Good dive ops in Cozumel

[boulderjohn]

Well... Yeah... It's actually a long and rather funny story. It turns out that one of the dive leaders got down to depth and realized that he had to crap, so he surfaced and the boat took him to shore. Then the boat came back and dropped him off with his team. Meanwhile, being the airhog that I was, as a n00b diver, I had surfaced to find that there was no boat. I bobbed around for about a half hour, and another boat came by and circled me, after radioing my boat to come get me. (And they had been on their way to do just that, apparently.) Seriously, they were a fun and good outfit to dive with, but for that one incident.

Sure, only one incident, but it is a doozy that indicates a real procedural problem.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

It probably wasn't funny at the time, but I have to admit, I laughed out loud when I read that.

Well, after surfacing and yelling some choice expletives, I took stock of the situation. The current was carrying me towards a buoy, and failing that, towards the cruise ships and piers. I was also less than a mile from shore, so it really was no problem. A little disconcerting, though. LOL

 

[ggunn]

Ggunn,

Not to sound too offended, but I have already been through the full Cozumel sub-forum, and did not find what I was looking for...

Have you read the three page thread "Cozumel Dive operator", on p6 of the forum?

But my bad, I thought the forum was better archived than it is. I'd have thought that searching "dive op" in this forum (sub-forum) would have turned up hundreds of entries. It's a very common and talked to death topic in here.

 

[boulderjohn]

Well, after surfacing and yelling some choice expletives, I took stock of the situation. The current was carrying me towards a buoy, and failing that, towards the cruise ships and piers. I was also less than a mile from shore, so it really was no problem. A little disconcerting, though. LOL

In Cozumel, there is a reason that DM's are required to lead dives. One of them is the fact that the currents can be treacherous and unpredicatable.

Two people from the place I used to work somehow got in a current that pulled them away from their DM. At least that's the theory. Since they were never seen again, no one can be sure.

I have a friend who was part of a group that got caught in a sudden vortex that threw everyone down to nearly 100' and then violently up to the surface. The DM took everyone to the chamber immediately.

 

[ch0ppersrule]

We did our dives with Dive Palancar and ScubaTony. Do not recommend DP, don't know if they do pick ups in town anyways since they won't take you certain places to dive since they are too far north. Highly recommend ScubaTony who also can recommend other dive operators on the mainland (playa and cancun). You get max bottom time and he likes small groups. We had 6 divers and he was fine with that. He uses only 6 pk boats also (he did just purchase one, otherwise he hired them). On our night dive there were just 4 of us. He is really awesome!!

Melissa

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

In Cozumel, there is a reason that DM's are required to lead dives. One of them is the fact that the currents can be treacherous and unpredicatable.

Two people from the place I used to work somehow got in a current that pulled them away from their DM. At least that's the theory. Since they were never seen again, no one can be sure.

I have a friend who was part of a group that got caught in a sudden vortex that threw everyone down to nearly 100' and then violently up to the surface. The DM took everyone to the chamber immediately.

Whoa.. Terrifying!

 

[divematt]

I also agree with GGUNN. If you'll search a bit harder, you'll see that this is the single most common request. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of opinions on dive operators here. However, I've been there so I'll throw out a few names for you. But before I do, I'll have to also agree with Wristshot as "blue" in the name usually means "good dive operator". They have a reputation to keep up!!! Last year I dove with Blue XTSea, Deep Blue, and Liquid Blue. I would recommend all of them. Dive With Martin is another of my favorites. The description of the kind of diving that you want would help us out greatly to narrow it down to a couple of choices. Consider how strongly you feel about these considerations when looking for an operator.

Inexpensive ($50-$60) vs. more expensive ($65-$90)
small fast boat vs. large slow boat (small=6-8 divers)
regular aluminum 80's vs. steel 100's or 120's (tanks)
beginner oriented (cater to cruise ships) vs. intermediate to advanced divers
long bottom times (55 to 90 minutes) vs. short bottom times (35-50 minutes)
dive op.s that group experience levels together vs. pack 'em all on together.
Dive op.s that let you dive your computer vs. those that make you all come up together.
Dive op.s that have pre-planned dive sites vs. those that decide by divers requests.

You see, there's a lot to consider when choosing a dive op for those that do have a preference.

Matt

 

[ggunn]

A problem that you'll run into is that there is not a single one of the many, many dive ops on Cozumel that won't draw a recommendation from someone. There's a lot of cheerleading, as well as different strokes for different folks. What are you looking for? What's a good op for me may not be the one for you.

Some things to consider:
Do you prefer a small boat (6-8 divers) or a large one?
Are you looking for a cheap deal?
Do you want the op to keep and clean your gear?
Do you need to rent gear?
Do you want to be hand-held?
Do you want to be left alone ?
Do you feel a need to be on the first boat out?
Do you want to sleep in?
Do you want to be served food between dives?
Do you care if there are novices aboard?
Are you a novice?

The answers to these and other questions will narrow your search down. Most (maybe all) of the ops on Cozumel are very good at delivering their particular experience, but there is quite a variety to choose from.

 

[Cacia]

Abitten, We called "Dive with Martin" last minute because our op was not going to pick us up on the dock at our hotel. The service was small and very personal, 6 to a boat. service was fantastic. Our DM was David, a really cool Mexican guy that did not treat us like "tourists".

 

[halocline]

There are many, many small high quality dive ops on Cozumel. Just look for one that uses small boats and will tailor the dive to the divers. Ggunn is also correct, you can't spend more than a few minutes on this forum without tripping over a "dive shop recommendation" thread. Keep searching, believe me, you'll find lots. The dive op I use is Bluebubble Divers, AKA Roberta's Eco-Dive cozumel. I think they're terrific, but as has been said, lots of people recommend the one they use. Rarely do you get a bad review of a small dive op; this should tell you they're mostly pretty good. The larger ops that cater to the big resorts get more mixed reviews.

BTW, while you're at playa, you might try to get a cenote dive in. They're a little pricey, I paid $110 for a 2 tank cenote dive, but it's really quite an experience and I don't regret spending the money.