Dive Recommendations: Roatan, Belize City & Cozumel

[dkmccarthy]

My wife & I are in search for our Hawaii in the Caribbean. We live in NH and want to find a place that is not a 12 hour flight to get there.

 

We are taking our second Western Caribbean Cruise this time on the Norwegian Pearl out of Miami, March 8-15, 2009. We'll be stopping in Roatan, Belize City & Cozumel.

 

Any recommendations for dive shops that work with cruisers?

 

If I couldn't dive all three, my wife doesn't dive, only snorkels, what are the must dives. I'm PADI AOW Certified. 1st, 2nd 3rd island dive choices?

 

Any recommendations on really good shops that provide for a diver & snorkeler to have a great time doing their own thing at the same time together?

 

Thanks!

[gmcrow]

We like Roatan, Cozumel, then Belize City in that order. Roatan for the grat condition of the reef and the sea life and the consistancy. Coz is second because we have not always had wonderful dives. Their are a few overfished locations, conditions can sometimes prevent you from getting to the good stuff, and we prefer slow, leisurely dives to enjoy the small sealife, which you cannot do during Cozumel's fast drift dives. We're putting Belize last because we've only done it once.

 

Roatan has several choices of resorts that will pick you up at the pier, but you have to be careful about your time. If your stop is short you could be cutting it close. We use Las Rocas, but have also dove with Anthony's Key. AK is who the ship will probably use.

 

In Coz we use BlueXtsea. Small boats, easy to get to the boat, GREAT service.

 

Belize City you have two choices, fly to Ambergris Key to dive or take the ship's dive where they usually pick you up right at the anchored ship and take you on about an 1.5 hour boat ride to the reef. We LOVED doing this. This was one of our BEST dive days ever, but we have heard of a few that made the long boat ride and did not have good diving. Hard to believe from what we saw. Our full reviews are at http://www.cruisedivers.blogspot.com

[dkmccarthy]

Pretty much about what i've been hearing.

[rvcouple1]

We just got back from diving Grand Cayman, Roatan and Cozumel. Didn't dive Belize as we did a land tour. We were on the Carnival Valor. We booked the excursion for Roatan and Anthony's Key was a great outfit. Ask them to take you to Green Out-House Wall. Wow! If you want to try going on your own, you can't beat Bananarama. We dove them for a week a long time ago, and from what I hear, they are still top notch. We want to go back and stay at Bananarama and dive with them for a week ASAP.

 

We booked our own on Coz with Aldora Divers. They were also great, and there were only 4 divers and the dive master. Much better than the crowds for the cruise excersions. They drop you at a beach restaurant for your surface interval. Steel 120's for the guys = long bottom times! Javier did a great job as divemaster.

 

Remember that you are on ship's time, not island time. We rushed to get off the boat on Coz at 8am and got to the shop at 7:30 am...not open yet!

 

On Grand Cayman, we dove the excursion with Don Foster's Dive. They were only OK. We got shut out of the West Wall due to strong winds. We ended up on the south side and dove spur and groove formations that looked just like Key Largo, but healthier and deeper.

 

The folks that dove Belize said the vis was not nearly what is was at the other islands (100+ft!). There was rain in the highlands causing the red dirt to run into the rivers and dump into the sea.

 

Good luck, be safe and have fun!

 

Gary

[nashwl]

Scuba with Alison in Cozumel. The best at small groups and personal attention!

[tximprov]

We just got back from diving Grand Cayman, Roatan and Cozumel. Didn't dive Belize as we did a land tour. We were on the Carnival Valor. We booked the excursion for Roatan and Anthony's Key was a great outfit. Ask them to take you to Green Out-House Wall. Wow! If you want to try going on your own, you can't beat Bananarama. We dove them for a week a long time ago, and from what I hear, they are still top notch. We want to go back and stay at Bananarama and dive with them for a week ASAP.

 

We booked our own on Coz with Aldora Divers. They were also great, and there were only 4 divers and the dive master. Much better than the crowds for the cruise excersions. They drop you at a beach restaurant for your surface interval. Steel 120's for the guys = long bottom times! Javier did a great job as divemaster.

 

Remember that you are on ship's time, not island time. We rushed to get off the boat on Coz at 8am and got to the shop at 7:30 am...not open yet!

 

On Grand Cayman, we dove the excursion with Don Foster's Dive. They were only OK. We got shut out of the West Wall due to strong winds. We ended up on the south side and dove spur and groove formations that looked just like Key Largo, but healthier and deeper.

 

The folks that dove Belize said the vis was not nearly what is was at the other islands (100+ft!). There was rain in the highlands causing the red dirt to run into the rivers and dump into the sea.

 

Good luck, be safe and have fun!

 

Gary

 

We were on the conquest the same week Gary and also dove with Don Fosters. We were there on Thursday. We like our crew. But then again we had nothing to gauge them by. This was our first dive since getting certified this past summer. But we enjoyed it and they were great at making us confortable with our dive, (keeping the nerves down).

[osufhorn]

I'll put in another vote for Scuba with Alison in Cozumel. She gives you lots of personal attention and is extremely safety conscious. I've dove all over the Caribbean and still not found a nicer dive op than Alison.

www.scubawithalison.com

[dkmccarthy]

Funny, I ended up just booking with Bananarama for Roatan for me to dive & my wife to come along & snorkel. It seems like the best one to do both together. For Cozumel, I booked with Aldora. Skipping the dive in Belize due to time. Probably do the cave tubing there. We'll see how we like the island and maybe go back there for a week some time. Trying to find that right place in the Caribbean we can come to love as much as, or close to, our love of Hawaii.

[cccole]

I also vote for scuba with Alison in Cozumel. We have done two trips with her, both with divers and snorkelers. I really liked it because there was a guide for both groups. In Belize the boys did the ship's dive excursion and I did the ship's snorkel excursion with the girls. It seemed like private companies were very limited in Belize two years ago. We all had great experiences with ship excursions in Belize and they pick you up at the ship and drop you back to the ship. Cherie

[tomsuelaw]

We like Roatan, Cozumel, then Belize City in that order. Roatan for the grat condition of the reef and the sea life and the consistancy. Coz is second because we have not always had wonderful dives. Their are a few overfished locations, conditions can sometimes prevent you from getting to the good stuff, and we prefer slow, leisurely dives to enjoy the small sealife, which you cannot do during Cozumel's fast drift dives. We're putting Belize last because we've only done it once.

 

Roatan has several choices of resorts that will pick you up at the pier, but you have to be careful about your time. If your stop is short you could be cutting it close. We use Las Rocas, but have also dove with Anthony's Key. AK is who the ship will probably use.

 

In Coz we use BlueXtsea. Small boats, easy to get to the boat, GREAT service.

 

Belize City you have two choices, fly to Ambergris Key to dive or take the ship's dive where they usually pick you up right at the anchored ship and take you on about an 1.5 hour boat ride to the reef. We LOVED doing this. This was one of our BEST dive days ever, but we have heard of a few that made the long boat ride and did not have good diving. Hard to believe from what we saw. Our full reviews are at www.cruisedivers.blogspot.com

 

Do you happen to know the name if the company that NCL uses for their dive excurision in Belize?

Thanks!

[vplsh]

Any preferences on who to dive with in Roatan? My husband is a diver and I'd like to enjoy beach facilities. I emailed Las Rocas and they're booked with a large party that day.

 

Have read about Mayan Princess, Anthony's Key and Luna Beach Resort. I've emailed them each for info, but was interested in your opinions as divers.

 

Thanks!

[dkmccarthy]

Hi Lisa, I probably would have gone with AKR, aka Anthony's Key Restort or Coco View Resort (http://www.cocoviewresort.com) had I not been looking to finish a certification on one of the dives. Neither would accomodate.( AKR is actually contracted with my cruise ship and told me that I would have to go through the ship to book my dive with them. ) I am going with Bananarama Dive Resort ( http://www.bananaramadive.com/ ) which is a PADI Gold Palm 5-Star dive resort. They came highly recommended through Sport Diver & Scuba Diving Magazine amd they have developed a working model for those arriving on a Cruise Ship ( http://www.bananaramadive.com/cruiseShip.php ) . Hope this helps!