Dec. 12-19 Miracle Dive Report

[SoSiouxme]

I was on the Carnival Miracle Dec. 12-19. I dove in every port - Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, Cozumel and Belize. I organized my own dives in the first three ports and did the ships excursion in Belize due to lack of independent options.

 

In Grand Cayman, I did two shore dives with Eden Rock Dive Center - a short walk from the tender dock. Both dives were fine and economical. Although neither dive was very deep (47 and 44 feet, respectively) and the first dive was very short (37min) due to diving with a couple that had not been diving in over two years. I was fine with it as I had not been diving for six months and wanted to get my feet wet. The first dive had a cool swim-through and the second dive, it was just the DM and me. It was much longer and more relaxing dive. On that dive we saw lobsters and a huge green moray eel. The dives were okay.

 

In Costa Maya, I made arrangements over the internet with Blue Ha located in the fishing village a short taxi ride from the cruise ship dock. I did two boat dives with Blue Ha. The dive master "Jono" was a nice guy and led two great dives. The reefs are in great shape. We dove "Front Garden" and "Pueblo." The equipment they use is top notch new equipment and they seem to be very concerned with ecology and safety. It was a nice operation. The first dive, it was just the DM and me and we had a nice relaxing dive. The second dive, we were joined by a group of three guys who had all been recently certified and said that they were not great on air consumption. Blue Ha gave them bigger tanks - which I appreciated. Both dives provided me with 50 min + of bottom time. The folks at Blue Ha are negotiating with the cruise companies to offer a cruise sponsored diving excursion and it would be nice if they got that gig because activities are sure lacking in Costa Maya.

 

In Cozumel, I made arrangements over the internet with Eagle Ray Divers. They were great. We had 7 divers on the boat for two dives. We did "Palancar Caves" One group of three had a DM and our group of 4 had a DM. They asked all of us about our experience, etc, before planning the dive. We saw eagle rays and a turtle. Very cool. The second dive site was "Las Palmas." This was one of those famous drift dives. What a blast! We saw crabs, lobsters, a spotted eel. I would highly recommend going through Eagle Ray Divers in Cozumel. It was so nice to be on a dive boat with just 7 other divers and two DMs between us. You really got personalized attention and they set everything up for you.

 

In Belize, I did the ship's excursion which was with Hugh Parkey's (I think that's the name -- all the cruise ships use the same one.) The dive sites were JoJo's Splits and Le Ellen's Melons. I was a little skeptical about doing the ship's excursions because there were about 24 divers on this dive boat - but there were more than enough DMs to handle us - they divided us into either 5 or 6 small groups with each group having at least one DM - ours had two. Our DM was very knowledgable and would write down things on a slate so we knew what he was pointing at. He really earned his tips - big time. On the second dive, we saw two large nurse sharks sleeping in a cave and the DM made sure everybody in the group had an opportunity (if they wanted it) to get up close and personal with the sharks. It was very cool.

 

I was pretty happy with the operations that I dove with. If you have specific questions - I'll do my best to answer them.

[AlwaysReady2Go]

Thank you for the review - my husband and I are going on the Miracle in March and I am in the process of booking our diving trips. In GC I have booked the Eden Rock shore dives as these will be our first two open water certification dives. I was wondering if you could tell me how far out you have to swim before heading down? These will be my first experiences and I am just curious if it is a hefty swim out or not. Thanks.

[SoSiouxme]

If I recall correctly, the swim out to the dive spot no more than 50 yards or so...it was relatively easy...just inflate your BCD a little, turn on your back and kick.

[AlwaysReady2Go]

Thank you for the reply - 50 yards is no problem I was envisioning much farther. Thanks again.