Places in Cozumel for a newbie

[heliflyer]

No.
I will be back to Coz in August,can't wait.Let us know how things are down there when you get back.Have fun,you
guys will love it there!

 

[Hemlon]

I have had three dive trips in Cozumel and I have never felt cold without a wetsuit.

I guess there are certain advantages in having curves!

 

[brianandcat]

Just got back from coz last night. Water temp was @ 82. I wore a 3-2 full wet suit with hood I was doing four dives a day and I dont like to chance getting cold. But staying warm will make for a more comfortable dive and let you relax.

 

[Fredi]

You both will enjoy the unique Cozumel drift diving.Like riding on an escalator !Safe lots of air and energy!You need reasonably good buoyancy for the swim throughs,and avoiding messing up the corals...and yourself!.I like most divers use a 3mm full suit all year round in Coz..I never have a need for a hood.Gloves and knives not allow.Most people don't use hood but you may want to bring one just in case you need one.We all have different tolerance for water temperature.Bring lights,mirror,whistle ,underwater signal device(eg,tank banger),EMS scissors,& SMB .Practice deploying your SMB!Have a good check out dive either at the pool or shore prior to your first boat dive.Don't be shy about letting the DM know your skill levels.Stay close to your buddy.Avoid task loading like using camera for at least a few dives till you are comfortable.You both may want to do some shallow dives at Paradise or Columbia,before venturing out to the deeper sites.Cozumel is a great place for newbies......underwater and above....

 

[Mawg]

I have had three dive trips in Cozumel and I have never felt cold without a wetsuit.

I guess there are certain advantages in having curves!

I've logged well over a hundred dives in Cozumel and never used a wetsuit. At the time they are going, water temp is likely to be around 83 degrees or so. I used to just go down in a T Shirt and trunks but the Bermuda Chubs got to be such a pain, I now use a lycra skin. I know that women tend to get cold more easily, my wife does and she uses a 2 mm suit and that is PLENTY warm for her.

 

[jlyle]

Don't you have to have a certain amount of dives under your belt before you can take an advanced open water class?

Stacy

No, you can go directly to AOW from OW. I encourage all new divers to explore this possiblity. You can gain more experience under the supervision of an instructor as well as learn new stuff. The big advantage to doing the AOW class in Cozumel is the private instruction and personal attention on the dive boats - very cost effective.

Enjoy.

 

[ScubaTony]

Thermal protection is very different for everyone. In my experience in the summer months in Cozumel you would not need a wetsuit. Especially if you are from California. I was certified in California years ago and when I first got here I didn't where any wetsuit for the first 2 years. Then as I got to be local I started using a 3 mil shorty from Dec-May. Water temps now are 82 and rising and about 10% of my clients are using wetsuits here. It is true that women do tend to get colder but when the water is this warm (even for night dives) most are fine without.

 

[divingjd]

Thanks, the nice thing is we bought all of our equipment so that we could learn on it and not have to learn new rental stuff each time that we dive. The only thing we haven’t bought yet is the wetsuit and that’s because we can’t decide which to get. In Cozumel we shouldn’t really need a wet suit will we? Since it’s so warm? I have heard both ways. Most of our diving will be California cold water so we want to get a warm one. We are staying at Americana Dive resort and they use the dive house for their dives. Any good bad to share on those? Any recommendations?

I have stayed at the Fiesta Americana three times and been diving with Dive House five times. The Fiesta is a good place to stay and I think you will be happy with Dive House. They will not be taking you to any sites that are beyond your experience level. Dive House is a very good, safe operation. They have bigger boats than some of the other dive operations, but they have been limiting the number of divers to 8 or 10 and they have two divemasters in the water with the group, one leading and one following. Francisco is a very good divemaster. Dive with him if you can. Their standard two-tank morning dive takes you to a deeper site first, like one of the Palancar sites or Santa Rosa, and then a shallower site for the second dive. The first dive will be limited to 80 ft. The second dive could be anywhere from 30 ft. to 60 ft. There are not a lot of good shallow dives in Cozumel and I understand they got beat up pretty bad in the hurricane. I don't have good enough information on dive sites after the hurricane to give you very good information. PM me if you want any more info about Fiesta Americana and Dive House.

As you can see from the rest of the thread, people wear all kinds of exposure protection. My experience is that most divers in Cozumel wear a 3mm fullsuit. Some wear beanies or tropical hoods. I have a 1mm hood I use there, but we usually go in February when the water temp is only 78 F. The next most popular choice is the 3mm shorty, but I see it more on men and people renting gear. To me, the question is not what is the least exposure protection you can get away with (which is how I did it when I first started diving), but how much exposure protection I can wear without overheating. Getting chilly is just plain uncomfortable and staying warm can help to protect you from DCS. When I took my DiveCon (SSI equivalent of divemaster) class and learned more about DCS and the things that predispose a person to DCS, I changed my approach to exposure protection. I doubt that you would overheat in a 3mm fullsuit. In Coz you are doing a lot of drift diving, so you should not have to work hard diving. If you get warm, you can always pull the neck of the suit open and let in a little water to cool down. I would recommend a 3mm fullsuit for both of you, which is what I recommend for my students.

 

[Foo]

With all respect to Jlyle, I would never spend my precious vacation time on training classes... I would rather chill and do fun, low-stress diving. You can always train while at home.

Dive N Dolphin, my very first dive in Cozumel was a shore dive in Chankanaab park. I do understand that there was some damage there from Wilma, but it was a very easy introduction to ocean diving for me. Then, I was confident enough to do boat dives after that. If you're a little nervous, you might want to it that way first. There are plenty of dive ops in the park that will take you on a tour.

I also wear a skin during the summer months in the Carib. Wintertime, I prefer a 3mm. For Sept., you may want to take a skin and 3mm or vest for layering on the 3 or 4th dives. Good luck and have fun!

 

[nyprrthd]

There are certainly many opinions here on SB. We just did our AOW in Cozumel with Blue XT~Sea, and had a great time. To each his own.

Two days of fun diving, two days of AOW "lessons," one more day of fun diving. No worries. We were able to advance our skills, and enjoy our diving more than before. We can't wait to go back!