Shore eXcursion question --- discover scuba diving

[shebring02lx]

Hey fellow Celebrity Cruisers --- my husband and I will be taking our honeymoon onboard the Celebrity Century April 2nd thru the 6th --- its a 4 nighter going to Key West & Cozumel. We are both 23 years old. We are wanting to do something eXciting for our honeymoon --- we considered snorkling, since neither one of us has done that before. However, I noticed that Celebrity offers a "Discover scuba diving" excursion for $99 a person in Cozumel. Since we have both been to Cozumel --- been there done that --- I figured scuba diving would deff be an experience we would remember forever!!! I was wanting to know if ANYONE has ever done this excursion and what your experience was? Is it worth the money --- or should we just book the $25 snorkling excursion? Any feed back would be greatly appreciated.

[paulred]

I have not done the one you mentioned, but I did do one in Cozumel, and my first one was in Aruba. It is an incrdible experience. Be warned, snorkeling will never again have the same magic.

 

What they have is called a resort course. They teach you how to breath thorugh a scuba mouthpiece, and how to clear and recover your mask. They should also use a swimming pool or other shallow water area to give you the taste of breathing underwater. If you pass that, they will take you to an area that is 30 feet or less deep. That's easy to find near there. At that depth, the bends is never a problem, and you can resurface quickly if you have a panic attack. (few people do)

 

Enjoy.

 

Paul

[shebring02lx]

Thank you so much Paul.

Im assuming that you are an experienced diver? At depths of 30 ft or so will we still be able to experience underwater life?

I appreciate it! :)

Heather

[chrisinroch]

>>At depths of 30 ft or so will we still be able to experience underwater life?

 

The ocean is at its richest the closer to the surface. Plus, brighter colors as less red gets filtered out.

 

Ive dove in cozumel and its fantastic diving BUT it tends to be drift diving which IMO is not a beginner activity. I'm guessing that they have identified some inshore areas where they don't have the strong current.

[shebring02lx]

Thank you --- Im so uneducated about the whole diving experience...this is really going to be something I think we are going to enjoy doing! Would an underwater camera help to capture good photos of our experience?

[szdiver]

While an u/w camera would be great, I don't think you will be able to handle new experience of learning and remembering all your new lessons AND taking pictures. Ask the dive master to take a few for you to remember your wonderful experience.

Another idea is to go to your local dive shop and for about $25 or so you can do a discover dive with them in a pool and have a little better handle on it when you do it in the ocean. Then you might be able to handle the camera. You can rent a camera from most dive shops or some of them will take pictures and sell them to you. Either way you go, have a great time. And look up - the snorklers aren't having the great time you are.

[chrisinroch]

I echo the above comments. Scuba diving is easy and really wonderful, BUT your first time out you do not need the added distraction of trying to handle an underwater camera. Most courses like this have an underwater photographer who is more than happy to sell you a picture.

 

besides, enjoy the moment and make a great memory rather than screwing with a bulky camera during your whole dive.

[woodofpine]

they will take you to an area that is 30 feet or less deep. That's easy to find near there. At that depth, the bends is never a problem, and you can resurface quickly if you have a panic attack. (few people do)

 

I cringe reading this... I haven't dived for decades, but I was trained and Certified. Would you take a small airplane up solo with a couple hours instruction? in Mexico? If they had a altimeter control that let you go up ONLY 500 or 1,000 feet? (not 'very far' to crash from?) :(

 

The greatest relative pressure change occurs in the first 30 feet underwater. Meaning that's where a (potentially fatal) embolism is most likely to occur from RESURFACING TOO QUICKLY (improperly). Plenty of dive fatalities occur there, almost always due to insufficient training and panic...

 

Resort courses... sheesh...:(:eek::(

[shebring02lx]

Wow...thank you all for the information.

I might skip the whole underwater camera --- and use my memory for photographic purposes! :D

 

woodofpine: thank you --- it is an excursion offered by Celebrity ..... so Im hoping that they wouldnt offer an excursion that they feel may harm one of their passengers. I know with every excursion you take a risk....so I guess we will go ahead and take our chances and hope for a WONDERFUL out come!!! :)

[2Ports]

We did a "Discover Scuba" in Cozumel some years back - well worth the $99.

 

Most dive ops will not let you bring a camera on a discover dive, so don't buy one just for that.

 

Sheesh, WOP, are you my age or what? btw, if you are certified, you know that every 30 feet = 1 atmosphere/1 bar additional pressure - it doesn't all happen in the first 30'. DCS (the "bends") or other pressure related issues are highly unlikely in 25' for 40 minutes - your average discover dive.

 

A word of warning - not only will snorkeling never be the same, but much like cruising, you may get hooked. We are now (along w/ 2Ports Jr.) Advanced Open Water divers, with several specialties. All we wanted was to try it once... :eek:

[chrisinroch]

Comparing scuba diving with piloting a plane.....I always love that one!!

 

If you can breathe and not panic, you can handle a resort course. Breathe normally, don't hold your breath. Don't touch living coral, sponges or other invertibrates. Breathe normally, remember to breath out and don't hold your breath. Breath normally.... (you get the point)

 

A resort course is gonna have a very low ratio of instructors to students. You will have a blast. Its a fun intro, but it is not a substitute for proper training. if you guys are at all interested in scuba, you could always get certified before you go and really enjoy yourselves on a full blown 2 tank dive while in cozumel.

[shebring02lx]

Thank you all for all the great advise.

I have a question.... it might seem a little.... stupid but....what are the chances of seeing a shark and what it the protocol? I know that it might not be possible to see a shark at only 30 ft...but just curious! :)



I eventually would LOVE to become certified. I should take advantage of the chance to do so since we do have a dive shop that teaches diving right here in the middle of Ga. How long does it typically take to get certified?

[chrisinroch]

Its not a stupid question, the only sharks I've ever seen have been at less than 40 feet and the only octopus that I've ever seen I've saw when I was snorkeling.

 

With that said, the chances are really small that you would see a shark during your dive. First strike: Cozumel doesn't have a huge shark population. Second strike: You are probably going to be in a sandy flats and close to shore in a fairly noisy area. Third strike: I've been on hundreds of dives and rarely see a shark....You are going on one dive.

 

Certification courses vary in length; some cram it in to a week, others stretch it out into smaller more manageable bites. It involves some classroom stuff (nothing hard), some pool time to learn basic skills, and a day of open water diving to demonstrate your knowledge. As far as equipment goes, don't buy more than a mask, fins and a snorkel. If somebody tries to get a new diver to buy a full set of equipment, they are just trying to make money off you and don't have your best interest at heart.

 

Just search for a scuba club in your area and ask who they would recommend.

[shebring02lx]

Thanks again .... you have REALLY been helpful!

[Flyguy35]

Thank you all for all the great advise.

 

 

I have a question.... it might seem a little.... stupid but....what are the chances of seeing a shark and what it the protocol? I know that it might not be possible to see a shark at only 30 ft...but just curious! :)

 

 

I eventually would LOVE to become certified. I should take advantage of the chance to do so since we do have a dive shop that teaches diving right here in the middle of Ga. How long does it typically take to get certified?

 

My DW and I did the discover scuba in December when we were in Grand Cayman. We loved it and would highly recommend doing it. We did not go through the ship as the excursion was shorter in duration and more expensive.

 

http://cozumelcruiseexcursions.com/discoverscubadiving.htm

 

http://www.cozumel-diving.net/ecodivers/

 

http://www.shoretrips.com/common/search4.asp?rcode=car&lcode=CZM&tcode=010823

 

all the above came highly recommended to us by a diver on our cruise. We had planned to do another dive in Cozmel since our first experience was so great, but due to illness, we were unable to do it.

 

As for seeing a shark, well yes there is a chance. When we were there 2 years ago, we did a snorkel tour and saw two sharks. One was 7 feet long and the other about 5 feet. They were bottom feeding sharks so they they did not have the teeth to hurt us.

 

Have a great trip and do the scuba, you will not regret it at all.

[shebring02lx]

omg - thank you sooo much. I will deff consider booking on our own through someone other than the cruise liner :)

[woodofpine]

2ports - maybe you ought to brush up on your manuals; the first bar of pressure certainly is incurred completely during the first 30-33 feet... While nitro saturation injury is highly unlikely at this depth - this is the pressure zone where relative risk of air embolism is highest (and this is a potentially more serious incident).

 

The SCUBA 'industry' has a love-hate relationship with resort courses. Love because they bring new people ($$) into the sport. Hate because at the end of the day, the training is indequate. Inadequate training drives injury stats.

 

You'll note that there are no one day resort SCUBA courses offered in the USA. Why? (Pesky PI lawyers swimming the reef... or did the clients come to them (?) forced them off shore.) PADI has offered 2-3 day courses in Hawaii and it took heat from Alert Diver and other SCUBA safety networks for that.

 

Enjoy your honeymoon. Lots of people have a blast with a resort dive. I guess I'm a milktoast.:D

[drcpa]

Many moons ago, while at the Great Barrier Reef in (of course) Australia I took one of those resort dives. It wasn't much instruction--that's not a bad thing, it's really not meant to be--other than don't hold your breath and keep an eye on your air supply, but it was one of the great experiences of my life (which might be pathetic, but that's for another time).

I was living in Raleigh, NC at the time and when I returned home in October the first thing I did was to get certified (and it was cold there at the time).

Fast forward more years than I'd like to admit (and hundreds of dives) and I now live in South Florida where, coincidentally I have a dive scheduled this weekend out of (if you know the area) Hillsboro Inlet.

Take the resort dive, but, as others have said in this thread, get ready to return home and become certified.

It's a wonderful, wonderful sport.