Cruise Ship diving in Cozumel REPOST

[tomatt]

howdy,

i posted this in another board, but was told this might be a better spot!

 

a group of us our going on a cruise in july and hitting cozumel. my wife and i are really into diving and are trying to decide if we should book diving through the cruise ship or do it on our own beforehand with a local shop in cozumel.

 

in the past we have seen the packed cruise ship dive boats and always said we don't want to end up on one of those. but we are not sure how easy it is to get to the dive shops from where the ships port. we are docked from 7a-10p so i am not really worried about being out to late and missing our ship.

 

any suggestions?

 

thanks for you help!:)

[sjbowler]

we were there last november with the legend of the seas and booked our own excursion. we used alison@scubawithalison.com. she was wonderful. it was a small dive boat so it was limited on how many divers were booked. much more personal. the previous time we were in cozumel we book through the ship and there was a lot more divers so if you love more personal attention book your own excursion

[deec]

definitley book on your own

the ship's excursion Dive House 1 was ok but not nearly as good as the ship's dive excursion operators in Belize and Roatan!

[bruce-r]

Definitely make your own arrangements. Getting to the harbor where the dive boats depart is very easy. Taxi should cost around $6-$8 for up to 4 people each way.

 

Who should you dive with?

 

I'd start with this list:

 

http://www.bluextseadiving.com My personal first choice. Christi provides excellent customer service.

 

A close second choice is Liquid Blue divers, especially for a more advanced diver. They use larger steel tanks and bottom times of 75 minutes are not uncommon.

 

http://www.scubatony.com

http://www.scubawithalison.com

http://www.divewithmarting.com (especially if you have a group of 4 and want a private charter)

http://www.eagleraydivers.com

http://www.blueangel-scuba.com

[Applejacks]

howdy,

i posted this in another board, but was told this might be a better spot!

 

a group of us our going on a cruise in july and hitting cozumel. my wife and i are really into diving and are trying to decide if we should book diving through the cruise ship or do it on our own beforehand with a local shop in cozumel.

 

in the past we have seen the packed cruise ship dive boats and always said we don't want to end up on one of those. but we are not sure how easy it is to get to the dive shops from where the ships port. we are docked from 7a-10p so i am not really worried about being out to late and missing our ship.

 

any suggestions?

 

thanks for you help!:)

You should try cozumelmycozumel. Looks like they have a good selection

[billeelou]

dive with martin just off the international pier 60.00 2 tank dive morning or pm...will take you to Santa Rosa or San Frnacisco, I am going to try em AGAIN in Feb 07 for the new wrecks off the coast....

[Middleager]

It's the best if you have 4+ divers and book a private charter. Or get a few snorkelers to book a dive/snorkel combo.

 

bruce-r gave lots of good names. Cristi does have really good reputation in Coz, but there are also other good ops.

 

We did a snorkel/dive combo this past Aug. with Blue Angel, and they were great. We went to Columbia Deep (for me diving) while others snorkeled at Columbia Shallow. Had a SI at Palancar Beach. Then the second dive/snorkel was at Palancar Gardens. Saw lots of marine life, nurse shark (7'), turtle, eagle ray, big black grouper (5-6'), etc. I really enjoyed the drift diving in Coz.

 

One other shop to add is Aldora. They have 120cf tanks to give >1hr bottom for the first deep dive, and of course longer for the second dive.