cardzard
Contributor
I felt this thread was needed to answer the Rumors and Innuendos about Dive Paradise and the ScubaBoard Cozumel Invasion. Since I am in charge of this event these are the facts.
We are returning to Dive Paradise and Hotel Cozumel because they did a AWESOME job with last years event. THEY TREATED US LIKE FAMILY, please post where a member who attended last years event said they did not have a blast. We had 95 people there last year without problems.
FACTS:
Does Dive Paradise advertise with ScubaBoard, absolutely. They have supported this board for many years. WAY BEFORE THE INVASION and anyone inferring this is a inside deal is way off base.
Invasion is a IN OR OUT deal, the whole idea is to allow ScubaBoard members from around the world to meet face to face and share a week of fun and diving.
(There is a private group Cocktail party and Dinner.)
NO you cannot book as a non diver and dive with another dive op.
NO you cannot book directly yourself, you must book thru Bay Adventures.
Yes I will exclude you from the event when I find out.
We gave away over 7 thousand dollars in prizes last year and I will not allow people doing their own thing to be included.
Diving facts
I have access to every boat in the Dive Paradise fleet and they will get me more if I need them. I have a commitment of 100% cooperation from Apple the owner and her staff.
Dive Paradise has large and small boats.
The boat votes where to go, there are NO EXCLUDED site except the very advance site but I can have smaller boats take members there.
Drivers are broken up into groups of 8, this the maximum allowed for each DiveMaster which is required to dive in the marine park. You will always dive in groups of 8 or less.
There was a maximum of 2 groups per boat (16 divers).
Divers are grouped according to their experience level. I make the list for the groups not the dive op.
Dive groups rotate boats so they get the chance to dive with other member. We try to allow as many members to dive together as possible.
This year your DiveMaster will rotate boats with your group.
First diver out of air everyone goes up is NOT their policy with our group, we go up when the DiveMaster says. All my dives last year were handled in this manner.
Only exception I can recall is on night dives for obvious reasons.
There are 2 rinse tanks and showers at the dock and gear lockers are right there also.
I am really not sure how much easier they could make it.
The time for boats leaving the dock is set by me.
If there is any other facts or question please do not hesitate to ask.
The official Invasion Package link for the Invasion is Stuck to the top of this section of the board.
The official thread can be found here http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/invade-cozumel-2012/396108-invasion-central.html
There are many folks that help to put an event this large together, so I do not do this by myself. However if you are looking for FACTS about what happens during the Invasion, I am the person to ask.
I also realize that others have their favorite dive op's in Cozumel which is great, please feel free to keep supporting them. I will however say that Dive Paradise is mine.
There is a reason they are the oldest and largest dive op in Cozumel.
We are returning to Dive Paradise and Hotel Cozumel because they did a AWESOME job with last years event. THEY TREATED US LIKE FAMILY, please post where a member who attended last years event said they did not have a blast. We had 95 people there last year without problems.
FACTS:
Does Dive Paradise advertise with ScubaBoard, absolutely. They have supported this board for many years. WAY BEFORE THE INVASION and anyone inferring this is a inside deal is way off base.
Invasion is a IN OR OUT deal, the whole idea is to allow ScubaBoard members from around the world to meet face to face and share a week of fun and diving.
(There is a private group Cocktail party and Dinner.)
NO you cannot book as a non diver and dive with another dive op.
NO you cannot book directly yourself, you must book thru Bay Adventures.
Yes I will exclude you from the event when I find out.
We gave away over 7 thousand dollars in prizes last year and I will not allow people doing their own thing to be included.
Diving facts
I have access to every boat in the Dive Paradise fleet and they will get me more if I need them. I have a commitment of 100% cooperation from Apple the owner and her staff.
Dive Paradise has large and small boats.
The boat votes where to go, there are NO EXCLUDED site except the very advance site but I can have smaller boats take members there.
Drivers are broken up into groups of 8, this the maximum allowed for each DiveMaster which is required to dive in the marine park. You will always dive in groups of 8 or less.
There was a maximum of 2 groups per boat (16 divers).
Divers are grouped according to their experience level. I make the list for the groups not the dive op.
Dive groups rotate boats so they get the chance to dive with other member. We try to allow as many members to dive together as possible.
This year your DiveMaster will rotate boats with your group.
First diver out of air everyone goes up is NOT their policy with our group, we go up when the DiveMaster says. All my dives last year were handled in this manner.
Only exception I can recall is on night dives for obvious reasons.
There are 2 rinse tanks and showers at the dock and gear lockers are right there also.
I am really not sure how much easier they could make it.
The time for boats leaving the dock is set by me.
If there is any other facts or question please do not hesitate to ask.
The official Invasion Package link for the Invasion is Stuck to the top of this section of the board.
The official thread can be found here http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/invade-cozumel-2012/396108-invasion-central.html
There are many folks that help to put an event this large together, so I do not do this by myself. However if you are looking for FACTS about what happens during the Invasion, I am the person to ask.
I also realize that others have their favorite dive op's in Cozumel which is great, please feel free to keep supporting them. I will however say that Dive Paradise is mine.
There is a reason they are the oldest and largest dive op in Cozumel.