The Best Cruise for Divers

[ardie42]

I have looked at a lot of different cruise lines and am wondering what other divers think the best dive cruise is. Last year we did the Carnival Miracle. We want to take another cruise next winter. I would like the best islands for diving. Thanks for your imput!!!

[budaman]

Hi Ardie! Strange meeting you here:D The Grand Princess's itinerary that starts in November should be great for divers (except for the price of ship excursions) It will hit Roatan,Belize,Majahual & Cozumel.......pretty much cover the entire Meso-American Reef.

 

A friend of mine is doing the Valor cruise in December that also looks like a good deal. There are links in the stickies section.

 

Mike

[Sailfish]

In putting together our scuba cruise, I researched all mass marketed cruise lines and came up with only one itinerary that I found to be the best - Carnival Valor's.

 

We're heading to Grand Cayman, Belize, Roatan and Costa Maya (Majuhaul). Cozumel was on the itinerary when we booked this trip, but due to the hurricane damage, it was replaced with Costa Maya. Not what I would call a "just as good" substitute, it still will allow us dive.

 

Carnival would not have been my first choice - I prefer Royal Caribbean or Princess, as far as ships go, but you can't beat the itinerary that is not offered by the others.

 

You are welcome to check out our group forum even if you are not a member. We have a lot of good information, along with video clips, pictures and tons of diving info. You'll have to weed through all the group stuff, but that shouldn't be a problem. Simply click on "group forum" in my siganture. You may want to do a forum search to save some time. Like I said, this is for our group, and sandwiched in between the info you are looking for will be stuff specific to our group. Hope this helps.

 

Good luck!

[infopaul]

I Don't know how to answer your question. How many days are you going on your cruise? Where would you like to go Asia, Africa, Australia, Caribbean etc. What is your scuba diving experience/ level? Do you like underwater site seeing or action adventure? Are you going to book independantly or ship excursions or a combination? It's hard to answer your question without some details, but you should find some suggestons here anyway...Paul:)

[cmdchiefthom]

Ardie42,

 

I think Infopaul is absolutely correct. If you're talking Western Caribbean itineraries, Belize, Roatan, Cozumel and on some cruises, Grand Cayman offer superb diving. On the Eastern side, I don't think you can beat Barbados, Grenada, St. Kitts, Tortola and especially Dominica. Of course if you love wrecks, a week in Bermuda is just perfect, and don't forget the 10 day itineraries our of Tahiti.

 

So name your poison, and we'll answer your questions.;)

[Gonz]

Something that I haven't seen much of around here is the Agressor Fleet. They are classified more as "live-aboard" dive boats, but I personally think that name conjures up a lesser image than what they deserve. Basically, they are very nice 100+ft yachts that sleep anywhere from 15-20 people, and are meant solely for diving. Do a google search for live-aboard diving and you'll find all kinds of good info.

 

This is very different from a cruise, and more for someone who wants diving to be the focus of their trip, instead of diving being an activity on the side. You'll get up to five dives per day, and since the ship is smaller, it can take you where no cruise ship can go.

[ardie42]

Thanks for all of the input. I don't have any idea where we want to go. We have done Southern Carribean and Western Carribean. Tahiti sounds great tho. I really don't want to do a live aboard. While my husband would dive constantly, I would prefer to have other activities also. We did 4 dives in one day in Hawaii and while it was great fun, I got very chilled on the last dive. I thought a 3mil would be plenty there. It was as long as you don't have your last dive at night. There are many other things to see and do. I wouldn't want to spend my whole vacation diving. A cruise seems to be the right choice for us each time. I would love to do another cruise with great dive spots and some sight seeing.

[Texas_Diver]

I can wait for our next cruise! Ahhhh...blue water diving!

 

D.

[diverearl]

Hey ardie42, check out the itineraries of these two Ships.

 

The Princess - Grand Princess (Feb 9th 2006 ) is by far the nicer ship and the time you get in each port affords plenty of time to do other sight seeing. We did this trip in Feb 04 2006, and immediately signed on to the Dec 9th 2006 trip. In Feb we Booked all our dives on line and we have already made some reservations on some of the stops for the Dec trip. The Best dive is always in Belize where you tender to Belize city hop on a 14 seater and fly over to Ambergris Cays, dive with Ambergris Divers eat lunch on the beach, and fly back to Belize City. The whole day with taxis on both ends will cost under $150 per diver, about $100 for a non diver. Most dives we plan on this trip cost about $100 per day cenote in Playa del Carmen or about $65 for a reef dive, COCO View Resort in Roatan $100 - 2 tank dive lunch all-inclusive day ) and about $60 in Cozumel - Dive with Martin.

 

The RCCL - Empress of the Seas ( Nov 9th 2006 ) is a lot smaller, a LOT smaller. The itinerary is hard to beat for both diving and seeing the islands but you can't expect the class of a large ship or you will be disappointed. On this trip we plan to rent a car each day, do a little exploring then do a shore dive on most islands.

 

If you book on one of these trips let us know, we are always looking to make new friends and everyone pays the same - no one makes money or gets free trips at the expense of the other divers.

 

The main consideration is usually the amount of time in each port especially if you have to tender, which can be very frustrating and can take hours if your not lucky. Good Luck and have a good time, earl.

[bruce-r]

Thanks for all of the input. I don't have any idea where we want to go. We have done Southern Carribean and Western Carribean. Tahiti sounds great tho. I really don't want to do a live aboard. While my husband would dive constantly, I would prefer to have other activities also. We did 4 dives in one day in Hawaii and while it was great fun, I got very chilled on the last dive. I thought a 3mil would be plenty there. It was as long as you don't have your last dive at night. There are many other things to see and do. I wouldn't want to spend my whole vacation diving. A cruise seems to be the right choice for us each time. I would love to do another cruise with great dive spots and some sight seeing.

You have done a good job describing a trip on the http://www.cuanlaw.com They do only 3 dives a day and they to offer non-diving activities like beach trips, water skiing, fishing, sailing, etc. The food is supposed to be quite good.

 

A 3 mil for Hawaii might be enough for some people, in summer, but it wasn't enough for me. I needed to put a 3 mil shorty on over my 3 mm full. I now have a 5 mm full and it is great.

 

For me, a cruise is a compromise vacation because I have a non-diving family. I don't get to dive nearly as much as I would like and it isn't even the best diving. Being at each island for only a day doesn't allow you to get to know the dive operator and more importantly, they don't get to know you so you aren't likely to get to dive any of the more advanced sites. You also are less likely to be allowed to do your own dive as I would prefer.

 

Bottom line, if diving is the point of going on vacation, I don't think a cruise is the best choice for your vacation. If diving is only something you do amoung other things while on vacation, then a cruise might be a good choice, especially if you are traveling with non-divers like me.

[infopaul]

diverearl,

 

Did you take that plane in Belize out of the Municipal Airport or the International Airport? What was the taxi fare?...Paul:)

[WesW]

have dove on the Paul Gaugin in Tahiti, their dive team is absolutely superb, you dive in Bora Bora, Moorea, Raitea, sealife/coral is abundant, rich and colorful, you get to dive with Sharks and Giant Manta Rays; have dove with

RSSC in the caribbean but not as diverse as French Polynesia...r/wes

[diverearl]

Hey Paul we flew out of municipal airport in Belize city on Tropic air about half as much as from the International Airport also closer to the pier. http://www.tropicair.com/?CFID=29356&CFTOKEN=89101115 Very perfessional pilots and when asked they stay well under 1000 ft on the return trip.

 

The taxi was about 3 or 4 bucks per person and be sure to get the number from the driver as he will come back to the small airport to take you back to the ship and the personel at Tropic Air will call him for you, the taxi at the airport is about 6 or 7 bucks per person.