Need Recommendation on Scuba Diving in Grand Cayman or Cozumel

[loveandcruises]

Hi, I'm writing on behalf of my husband, who has taken up scuba diving. We are going on the Grandeur in April and 2 of the ports with good diving are Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Royal Caribbean has not responded to his emails about requirements for their diving shore excursions ... so he would like to go through an outside company. He needs to be supervised by a PADI professional on his dives -- that is the level he is at. Could you please recommend dive companies in either Grand Cayman or Cozumel that he might be able to use? Thanks.

[Clarea]

I would check the Ports of Call forums:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=147

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=210

[tahqa]

In Cozumel -- Dive with Martin (http://www.divewithmartin.com/) is generally well regarded and is conveniently located at the port.

 

I would say to avoid Sand Dollar if at all possible, which means don't use the ship excursions as they use Sand Dollar. Their gear is generally poor quality, the dive masters are not great and they tend to like to go to Santa Rosa wall which is known for having dangerous down currents. The wall can be an awesome dive but on less than good days is generally too much for novice divers.

[BillOh]

FWIW, I have dove with Don Foster in Grand Caymen. At the time it was who Royal used for their excursions. Its a good well run organization. The shore dive wasn't great, that "protected reef" they were so upset with a cruise ship running an anchor through was the bleakest I have seen. People who went on the 2 tank boat dive loved it.

[danacline]

My son and I did two of our qualification dives at Eden Rock in Grand Cayman. When you get off the tender, turn right and walk a few blocks. They had a great divemaster and with those two dives we were able to finish our certification.

 

Their dives are right off the shore there, and have really nice coral heads and rocks. Our other two dives were in Cozumel (right off the shore) and the bottom there was rather boring.

 

Pull up google map of Grand Cayman, zoom in on the southwest corner where the tender piers are, then go south along the coast to see Eden Rock and another dive company (Jim Fosters?). Both have high ratings.

[Russ Lomas]

I used to work for one of the cruise lines and got the chance to dive Cayman every Wednesday and Cozumel every Thursday. I can still remember many Cozumel dives but nothing specific about Cayman. For that reason, I would recommend Cozumel.

 

Granted it was 20 years ago that I did my diving there, but I found Cayman to be just "ok" while diving the Santa Rosa Wall, Palancar Gardens, and Palancar Reef left vivid memories I will never forget. I always dove with "Dive With Martin" as well, like the poster above. Not many fish at Palancar Gardens but the coral heads were incredible like a giant coral forest. Diving the Santa Rosa wall was surreal as the current pushes you along like you are flying (may be a bit nerve-racking for a novice diver though). Swimming through some holes and caves in Palancar Gardens we were confronted by 8'-9' green moray eels. Something I will never forget. Simply amazing.