Dive report, Half Moon Cay

[sportsterjohn]

Half moon Cay is Carnivals private island. Being that this was a Carnival dive, I went into it with very low expectations. It did turn out much better than I thought. Carnival has multiple dive trips during the day so you can pretty much pick your time. I went late afternoon. I was the only diver, other than staff onboard, so my fears of a cattleboat operation were unfounded. We went out of the harbor to a reef that was pretty close to where the ship was anchored. It was a shallow dive but a reef at 40' looks the same as a reef at 70'. The reef here was pretty nice although you can tell that alot of people dove it. Water temps were in the 80s and visability was excellent. There were alot of reef fish. I did see a large crab and an eel and a small stingray here but not much else. Warning though, do not do this dive if you are claustiphobic! There is a swimthrough which is more like a cave. I starts out like a reg swim through going through the reef and then it starts getting tighter and tighter. After a bit, it is about 4' wide and about 7' tall and the reef grows together over your head so you are pretty much stuck going forward. After a little while ( 200 or so feet) the path becomes blocked by another section of the reef so you can't go any further. At this point, you have to angle yourself to face upwards and follow the 'tunnel' straight up about 20ft to get back on top of the reef. I am guessing that it is the dms option whether or not to go through that. I thought it was fun but I can see how some people would freak out a bit. Bottom time was 42min, max depth was 45ft. Overall, I was pleased with the dive. It's not grand turk but it did beat my expectation!

[stingraynz]

Thanks for your feedback on this dive and the GT dive. I was going to book the HMC dive, then I decided not to and now after your report I am considering it again. I wasn't sure if it was a boat dive or not. I guess that is why it is $70+ for a 1 tank dive.

 

the swim through sounded good.

 

Thanks again, much appreciated.

[2112]

Thanks for the review. This really helps me out.

 

Robert

[Host Star]

snorkeling over the reef is actually very good there also and worth the $$$for the excursion