RCI Dive Operators?

[BethV114]

Does anyone know who Royal Caribbean uses in Aruba and Curacao? We were thinking about booking through the ship for our upcoming cruise, but Royal Caribbean won't tell me who their operators are. My sister and I ended up booking a dive last minute through the ship on our last cruise and it turned out quite well. They used Scuba Fun in St. Maarten and while the dive boat was pretty full, they divided us up into groups of 4-6 divers per divemaster and ended up having two great dives.:)

I was thinking of booking through the ship in order to avoid the hassle of finding/paying for our own transportation to the dive shops, but don't want to just book blindly and and up in a huge group with some low class dive shop.:eek:

[RevDoc]

Hello! I was trying to find out the same thing for Grand Cayman. I contacted Royal Caribbean and they said contractually they could not disclose who their dive operators were. They did say that they allow up to 25 divers per DM! To be honest, that frightened me off.

[bruce-r]

I think Royal Caribbean uses Red Sail in Aruba, which I'd personally avoid as I prefer smaller boats than the large boats they use.

 

http://www.divearuba.com is who I used.

 

In Curacao, I'd go with http://www.the-dive-bus.com/ just because I've read very good reviews and I don't know who the ship's dive op would be and don't want to take a chance.

[BethV114]

I think Royal Caribbean uses Red Sail in Aruba, which I'd personally avoid as I prefer smaller boats than the large boats they use.

 

www.divearuba.com is who I used.

 

In Curacao, I'd go with http://www.the-dive-bus.com/ just because I've read very good reviews and I don't know who the ship's dive op would be and don't want to take a chance.

 

Thanks, Bruce. I was considering giving The Dive Bus a try. When my sister and I were in Curacao a few weeks ago, we used Caribbean Sea Sports. We had a great time, but I know we really lucked out since we were the only ones booked for the day and they usually take as many as 20 people on their dive boats. Another consideration is that we're trying to do this cruise on a bit of a smaller budget and between the pricing of about $125 per person and about $40 round-trip taxi, that might be pushing it a bit too far. We didn't get to use Private Diving Aruba since they cancelled because of poor visibility. We are still considering them for this trip, but will definitely look into your recommendation, as well.

[BethV114]

I was doing a search online for dive operators in Curacao and found Ocean Encounters. They actually advertise on their website that they are the dive operator for Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, so there is no reason why the cruise line shouldn't have been willing to at least provide me with that name. Now that I know who they are, I've e-mailed them to ask a few questions (i.e. their dive sites, how many people they take on each dive, etc.).

[bruce-r]

Thanks, Bruce. I was considering giving The Dive Bus a try. When my sister and I were in Curacao a few weeks ago, we used Caribbean Sea Sports. We had a great time, but I know we really lucked out since we were the only ones booked for the day and they usually take as many as 20 people on their dive boats.

 

I had a similar experience with Caribbean Seasports. I know they say they only go out with a minimum number of dives, but the day I went with them it was just me and a British family of 4, 5 total divers. It was great diving, but the dives could have just as easily been done from shore. Curacao has great shore diving.

[BethV114]

I checked out Dive Aruba, but they're closed on Sundays, which is when we'll be in port. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!:D

[bruce-r]

I checked out Dive Aruba, but they're closed on Sundays, which is when we'll be in port. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!:D

 

Doc Vikingo recommended http://www.nativedivers.com/ over on http://www.scubadiving.com 's message board. His advice has always been right on for me.

[BethV114]

Thanks, Bruce. I'll send them an e-mail and see if they're available. I think my sister and I actually saw them leaving for a dive while we were at the beach when our cruise ship stopped in Aruba a few weeks ago. We were supposed to dive that day with Private Diving Aruba, but they cancelled due to poor visibility, so we hit the beach and rented jet skis, instead. I had considered trying to book with Private Diving again, but, as I have said previously, my husband and I are trying to keep costs down a bit this time around, so we'd rather not spend the extra $$ if we don't have to.