Cozumel Dive Ops - Five Star IDCs vs Forum Recommendations

[lowwall]

FWIW, the diving in Coz is better than Playa del Carmen once you get certified, but it doesn't really matter as far as getting your certification since you are mostly concentrating on your skills and managing yourself during the dive.

Also with e-learning, you literally save one day (maximum two if you are really having a tough time picking up the skills) doing a referral versus the full OW course. And you will save a lot of money doing the whole thing there.

 

[gopbroek]

I would suggest a medium to small size shop for both the certification and follow on dives. When I got certified I used the Akumal dive shop and then for the follow on diving for the next week I dove with my instructor or other instructor / DM's from the shop who proceeded to actual train me in diving as opposed to a PADI certification check list.
The diving quality on Cozumel is much better than the mainland but the concept is same. Get your PADI merit badge and then do a solid week of diving with folks you are already comfortable with. That's where the real training will occur.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

Hi all! My partner and I are currently planning a trip to the Yucatan Peninsula with the goal of getting our OW certification in Cozumel. I'm completely new to diving and a bit confused on picking a safe dive op that will ensure we learn everything we need to get a good foundation. Another consideration is that we're both students and so are looking for a fairly cost-effective option.

I would do your open water dives from Playa. There is less current and you will be so focused on the skills, so you notice much else. I highly recommend Nicolas fro CenoteXperience, he has a small family run dive shop in Playa. I have been diving with him since 2011. They do cenote dives, ocean dives and trip across to Cozumel. CenoteXperience - Cavern, Cave and Ocean Diving in Playa del Carmen Yucatan Mexico - Home

 

[cozcharlie]

I think this point has been almost beaten to death , but as background even two decades ago people used to joke that PADI stood for either “pay and dive immediately “ or “put another dollar in “. While PADI is still fine more or less , some shops have shifted to training via other agencies because PADI wound up being more of a competitor for dive travel than being just a training agency.

You are already headed this direction , but find a reputable shop with good word of mouth —then just go with whatever agency they recommend using for your certification

 

[peeweediver]

More two cents. I feel strongly (strongly may be too strong) that it is a good thing to do your e-learning and confined water at home for the simple reason that if you plan to continue diving you’ll want a relationship with a local dive shop. From equipment purchases to equipment serving to going on shop trips, having a relationship with a local shop really benefits your future diving.
Anyway, that’s just what I think. As a former instructor who did open water dives with folks on our shop trips, we could easily pick sites with little to no current as well as a shore dive site.
Whatever you choose, I hope you have a blast!!

 

[jonhall]

Based on recommendations on this forum and others, we will be getting our confined water training + classroom time done at home before Cozumel. However, in terms of picking a dive op for our referral dives, I'm a bit confused on how to select a good option.

I think it's a great idea to take the course at home from a local dive shop. I wouldn't worry too much about the agency - PADI, SSI, etc... - what you want or hope for is a good instructor. I enjoyed being able to take the class at my LDS over several weeks where I got to know the people from the dive shop.

Our plan was to do our diving in Playa del Carmen/Cozumel, since we'd heard very good things! Do you have any recommendations of smaller shops?

Since it sounds as if you're new to not just the diving, but the travel with diving, my suggestion would be to first decide where it is you are going to stay.

If you're staying in Playa del Carmen (or one of the other communities north or south of PDC), are you looking at a resort/hotel or something like VRBO? There may be a dive op at a resort/hotel or nearby that you can walk to - if not near the water, you may have to take a taxi unless you're planning on a car rental. Convenience may be the key to making the most of this trip. Dressel Divers is an op located at a few resorts in PDC (and Cozumel) that is mostly young/new instructors - the op picks up from some of the other resorts which is a plus, but you're on their time schedule. They also make a trip to Cozumel. The drawback is, unless they've changed, you need to book ahead online. Other ops will offer the same.

If staying in Cozumel, again where you stay may determine the dive op you use. Many resorts/hotels on the coast have onsite ops (doesn't mean you have to use it); other ops pick up at hotel piers; some ops will have you meet at a marina. There's no shortage of good dive ops in Cozumel and the majority offer referral dives. Once you know where you're staying, then SB members can give you better suggestions of ops that would be near you.

Here's my list of several ops in Cozumel that may be of interest to you as you plan:
Dive ops by jonhall

 

[lowwall]

More two cents. I feel strongly (strongly may be too strong) that it is a good thing to do your e-learning and confined water at home for the simple reason that if you plan to continue diving you’ll want a relationship with a local dive shop. From equipment purchases to equipment serving to going on shop trips, having a relationship with a local shop really benefits your future diving.
Anyway, that’s just what I think. As a former instructor who did open water dives with folks on our shop trips, we could easily pick sites with little to no current as well as a shore dive site.
Whatever you choose, I hope you have a blast!!

This depends entirely on what kind of diving you plan on doing. I got certified before e-learning and did my class and confined water dives with my closest dive shop here in Chicago before finishing on Cayman Brach. I did my first local dive 12 years later and I've never been back to that shop. They don't even do local diving except the occasional quarry trip for training.

If you do decide to get into local diving and there's a good ship that supports it, you can get to know them by taking AOW or a drysuit course.

 

[phylosopher]

First off, I want to thank everyone for being so helpful! Love this community already!! Also, apologies, should have provided a few more details:

you said you were staying in the yucatan? so i will assume you will be staying on the mainland? or perhaps you are planning on spending time on the mainland and on coz? how long will you be down there? this info might help us with recommendations.

Our current plan is to travel for 1 week and split our time diving and traveling the mainland. We expect to spend 3-4 days on Cozumel, and another 3 days traveling around the mainland (e.g. Merida, a cenote along the way, Akumal, etc.). Appreciate the

Also with e-learning, you literally save one day (maximum two if you are really having a tough time picking up the skills) doing a referral versus the full OW course. And you will save a lot of money doing the whole thing there.

Agreed, we recognize that we'll spend some time sitting in a classroom if we do the whole course there, but it does significantly cut down costs (almost in half base on our local dive shop) so I think that's what we'll end up doing!

You are already headed this direction , but find a reputable shop with good word of mouth —then just go with whatever agency they recommend using for your certification

Lot of ops are recommending SSI so if it doesn't make a difference for our future learning as divers, that's probably what we'll do!

If staying in Cozumel, again where you stay may determine the dive op you use.

Current plan is to find an Airbnb somewhere on the Island. Haven't looked more closely than that, will probably find non-resort accommodation near whichever dive shop we go with.

 

[jonhall]

will probably find non-resort accommodation near whichever dive shop we go with.

Don't forget to check the link I provided in previous post. There are a lot of ops on Cozumel that don't have a dive shop. They will meet you when you arrive on the island and provide what you need to know at that time. That's how I did it the first time I went to Coz.

 

[phylosopher]

Will do, thanks!