Cancun Dive Ops

[dixiediver]

Hi Ya'll, I'm new here and taking my first cruise in November. :D It seems a lot cheaper than carib diving from a resort.

 

We're taking the NCL Sea to Coz, Belize, Roatan and Cancun. The ship has dive excursions for Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, but not for Cancun (I'll dive anywhere as there is no diving within 200 miles from my home).

 

Can anyone recommend a dive shop in Cancun? How would we get there when we disembark (I have no idea?). What would happen if we didn't get back in time? Best places to dive?

 

Is it better to book your dives through the ship or book them independently? We are crusing to dive and we want as much bottom time as possible. I'm more interested in reefs than wrecks, but wouldn't mind a wreck or to > 100 ft. We're OW, but feel comfortable diving in the 50 to 90 ft. range.

 

Generally, are there are lot of divers on the western carib cruises?

 

Sorry for so many newbie questions, but your search engine pops up a lot of posts about the new board whenever I try to search for anything. I assume some old posts are lost?

 

Thanks a bunch. Woo-hoo, I can't wait!

[sportsterjohn]

I dove in Cancun a few months ago. Most of the dive ops are near the hotel zone, however there is 1 in the little shopping area where you tender in. It is called manta divers. When I went there, I did not have an appt and they said that they normally don't get much cruise ship traffic but they will do thier best to help you get a dive in. I figured cancun would be like roatan or cozumel where you would be able to find reps from multiple dive ops right near the pier. Cancun is not like that, if you don't prebook with a company, Manta is there but they are the only ones near where the cruise ships tender in.

[sportsterjohn]

on another topic, you will probably find better dives and better prices at the other ports if you book independantly of the cruise ships. Check out subway water sports in Roatan. They are a bit pricy but they are real good!.

[oldmedic]

we spent a week in Cancun last year and used dive cancun. we enjoyed the dive and the company had an underwater viedeographer that did a great dive. the only drawback we observed was that the boad did not have a ladder to reboard, just a platform. think the name of the dive spot was chitalas reef.(not sure of the spelling- i am at work and don't have my dive log with me) think their web site is http://www.divecancun.com

[dixiediver]

I dove in Cancun a few months ago. Most of the dive ops are near the hotel zone, however there is 1 in the little shopping area where you tender in. It is called manta divers. When I went there, I did not have an appt and they said that they normally don't get much cruise ship traffic but they will do thier best to help you get a dive in. I figured cancun would be like roatan or cozumel where you would be able to find reps from multiple dive ops right near the pier. Cancun is not like that, if you don't prebook with a company, Manta is there but they are the only ones near where the cruise ships tender in.

I emailed Manta and am waiting for a reply. They have no local schedule on their website.

 

Were you able to get a dive in? The ship is supposed to arrive in Cancun at 8:00 a.m. Most dive shops have a morning and afternoon schedule - usually 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. for 2 tank dives. I'm not sure how long it will take to disembark in Cancun and if we could make the morning dive.

 

Aquaworld in Cancun has an 11:00 a.m. dive for Discover Scuba at Manchones Reef (30 ft.) and they have offered a private DM for $5.00 more than the regular price of $60.00. That dive would give us plenty of time to get off and back on the ship. I'm not sure how much we would enjoy it.

[dixiediver]

we spent a week in Cancun last year and used dive cancun. we enjoyed the dive and the company had an underwater viedeographer that did a great dive. the only drawback we observed was that the boad did not have a ladder to reboard, just a platform. think the name of the dive spot was chitalas reef.(not sure of the spelling- i am at work and don't have my dive log with me) think their web site is www.divecancun.com

I've heard a lot of good things about Dive Cancun. I emailed them and they have a schedule of 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. and it is 15 minutes by taxi to their shop. I'm not sure we could make the morning dive. :mad:

[dixiediver]

on another topic, you will probably find better dives and better prices at the other ports if you book independantly of the cruise ships. Check out subway water sports in Roatan. They are a bit pricy but they are real good!.

Have you used the Ship's LDS, Anthony's Key Resort? I have a good friend who spent two weeks there and raved about it, but I'm not sure if the excursion dives would be as good as the regular resort dives.

[sportsterjohn]

tendering in Cancun is a bit of a headache. They have 1 very large tender boat which holds about 500 people. The problem is that it takes 45min to load then 20 min to go the 2 or so miles to shore. I swear the clock moves backwards when you are on that tender boat. Manta is right at the dock and thier dive boat is right there also. The dive itself in all honesty isn't anything great. It was very shallow and not much scenery. They do have 2 boats though so you may be able to do something better with them than what they were able to put together on short notice with us. We kinda bombarded them, 11 of us from the cruise ship with no prior warning.

[sportsterjohn]

tendering in Cancun is a bit of a headache. They have 1 very large tender boat which holds about 500 people. The problem is that it takes 45min to load then 20 min to go the 2 or so miles to shore. I swear the clock moves backwards when you are on that tender boat. Manta is right at the dock and thier dive boat is right there also. The dive itself in all honesty isn't anything great. It was very shallow and not much scenery. They do have 2 boats though so you may be able to do something better with them than what they were able to put together on short notice with us. We kinda bombarded them, 11 of us from the cruise ship with no prior warning.

[azisme]

dixiediver,

 

Did you hear back from Manta? I am looking for a diver operator in Cancun as well. I will be there November 12th on NCL Dream. My schedule is a bit worse as the ship isn't scheduled to arrive until 9:00. Let me know if you find any new information

 

-Steve