Quality of Holland America's Discover Scuba

[Orcrone]

My daughter is interested in trying scuba diving. I thought I might let her take the Discover Scuba excursion through HAL on St. Thomas. Does anyone have any details and/or experience with this excursion?

[bruce-r]

On our cruise that went to St. Thomas a few years ago, my son who wasn't old enough for discover scuba did the little kids equivalent to discover scuba called bubble maker. We did this at Coki Beach. It is the same place Princess takes their discover scuba people. So while this isn't exactly what you were asking about, it might give you an idea. The people at Coki Beach Dive Club ( http://www.cokidive.com ) were very nice and coki beach is a good place to go with the whole family for a morning. It is right next door to Coral World.

[Orcrone]

On our cruise that went to St. Thomas a few years ago, my son who wasn't old enough for discover scuba did the little kids equivalent to discover scuba called bubble maker. We did this at Coki Beach. It is the same place Princess takes their discover scuba people. So while this isn't exactly what you were asking about, it might give you an idea. The people at Coki Beach Dive Club ( www.cokidive.com ) were very nice and coki beach is a good place to go with the whole family for a morning. It is right next door to Coral World.

Bruce,

 

Thanks. I dove with Coki Beach Dive Club in November and contacted them about their Discover course. We're in St. Thomas from 8 AM till 9 PM. I was hoping for an early course, so that we could still enjoy the island, or possibly head to St. John. However, on that day they're doing a Discover Scuba for a Princess ship in the morning and don't know if they'll be able to accomodate us. So we might have to wait until the early afternoon. I'd rather not have it in the middle of the day, as that would make it difficult to do much else.

 

HAL has two courses offered, with one at 8:30 in the morning. It's scheduled to get us back to the ship at 1 PM. If we leave at 2, that still leaves us a good few hours on a beach.

[bruce-r]

HAL has two courses offered, with one at 8:30 in the morning. It's scheduled to get us back to the ship at 1 PM. If we leave at 2, that still leaves us a good few hours on a beach.

Too bad Coki can't commit to a morning slot. I would want to schedule my day just like you want, so I'd just go with the ship's excursion.

[JrMafia90]

We were thinking of doing this too.

[Orcrone]

Too bad Coki can't commit to a morning slot. I would want to schedule my day just like you want, so I'd just go with the ship's excursion.

That's how I'm leaning right now. I know that I can book the excursion online ahead of time and cancel without penalty at least ten days ahead of time, and possibly later. I will probably book it and check again with Coki when it gets closer. On the other hand the ship's excursion means I don't have to pay for a cab and it sounds like Coki will be at least as crowded as HAL's excursion.

[Hilary]

I have to agree that in this case going with the ship's excursion sounds like the best idea. If Coki is going to be packed and busy with the Princess folks, I'd be concerned about what kind of attention I'd be getting if they "fit me in". You know the ship's excursion will be packed with people too, but at least you're part of the crowd!

[White House]

My wife and I did a Discover Scuba with Admiralty Dive Center and they were great! They picked us up at the pier and provided two dives. Our Princess Discover excursion was only one dive for basically the same cost. In addition, there was only one other person on the dive with us. The dive master was very patient and attentive. If I get a chance to make it back to St. Thomas, I plan on using them again. Their web site is http://www.admiraltydive.com/.

 

White House