bikerjohn1

Eagle has a bathroom but you either have to buy something from the bar or pay $1.

My wife and I did a discover scuba on a whim in Cozumel about 20yrs ago and I was hooked.  I found the drift diving very relaxing and easy.  All you have to do is go down and let the current do the rest. There are many, many dive shops in Cozumel.  I usually use Eagle Ray Divers when in Coz.  They are at the marina. My wife will go to Mr Sancho's beach and I have them drop me off at the beach after the dives.  We have been lucky and have never been on a dive in Cozumel with more than about 6 people on the dive boat.

Just dove with Caribbean Sea Sports in Curacao last week.  They are located at the Dreams resort about 3 miles from the cruise ship pier.  I am certified but have not dived for 5 years so I requested a refresher course. We did the refresher and a 2nd tank off of Dream's private beach.  The dive's were ok,.  The reefs were not very full or colorful but it was relaxing.  If I didn't need the refresher first, I could have done a boat dive which I heard was much better. (we were only in port from 7:30-2:00).  The dive shop was easy to deal with and the prices were fair but next time I would only do it again if I did not feel like I needed the refresher first.  

Just off the Horizon yesterday.  We ate dinner at the lido a few times and I did not like it.  The MDR was pretty good.  The Italian and the Steak House were excellent.

I will be eating at the Steak House and the Cucina in about 10 days!!

 Lamanai  is a blast.  However it is a very long tour so make sure you have plenty of time to spare.  We also did cave tubing there once, it was fun also.  Can't help much with Roatan, I am a diver so I always dive there.  You can do a discover scuba with a lot of the dive shops, this will allow you to dive without having to be certified.  There is a wall right off shore, so it's a pretty easy dive.

Have your family go to Mr. Sanchos beach.  You probably can get the dive boat to drop you at the beach after your dive. 

On 8/29/2022 at 2:59 PM, rotman253 said:

 

Thanks for the great info.
It looks like Cozumel is the place for me.
Question, since I will be there with wife and kids, is the diving club located on a nice and public beach?
Would they be able to enjoy their time at the beach while I take 1 dive?

Do you know anything about the Italian specialty restaurant?  I made reservations for the steak house but I am wondering what is on the menu at the Italian.

• rent a car and go to down town St. Pete.  Alot of museums and good places to eat with good views of the Bay.

Roatan has very bad roads and people drive a bit 'differently' there!

We were in Roatan a few days ago, I believe it was the day after the election. It seems that a local guy from Roatan is now the President elect so the locals were pretty happy. There was alot of extra security / police around but I didn't see anything that looked dangerous or abnormal.

Just off the Paradise this week. Not sure of the name of the band. They had a tall blond girl as lead singer and played soft 70s/80s rock and country.

We did one a long time ago. It was a blast. There are multiple dunebuggy tours. We did the ones that were on a VW frame, we also booked directly with the operator and not with a cruise line.

Select Research on the header of this website. From there, select reviews then scroll down to the ship that you are interested in. You will see the professional review and then have the option to see all posted passenger reviews.

Here is my 2 cents

Great: Cozumel, GC, Turks Caicos, Roatan.

Not that great: Key West, Nassau, La Romana, Half Moon Caye, Cancun

Although in Cancun, I had 2 giant blank manta rays right above me, blocked out the sun!

Not sure what you are talking about? This is a dune buggy tour with a bit of snorkeling off the beach, no diving. But even if you do dive, it would be rare that you need anything more than a 1mm dive skin and all the dive tours will rent bcds and weights.

Although it was a long time ago, I did take a dune buggy excursion in Coz. Not sure who the vendor was but it was not via the cruise line. The dune buggies we had were chopped VWs. It was a total blast. They also gave use free beer.

I dive and a dive skin usually is warm enough

Tampa does

Tons of water based activities. Dolphin cruises up and down the intercostal. You can find them in St. Pete Beach as well as Clearwater. Also sunset dinner cruises. You can get one of those out of Gulfport. Even if you aren't a beach person, taking a drive up / down Gulf Blvd is fun. Alot of beach bars inicluding some great dive bars. Down Town St Pete is also very cool (20 min from airport). Alot of museums there, also a very walkable downtown with alot of places to eat / drink. Central ave in St. Pete is a blast. All kinds of stuff there. You can also see wild Dolphins near Vinoy Park in Down Town At Pete.. There is a place near the power plant a bit south of Tampa where there are a bunch of Manatees. Someone also mentioned Tarpon Springs. It's a Greek town so if you like authentic Greek Food. There are also boat tours from there although it can be a bit of a tourist trap. You can also go about an hour away to Crystal Springs and go in the water with the Manatees. GulfPort is an artsy little town right next to St. Pete.

Last time I was in Roatan about 10yrs ago I used Subway water sports. Actually, I did 2 of my cert dives with them. My wife and I had our own boat / dm. Was really cool

I dove at Grand Turk with Blue water divers about 10 or so years ago. Had a great time. They have a wall about 1/4 - 1/2 mile off shore. Saw a few large turtles and a Hammerhead while down there. Grand Turk doesn't have as much as some of the other ports so it's beach, diving or jimmy buffets (well at least those were the options back when)