SB'ers in Cozumel -- March

[boulderjohn]

Why are you using the odd characters in your font?

That grinding noise you hear in the distance is my teeth gritting. I am typing from the Hotel Cozumel, where the Internet connection, coupled with my older laptop, is iffy at best. Knowing I might have trouble, I typed my response in MS Word and then pasted it in. ScubaBoard interpreted any MS apostrophe or quotation mark in a bizarre way. I tried to upload an edit three times before I lost the connection altogether and could not get it back.

Here is a very brief trip report so far. I have been on the island three days. The only things I told Aldora (other than my ctification level, experience, etc.) was that I would be game to join anyone wanting to do anything out of the ordinary. So far I have dived Maracaibo, Punta Sur South (Cathedral), and Devil's throat. Tomorrow I am scheduled for Barracuda. With the weather as rough as it has been, I am not optimistic about the east side.

It is warming up. The first two days I was happy to accept the dive parkas they give you to stay warm after the dive. Today I came back without it.

If you call the phone number on the Aldora site, they will tell you where they pick up.

 

[DandyDon]

Hehe, I use AOL email for that. Type a mail to myself, save it to Send Later on my hard drive within AOL software, then post it here - and if it works, delete the email. Odd that Word and SB are not totally compatible.

I got a nice, fast reply from Aldora. They will pick me up at Blue Angle for dives, and they will transport divers to the east side for those dives. Since I am solo this trip, I will be minimizing taxi hires, but this sounds great. I'm going to try to dive with them a couple of days if they'll accept my Rescue card & Decom card as sufficient evidence that I can dive the Big Dawg dives without watching me for a day before.

 

[Montana Diver]

I am looking for a dive buddy while I am in Cozumel.

I am a newly certified PADI OW diver. I have completed 9 OW dives while under my instructor, B&B Scuba in Kihei. I completed 6 boat dives and 3 shore dives(one night dive). I joined an AOW class for several of my dives and was able to get a 98' dive at Molokini crater. While I certainly realize that I am still a noob at diving, I experienced a variety of conditions during my OW cert. I do still use more air than more experienced divers, however on the 98' dive I was out of the water approximately 4 minutes ahead of the AOW students. I was just finishing my safety stop as they were coming to the anchor line.

I am a single diver looking for 2-3 days of diving. I am staying North of Playa del Carmen at Mayan Palace. I will need to take the ferry to Coz for diving, not certain I can make the early dives due to ferry. I arrive late March 24th.

Dennis

 

[robint]

I am looking for a dive buddy while I am in Cozumel.

I am a newly certified PADI OW diver. I have completed 9 OW dives while under my instructor, B&B Scuba in Kihei. I completed 6 boat dives and 3 shore dives(one night dive). I joined an AOW class for several of my dives and was able to get a 98' dive at Molokini crater. While I certainly realize that I am still a noob at diving, I experienced a variety of conditions during my OW cert. I do still use more air than more experienced divers, however on the 98' dive I was out of the water approximately 4 minutes ahead of the AOW students. I was just finishing my safety stop as they were coming to the anchor line.

I am a single diver looking for 2-3 days of diving. I am staying North of Playa del Carmen at Mayan Palace. I will need to take the ferry to Coz for diving, not certain I can make the early dives due to ferry. I arrive late March 24th.

Dennis

a few things, you have a two choices:

1. If you are going to dive Cozumel, you really should get up early and make the earliest ferry over for the am dives. The dive shop closest to the ferry pier is Aqua Safari, book with them ahead of time. Send them an e-mail, tell them what time you are arriving (check the ferry schedule) on what days. They will assign you a dive buddy on the boat or have you dive as the DMs buddy. They will tell you where to meet them after taking the ferry over and at what time you need to be there to go.
Cozumel Diving with Aqua Safari

2. OR you can book your Cozumel diving through one of the dive ops there in Playa. Look at their websites, they all do it. In fact many of them ride the ferry over to Coz with you. There are lots of dive ops to choose from, here is one:
Scuba Diving, Fishing, Dive Packages, and Extreme Sports in Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, Riviera Maya, Yucatan, Mexico and Caribbean

Do you own your own gear? IF not, you need to show up at the dive shop EARLY in order to get fitted for the gear. You need to arrange for this ahead of time also. E-mail the dive ops and tell them.

robin

 

[scubanatic]

Another option you may want to consider is Chucho Divers. Chucho is an awesome dive master. He used to DM for Del Mar but spun off on his own 4 years ago, and you get to use uncrowded smaller boats. We have been going there for several years and have never been disappointed.

 

[boulderjohn]

I am looking for a dive buddy while I am in Cozumel.
Dennis

Dennis,

As usual, Robin gave excellent advice. I just want to add that your situation is very common in Cozumel. A large, experienced outfit like Aqua Safari (or a number of others) can take excellent care of you and set you up with a good situation. When you contact them, make sure you give all the information you gave here, and they will make sure you are set up on a boat that will give you an appropraite experience.

By the way, I dived with B & B out of Kihei, and I thought they were a fine outfit.

 

[boulderjohn]

I'm going to try to dive with them a couple of days if they'll accept my Rescue card & Decom card as sufficient evidence that I can dive the Big Dawg dives without watching me for a day before.

I believe they are most intersted in your total numberr of dives, and especially your total number of dives in Cozumel, so I am sure they will get you into the fast lane quickly.

If you tell them how many SB posts you have, they make put you in charge of operations.

 

[boulderjohn]

I had a great dive at Barracuda today, followed by another fine dive on San Juan. At one point on Barracuda we were going along a wall with a ripping current trying hard to push us out to sea. For a few minutes I was pumping for all I was worth to stay on the wall, and I was thinking "Why am I working so hard when everyone else seems to be OK?" On the boat I learned that everyone else was thinking the same thing. It clearly showed why that reef is not for beginners. BTW, things did calm down considerably after that.

I strongly suggest you ask for nitrox for every dive you can. The only dive you might not want it for is Maracaibo. One advantage to this system is that they will try to set up nitrox dedicated boats, which of course will include primarily advanced divers.

Aldora has an excellent planning system, and you should use it to your advantage. With the exception of the northern dives, all the boats do their surface intervals at the same place. During that time, their leader (Memo) visits your table, asks about your first dive, etc. At that time he is also trying to plan the next day's dive. If he has someone wanting something special, he will see if others are interested. If you want something special, bring it up then, and he will try to find some companions for you.

 

[shawrg]

If you tell them how many SB posts you have, they make put you in charge of operations.

Good one John! No doubt I will be given a refresher course in the wading pool!

I get those irritating format errors when I cut & paste from Appleworks. I haven't tried other word processors but as my post quantity increases, I guess I'll investigate alternatives.

I am enjoying your posts and learning a lot. Thanks for the dive reports. Please continue the running commentary!Maybe I overlooked it but what has the water temperature been?

 

[CZM4me]

New to this board. Hotel Cozumel 3/14-21 CAN'T WAIT!