Diving Cozumel, Sand Dollar from the ship ok?

[underseahunter]

Hey There,

 

I dove fall of 2008 with sand dollar off a carnival boat. The operation was ok I guess. The diving was nice. There was a park fee to get us a wristband, and entry. We dove a wall (Santa Rosa?). Mostly shallow stuff. The boat was not crowded, and as far as cattle boats go was pretty clean. There were lots of crew, and they split us into two groups. Don't forget that diving with a cruise line means that in the event of an "issue" the boat will wait, or refund you IF they change the itenerary... Think hurricane avoidance.

 

There was a bit of a "mystery" that I would relate regarding SDollar... I just had all my gear rebuilt. New hoses all the way around, etcetera. We went right onto sd boat off the cruise dock. Geared up, and went to te SD shore facility to get our wristbands and paperwork done. Now keep in mind that I had already done a dozen dives with my newly refurbed gear. I pressured up my regs and went ashore. When I came back aboard we left the dock, I turned back on my air, and POP! My month old/new hose popped. Not saying that anybody on the crew messed with my gear. Just ODD that a new hose should pop right at the fitting, as if somebody manhandled it while I was up filling out paperwork... They offered to rent me a reg set, and I said No problemo I carry extra hoses, fin and mask straps, batteries, etcetera. The crew was astonished when I took out my own wrench and changed the hose with one of my own backups. I meant this to say I will not use ANY of your rental gear... Problem solved. Now several cruises later, and every sunday since diving here in florida, I bag up my gear and never let it out of my sight.

 

Finally, on my last cruise to the windward islands, a new dive buddy of mine had made all the arrangements and we did not use even one of the shore excursion offerings. There was a bit of a "pucker factor" getting back to the boat on time though knowing that they would not wait for us. But hey, that is why I buy travel insurance and DAN anyway.

Cea

[Jango]

I am on Carnival Valor sept 20 sailing we are in port from 8 am to 5 pm. I belive the time they use is ship time while in port and not local time.

Yes technically this is my wife's screen name but i used this more then she does

 

I asked my travel agent about the times on the Carnival iteneary on their site. She said without hesitation that the times are local times.

 

Please, if anyone knows any different let us know. I had to cancel a dive in GC with Nick Buckley because I couldn't make their dive times 8 am or 2 pm - too late- so right now I'm stuck with Fosters unless I can find a shop that can go at 9:00 am. Anyone know of a good one? I have a post over on another thread about GC diving so plz answer there.

 

Thanks

 

:)

[tootsiescurly]

I asked my travel agent about the times on the Carnival iteneary on their site. She said without hesitation that the times are local times.

 

Please, if anyone knows any different let us know. I had to cancel a dive in GC with Nick Buckley because I couldn't make their dive times 8 am or 2 pm - too late- so right now I'm stuck with Fosters unless I can find a shop that can go at 9:00 am. Anyone know of a good one? I have a post over on another thread about GC diving so plz answer there.

 

Thanks

 

:)

 

Try Caman Diving School. We have used them twice when cruising.

[sddiver]

Jango,

 

Try Casey @ Neptunes Divers she may be able to help you out. I've gone out with her in the past.

 

Rich

 

http://www.neptunesdivers.com/

[Jango]

Jango,

 

Try Casey @ Neptunes Divers she may be able to help you out. I've gone out with her in the past.

 

Rich

 

http://www.neptunesdivers.com/

 

By the time you and tootsiescurley had posted your messages I had already e-mailed Neptune's :D Funny how things work out like that.

 

I had been browsing the Scubaboard's threads and found one on GC where one of the senior forum moderators, scubasteve, recommended Casey. Her handle on the forum is caymancasey. I PM'd her and right after that I made a reservation on their site. She responded to both almost immediately :)

 

They are "Cayman's Original 8 divers Max" :cool:

 

I'm sure I'll have a great time with them ;)

 

Thanks for all the help and advise guys. I'm sure that all this info will help other divers that happen to run across these threads too. Cruise ship diving can be a real challenge and you guys are making my trip a lot easier that's for sure.

 

I'll post back on this thread after the trip and give a run-down on how it all went.

[scuabacruiser]

By the time you and tootsiescurley had posted your messages I had already e-mailed Neptune's :D Funny how things work out like that.

 

I had been browsing the Scubaboard's threads and found one on GC where one of the senior forum moderators, scubasteve, recommended Casey. Her handle on the forum is caymancasey. I PM'd her and right after that I made a reservation on their site. She responded to both almost immediately :)

 

They are "Cayman's Original 8 divers Max" :cool:

 

I'm sure I'll have a great time with them ;)

 

Thanks for all the help and advise guys. I'm sure that all this info will help other divers that happen to run across these threads too. Cruise ship diving can be a real challenge and you guys are making my trip a lot easier that's for sure.

 

I'll post back on this thread after the trip and give a run-down on how it all went.

That's great info for GC. Unfortunately this thread starts with Cozumel Sand Dollar dive op so it is probably lost for someone looking for GC info.

[tinkherbelle]

Try scubawithalison. She will work with you on time. I just booked a 2tank with a private DM ($110 including the dm, bc, reg and tanks. I am also a single diver. She is highly reccommended on SB and here. Carnival uses time at your departure so if you leave from Florida EST, texas CDT. Coz is CDT. $8 cab each way to Caleta and 10 min from the pier.Good luck and happy diving!

 

Tink:D

[FamilyDoc]

My husband and I went cruising back in June and we dove with Anthony's Key in Roatan through the ship. There were 12 divers on the boat and 2 DMs, but instead of splitting into 2 groups of 6, it was free-for-all. People kicking you, punching you, and even a photog shoving people out of the way - it was cattle boat madness! The resort looked beautiful, and the DMs were very nice, but if we go back to Roatan on a cruise, we will be diving independently.

 

!

 

We had the same experience! I have been a diver since 1983 (alright, I'm showing my age!) and it was absolutely the worst dive I have ever had. We actually had 14 divers with 2 DM's. They put one in the front and one in the back and if you stopped to look at the little critters, they tapped their tank to say hurry up. One diver lost his buddy and had been left behind and I had to physically grab the back DM and point out the guy going the wrong direction. The water and the resort were beautiful but not worth what I definitely felt was very poor safety.

[cre8tive1]

092306....

 

Who did you end up going with in Cozumel? DH and I are having the same thoughts? Sand Dollar or Ind. Operator? I do like the convenience of Sand Dollar, but I'm afraid we will be doing the same dives we always do in Cozumel. (Palencar, Palancar Caves, Santa Rosa wall, Tormentos)

 

They are all great sites, but we have done them Numerous times. I've just heard Sand Dollar always does the shallow close dives and they make you cart all of your own equipment even if rented to and from the boat.

 

Just curious.

[092306]

I ended up using Sanddollar again. It was great. We dove to Santa Rosa Wall for the deep dive and then San Clemente reef I believe for the second. I will admit i am not sure about that. We had a total of 16 people and 2 dive masters. I too was afaid we would dive the same places, however it was still great. 30 mins on the wall and about 45- 50 mins on san Clemente. They had us do safety stop on the deeper dive and on the shallower dive if you wanted to do a safety stop it was up to you. I did. The reason I use the ship operator is more a logistical reason then anything else. I don't bring my own gear due to I fly, and already have one bag. So for my to find a dive shop, getting to and from and then renting my gear costs more then it would if I just used the ship operator. If I leave out of NY and then I go and briong my gear that will change everything. Until then I guess it is cheaper and easier to use the ship operator. Hope this helps some.

[092306]

i read the other poster's comment about Roatan and Anthony's key. I was surprised about the shoving and stuff like that. Although I thought the DM was a little rude,(mostly he just seemed like he did not want to be there) I thought they were ok. Roatan was probably the best dive site yet. Overheat reef was amazing. Its about 40 ft. Hell I almost swam by a turtle that was lying on the reef resting. Only saw him because he moved he head. Saw eagle rays, lobsters, and the Groupers, Groupers and more Groupers. They are TREMENDOUS easily 50 lbs. Couldn' t believe it. We had 18 people. 9 people each boat with two dive masters. Visibility was a little cloudy but still saw alot. Had a great time.