Cruise Talk: Scuba diving in the Caribbean

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»	Cruise Talk » Ports of Call and Destinations » Scuba diving in the Caribbean

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Topic: Scuba diving in the Caribbean

kimberley
First Class Passenger
Member # 1888

posted 03-31-2001 01:21 PM

I am going to Tortola, Antigia, St. Lucia, Barbados, Limon, Aruba and several other places next March.

Has anyone scuba dived in these places?

Is it best to book on the ship or wait until we go a shore.?

Posts: 24 | From: Surrey, UK | Registered: Mar 2001 | IP: Logged

sympatico
First Class Passenger
Member # 797

posted 03-31-2001 02:56 PM

I think you would be best to book one of the excursions from the ship. There is usually a scuba excursion on some of the islands you mention, but do not think you will find one in Limon - I may be wrong. However, when we were there some years ago, it was jungle country. We went on an old train to a banana plantation...saw lots of monkeys and birds...it was raining so hard that we had to close the windows on the train, which made it very uncomfortable. We returned to the ship on a bus, again with no air conditioning. The climate is very hot and humid.
Have a great time.

Posts: 3305 | From: Toronto, Ont. Canada | Registered: Jul 99 | IP: Logged

hhornblower
First Class Passenger
Member # 1047

posted 04-01-2001 04:08 PM

I am not a diver...yet...hope to make time for the certification soon. But I have friends who are divers. I have been to St. Lucia and while there, one of my friends went diving at Anse Chastenet near the Pitons. Scuba St. Lucia is there. He said the diving was wonderful. Aruba is supposed to have good diving too. I don't know about the diving in the other islands, but the other islands listed have other nice diversions like very good beaches.
Whether or not you book with the ship depends on how much time you have in port and where they plan to take you. Also remember the main difference between ship excursions and booking it on your own is simply convinence. The ships use the same vendors that you would use if you booked it on your own. So it will be more expensive because of overhead. Sometimes you will have a better time if you book it independently. The last time I cruised to Grand Caymen, I booked my own snorkle excursion with a company. I had a far better time than my table mates who went with the ships excrusion. My charter only had 8 people aboard and we went to 2 snorkle sites plus Stingray City. It was fantastic! The captain avoided spots with lots of crowds and went to excellent snorkle spots. My table mates went to spots that were not the best for coral or fish. Last summer, I did a snorkle excursion with the ship at Cozumel with 75-100 other people - got kicked in the head and the little kids kept chasing away the reef fish.
On the other hand, booking with the ship guareetees you will dive within a time range that matches your time in port. I private company may not have trips to match port time.

Posts: 84 | Registered: Jan 2000 | IP: Logged

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