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Howdy! Welcome to SB. I think you'd get better answers if you put your location in your profile so it shows up on every post, then copy your post to a new thread on this, the Cozumel forum. Including the number of dives you have logged on your profile helps too.Hi all
First post, please be gentle ;-)
I suddenly scored a business trip to the US, a place I've never dived, being from the southern hemisphere. I want to fit in a week's diving somewhere in the region -- US, Central America or Caribbean. But not being a local, I don't know the options, I might as well be trying to decide where to dive on the moon. I need to learn fast as I have about 2 weeks left!
I've looked briefly at Cozumel, which is obviously popular, but that can have its downside. Without wanting to be rude, the mass of operators makes it sound a bit like a diver mill -- though it could just be a much bigger area than I imagine. Is the town very crowded? Are there often many boats on the dive sites? Coral all beaten up by novice's fins, or reefs "loved to death"? Again I don't want to offend anyone, but just asking because in in my region (Oceania), there are dive destinations with any or all of that -- though there are brilliant ones too. Some places have lax safety standards, or going the other way, are over-regulated (eg. 40 minute dives and immediate execution if you finish a dive with less than 150 bar). Locals just get to know what is what, but it's hard for outsiders. If Cozumel might be disappointing, I could go father afield eg. Belize, or somewhere else less well travelled -- though I do have a budget. I also have a drysuit for LA ;-)
Thanks for any feedback!
And of course what goes around comes around: if anyone wants any tips on diving Queensland or NSW, I'll help if I can ;-)
R