NCL Sea diving

[dixiediver]

We just returned from the Norwegian Sea and dived 3 ports of call last week: Cozumel, Roatan and Belize.

Cozumel: The ship booked with The Snorkel Center which carried snorklers, Discover Scuba people and certified divers in 3 different boats. We had to walk down a long pier, through a security gate in order to find our guy with a sign for scuba. When all of us gathered outside the gate, we stood there and produced our release forms and c-cards for Pedro (our dive master to inspect). We were then stickered with a green Certified Scuba sticker and walked all the back again to the dive boat moored near the cruise ship. This wouldn't have been so bad if I weren't carrying all my gear in my dive bag. There were several smart divers with dive bags on wheels.

There were 8 of us on a small dive boat; it was not a cattle boat operation. The dive boat was stuffed with pretty shoddy rental bcs, regulators with gauges (no computers) weights and tanks etc. We assembled our own gear and motored for about 10 minutes.

Pedro briefed us that this was going to be a 55 foot max profile for 30 minutes. We would make a 3 minute safety stop. Since this was a drift dive, we would all descend and ascend together. We giant strided off the back of the boat and discovered that several folks were light and couldn't descend. After some back and forth for more weight we finally dropped down to a sandy patch. I have no idea where we dived as Pedro wasn't forthcoming with details during the briefing or after the dive. It became quickly apparent that we were diving some patch coral with stretches of sand in between. This was the most uninspiring dive I've ever experienced. I saw one school of blue tang, but few other fish. The coral looked battered and some of the brain coral were obviously diseased. The viz was great at about 100", but there was little to see. Better diving could be found anywhere in the Florida Keys.

After about a 15 minute SI, we arrived at the 2nd dive spot very near the Sea. We could see the ship a short distance away. My DH and dive partner was feeling run down from a stomach virus he contracted the 2nd day of the cruise while enroute to Cozumel. We decided just to sit out the 2nd dive as it looked like more of the same. It was another 50 foot profile and more of the same patch coral.

A hugely disappointing experience and I would recommend not diving Cozumel through a ship excursion. We would have been much better off booking our own dives in Cozumel.

Roatan: We did not have any snorklers, but there was a seperate group of Discover Scuba folks and an instructor from the NCL Sea Dive-in Desk. The instructor took the DS students and we found our representative from Anthony's Key resort who loaded us into a school bus for a drive through Coxen Hole which was interesting. We got of the bus at the resort where most of the divers went to the shop to rent equipment (mostly ScubaPro). Everyone who rented got gauges (no computers) and basic BCs with no weight integration. Several people complained about the weight belts.

I had also caught the stomach virus after the Cozumel dive and I was feeling dehydrated and light headed. I bought a bottle of water at the resort to drink, but when I did a buoyancy check before departing I felt like my rig weighed a hundred pounds. We get out to the first dive spot, a 70' profile for 10 minutes, 45 feet for 30 minutes, I decided to sit out the first dive until after lunch as I felt weak and still light headed.

We motored back to the resort after the first dive and I bought a Coke and a Snickers for energy and also ate some fruit served by the resort on the dive boat. I felt a little bit better and was determined to dive Peter's Point, our 2nd dive spot. Anthony's Key Resort runs several boats and employs a lot of young dive masters in training. Ours was a very young Aussie woman who seemed totally disinterested in our group. She may have even disliked Americans as she made a couple of cracks about our election. I was nonplussed with her.

Well I finally got off the dive boat and we all descended as a group using a free descent. The viz was about 30 feet which didn't bother me as I dive freshwater quarries where the viz is inches at times. Peter's Point was a jewel to dive with fantastic overhangs, canyons, and lots of large grouper of 50+ pounds. I saw the largest yellow tail snapper I've ever seen. Didn't see any sharks, but did see the usual assortment of parrotfish and some huge French Angels as well as a couple of Queen Angles. Lots of Surgeonfish which most of the group mistook for Triggers.

My computer recorded our deepest point at 68 feet. My dive buddy and I dived for 38 minutes. I was burning my air pretty quickly for me which I chalk up to being half sick during the dive. All of us ascended in pairs according to our air supplies.

We ascended about 50 feet down current from the boat. We shot a compass heading and dropped down to about 20 feet and ascended again where the tow line should have been. There was no tow line. We were told to hang on the ladder and remove our fins and hand them up. As there was a fairly strong current and some surge, this was a potentially dangerous situation. The ladder was bucking and letting go of it without fins would mean a swim against a current without fins. I was carrying 24 pounds and was overweighted. I felt pretty weak so I released my weight pockets and tossed them up before getting up the ladder ok. One diver did let go of the ladder and had to be rescued. Another found himself wedged between the boat and ladder but managed to extricate himself before getting pounded.

Because of the lack of commonsense safety precautions, I would not recommend diving the Anthony's Key Resort. Since Roatan did not require a tender, it would have been possible to schedule a 2-tank afternoon dive with any number of operators.

Belize: I never got to see anything of Belize City as the dive boat was waiting for us as we stepped out of the Sea. The dive boat was a 24' fiberglass pontoon which did not have the usual set up for tanks on the bench. We sped out to the Terneffe Atoll (about a 30 minute ride). We caught a shower on the way out and the day proved mostly couldy.

All the equipment was set up forward by the crew. Most of the divers used rental equipment and gave the mate their nuimber corresponding to their BC. There were two entry stations forward where we sat and had our BCs strapped on and feet stuck into fins. They even pulled the stray hair out of your mask before you back rolled into the water.

Our divemaster, Alex, spent a lot of the time riding out briefing us on the dive as well as giving us an interesting history lesson. The first dive spot was discovered by Hugh Parkey (our dive shop) and Alex claimed that Parkey's was the only shop which dived that spot. It was an almost pristine spur and groove reef and we swam around what seemed like acres of barrel sponges. The viz was only 30 feet and you couldn't appreciate them until you were almost upon them. Since the day was overcast, there was little light filtering down and the colors were washed out to mostly gray. We had dive lights and were better able to appreciate the spectacular reds and pinks of the sponges and soft corals. Unfortunately, our lights attracted a small group of divers who huddled around us and followed us over the reef. We didn't see a lot of fish as they scurried away from us. Saw a lot of Damsels guarding their sponges and more fish came out each time we hovered for a minute or so at one spot. The soft corals and sponges more than made up for the shy wildlife.

We ascended on the anchor line after 40 minutes (5 minute safety stop). My computer recorded 82 feet max depth. Our average depth was 65 feet. We then swam to the tow line to wait our turn on the ladder. A rescue diver met us near the ladder and took our BCs which were handed up to a mate on board. I ascended with my fins on my wrists. We had an hour and a half SI during which we were served soft drinks, fresh fruit, tortilla chips and other snacks.

We motored out to another dive spot on the atoll called Bolton's. Our profile was to be 65 feet for 10 minutes and 40 to 50 feet for 30 minutes (or until our air supply dicated we head for the boat). We free descended to 50 feet and headed towards a wall where we were to descend to 65 feet. My dive buddy and I hung back a bit as we had been crowded on the first dive and we descended to 85 feet on the wall for 5 minutes before ascended to 65 feet (our dive plan). We were diving computers and were allowed to go deeper. The wall was the most spectacular thing I've seen under water. Enormous sea fans, pillar coral, sponges and all sorts of soft coral. Most of the fish were hiding, but we did attract a school of grunts and saw more fish as we hovered quietly. We followed the wall for a while and turned and followed a spur and groove formation back in the direction of the boat. During our trek back the bottom became shallower. I ascended a bit ahead of the others in my group as I had burned through my air faster diving deeper and hung on the anchor line for a 3 minute safety stop (using my computer). I had to wait on the tow line for several minutes as the group before ours were all exiting. By the time my turn came to go up the ladder I was down to 285 PSI having just under 500 when reaching the tow line.

After everyone was aboard, the dive boat dropped us off next to the gangway where we boarded the Sea. Our Belize dives with Hugh Parkey's were the dives of the cruise. Everyone had a great time and no one in our group had problems in the water.

[Hilary]

Thanks for posting a great dive report. Sorry to hear that you didn't get to enjoy diving in Cozumel, I understand it's a great place to dive. Haven't been there myself, but will someday. ;-) Your Belize diving sounds absolutely amazing, and it's great that you had at least one spectacular dive on your trip. I've been considering doing a liveaboard in Belize, and your report makes me think even harder.

[dixiediver]

I wouldn't hesitate a second to go back to Belize and dive for a week. I think I could spend a year in Belize and not dive the same spot twice. From what I have gathered through research and what I saw from the boat, Belize has been carefully developed along the coast but remains unspoiled. It reminds me a bit of St. John USVI because of the expensive homes and resorts nestled in lush greenery. We will probably fly back next Spring using our Delta Skymiles and stay at the Radisson, diving with Hugh Parkey's again. I am going to dive Nitrox next time and also take a trip to see the Maya ruins.

Roatan also offers fantastic diving but it is a very undeveloped third world country. I would not be surprised to wake up on Roatan and find chickens roosting in my bungalow. :-) It would be the perfect spot to dive on a liveaboard as there is nothing to do on Roatan aside from the Dolphin encounter at Anthony's Key.

This was our first cruise and we took it mainly to dive the 3 ports of call. All of our salt water diving has been in the east in Florida, Bahamas and Virgin Islands. My old open water instructor always raved about Belize as being the best dive spot in the world. I have a good friend who says the same about Roatan (aboard the Aggressor). We were not sure about how to disembark the ship at port or any of the ins and outs of excursions vs. booking your own dives.

We had a horde of snorkelers in Cozumel and perhaps that is why they booked our dives with a snorkel center rather than a dive shop. I know there is great diving and we will get back there some day to dive it.

I'm not sure if I want to go on another cruise. We don't drink or gamble and I try to watch what I eat and stay fit. There wasn't much to do on the Sea other than drink, gamble and eat. It was hard to find a spot where you could just relax in quiet and catch some rays. Maybe it was just the ship we chose.

Go for Belize! I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

[Another ship trip]

Dixiediver, great post, I have had the same experiences diving with the cruise ship. Do you are anyone else out there know about an NCL excersion called "Reef shark diving experience" in Roatan? Anyone need a dive partner the week of Thanksgiving on the Sea?

[Hilary]

I've been on quite a few cruises, though my upcoming one is the first one I'm going to dive from. Dixiediver, I'd say that if you couldn't find a quiet spot on the ship that it had more to do with the one you chose than what a cruise can be. We cruise with Celebrity or Princess, both typically a little more traditional and laid back than Carnival, NCL, and RCCL (we've cruised with NCL and Carnival in the past).

Once we return, I'll post a review of my "diving from a cruise ship" experience. I know the cruise part will be great, it'll be whether we can marry it with diving to create the perfect vacation that I want to know about.

Oh yeah, the ports we're diving are: Bahamas, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Key West. We've booked privately in Bahamas, St. Thomas, and Tortola, and are doing the ship excursion in Key West (because of timing). Fortunately, that should eliminate all the snorkelers from our dives, except maybe Key West, but I've been told the Key West op is a dive operator, not a snorkeling one, so we'll see.

Thanks again for your great review and thoughts....guess I'll have to dive Belize one of these days. I'm considering a live-aboard for Belize though since all of the diving is pretty far off shore (so I've heard), so that may wait a couple of years.

[heeler77]

It seems that the concensus here is to use local dive ops rather than the ship excursions to avoid the "cattle boats". So, considering the length of time in these three ports, what would be some good dive ops to contact independently in Coz, Roatan and Belize? All input will be appreciated!