Western Caribbean Diving-Best Spot?

[joshkathy]

If you had to pick between a dive at Cozumel, Grand Cayman, or Belize, what would be your first choice and why? Also, any small dive operators to recommend for that spot?

[w&k]

I personally would rank Belize #1, Cozumel and Grand Cayman equivalent. Of course, this is dependent upon limited dives.

 

In Belize (3x), we have done both an atoll and the inshore reef, and we liked the inshore reef better - more critters.

 

In Cozumel (3x), we have done walls and shallow patch reefs, and they both have their charms.

 

In Cayman (1x), we did two reefs because of the wind direction that day. Both were very nice.

 

Operations I have tried and reccomend:

 

Belize - SeaSports Belize http://www.seasportsbelize.com/

 

Cozumel - Blue XTSea diving http://www.bluextseadiving.com/

 

Cayman - Neptune's divers http://www.neptunesdivers.com/

 

I have posted reviews of all three on this board, and if you do a search, you will notice that there are a few operations that come up consistently with excellent service to cruisers.

 

Have a great trip!

 

Wendy

 

dive pix - http://community.webshots.com/user/wendyandkeith

[OKPetlady]

Just dove Belize and Cozumel last week while on the Grand Princess. We enjoyed Cozumel much more. We dove the Palancar Caverns and the 2nd dive I don't remember the name of in Cozumel. We enjoyed it more as we really want to see the bigger critters and on our dives in Cozumel we saw turtles, sharks and rays. We dove with www.scubawithalison.com. She was awesome and very accomodating to the cruise ship schedule.

[jetskier]

JoshKathy,

We have only dove in Cozumel and Roatan so I can only help as far as Cozumel. We also use scubawithalison.com and agree with OKPetlady that Alison is great to dive with. Palancar Horseshoe is a nice place to go.

 

I also hear that Blue XTSea is spoken highly of also. Someone has posted recently that you have to have at least a party of four to book with them if you are coming in via a cruise ship.

 

Dave

[bac2man]

Petlady, i just booked with divewithallison for when I am on my cruise this coming november. Did you take a taxi to Calletta marinA? how did it all work out? Did you have to reserve a spot with a credit card? etc

I heard she is good just would like to here from somebody who dove with her from a cruise ship.

[jetskier]

Petlady, i just booked with divewithallison for when I am on my cruise this coming november. Did you take a taxi to Calletta marinA? how did it all work out? Did you have to reserve a spot with a credit card? etc

I heard she is good just would like to here from somebody who dove with her from a cruise ship.

 

Bac2man,

You take a taxi from one of the four piers that the cruise ships are tendering to. Make sure you remember which one. (a couple of the piers maybe finished by the time you get there) The taxi is $6 each way. Most of them know where the Caleta Marina is.

 

Once at the marina, ask where the Enigma II is. Usually it is docked a couple of slips to the right of where the road turns. You dont have to reserve with a CC. We pay her once we are back at the marina.

 

Which day in Nov are you going to be in Cozumel? We are going with Alison on Nov 2nd. If you are tendering from a Carnival ship, you want to get to the lounge with all your gear early to get your tender ticket. They will keep you in the lounge and take you to the tender as a group.

 

Dave

[jmps]

Petlady, i just booked with divewithallison for when I am on my cruise this coming november. Did you take a taxi to Calletta marinA? how did it all work out? Did you have to reserve a spot with a credit card? etc

I heard she is good just would like to here from somebody who dove with her from a cruise ship.

 

No deposit. On the boat after the dives she will take cash or Traveler's Checks.

[sea-jay]

Alison will take traveler's checks but prefers Cash. checks are a lot of trouble for her to get to the bank etc to pay her help. I paid cash last time and would do so again.

[bac2man]

Thanks Dave and others for the feedback on dive with Allison, its good to get the lo-down from people who have done it. I get to dive 1-2 times per year in the caribbean and I want to be prepared so nothing stops my dives.

Paul

[DiveCruiser]

Cozumel is tops then GC, and then Belize

Bob

[joshkathy]

Cozumel is tops then GC, and then Belize

Bob

Bob, if I'm after a dive with an outfit that caters to experianced divers that delivers caves, walls, wrecks, etc (ie, other than swim over sand and look at odd coral heads), do you still think Cozumel is best? Tell me why. Any ideas for quality outifts, near the port, that cater to experianced divers that I can book outside of the ship?

[infopaul]

joshkathy,

 

I dove all three places and depending on what you like you might choose differently. Of course this also depends on your experience and frequency in which you dive. I can tell you Cozumel is easier to pick if you like caves and penetration dives, I like the Cenotes. You can even do a light penetration dive in a Cenote if you don't have the proper cave certification. On a cruiseship you would have to arrange your own independant excursion for this. There are some good "other dives" with the ship excursion. Planacar and a wall dive are only two of them. I can't reccommend divewithallison because i've never dove with her, but others here have nothing but good things to say and I quite frankly believe them.

 

On Grand Cayman I enjoy fast action when it comes to drift diving and they have a good wall dive. This is always fun especially if you get a good group with good bouyancy skills that can get down to depth. The ship offers a dive there but independant operators are the ticket.

 

In Belize this is where it gets a little difficult for me. I want to dive the southern part of Turneffe because of the fast current wall dive and large pelagics. This requires independantly booking and then they have minimum paxs before they go out there. It is a little more costly and everybody must be well experienced to dive on this site. This is notably the best dive spot in belize. If you go with the ship excursion it will probably be with Parkey's Dive Connection. They are a good outfit and they will probably take you out to the NW part of Turneffe to Rendevous Point. Great dive but I think I would save the money and go to the inside reef and see the critters like Wendy, W&K suggests (this could be an easy independant booking).

 

If you haven't been to any of these ports it's a good idea to book with the ship for your first time. This also depends on your experience and comfort level in diving which should be considered a factor in booking independantly...Paul:)

[diverearl]

Hey joshkathy, Cozumel would have to be my pick and Allison is good but my operator would be Dive with Martin. If you are experienced they let you dive your computer, also my personal favorite divemaster is David. If you want to try a different reef get them to take you to the north end and dive Barracuda Reef. Not many get to do this dive.

 

http://www.cozumel.net/

 

http://www.divewithmartin.com/ - just noticed Martin has a new web page

 

Also if you have time in Belize you can fly over to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye - Tropic Air and leave out of Municipal airport http://www.tropicair.com/?CFID=29356&CFTOKEN=89101115 . A lot better than the dives from Belize city for about the same price ( $150 with taxis and lunch on the island ) as the ship charges just for the dive.

[joshkathy]

Anybody know who runs the dive tour for the cruise (Explorer) in Cozumel? On your dive were you happy with them? How many divers went on your excursion? Did the operator cater to multiple skill levels (advanced in a different group then newbies)? After you finished did you wish that you had booked a tour on your own?

 

Also, there are two dives listed on the Explorer web page...any thoughts on which is better? Who runs each?

[budaman]

Hi Josh & Kathy.....When researching for our Rhapsody cruise last April, found out RCI uses Sand Dollar in Cozumel. We opted to set up a private charter with Martin as we did on our recent trip on the Grand. Martin will do a private boat & DM for $300 for up to 4 divers and will generally include equipment. Two advantages for Martin......they are located right on the pier where RCI tenders in right now and they use small fast boats so you are out to the dive sights quick. Our last trip we did our surface interval at Palancar Beach after diving Palancar Gardens and then headed to Tormentos. Another advantage of a private boat is you can pick your sites. We had originally planned on using Alison on the basis of recommendations, but were unable to make our schedules fit. Either of these operators will treat you right.

 

Mike

[budaman]

One of Martin's boats.....

[bruce-r]

Budaman's right on the money about DWM, but in case it matters, not all his boats have a cover, so there is no shade on the boat. This probably isn't a huge deal since you wouldn't be spending lots of time on the boat, and the time you are on the boat you will probably be wearing a wetsuit or diveskin.

[diveral1958]

I've been diving both Cozumel and the Cyamans since the mid-seventies, both are excellent diving. Being basically lazy I prefer the drift diving in Cozumel(very little physical excersion). Dive with Martin is a great operator as is Aldora Diving. On Cayman Soto is a good operator. Stingray City is something every diver should do once. While Grand Cayman is showing signs of wear and tear on it's reefs, on Cozumel an almost zelous effort to protect the reef has made it better now than it was thirty years ago. I got to Belize City on my last cruise in February. They still have a ways to go to catch up with either Grand Cayman or Cozumel. I will really be glad when they get the piers back up on Cozumel, tendering sucks.

[billeelou]

and in both cases( pre and post Wilma) i found the DM to be excellent and knowledgable.... Belize is a lonnnng hump from Belize city and the groups tend to be large, but Hugh breaks em up pretty well...and the only other REAL Dive shop in belize City is SEASPORTS with Linda....so you have more options in Coz, and can always go across to PDC if the urge hits....But my favorites would be Majahual or Roatan.....:eek: