advanced dive shop with small groups in Cozumel?

[MMM]

In my experience, and I could be wrong, the only place you will get nitrox in 120s is with the very few ops on the island that use them: Living Underwater, Aldora and Liquid Blue. As to 100s, I can't say. I have seen that you can get them on special order from a few ops for 21% but have not seen a nitrox reference. It's probably a longshot at a very special request at best. It's a guess, but I doubt that few, if any, of these ops, sub-lease their tanks to other ops...it's really one of their unique selling points.

Not wanting to re-ignite the 80 vs 120 debate or go down the ‘my op is better than your op’ road does anyone know of the availability of hi-cap Nitrox tanks? I was thinking about dolphintam’s original post and it does pose an interesting question. To run a long sustained deep pull you may need a hi-cap tank. Which ops have access to 100 or 120 (regardless of standard / HP / AL / steel) nitrox fills? I realize Aldora has their own fill operation but they also do group dives as a standard model and I doubt they loan or rent out tanks to other DM’s (but maybe to in-house private DM’s). I started thinking about the availability of tanks for private DM’s or 1 person valet ops that catch rides on larger ops boats? To ‘rent a boat’ for a solo or a couple three divers, is not normally an option due to cost. I do not think Meridiano has nitrox 120’s available but do they rent 100’s? The desire to run long and deep means Nitrox in the normal conditions of Cozumel since the current aids an experienced diver and allows for extended diving, if running a long deep profile then the limiting factor becomes NDL with hi-cap 21% tanks.

 

[Kevrumbo]

High capacity steel single steel tanks with optional DIN H-valve, as well as manifolded doubles AL80's & Steel LP 85's:


Deep Exposure Dive Center Cozumel Diving Rates

 

[Prop Joe]

Not wanting to re-ignite the 80 vs 120 debate or go down the ‘my op is better than your op’ road does anyone know of the availability of hi-cap Nitrox tanks? I was thinking about dolphintam’s original post and it does pose an interesting question. To run a long sustained deep pull you may need a hi-cap tank. Which ops have access to 100 or 120 (regardless of standard / HP / AL / steel) nitrox fills? I realize Aldora has their own fill operation but they also do group dives as a standard model and I doubt they loan or rent out tanks to other DM’s (but maybe to in-house private DM’s). I started thinking about the availability of tanks for private DM’s or 1 person valet ops that catch rides on larger ops boats? To ‘rent a boat’ for a solo or a couple three divers, is not normally an option due to cost. I do not think Meridiano has nitrox 120’s available but do they rent 100’s? The desire to run long and deep means Nitrox in the normal conditions of Cozumel since the current aids an experienced diver and allows for extended diving, if running a long deep profile then the limiting factor becomes NDL with hi-cap 21% tanks.

Aldora owns their own tanks. I doubt they will let you take a tank to dive with another op. They may help each other out occasionally, but I doubt that would SOP. I seem to remember having a discussion with Dave Dillehey and he said that he personally brought down all of Aldora's HP steel 120's over the years? Dave? When I first started diving there all of the tanks were DIN tank valves/fittings (They would swap a DIN fitting on your reg FOC), now these days most tanks have yoke type tank valves. If your regulator yoke is not rated for the HP they can still swap your rig over to a DIN FOC.
Before Aldora had their own fill station the tanks would sometimes not be topped off at the rated HP 3442 psi. Also sometimes when the island was really busy they could not keep up the the quantity of nitrox fills. I'm sure there are other reasons, but those are the two reasons that stuck in my mind.
Yup, nitrox on the big tanks is great thing IMO. Just had some 80 minute dives a few weeks ago that I don't think would have been possible on air and an 80 tank. Mr Suunto was not happy with me. My back-up, Miss Aeris was okay with the profiles though. Those dives were all 32 EAN on the first and 36 EAN on the second with a long SI between. YMMV

 

[cvchief]

Prop, that is a good point too. The fillers only fill the 100cf air to 3000, so all of them are short 300. I used to run the 100cf in to deco ALL THE TIME even with the short fill, so it was either go to 80 nitrox or get a more liberal computer than a Mares.

I did stand outside the Aldora fill station one night when they were filling and I think I could smell the flowers and sunshine....

 

[MMM]

So if I understand what you are saying here, the 100 cf tanks you use are for air only, no nitrox? If so, does the dive op own the 100s or are they supplied by Meridano? If it's the latter, I am going to go out on a limb and say that you probably can't get 100s with nitrox from most operators on the island. I remember Christi saying she had purchased her own 100s so maybe she has some that are dedicated for nitrox.

Prop, that is a good point too. The fillers only fill the 100cf air to 3000, so all of them are short 300. I used to run the 100cf in to deco ALL THE TIME even with the short fill, so it was either go to 80 nitrox or get a more liberal computer than a Mares.

I did stand outside the Aldora fill station one night when they were filling and I think I could smell the flowers and sunshine....

 

[DjDiverDan]

Although I've been going to Cozumel a lot of years, I only have direct recent experience with three Dive Ops - Aldora, Dive with Martin, and Dive Paradise (from the ScubaBoard Cozumel Invasion 2012) - and of those three, only Aldora offers Nitrox in anything bigger than an 80. Aldora is my first preference, but since I have no experience with any of the other high end valet operators, like Living Underwater, Blue XTSea, Tres Pelicanos, etc., I'm not is any position to say which is "best." My recent trips have all been group trips where I didn't get to pick the Dive Op; we used Dive with Martin, which did get me AL 100s to dive with, but ONLY Air fills. It is my understanding that Meridiano, the biggest fill station on the Island, only offers Nitrox fills on AL80s, and only has Air fills on AL 100s. If you want Steel tanks (which I like as much for the weight and buoyancy characteristics as for the extra air) or higher capacity Nitrox tanks, there are only a handful of Ops, less than 5-6, that can handle that. Aldora, which owns its own tanks and has its own fill station, is one of them.

 

[sharky60]

Aldora

 

[cvchief]

I think Christi might have said in another thread she had some 100 that she owned. So she might well be able to provide 100 nitrox

 

[krbailey]

"It is my understanding that Meridiano, the biggest fill station on the Island, only offers Nitrox fills on AL80s, and only has Air fills on AL 100s."

I dove with Blue Angel all last week with AL 100cf nitrox tanks every day.

 

[cvchief]

I dove with Blue Angel all last week with AL 100cf nitrox tanks every day.

I assume those tanks belong to BA? Like Christi's 100 nitrox?