Caribbean Dive Trips Make a Splash

We went aboard to look at the largest of the new dive/cruise ships, Ocean Quest’s 457-foot, 300-passenger Ocean Spirit, which sails from New Orleans on seven-day round-trip cruises to Cozumel and Cancun in Mexico as well as to Belize.

We arrived in time to watch the last 30 or so of 110 divers take off for a day at Cozumel’s famous Palancar Reef. The erstwhile frogmen and women ranged in age from the early 20s to the mid-60s, most of them energetic if not always lean and trim, and all of them suited up for action. The average passenger age, the line says, is 35 to 40.

The ship, formerly the Starward I, appeared well-equipped for its diving expeditions.

It carried doctors, a four-man decompression chamber for treating aeroembolism (bends) and an air system encompassing two tank centers with 150,000 cubic feet of air, plus fast-filling, built-in tank systems on each of its eight dive boats.

Passengers can either take their own diving equipment or rent equipment on board. A $200 certification course in scuba diving is available for beginners, as well as an open-water completion course, windsurfing gear, sailboats, paddleboats, jet skis and underwater submarines.

The whole point here seems to be the diving opportunities rather than a luxury cruise experience. Cabins range is size and price from small inside and outside doubles ($995 to $1,450 per person, double occupancy) to eight larger cabins with queen-size beds and a separate sitting area ($1,795 per person, double occupancy). A third or fourth occupant in any cabin travels for a flat $795, while children under 11 can go for $250 in a third berth with two full-fare adults. The rates include air fare from major U.S. gateways.

A special California fare of $1,295 per person, double occupancy, includes round-trip air fare from Los Angeles and one night in a New Orleans hotel. A non-diving companion can deduct $150 from the fare, while children under 12 travel free on the ship but must pay their own air fare. These prices are good through Dec. 16.

Dress is casual. The Ocean Spirit has a main lounge with music for dancing, a bar and lounge overlooking the deck and pool area, a casino, a large shop, a film-processing center, a cinema that doubles as a lecture and seminar room, a small fitness center and a disco.

The Ocean Spirit is not allowed to use its own diving boats--which can be launched directly from the ship with divers and gear already aboard--at Cozumal and Cancun.

Officials there have ruled that only local diving boats can be used at the two ports, this despite the fact that Mexico’s federal government had earlier approved Ocean Quest’s request to use its own dive boats.

While the jurisdictional dispute remains unsettled, divers must climb into Mexican dive boats while the new Ocean Quest craft lie idle nearby.

No such problems exist in Belize, site of the largest coral reef in the Western Hemisphere. The Ocean Spirit’s own dive boats are used during the calls at English Cay, Sergeant’s Cay, Turneffe Island and Lighthouse Reef.

In return, each passenger makes a contribution of $5.50 to the Belize Reef Ecological Preservation Trust. In addition, Ocean Quest is training for certification 24 Belizeans to serve as reef wardens.

For more information on Ocean Spirit diving cruises, call Ocean Quest at (504) 586-8686 or (800) 338-3483.

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Florida-based Crown Cruise Line’s 31-passenger Crown Diver sails from Nassau and Freeport in the Bahamas on three-, four- and six-night cruises beginning at $499 per person. Fares are based on double, triple or quadruple occupancy. Call (800) 841-7447 for details.

Basic diving cruises are available through Seattle-based Tropical Adventures, call (800) 247-3483, which operates six live-aboard, 18-passenger aluminum boats designed for divers and underwater photographers.

They offer hot showers, air-conditioned accommodations, daily film processing and underwater camera rental. The boats are in the Netherlands Antilles, Belize, Cayman Islands, Hawaii’s Kona Coast and Costa Rica.

The 147-foot, 36-passenger catamaran Island Explorer has been booked by Tropical Adventures for a 15-day underwater photo workshop in Indonesia, departing Los Angeles Sept. 10. Marine photographer and journalist Nancy Sefton leads the cruise and workshop package costing $2,100 per person, double occupancy, plus air fare and interim hotel lodging to and from the vessel.

That company also markets seven-day sailings from Fiji aboard the refurbished 190-foot, 66-passenger South Seas Explorer ($1,195 per person, double occupancy). Low-cost flights to Fiji aboard Qantas can be booked from the West Coast through Tropical Adventures, 170 Denny Way, Seattle 98109.

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Divi Hotels’ 18-passenger Sea Dancer sails on dive cruises every week, Saturday to Saturday, from St. Maarten to Saba, Statia and sometimes St. Kitts and Nevis, conditions permitting.

Inside and outside cabins are available, $1,095 to $1,295 per person, double occupancy.

The firm supplies tanks, backpacks, weights and weight belts, and rents other gear, including underwater still and video cameras. Film can be processed daily on board. The majority of dives take place from the vessel. For more information call (800) 367-3484.