Diving in Belize thru Carnival

[reddi]

For simplicity's sake, we will be diving thru the ship on our spring break cruise and have never dove in Belize before. Has anyone dove thru Carnival there who can tell me about the dive operator they use and the dive experience there. Thanks.

[tootsiescurly]

For simplicity's sake, we will be diving thru the ship on our spring break cruise and have never dove in Belize before. Has anyone dove thru Carnival there who can tell me about the dive operator they use and the dive experience there. Thanks.

 

They use Hugh Parkey's who are very good. Beware - you will be diving with 20-25 people of varying ability. The experience was less than desirable for us. You have to deal with flailers and people who do not pay attention to their surroundings.

 

I was nearly slammed into the bottom by someone who decided to descend rapidly. I took my hand and pushed her up and away from me. She had the audacity to say something to me when we got back on the dive boat. Mind you she also nearly kicked my mask off and the regulator out of my mouth.

 

We saw another lady kick a barrel sponge and destroy it. Once again she was clueless. Another diver mentioned it to her and she just laughed. This is the reason we are not diving in Belize on our cruise in November.

 

Dive in Cozumel and Grand Cayman where it is easier to book thru an operator who takes smaller groups. You will have a much better time.

[reddi]

Thanks for the input Mari. We've been in Belize once and did the zipline and cave tubing so I definitely want to dive Belize this time. I've just read on the boards that it's difficult logistically to arrange independent dives. If my 14 yr old son dives with me we can try to keep some distance from the newbies. Otherwise I'll try to hook up with an experienced buddy. We are also diving independently in Coz - been there quite a few times and love it.

[tootsiescurly]

Agree with you about Coz. Hugh Parkey's will pair you up so you really do not have the option of chosing your own group. I suppose if you have a group of 5 they would let you dive together but otherwise they group you.

[Canuck2008]

Hi Reddi,

 

I sailed the Carnival Valor on January 20-27, 2008, and dove at all 4 ports utilizing the excursions through Carnival and I was completely satisfied with all the dive operations, except for Don Foster's in the Caymans. The DM/Instructer at Don Foster's (Sally) insisted on seriously underweighting everyone on the first dive, but on the second dive after complaints from everyone onboard the boat, the second DM/Instructer allowed everyone to properly weight themselves which made the second dive an enjoyable experience.

 

As a general overview, I think Carnival did a good job in selecting it's dive operators, and I would have no problem in booking any future excursions through the Carnival Cruise ship. I found that when we arrived at each port, we always met early at pretermined locations on the ship and we were usually given priority in being the first group off the ship.

 

The 4 ports, dive operators and diving site were as follows:

 

Port - Grand Cayman / Dive Operator - Don Foster / Short Tender 1000'

Good Equipment / Excellent Dive Boat

 

1st Dive - Eagle Ray Rock - Max Depth 80'

2nd Dive - Arm Chair Reef - Max Depth 60'

 

***************

 

Port - Roatan / Dive Operator - Anthony Key Resorts / Dock at Port

Good Equipment / Excellent Dive Boat / Well Organized & Divided Group Based on Experience

 

1st Dive - Mandy's Ell Garden - Max Depth 70'

2nd Dive - Romeo's Elbow - Max Depth 60'

 

***************

 

Port - Belize / Dive Operator - Hugh Parkley's / Long Tender to Port

Good Equipment / Excellent Dive Boat / Picks you directly from Carnival Ship using their own boat as the ship must tender passenger a good distance to the port / Well Organized & Divided Group Based on Experience / Suggest using the Carnival Excursion as we were given priority and were the very first off the boat, and arrived back 15 minutes before departure.

 

1st Dive - Aldo's Armchair - Max Depth 80'

2nd Dive - Creek Ozeen - Max Depth 60'

 

***************

 

Port - Cozumel / Dive Operator - Sand Dollar Sports / Dock at Port

Good Equipment but dated / Good Dive Boat but crowded compared to the previous 3 Dive Boats/ Well Organized & Divided Group Based on Experience

 

1st Dive - Santa Rosa Wall - Max Depth 80'

2nd Dive - San Clementa - Max Depth 60'

 

***************

 

P.S. Had a great time aboard the Valor, the cruise ship staff really go out of their way to give you an enjoyable experience.

 

Canuck2008

[reddi]

Thanks everyone for the input.

Canuck, did Carnival only offer afternoon dives in Belize? Our ship arrives at 8am and departs at 5pm. I like doing a.m. dives if at all possible to have the afternoon free to meet up with the rest of the family.

[Canuck2008]

Thanks everyone for the input.

Canuck, did Carnival only offer afternoon dives in Belize? Our ship arrives at 8am and departs at 5pm. I like doing a.m. dives if at all possible to have the afternoon free to meet up with the rest of the family.

 

Hi Reddi,

 

Belize is essentially an all day diving excursion, travel time to and from the dive site is approximately 2 hours, with each dive being approximately 1 hour in duration with a 1-hour snack break in between dives.

 

Because of the time involved for this excursion, you are usually the first off the ship using a seperate ship exit as Hugh Parkley is picking you up directly from the ship. You will probably be one of the last to arrive back on the ship and will not have any free time left for other excursions with the family in Belize.

 

Canuck2008:)

[reddi]

Thanks for the helpful info Canuck!

[cccole]

It has been a couple of years since my husband and sons did the dive through Carnival in Belize. We were on the Miracle for a spring break. It is the only port where we used a Carnival excursion and that was because there did not seem to be a lot of other options getting good reviews. Also.....in that port it was fairly important to be back to the ship on time or be with a carnival excursion which would require the ship to wait for late arrivals.

 

My husband and sons had a great experience. The were picked up at the ship and were delivered back to the ship. It may be the only time we have done a ship excursion but they were very happy. Cherie

[scubamargie]

reddi, we took the diving excursion in Belize last March from the Carnival Legend. They did use Hugh Parkey and there were a lot of divers on the boat, but it was a very large boat and they staggered the entry times for each small group. Groups seemed to be divided by experience, so we were very happy with all the experienced divers in our group (we've been diving 10+ years and have logged over 300 dives). Dive masters were wonderful -- let us dive our computer so we got lots of bottom time. Don't miss diving here. It's beautiful. We saw a Manatee under water -- it looked just like a mermaid! :D

 

They picked us up at the ship (as another has posted before the other excursions left) and then headed to their shop to get gear for everyone. The dive sites were about an hour away -- but the seas were calm and it was a great day to be out on the water. It does rain here frequently so if you get sea sick be sure to plan accordingly. We arrived back around 3 or so -- not enough time to go back into Belize City, but time enough for a drink by the pool.

[reddi]

thx cccole and scubamargie for sharing the positive experiences. Sounding good to me! Now we just have to wait until March.:o