Scuba shore excursions being cancellled after dive boat sinks in Cozumel

[tugtraveller]

Two days ago we received an email from Carnival that our daughter's shore excursion (Scuba - 2 tank dive) was cancelled in Cozumel. There were no replacement scuba dives listed under Excursions, so I went to TripAdvisor in search of another dive shop. I knew the Carnival dive excursions had used Sand Dollar Sports Diving because people had mentioned the name of the dive shop in their reviews.

 

On TripAdvisor I read a very angry review of Sand Dollar Sports by someone who showed up for their scuba diving excursion on January 4th & found out it had been cancelled because one of their dive boats SANK the day before with cruise passengers on it. I was surprised because I had never heard about this. But, come to find out there was an article about it in the Miami Herald:

 

"Cruise passenger recalls 'shock' as Mexican tour boat filled with water - then, chaos"

www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article193830679.html

 

Apparently the 10 shore excursion passengers on the sinking dive boat (Jan. 3, 2018) were from the RCCL Navigator of the Seas and Celebrity Equinox. However, Carnival began sending out emails this week that they were cancelling scuba (dive boat) excursions in Cozumel, although no reason was given.

 

I totally agree with Carnival cancelling all dive boat excursions with Sand Dollar, as the article said that Sand Dollar Sports retrieved the sunken boat, was making repairs, and planning to put it back into service again soon. No thanks - that's not an excursion boat I'd want to be on. I was surprised I had not read anything about it here on Cruise Critic. So that's why I wanted to post this, for others who were wondering why their scuba excursion in Cozumel was cancelled.

 

 

Read more here:

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article193830679.html#storylink=cpy

[ABQrobin]

SandDollar has multiple dive boats, that is how they can service divers from up to 8 cruise ships in port any given day in Cozumel. Yes, one boat did sink, it happens. Not making excuses, but it does happen. We dove with SandDollar from our cruise ship back in May 2017, probably that very boat, and had no problems with them.

I get that Carnival has broken their contract with SandDollar, and this could really kill a business. I sure they will get trashed to no end on TripAdvisor, etc. I feel bad for any small business that has and accident (from what I have been told by friends on the island) is that it was a broken bilge pump.

I am just glad no one was injured and everyone was rescued quickly.

[JohninDC]

There are other scuba operators on Cozumel; you are not limited to only using the cruise line excursions. Check Eagle Ray and others you'll find on Tripadvisor

[smokinmike]

Most boats are salvaged, repaired, and put back into service. Fortunately no one was hurt in this unfortunate accident but from everything I've heard, Sand Dollar is a reputable dive op with hard-working crew and DMs. I dive with another local shop but I would hesitate to dive with Sand Dollar - I've seen their boats and crew at work.

 

 

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