Scuba in Grand Cayman or Cozemel? Lots of Questions

[NewCruiser10]

We will be cruising on the Caribbean Princess on August 21st. My husband loves to scuba dive. He wants to choose one of these ports to dive.

1. Would you choose to dive in Cozemel or Grand Cayman?

2. Which dive spots in Cozemel or Grand Cayman would you choose?

3. Any recommendations on dive operators?

4. Do you bring your own equipment or do you rent it from the dive operator?

[CatLuvsH2O]

We have not scuba in Grand Cayman but have in Cozamel and WOW!!! One of my favorite dives. We did the wall (we were not on a cruise, we were staying at a resort and another resort offered a 2 tank dive). Went over 60 ft below and it was amazing. Not too many people with us too. We took our regs and computers. We always take our wet suits (I have a problem with the idea of other people peeing in the wetsuit before me :) ). You don't necessarily have to take your fins or mask but we usually take our own masks (v nice masks). I believe Cozumel is much cheaper than Grand Cayman but I would look into that.

Hope that helps,

Cat

[bamadawg]

Hands down, if you've never dove Cozumel you have to dive it!!! It's amazing and a must for divers!!! We've dove both Grand Cayman and Cozumel on more than one occassion, including both last fall when we sailed on Navigator. In Grand Cayman we used Eden Rock (I think) and they were just okay. In Cozumel we used a small outfit run by an American named Christi Courtney called Blue XT Sea. I would recommend Christi and her group and will use them again next time we're back in Cozumel. Here's their website: [url]www.bluextseadiving.com[/url] and here's a site that has reviews about her group: [url]http://www.travelnotes.cc/cozumel/links/diveshopreviews/bluext.html[/url]
We paid in advance through PayPal for the dive (less than the ship charged) and had a great dive experience! Five of us had our own dive captain and deck hand who took care of all of our gear. It was a great two tank dive with a beach break. You can't go wrong diving Cozumel and using Christi's group! As far as carrying your equipment, it is such a pain! My husband insists on it, and since he insists on bringing it, I insist that he carry it! I would rent equipment from these two operators and feel comfortable. Others in our group did rent their equipment with no problems. It's a matter of preference, but it is a huge hassle to carry a loaded down dive bag around! I wouldn't do it if hubby didn't insist.
DIVE COZUMEL!! YOU'LL LOVE IT
(it's my favorite place to dive. #2 is St. Lucia at the base of the Pitons)

[Woodsmaster]

I have dove both locations several times. If he can, dive both. If he is really only going to pick one, I would dive Cozumel for sightseeing and ease.

The best dive operator I have ever come across is in Cozumel. They are Blue Angel. Their contact information is:

Jeanie Buscher
US Contact for:
BLUE ANGEL DIVE SHOP
US TOLL FREE # 1-866-779-9986
[url]www.blueangel-scuba.com/[/url]
[email]alexcozumel@prodigy.net.mx[/email]
Cozumel Mexico

Their owner in Mexico is Alex (Alejandra).
Phone # to Shop from US
011 52 987 872 1631
Oceanfront at Caribe Blu Hotel
(Formerly Lorena Hotel)
Cozumel, Mexico

Tell them what you want to do and when. They will do everything possible to work with you. They also knkow the divesites and critters that inhabit them.

We were pleased with DiveTech in Grand Cayman.

[BorntoTravel]

My wife and I are going on the Rhapsody out of Galveston on August 22. Maybe if we paddle hard we can catch up with you.
Dove twice in Cozumel. Last time I dove with Eagle Ray Divers ([url]www.EagleRayDivers.com[/url]) and highly recommend them. They worked with us cruisers (late arrival) and gave my son a wonderful first blue water diving experience. Very professional divemaster and boat master. We felt very comfortable with both and we are looking forward to returning. Small dive groups (our groups were around 8 divers)
We are planning our first dive in Grand Cayman BWI and are looking at Neptune's Divers ([url]http://www.neptunesdivers.com/[/url]). They look the best because the appear to keep the diver limit to 8 per boat. I am looking at others, but it looks like Neptune's Divers.

[bruce-r]

I wouldn't want to have to choose between Cozumel and Grand Cayman because they are both excellent dive destinations, but if I absolutely had to choose between them, I would dive Coz. I liked Coz diving so much, we are going there for a week in December.

I went with BlueXTSea when we were in Coz in March aboard the Grand Princess, and I can easily recommend them as a good quality dive OP that is cruiser friendly. Additional cruiser friendly dive OP's that I would consider would be Papa Hogs, Dive with Martin, and Blue Angel.

If you do happen to choose Grand Cayman to dive, or come to your senses and dive both places, I also recommend Neptunesdivers.com I also went with them in March. They cruiser friendly and will either guide your dive or let you do your own dive using your computer.

Any questions, let me know.

In the mean time you can see some of the underwater photos I took in:

[URL=http://brobertson.org/GCM-underwater/]Grand Cayman[/URL]

[URL=http://brobertson.org/CozUW/]Cozumel[/URL]


[IMG]http://brobertson.org/webimages/mademac.gif[/IMG]

[mzhibbs]

I also loved diving in Coz!!!! We used Dive w/ Martin and enjoyed them. The price included not only the dive but all equipement. We always bring our own snorkle gear and wet suits, but the rest is a pain to lug. My dh has dove in GC and enjoyed it but said Coz was his favorite. I agree w/ above, dive both if possible.

[TroubleMaker]

Tough choice! I loved diving both Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

If you choose Cozumel, I HIGHLY recommend going with Eagle Ray Divers. Chellie is fantastic and went above and beyond for our group when we were there in May. We did 3 dives (2 afternoon and 1 night) and still had time for beers at Carlos 'n Charlies. The dives were fantastic and the crew was awesome!

If you dive in GC, I would NOT recommend Bob Soto's Reef Divers. It wasn't horrible, but crew was not very friendly and we started with tanks below 2500 psi. We did get to dive the North Wall though and that was fantastic. Some in our group even spotted a hammerhead circling!! I've also dove with Treasure Island Divers in the past, and they were great, but I'm not sure if they cater to cruise ship divers or not.

Have a great trip!

[dmdiver]

personally, if i could only dive one place, it would be grand cayman. i found the visibility to be unbelievable. you can dive sting ray city, which is really cool. you basically sit on the bottom and feed the sting rays. we went years ago with soto's and had a blast. there are wall dives where you can see rays, turtles, etc. the shallow dives are beautiful - i've never seen such beauty in my life.

[tkd]

Cozumel hands Down. The above post mentioned Alex & Alex (Blue Angel). EXCELLENT DIVE OPERATION. I have dove with them for at least 30 dives. GREAT divemasters & fun people. They also have nitrox available if you are certified. The dive shop I dive out of here in Houston (WW Diving) is actually who they use to certify their divemasters and in all honestly, they are excellent for training. I guarantee they are excellent. If you can, ask for Jorge, or Maxi as your Dive Masters Both are incredible. For shallow dives, hit Paradise Reef (40-60ft). Santa Rosa Wall--90ft great wall dive. For deeper, the Cathedral is great--125-135ft, but it is a long boat ride and requires at least a 10min deco stop. Definitely not a beginner dive and they probably wouldn't let you go there unless they were comfortable with you as a diver first. Columbia deep is a cool deep dive. I wasn't a big fan of Palencar, but it does have some nice corals.

The visibility in Cozumel is 85ft on a HORRIBLE Day. I've sen it with over 150-200 ft vis.

[divinggirl]

From reading these posts it seems you can't go wrong choosing either...Personally, I am sailing on the Zuiderdam on 8/21 and will be diving with Deep Blue in Coz on 8/24, the AM dive, and with Neptune's Diver's in GC on 8/25, the 9:30 AM dive. I have done a great deal of research and these two seem to be highly recommended, both on these boards and others. I'd beinterested in finding out if there will be anyone else from these boards on my dive boat. I am diving w/o my DH, and would not mind pairing up with another experienced person (or couple). I dive my computer, and have pretty good lungs :) :D

[Cancunspy]

WELL, hi every one, I would say that since I can't dive the Caribbean every day I have to dive both, and I have, I can tell you that both are great places to dive they have defferent underwater landscapes and both are exellent dives, so for me is very hard to pick, if I pick one I now I will be missing out on the fun, Grand Cayman has big pinacles,peaks, valleys, ruts, tunnels, is like diving in the Andes Mountains, while Cozumel is like diving in the Alps it looks like a ski area with corals as big as big pine trees full of snow, you also find sponges, tunnels,and steep to mid steep walls, and both have plenty of big fish but they are defferent and both well worth the time and money, and most dive shops have great staff, I have dived with SAND DOLLAR, STAFF DIVERS, and DIVE WITH MARTIN, I like Sand Dollar cause they are closer to the big reefs so is most likely you'll dive it, some cruise ships book thru them, another good dive spot just in case you run late and miss the morning dive? just before lunch you will be diving if you go to PLAYA SOL where lots of cruisers go for the day with their families for a day at the beech and you as a diver don't have to pay admission just tell them you are going to the dive shop and the best part if you get lucky you get to dive with just the dive master and you as it happened to me and it was the best diving I done in Cozumel, what they have is a radio dispatch system and they just come and pick you up and the boat can be a small fast boat with no cover so have sun block and a hat.
But like I say is very hard for me to say who is best, but I can tell you were I will never dive again very fast and that is Ocho Rios, Jamaica, no fish and dive masters are masterly HI on GANYA and the smell of Rum Punch still on the boat and the crew,And I say this cause I saw them smoke it right in front of me and it was 8:00 AM.
Any way here are the place that I would not dare not dive Grand Cayman, Cozumel , Chinchorro Reef in Mahagual , MX, St. Lucia @ the pitons,Curacao @ the Aquarium.
So if your choice is to spend some time with the family, dive Cozumel from Playa Sol and you can be with your family and then Grand Cayman while they go to HELL and Back in one day. you'll know by then what I mean, wish it did not sound that bad.

CANCUNSPY

[KazinSD]

I cut my diving teeth in the Caymans, so they have a soft spot in my heart, but Cozumel is nice too. I have faced similar dilemmas, as you want to dive both but you want to share time with everyone in the family and do what they want. In my trips there, these have been the determining factors. Usually there is more time in Cozumel, so you can dive and still have time to check out the other options (you have to eat at the original Pancho's Back Yard downtown). Grand Cayman is a shorter stop but still plenty to do, so it makes it harder to get a dive in, but since it's more costly to get back to Grand Cayman for a weeks stay, that's what ultimately decides it for me. It's far cheaper to get back to Cozumel for a week or diving, shopping or whatever, so when I have one choice, I do Grand Cayman.

As for the operators, all of the above are good, and if the boats are less than full, no problem taking on non bottom-dwellers. Other divers may buck a bit if a diver was denied bottom time because of a full boat that included someone along for the ride, but I highly doubt an operator would be bothered by any full paying customer.

Hope you have fun...