Where to buy gear in Cozumel?

[John Mathieson]

I see lots on the boards about who to dive with and where in Cozumel - but not much on places to buy dive gear - are there some good reasonably priced shops? Might look for a tropical 1mm or so exposure suit, maybe a new mask, and my 3 diving kids might get something from Santa - (going on Friday for 2 weeks over Xmas).

Thanks in advance:mean:

 

[scorpionfish]

Hi, John!

My experience on Coz is as follows:

(1) It is an island and it the cost of transportation is reflected in the prices of goods;

(2) They know who their customers are (Americans, mostly) and price their goods accordingly;

(3) Most scuba items are not made in Mexico and, so, you do not get any benefit from lower Mexican labor costs.

I.e., there are no SCUBA EQUIPMENT bargains on Coz!

Although Doc Vikingo may know of a cool bargain basement somewhere in the Chedraui store???

Scorpionfish

 

[Dee]

You won't find any deals in Coz. Some of the larger dive shops are finally getting a decent selection of gear but you will not find a bargain for all the reasons already stated.

There are some nice local artisens who have some great merchandise that would make good Christmas gifts for your kids! Why go to Mexico only to buy something you could have gotten at home?

 

[John Mathieson]

Thanks for the replies.

I do buy most of my stuff at my LDS or on the web from DiveInn. But, some stuff like tropical suits, aren't in the greatest supply where I live (drysuits or Michelin man wetsuits here), and are hard to try on over the web.

Dee - good question about the kids - the reason is that 2 of them will be doing their open water checkout dives there, and will be really enthusiastic.

We were recently in Curacao, and of course similar factors applied - the dive shops were fairly small, and prices were not great.

But, I wondered if the much larger volume of divers on Cozumel might allow a bigger shop to survive. I also know that there is a huge range of price/quality at LDS and wondered if anyone on the board had any experiences with retail shops on the island. I'm not expecting any bargains, but more interested in a good variety of stuff, especially tropical suits.

We have been to Playa del Carmen before, and really love the small town market atmosphere - can't wait!!

By the way - I thought I might pass on how we booked our trip - I had priced it out in August / September and actually given up - the prices over Xmas were ridiculous for a family of 6. But just this week I looked on www.travellastminute.ca - and the same resorts were less than one half or even one third of their original prices - stunning, really - couldn't refuse - so we are off to the new Occidental Grand. There are lots of last minute travel websites around (this one is for Canadians) and I guess there is a lot of unsold inventory that is really cheap if you can go on 4 days notice, as we are.

Thanks again

 

[John Mathieson]

Just a reply to Dee about local artisans and stuff to buy - on most of our family trips we find ourselves shopping for cheap luggage on the last day, just to be able to pack in all the stuff we have bought. We have some great "almost genuine" Nike and Addidas bags we bought in markets for a few $$ - one has the Nike logo stamped all over it about 25 times - looks really funny - and it is actually a pretty good bag!! Will probably be doing the same again. (I really like the carved little animals from Oaxaca)

Ciao

 

[CuriousMe]

John Mathieson once bubbled...
<snip>

We were recently in Curacao, and of course similar factors applied - the dive shops were fairly small, and prices were not great.

But, I wondered if the much larger volume of divers on Cozumel might allow a bigger shop to survive. I also know that there is a huge range of price/quality at LDS and wondered if anyone on the board had any experiences with retail shops on the island. I'm not expecting any bargains, but more interested in a good variety of stuff, especially tropical suits. <snip>

Truly, I think that selection is worse on Coz than in Curacao. The only places I found that they have some kind of selection is back off the main street....there are two dive shops kitty corner to each other, one is Michelles and I've forgotten the other one's name. Prima Pasta is also right at that intersection....the taxi drivers should know how to get you there.

I bought a mask at the shop I can't remember their name. They had quite a few masks to choose from, but I already knew which one I wanted when I walked in....so I didn't have to try a bunch on.

Peace,
Cathie

Have a great time!

Peace,
Cathie

 

[Dee]

Michelle's shop is a decent selection of lightweight skins and suits. You might also try Blue Bubble, I *think* they are the other shop with merchandise.

What is confusing in Coz is not all dive shops fit the description! Michelle's and Blue Bubble are more what we Americans expect. They have a wide range of inventory from basic fins, mask and snorkels to clothing to wetsuits, etc. But most of the 'dive shops' are simply an address with a small office where you go in and arrange for diving. They usually have some rental gear in the back and maybe a few T-shirts for sale but their main focus is the diving.

My comment about the kids wasn't about them getting certified there...I did my checkouts there, too! I was talking about buying them something for Christmas. It sounded like you wanted to buy them something from a dive shop. Like someone else mentioned, the prices in Coz are usually kind of high because of the shipping costs to get the merchandise is higher to the island.