Scuba diving & snorkelers on same trip?

[3boyzmom]

Hi,

We'll be in the Mexican Riviera for Christmas. My hubby, our 2 older boys and I all scuba dive. My mom, brother and youngest son (age 8) don't dive, but like to snorkel.

 

Does anyone know if we can all go on the same trip together- the snorkelers can snorkel while we dive? I don't want to sacrifice our dive for the snorkelers (call me selfish) but it would be handy if we could all go together. Or, should the snorkelers just go on a ship-sponsored excursion?

 

I think we'll be diving in Cabo- from what you guys have told me, that's our best option compared to PV and Mazatlan.

[cruzegirl]

Truthfully, it's often a 50/50 if a dive shop will let snorklers on. I've done the Caribbean with the scuba cruise and we have been able to bring snorklers along a couple of excursions. But we have one that is a free diver but used to do scuba. Was an instructor, dive master, the whole thing. But now free dives. And he was always allowed. I think it was because of his extensive background. That wouldn't be the case for the average snorkler. As you know, some of that reason is that where they take you to dive, isn't always good conditions for snorkeling. You'll just have to ask around.

[kskmsk]

Hi -

 

I just sent this group an email as we have a group of 8 going on a Mexican Riveria cruise the end of November and have a similar situation. I haven't heard from them as I just sent it tonight. But, you might try them.

http://www.vallarta-adventures.com/?gclid=CPGtyKyA0JQCFSQqagodJwkukQ

 

They say they will do private charters and customize them for both scuba and snorkeling.

 

Good Luck!

[Pilot70D]

...on the individual excursion operator.

 

Before getting our open water certification we were dedicated snorkelers. Since then we have been diving in many locations where the diving and the snorkeling were very good. Almost all of the time both snorkelers and divers were present at the same dive operator.

 

What happened when both were present varied extensively. Usually though the snorkelers were treated quite well and enjoyed the trip as much as those of us diving did. The only exception we encountered was on Bonnaire withe the Dive Inn. At this location the snorkelers were definitely treated like second class citizens.

 

With ALL other operators (we have been all over the Caribbean) the snorkelers got great treatment. In some cases we all went out on the same boat. With a couple of operators we all went to the dive shop together and then went out on separate boats. It just depends on the individual operator.

 

Many dive shops now have a website and almost all have email. One thing I would recommend is to contact several operators in each port and ask about combined diving and snorkeling on the same excursion. You can also find a lot of good information about individual operators in the "PORTS OF CALL" section here on CC. For some silly reason we are not allowed to post reviews of dive operators here but are free to do so in the ports section.

 

Hope this proves helpful to you for that combined trip.