Western Caribbean. Which port to skip?

[Cruzin-K]

Costa Maya, Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel are the ports I will be visiting next January, in that order.

 

I was considering diving at every port but now I'm thinking that may be too ambitious (not to mention expensive).

 

If you had to choose one of those ports to not dive, and maybe just stay on the ship, or go find a nice beach and soak up the sun, which would it be?

 

Are any of the ports ones that you simply should stick with the cruise ship shore excursion?

 

Are any of the ports ones where the cruise ship excursion is so bad that you should find your own dive op, or just not dive?

 

Are any of these ports bad to dive at if there are a lot (4 or more) of other cruise ships there?

 

I'll be on the Crown Princess if that helps.

[satxdiver]

I have dived three of the four but on dive trips not cruise ship. Belize is a tender port meaning you have to take a tender from the ship to the dock. The area that most dive at is a long way off shore so it would be a long boat ride. I dived Belize twice from the Belize Aggressor which was much more civilized. I would skip that port for diving.

 

I have dived Roatan which will be the easiest and least crowded area to dive. Don't miss it. I dived it from a resort several years ago.

 

Cozumel is usually frequented by multiple ships (8 in December when I was there on the Mariner!) every day and it is next to horrible. The diving though is great and you could easily go with a private dive shop which will be much better than the ship's tour. Cozumel is absolutely a site not to miss. I dive it every year from a resort. I did dive it once from the ship tour and it was rush, rush, rush and then wait, wait, wait. Never again.

 

Costa Maya is a port created by the cruise lines on the Yucutan next to Mahahual, a very small town (~150). I have never dived there and would recommend a ship tour if you decide to dive. It certainly will not be crowded. I believe I saw one dive operator there the last time but it may be already contracted to the ship. Choices are extremely limited.

[pamawi]

If diving in Belize, I would go with the ship's excursion because they pick you up at the ship and drop you off at the ship and you don't have to deal with tendering. They get really long lines for the tender boats at the end of the day with everyone trying to get back on the ship. I dove with a private dive op once and they didn't get us back in time, but since there was such a line for the tenders I didn't get left by the ship. Belize is not a port that you want to walk around. If you choose to do something else there, I'd do it as a ship tour or may be Victor Bodden that comes highly recommended on the board. We did the ship's cave tubing which is a very popular tour. It was fun, but a long drive.

 

I agree Roatan and Cozumel are my favorites. I've dove both private and with the ship (Carnival). In Roatan Carnival uses Anthony's Key which is a nice place and I'd like to go back and stay for a week. Next time I might try Bananarama based on scubaboard recommendations and hope to be closer to the Mary's Place dive site that I've heard people rave about.

 

In Coz, you'll find plenty of recommendations for private diveops on this board and scubaboard. I've dove with Dive witih Alison and Blue Angel. Blue Angel includes lunch at their restaurant overlooking the water which is nice. Just dove with the ship last month. Carnival uses Dive Safari. They were very professional, but they did limit bottom times to 30 min for deep dive and 40 minutes for shallow dives so alot of us came up with alot of air left over. I'm guessing they do this for an added safety margin and to stay on the ship's schedule since they advertise the excursions take a specific length of time.

 

Costa Maya could be a good beach day or see if the ship offers a guided cenote dive trip? I did that out of Calica and it was great. If I remember right Costa Maya has a little shopping area with a nice pool, swim up bar, but you can walk or take a cab to a little town down the road with a beach with some open air bars and restaurants. You can get a cheap massage on the beach overlooking the water.

[Boytjie]

One of my cruises called at Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel and I dived at all three. :) As much as I wanted to see Mayan ruins I could not skip any diving in those locations!

 

In Belize I did not go with the ship's excursion and I can't recall whether the ship's dive excursion was picked up at the ship. We had to tender in and then from the dive shop on the pier we sailed past the ship to get to the dive location. Being picked up at the ship would be nice but I am not sure that after returning to the ship that I would have tendered out to land again; at least after returning I got to walk around the port area a bit, do some shopping and drink local beer. :)

 

In Roatan I was on a private TA arranged excursion which included an option to dive. I ended up being the only one scuba diving at a resort on the East End - just me and the dive master.

 

Cozumel's drift diving was an amazing experience!

[beckyjohns]

I've dove in all 4 places.

 

If you want to skip 1 day, I would skip Costa Maya. There are plenty of beaches in Costa Maya where you can have a nice, relaxing beach day. I found the diving there to be just okay. The coral is very nice, but the area has been overfished and there's really not much sealife to see there.

 

Belize really does have nice diving and while I generally avoid the ship dive excursions, I would recommend the ship excursion here. As others said, if you do a private trip, you'll have to wait for tenders to take you to shore (which will take awhile because they send ship excursions first), find your dive operator, then head right back out past the ship to dive. The ship excursion dive boat will pick you right up from the ship and head out from there. Saves a ton of time! We've always gone on Carnival and they use Hugh Parkey for diving. The boats are great and the operator is top notch. My only complaint is that it's crowded! Last time we went, we called ahead to Hugh Parkey and paid them for a private divemaster so it was just my husband and I in a group under water.

 

Cozumel is, by far, my favorite diving. It is absolutely stunning and beautiful. Wouldn't miss it for the world. There are dozens of private shops who will take you out. Many are small operators who send out only 6-pack boats, but there are also companies with the higher-capacity boats. Depends what your preference is, but I like the smaller boats. Less people, you and your divemates get to decide where you want to go, and they generally take you to the less crowded reefs. I can highly recommend both Aldora Divers and Blue XT Sea. Both will take good care of you and give you as much bottom time as your tank/computer will allow.

 

Roatan is also an easy, nice dive spot. We went many, many years ago with somebody in West Bay (can't remember now who it was). The diving was good and very close to shore, but I wasn't overly impressed with their service. Although I've never dove with them, I've heard many good things about Barefoot Divers.

[Laurie S.]

I wouldn't skip any of them, but if I were, it would be Belize.

 

Costa Maya has wonderful diving, check with Gypsea Divers. They're on facebook.

 

We used Banarama, Barefoot Divers, and Subway Watersports at Roatan. I liked Subway the best.

 

At Cozumel I've dived with BlueXT Sea and Opal's Dream. I would recommend both.

 

At Belize I've dived with Seasports Belize and did the ship excursion to Teneriffe. Both were great, but the visibility and fish variety were not as good as the other places.

[Kryssa]

We have that same list of ports. We are going next week, so I can't speak from experience, but we are diving in Coz, Roatan, and Costa Maya. We have heard the diving accessible from where the ship is located in Belize is not great.

 

Coz- Dive with Alison

Roatan- Anthony's Key w/ Carnival

Costa Maya- Blue Ocean Safari

[Cruzin-K]

We have that same list of ports. We are going next week, so I can't speak from experience, but we are diving in Coz, Roatan, and Costa Maya. We have heard the diving accessible from where the ship is located in Belize is not great.

 

Coz- Dive with Alison

Roatan- Anthony's Key w/ Carnival

Costa Maya- Blue Ocean Safari

 

Oooh! Have a great time and give me a report when you get back :D

 

I may skip the diving in Costa Maya. I'll do a bit more research but that shore excursion from the ship is $149 for four hours. I'd bet the time limits will be too short for each dive and I don't want to be dragged out of the water after 45 minutes for a one hour surface interval and then another 30 minute dive. Plus, the arrival time makes it impossible to do a morning dive and I'd be worried that afternoon dives with a private tour wouldn't get me back to the ship by 5. I'll see what info I can dig up on diving in Costa Maya when I'm there next month. I won't be diving on that cruise but maybe I can find some people who are and see what the cruise ship excursion is like (although it's a Royal Caribbean cruise, I think most cruise lines end up using the same vendors for shore excursions)

 

I will probably do ship's tours everywhere else but Cozumel. It sounds like Belize just works better with the ships tour, and Roatan appears to use a pretty good Dive Op for the cruise excursions with Anthony's Key.

[themons]

Skip Costa Maya especially if the ship is using Dream Time. I wouldn't go if it was using Blue Ocean Safari either.

 

If the ship has a snorkling excursion to Maya Palms, you can do that and shore dive with their dive shack, if you decide you want to go diving at the last minute. That way, you are assured of getting back on the boat.

[Sailfish]

Every few years, my dive group and I return to the Western Caribbean. Next year, we are going back to the same ports as the OP. All four ports of call have the potential to be great dive ports. Depending on how much time you have in port in Belize, you could do a fly/dive package to Ambergris Caye given your ship gets in early and remains there till 5pm (not all do). That's what my group intends to do, though we dive in every port when we cruise the Western Caribbean.

 

Of the four dive ports, Costa Maya is probably the most expensive with the least bang for the buck. Visibility there can be hit or miss, but it's still a fun dive port. The focus of the Scuba Cruise is diving, so we do it in all four ports.

 

Good luck!

 

Suzi

[Cruzin-K]

Every few years, my dive group and I return to the Western Caribbean. Next year, we are going back to the same ports as the OP. All four ports of call have the potential to be great dive ports. Depending on how much time you have in port in Belize, you could do a fly/dive package to Ambergris Caye given your ship gets in early and remains there till 5pm (not all do). That's what my group intends to do, though we dive in every port when we cruise the Western Caribbean.

 

Of the four dive ports, Costa Maya is probably the most expensive with the least bang for the buck. Visibility there can be hit or miss, but it's still a fun dive port. The focus of the Scuba Cruise is diving, so we do it in all four ports.

 

Good luck!

 

Suzi

 

Hmmmm! Now you have me thinking (a dangerous activity :p)

 

I'm not locked in to my January cruise date, but the week of February that you're going is slightly more expensive :confused:

 

I was planning to book something when I'm on the Caribbean Princess next month. I'm fresh out of Future Cruise Credits :D Maybe I'll think about booking the cruise that you'll be on. At least, it's good to know there would be other divers on board.

 

I'm a very new AOW diver. I have somewhere around 22 dives total and my buoyancy is so-so. Someone I know died while diving last year in Cozumel, so I'm also a bit of a nervous diver these days and want to keep my dives simple and not too deep. Cruise ship excursions, from what I understand, usually aren't super advanced so sticking with them might be what's best for me :confused:

 

One of my friends just got back from those same ports and the weather canceled her excursions in every port except Cozumel. I hope I have better luck :rolleyes:

[Sailfish]

Hmmmm! Now you have me thinking (a dangerous activity :p)

 

I'm not locked in to my January cruise date, but the week of February that you're going is slightly more expensive :confused:

 

I was planning to book something when I'm on the Caribbean Princess next month. I'm fresh out of Future Cruise Credits :D Maybe I'll think about booking the cruise that you'll be on. At least, it's good to know there would be other divers on board.

 

I'm a very new AOW diver. I have somewhere around 22 dives total and my buoyancy is so-so. Someone I know died while diving last year in Cozumel, so I'm also a bit of a nervous diver these days and want to keep my dives simple and not too deep. Cruise ship excursions, from what I understand, usually aren't super advanced so sticking with them might be what's best for me :confused:

 

One of my friends just got back from those same ports and the weather canceled her excursions in every port except Cozumel. I hope I have better luck :rolleyes:

 

With the exception of Ambergris Caye and maybe Majahual (Costa Maya) the dive sites we are visiting next year are drift dives. We are into UW photography, so we aren't doing crazy stuff, but we have good air consumption and excellent buoyancy control so we can visit dive sites like Mary's Place in Roatan. I wouldn't call any of the dive sites we are going to "advance" (only the dive operators do that), since most are easy dives when conditions are good. But the group as a whole is made up of experienced divers who dive often. The vast majority of divers who cruise tend to be folks who only dive on vacation. Nothing wrong with that, but it's a totally different mindset I guess.

 

The dive operators have tagged the dive sites we will visit next year as "advanced" dives, so we now have to require AOW certification. Though our dive group may not be appropriate for you, if you plan to go to some of the same ports, we are happy to share our resources. Good luck!

 

Suzi

[Sailfish]

We have that same list of ports. We are going next week, so I can't speak from experience, but we are diving in Coz, Roatan, and Costa Maya. We have heard the diving accessible from where the ship is located in Belize is not great.

 

Coz- Dive with Alison

Roatan- Anthony's Key w/ Carnival

Costa Maya- Blue Ocean Safari

 

 

We are flying to Ambergris Caye while in Belize. There is excellent diving there, but it's only practical if your ship remains in town all day. It's a 15 minute flight over to the island - you are usually back by 3:30pm.

[w&k]

Well - I'm going to swim upstream here.

 

Belize - We have diving in Belize on cruise ships three times so far. The first time, we went with the ship, and they used Hugh Parkey's. Good, but loooooong trip to get there. The second time, we went with Sea Sports Belize. Their dive sites were much closer in, and I found them to be far superior.

 

The third time, of course we went back to Sea Sports Belize... no contest. And when we do a western again, it will be Sea Sports hands down.

 

Yes, it's easier to book diving in Belize with the ship... but IMO, Sea Sports is much better, if a little less convenient.

 

Roatan - DH had just had eye surgery, so we had nothing planned, but we had divers at our dinner table that twisted my arm to come with them on the ship's dive with Anthony's Key Resort (not that I needed that much convincing). The DM and captain were superb, the boat was OK, and to my surprise, the dives were just OK. If you have a long enough day, I would definitely book outside the ship.

 

Cozumel - I think it would be tough to have a bad dive. Our least favorite was a ship's dive through Sand Dollar Sports (moo!). The 2nd and 3rd times, we went with Christi at BlueXTSea, and had wonderful dives. The 4th time, we just pottered over to Chankanaab park and went off the beach with Aquaventures.

 

Actually, you can just walk off the boat and catch a dive - there is at least one op that hangs out on the pier, if I remember correctly.

 

I've got some old reviews up on my (sadly neglected) website if you want to take a look.

 

Have a great trip, wherever you decide!

 

Wendy

 

website

http://wendyandkeith.webs.com/

 

pix

http://community.webshots.com/user/wendyandkeith

 

 

Wendy

[Kryssa]

We just dove in Cozumel and Roatan last week. These are both not-to-be-missing dive ports. We dove with Scuba with Alison in Cozumel and West End Divers in Roatan and would recommend both. We especially liked that West End Divers will send a driver to pick you up at your cruise ship and take you back when you're done :)