Diving in the Caribbean

osd9

osd9

New Member
Oct 3, 2006
4,874
MidAtlantic
Boat Info
2003 410DA
Engines
Caterpillar 3126-TA w/ ZF 80-IV
I am headed out on a cruise in two weeks (1/13) to the Western Caribbean on the Carnival Ship Glory out of Port Canaveral.....I have played with scuba diving and snorkeling over the last 20 years, and last spring, just BEFORE my 50th, I decided to get serious and went through the PADI certifications....Basic, Advanced Open Water and NITROX....

Out of a group of 32 (all from my neighborhood) I am the ONLY diver..... :smt089 ....

I would love to hear from any of you who have used the dives directly from the ship. I don't want to book on my own with local dive shops, only because I am alone, and I wouldn't want to worry about missing either the dive boat or the BIG boat.....any pitfalls or issues you can share would be appreciated.......I already know they won't let me wear gloves (no harming the reefs) but I was curious if I can carry my knife.....I am bringin my own regulator, BCD, mask, snorkel, fins, small light, safety sausage and a 2mil shorty....

I have about 20 dives logged, all off the Jersey Coast....max depth to date 90 feet on the wreck Stolt Dagali...I dived two other wrecks the Mohawk and Spring Lake Wreck..... Here on the Jersey Coast, 15-20 feet of vis is considered good and 5 -10 is typical...plus the water temp at 85 feet is usually in mid to low 50's...I dive with a 5 mil full wet suit...no dry suit yet....I can't wait to dive in water that is 80 degrees and I can SEE whats ahead of me!!!!! :thumbsup:
 
Dominic,

It's been several years since I've been diving, but I used to always bring my gear on vacations to warm areas. Your gear package sounds just right - don't forget to put the knife in checked baggage. You are going to love diving in unlimited visibility - it's a whole new world if you are used to diving in the NY area.

The missing the boat thing is key, especially when you are "alone" in a group. I always made sure to chat up the person next to me plus the dive master just so they would remember I existed when they pulled anchor and headed home without me.

Organized dives can work one of two ways, either you buddy up and descend and ascend in buddy teams, or you all descend and ascend together as a large group. The group thing is a pain because everyone has to surface when the first excitable newbie sucks down all his air in one gulp. The more satisfying dive is to be buddied with a person of similar skills and stick with him/her. You will find that by wearing the 2mm suit you will be warmer and more comfortable than others who may not wear a suit. This means you will last longer and use less air, even in the warm water.

As soon as they assign you a tank, test to make sure that it has a full load of air. A lot of dive operations short fill the tanks - ask for a full tank.

Since you usually can't touch the coral, an air saving technique is to stay 5' above the group. Depending on depth 5' can give you a huge bonus in bottom time. (as long as you are not bound to ascend with the air suckers). Also, forcing yourself to relax will save air.

Last bit of advice is to join DAN - the Divers Alert Network before you go. No recreational diver should be without it, especially when diving outside the US. It's a long story as to why I feel so strongly about DAN, but trust me - it's worth it.
 
Jeff:

Thanks for the great advise...good tip on checking the air fill....I also dive with a computer, so I'll be credited with that extra 5 feet above the crowd....I have one suit case alocated just for dive "stuff"...it will all be checked....I got tangled in fish line once, and from that point foward, I will NEVER dive without two knives again......one on the BC and one on the leg.....

My biggest problem is being able to read the computer....damn eyesight ain't what they used to be...I have the magnifiers in my mask, but they seem to fog at a different rate than the rest of the mask....PITA.....

My regulator is in the DIVE shop as I type...I brought it in for its yearly service before this trip...I also was told that the tanks in the Caribbean are all YOKE typ connectors, so I had the DIVE shope replace my DIN for the trip...I didn't feel comfortable using one of those adapters without a "regular" buddy close by...if you know what I mean......

I too am DAN.....local divers around here all advocate membership....

Don't know if you read the book Shadow Divers, but one of my best friends growing up was one of the divers who was on that expedition...he got a mention in the book also.......he's way advanced.....Andria Doira, etc....

Although I am fairly new to the sport, I seem to have been able to budget and use my air very well....being a runner all my life, has helped my lung capacity.....even at 50....

Oh...would you suggest using NITROX or just stick with Air....???

Thanks again....
 
I loved reading Shadow Divers and shared it with my brother who regularly dives on a German U boat off Block Island.

I also like the 2 knives - but I eventually also carried scisors which handle the monofiliment line really well.

I doubt that you will have a choice to use nitrox in a resort diving situation.
 
I ordered the book DIVER DOWN from Amazon last week...should be here today or tomorrow....It will be plane and airport reading.....I hope to learn from other's mistakes.....

Yes, scissors are also a good idea.....

Some of the guys I see dive carry soo much "stuff" down with them that they need very little weights... :grin: ...speaking of, the shorty is new to me...so I'll have to play with my weight....I'm guessing around 12-14lbs should do it....with full 5mm wet suit, gloves and hood, in cold ocean waters, I was using 18-22lbs...that is with a 100 steel and 30 pony....in the Caribbean, I think they use 80 aluminums.....
 
I have been diving in the western Caribbean for the last 15 years about 1x/year. With the exception of one vacation to Grand Cayman they were all cruises.

I will be 2 weeks behind you this time. Our ship (Disney Magic) leaves January 27th.

Cozumel (paradise reef) has been incredible in the past. After New Orleanes got hit with Katrina they got hit with Wilma. I have not been back since. Last cruise they changed things up since Cozumel was still in bad shape. I don’t know what to tell you about how it is now.

As far as diving with a knife, they will not allow you to do that. It’s a national park and no knives are allowed, no exceptions. If you refuse to dive with out your dive knife for safety they say, ok you don’t get to go.

I assume you will also stop at Grand Cayman. I have been to Grand Cayman on Carnival, Holland American and Disney crusie line and none of the onboard ship tours take you to “the wall†unfortunately. They will take you to Sand Bar (3’ deep) and Stingray City (not more then 20’ deep) Note: many get those reversed. My advice is to book in advance with a local dive shop and dive the wall. Make it clear you are on a cruse ship and must get back by X time and pad it a few hours.
 
More….

As far as conserving air to get a longer dive, you go as a group if you go with the ships tour. You are done when the first person is low.

As far as the knife, I don’t think you can bring this on the ship either. I am not sure about Carnival, is been 8 years since my last Carnival cruise, but for sure not on Disney Cruise lines.

Also, if you bring one of those cheap $10 underwater cameras that say they are only good for 10’ you can bring this with you. Advance the film so you are all ready to take your picture. I have taken them to 80’ with out them collapsing. You will be able to take 1 picure. Then you need to go back up to 15’ to wind it. I don’t recommend you ruin your dive profile, but you will be able to get 2 pictures at depth (they are almost all 2 tank dives) plus more pictures closer to the surface.

About those profiles, they set it up so your first dive is the deep one and the second has a less aggressive profile. If your health allows you, you can take some deviation in your dive profile you may be able to get a few extra photos on the second dive at depth.

Finally, pressure gauge? What’s a pressure gauge. That’s what the K valve is for. (joke, only for those that have been diving for a few years, LOL)
 
Thanks for the tips....I will talk about the knife situation on the cruise ship.

I have a lot of pockets in my BC....and a nice small knife.. :grin: ..tomorrow when I pick up my regulator I will buy a small scissors also.... :thumbsup:
 
I live and dive in FL. I also cruise often but if it was me I would only dive with someone (buddy diver) I know. My wife dives but we often cruise with non-diver cruisers so we have only snorkeled on most of our cruises with exception to our (flight) vacation to Dominican Republic.

I am also a big fan of Grand Cayman; it is BEAUTIFUL and I have only :smt089 snorkeled it a number of times. Look up "Moby Dick Tours" they are a great group of guys with a number of boats
 
Just got back in from my cruise....I dived in Cozumel and Belize....snorkled with my wife in Costa Maya

The dives in Cozumel were fantastic....we dived the Santa Rosa Ledge...got down to about 95' on the first dive...on the side of the ledge.....divemaster said it's about 1000 feet straight down from there....on the surface interval, we got a chance to snorkel with a skool of dolphin.....

In Belize we dived two Atul locations....both in about 65' of water....


I can tell you all that diving in Crystal Clear (80' vis) warm (82 degrees) water is absolutely an awesome experience.....

Both dive sites were drift dives.....I was nervous about finding the boat after the drift....being used to diving in cold murky NJ waters....in this clear water...even at 90' down, you only have to look up to see where the boat is....AMAZING....

SeaGull: Great advise about staying 5' above the crowd...I was last man out on ALL dives....and I was the oldest guy there..... :grin:

I dived in a 2 mil shorty and was able to take my BCD Knife on both dive sites....packed my gloves into the BCD pockets just in case....

thanks for all the advise....
 
Sounds like a great trip. Welcome back to winter!
 
Sea Gull: It sure was winter when we got home.....someone turned on the "cold" switch while I was away....


No pics Pete....Santa was too busy buying bigger boats and new boat toys.....I'm hoping that the Birthday Fairy brings a new underwater digital camera in May.....
 
Glad you got in your diving. I'm sure the rest of the group got along OK without you on those days. You would not have wanted to miss out, especially after geting certified.

About 20 yrs ago I dived in Cozumel. The divemaster called it the Santa Rosa Wall, probably the same place. I remember the sheer drop into the depths. I also remember some caves or tunnels that connected the face of the wall to the top of the ledge. Way cool, but we didn't talk like that back then.
 
Yes Ron....some called it the wall and others were calling it the ledge.....we swam through some of those reef "tunnels"...about 20 to 30 feet long.....very cool......

While on the ship, I read the book "divers down" ....an accumulation of short stories about diving "incidents".....not exactly the best choice in reading considering ......but the book delivered as advertised and I learned from other's mistakes....

On my second dive in Belize, while practicing my bouancy and remaining 5-10 feet above the crowd, the divemaster was showing the group a small snail on one of the reed formations.....during that time, a woman who was "terrible" on the first dive and only worst on the second, put WAY too much air in her BCD.....We were in about 60' when she started going to surface tooooooo fast......I let all the air out of my BCD and kick up to her and grabbed her fin.....I went to about 45' and was about to let go when the divemaster finally saw what was happening and he swam and grabbed my fins....I honestly believe that I saved that woman a good dose of DCS.....the divemaster sent her and her husband to the boat immediately afterwards....I donwloaded my profile to my Laptop and it's really cool to see exactly where it happened....
 
Good job on helping that lady. :thumbsup:

We are flying down this Thursday afternoon.

So no issue with the knife on the cruise ship or on the dive? Hmmm.

Glad you had a great time.

About the lady that could not control her buoyancy, did she skip her safety stop? Not knowing the dive profile or surface interval the safety stop may have needed to be a long one.

In the past they never enforced the PADI requirement for divers to be at least open water advanced to dive to a depth of 95 feet but in the past they were strict on the no knife rule.

How was the coral? Of the group, were there divers talking about the pre and post hurricane Wilma quality of the dive site?

My daughter was going to swim with the sea lions at Chakanab in Cozumel. We just found out today they are not re-opened yet.
 
Presentation said:
So no issue with the knife on the cruise ship or on the dive? Hmmm.

Getting back on the cruise ship, they did require that you checked the larger knifes, but the BCD knife was OK to keep. Kind of "DUMB" if you ask me...after all....we all had steak knifes for dinner....go figure..... :smt017

About the lady that could not control her buoyancy, did she skip her safety stop? Not knowing the dive profile or surface interval the safety stop may have needed to be a long one.

On this dive, they hung a line from the boat if you wanted to hang.....She and her husband used the line for their safety stop....most of us just used the great condition to practice buoancy control.......

In the past they never enforced the PADI requirement for divers to be at least open water advanced to dive to a depth of 95 feet but in the past they were strict on the no knife rule.

They asked to see everyone's C-Card and they did a quick interview and placed us in three groups of about seven divers.....I showed my AOWD card...on the Cozumel dive I was with the middle group.....on the Belize Dive I was with the rookies....good thing for that Lady.....

How was the coral? Of the group, were there divers talking about the pre and post hurricane Wilma quality of the dive site?

No one talked about the hurricanes....the reefs and the coral were all in excellent condition where we dived...

My daughter was going to swim with the sea lions at Chakanab in Cozumel. We just found out today they are not re-opened yet.
Click to expand...
 
Thank you for the feedback.

We are going to see Mickey Mouse Friday then get on the ship Saturday morning. I’m hoping Disneyworld is slow. I’m not much of a ‘stand in line’ kinda person.

Right now the weather looks to be cooler then I had hoped. 60’s to low 70’s.

I’m hoping it improves.
 
Doug:

Looking foward to your dive report......have a safe trip..... :thumbsup:
 
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