with novice divers, and will be using her again in less than 2 weeks (yeah!) and she was great. In Roatan, we used suenodelmar dot com last year and a dive master worked with our 3 sons on their final certification dives - they did a very nice job too.

[islandwoman]

Cozumel, Cayman, Roatan, Belize? Yes :D But if you have to choose, pick Roatan because not only is the diving there great, but (at least when I was there) there's nothing else interesting to do. You might want to make your second choice based on the other options in Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Belize. It's a matter of personal preference, so I'd suggest looking over the ship's excursions to get an idea of what's to do in each port. If I had to skip diving in one port, I'd skip Belize because the boat ride to the dive site is quite long and IMHO there are a lot of other cool things to do in Belize. I don't think that there are significant differences among these ports in appropriateness for new divers. It really depends on which sites the dive operators choose.

 

[nashwl]

Just got back from Dive With Allison in Cozumel.

 

Chucko was our dive leader. The first dive I couldnt equalize and had to return to the boat. Probably the worst feeling for a diver.

 

The second dive Chucko never left my side until we got to the bottom. It was like having a personal dive master.

 

I would HIGHLY recommend Scuba with Allison.

[islandwoman]

I don't think that there are significant differences among these ports in appropriateness for new divers. It really depends on which sites the dive operators choose.

I take it back. Cozumel is drift diving. As a new diver, if you're not comfortable with drifting in the open sea while the dive boat follows your bubbles, then don't dive Cozumel yet. To me, drift diving is about as easy as it gets: You jump off the boat, submerge, and drift along in the current. When the dive is over, you do your safety stop (still drifting), surface, and the boat picks you up. The dive master stays with you the whole time. But again, you have to be comfortable drifting and floating in the open sea.

[blnavs]

We just returned from a cruise that stopped at Roatan, Belize and Cozumel. My husband and 2 sons (ages 20 & 17) went diving at all 3 stops and their favorites were Belize and Cozumel. They went diving with Allison in cozumel and this was the second time they had been with them and they loved it and in Belize they did a Fly and Dive to Ambergris Caye that was GREAT!

[sonofasonofasailor]

:D Thanks for all of your in put and advice....I have already contacted Alison it looks like that is a go for Coz.....Again, thank all of you for time....Happy Cruising