my family is booking a trip to Coz and staying at Hotel Cozumel. Needing some advise of which dive operation to use. Dive with Martin has been recommended and has good reviews but Dive Paradise is Hotel Cozumel's in house dive shop. The prices seem to be both responsible.
boomer68
January 25th, 2010, 01:37 PM
lespaulsf, there are many great dive operations in Cozumel. It kind of depends on what you are looking for. Valet Service? Reef Selection? Profiles? Fast/Slow Boat? Advanced Dives? etc. Many of the dive operations may offer pickup at Hotel Cozumel. I will defer to folks that have actually used the above mentioned dive ops in your post for opinions. Have a great trip.
Rand
January 25th, 2010, 03:23 PM
Just did my first trip to Cozumel back in October. We stayed at Hotel Cozumel and dived with Dive Paradise.
I liked Dive Paradise and would go with them again. Our boats had about 12-16 divers on them, but they split us into two groups and staggered our entries so we never felt crowded.
The DMs were great and you could choose to set up your own gear or have them do it. Underwater, they allowed the group to go at it's own pace, as much as the current would let us do that. One person on our boat on vacation by herself chose to higher a personal DM as a guide and she appeared happy with his services.
We did loose two days of diving out of our previously paid for week-long package due to winds, and, per Dive Paradise policy, we were given a coupon for those dives on a return trip. We would have preferred a cash refund, but it is clearly stated in their policy and I believe this is a pretty standard policy, and not just on Cozumel.
We found a taxi manager in town who told us about Dive Shop Mexico on the mainland and we ended up diving the cenotes one of the days we were blown out. Definitely recommended! You just take the ferry to Playa del Carmen and they pick you up and drive you to the cenotes. They even provided lunch. Great shop and awesome experience.
If you choose to go with an operation other than Dive Paradise, that is fine too, as we saw at least one other op pick up divers from the pier at Hotel Cozumel.
I don't want to deviate too much from your original question. I can't comment on Dive with Martin, but if you have any specific questions about Dive Paradise or Hotel Cozumel, ask here or feel free to PM me.
lespaulsf
January 25th, 2010, 04:11 PM
Hi Rand
what was the service like with Dive Paradise? Did you have your own gear or rent from them?
idocsteve
January 25th, 2010, 04:27 PM
I used Dive Paradise for a week, about 3 years ago during a group trip hosted by my local dive shop.
They were great and they hit all the main dive sites.
They're literally right across the street from Hotel Cozumel, you go under a tunnel under the road and there you are. Right next to the dive shop is a great restaurant that I think is affiliated with the hotel. Why go anywhere else that would require a long walk or cab ride?
BTravlin
January 25th, 2010, 04:36 PM
I stayed there and used Dive Paradise last year. They did a good job overall and I would use them again. One thing I would do is try to avoid their boat named Calypso as it is very slow. We had our own gear so no experience with their rental gear. Have not dived with DWM so can't help you there either.
Becca_007
January 25th, 2010, 04:47 PM
We went to Cozumel in April of 2009, stayed at Hotel Cozumel, and dove with Aqua Safari. 'We' was a group of 46 with probably 40 divers split between 2 boats. Had an excellent time and would definitely stay at Hotel Cozumel and use Aqua Safari again. This was the first dive trip we ever took so I don't really have anything to compare it to, but we were completely satisfied.
georoc01
January 25th, 2010, 05:16 PM
I've had very good experiences with Dive Paradise, and my LDS dives with them at least twice a year. They are a large dive operation and have quite a variety of dive options from fast boats, to slower bigger boats. They also offer an afternoon dive virtually every day I have been there.
I'd dive with them again..
sharky60
January 25th, 2010, 06:28 PM
Can't speak for Dive Paradise other than they have been around a long time.
I would highly recommend DWM, very good DM's and captains, one of my top 4 recommendations.
billindenver
January 25th, 2010, 09:56 PM
I've dove with martin, and everyday of the 45 days on coz last year we were in the dock while dive paradise loaded up....and I would go with Martin before climbing on q boat with that many divers on it. Don't get me wrong, the dive paradise guys are friendly and seem knowledgable and any dive in coz is going to be a good one.....but the level of service delivered with 4 people on the boat just has to be better than one with 16. Faster boats, smaller groups and great prices, free video.....whats not to like about DWM?
The good news is, you really can't make a bad choice. You will love it either way.
stortecky
January 25th, 2010, 10:24 PM
I would look around at some of the other dive operations. Divers paradise does that larger cattle boats. I perfer the small fast boats with 6 people in a group.
WE had an okay experience with Dive with Martin. First they limit your bottom time. You do not get to dive your tank always. I did complain and we were moved with an advance group but that they left after 5 days and we were back with beginners and coming up with 1000-1200psi in the tank. Not cool in my book. Also some days there were 12 divers on the boats and one dive master. It was just a mess underwater. And some of the divers in the group should have never been certified in my opinion. they were upside down, kicking the reef, and one was sitting on a coral head. The dive master could not help them all.
Most of the dive masters were great and really helpful. The 5 days we dove with the advance group was really great. we has small groups of 6-8. But the other 5 days of diving was not good at all. We did dive over Christmas break for almost 12 days. It was probably a busy time, but I should not have to suffer when they over book and do not have enough dive masters.
But with limited bottom times and large groups I would look at other places.
lespaulsf
January 26th, 2010, 11:34 AM
I've dove with martin, and everyday of the 45 days on coz last year we were in the dock while dive paradise loaded up....and I would go with Martin before climbing on q boat with that many divers on it. Don't get me wrong, the dive paradise guys are friendly and seem knowledgable and any dive in coz is going to be a good one.....but the level of service delivered with 4 people on the boat just has to be better than one with 16. Faster boats, smaller groups and great prices, free video.....whats not to like about DWM?
The good news is, you really can't make a bad choice. You will love it either way.
That is what I'm thinking. Since my wife and I are new divers with only 10-15 dives I think a smaller group would be better. More personal service. Thanks for the comments.
georoc01
January 26th, 2010, 12:14 PM
I would look around at some of the other dive operations. Divers paradise does that larger cattle boats. I perfer the small fast boats with 6 people in a group.
WE had an okay experience with Dive with Martin. First they limit your bottom time. You do not get to dive your tank always. I did complain and we were moved with an advance group but that they left after 5 days and we were back with beginners and coming up with 1000-1200psi in the tank. Not cool in my book. Also some days there were 12 divers on the boats and one dive master. It was just a mess underwater. And some of the divers in the group should have never been certified in my opinion. they were upside down, kicking the reef, and one was sitting on a coral head. The dive master could not help them all.
Most of the dive masters were great and really helpful. The 5 days we dove with the advance group was really great. we has small groups of 6-8. But the other 5 days of diving was not good at all. We did dive over Christmas break for almost 12 days. It was probably a busy time, but I should not have to suffer when they over book and do not have enough dive masters.
But with limited bottom times and large groups I would look at other places.
Did you check out the small fast boat option with Dive Paradise, or only check out the large slow boat option? They do offer both.
cvchief
January 26th, 2010, 12:47 PM
Not to muddy the water, I was looking for the small group personal attention dive op when we first came down. We picked Scuba with Alison Scuba Dive Cozumel | ScubaWithAlison (http://www.scubawithalison.com/) our first time down. Been back twice since with her. You dont go diving with Alison, she TAKES you diving. Very personal. I am a little scared to go diving in some other location, because I think we are spoiled. :thumb: And she is hilarious as well. (Disclaimer: There appears to be a ton of good ops on the island though.)
skeeoos
January 26th, 2010, 01:23 PM
I've been to Coz four years in a row and I've used DWM every time. They depart earlier than many ops, they are on time and most of the DMs are good. Basic service. As someone said, you don't always dive your gas limits, but that changes once they get to know you and your skill level. As Bill mentioned, you get a free DVD of some of your dives if you buy a longer dive package. I've been very pleased with them.
Fin59
January 26th, 2010, 02:08 PM
It's been a long time since we used Dive Paradise, but they put a lot of folks on their boats. They do offer small/fast boats, too, so if you use them you might try that.
Dive with Martin, we have used for years and have never been limited on our bottom time. Not sure what happened with stortecky's experience with them, maybe they limited everyone due to the cluster of newbies underwater? It does sound like the new divers had some training issues, but that isn't the shops problem...unless they trained them. We've been on the boat with new divers before, but nothing as hectic as that. Either way, I wouldn't want to miss any time underwater either and for sure would have let the shop know about it, too. Sorry stortecky didn't have a better time with them, but I do know that's not the way things typically go with DWM.
Our favorite dive master is Orlando. DWM picks us up at 7:30, takes us where we want, don't make us come up early and usually no more than 8 divers on the boat.
FYI.....the gear lockers are the hotel's property so you will have one whoever you decide to use. Dive Paradise will rent you a tank if you want to shore dive in front of the hotel, too, if you do decide to dive with someone else.
Have fun!
lespaulsf
January 26th, 2010, 05:47 PM
Not to muddy the water, I was looking for the small group personal attention dive op when we first came down. We picked Scuba with Alison Scuba Dive Cozumel | ScubaWithAlison (http://www.scubawithalison.com/) our first time down. Been back twice since with her. You dont go diving with Alison, she TAKES you diving. Very personal. I am a little scared to go diving in some other location, because I think we are spoiled. :thumb: And she is hilarious as well. (Disclaimer: There appears to be a ton of good ops on the island though.)
what was the price I don't see one on the website?
lespaulsf
January 26th, 2010, 05:50 PM
FYI.....the gear lockers are the hotel's property so you will have one whoever you decide to use. Dive Paradise will rent you a tank if you want to shore dive in front of the hotel, too, if you do decide to dive with someone else.
Have fun!
Thanks that great to know. I was wondering if we could do shore dives there or not if we chose someone else to do boat dives with.
billindenver
January 26th, 2010, 09:02 PM
Shore dives are easily done at Hotel Coz no matter who you dive with. Rent a tank from the guys at the pier for something like $5 and off you go. Ask the front desk in the hotel for a locker key when you check in....put the rented tank in there and do a night dive around SCC's pier (next door, north side). You can also have a taxi take you to the light house with your gear and do a drift down to Hotel Coz. For some real fun, do an afternoon drift from Hotel Coz down to Margaritaville just after dark. Climb out, get a marg or two and a monster size nachos plate....taxi home. Life is good....
cvchief
January 27th, 2010, 12:32 AM
what was the price I don't see one on the website?
If I recall correctly, it was $75 for two tank, and I mean the whole tank, with all the rental equipment. We only brought mask, fins and computer. Think I paid an extra 10 per tank of nitrox. Seriously I couldn't ask for anything more. Most we had was maybe 8? I think anytime there were six or so of us, she always had Orlando along as a second DM. He is a profession soccer player for Coz apparently.
December when we were there there was a two gals on the boat with us leaving the next day. The next day as we were getting on the boat, the gals and all their friends lined up on the beach and mooned the boat as a 'farewell 'till next time' gesture.:mooner: She inspires that kind of 'loyalty.' On the other hand when its dive time, she is seriously checking up to make sure everyone is good to go.
(As a side note if you buy your nephew a Mares Nemo Wide, just like his uncle's, on ebay band new without a box, check to see if some idiot removed the o-ring on the battery compartment, so he doesnt swim up on the first dive and point at the bubble on the inside and no display with a quizative look.)
cvchief
January 27th, 2010, 12:36 AM
Shore dives are easily done at Hotel Coz no matter who you dive with. Rent a tank from the guys at the pier for something like $5 and off you go. Ask the front desk in the hotel for a locker key when you check in....put the rented tank in there and do a night dive around SCC's pier (next door, north side). You can also have a taxi take you to the light house with your gear and do a drift down to Hotel Coz. For some real fun, do an afternoon drift from Hotel Coz down to Margaritaville just after dark. Climb out, get a marg or two and a monster size nachos plate....taxi home. Life is good....
Man that sounds to cool. Im still feeling a little newbie-ish to run off and do that by myself I think. :depressed:
billindenver
January 27th, 2010, 01:26 AM
Man that sounds to cool. Im still feeling a little newbie-ish to run off and do that by myself I think. :depressed:
Come down end of March and we'll both do it. First round is on me.... :)
Rand
January 27th, 2010, 03:17 AM
Hi Rand
what was the service like with Dive Paradise? Did you have your own gear or rent from them?
Everyone in our LDS's group had their own gear. The service was great. I had a couple tanks that had awful o-rings on them and they were very quick to take care of it. Even though all of our group was fairly experienced (mostly Rescue, DMs, and Instructors) they still had a lead DM and a trail DM to make sure everyone went down and came up together on the drifts. I did not feel like I was being babysitted or hassled at all by this. They were there because that is their policy and totally left us to our own diving, but were there in the unlikely event we needed them. They gladly loaded and unloaded our gear bags before/after each trip.
One thing I would suggest is tipping daily. We tipped at the end of the week. We had some crew members only do part of the week with us and would have preferred to make sure everyone got their share for helping us.
I'm not sure if our group leader got some sort of special treatment from Dive Paradise, but we were able to pick which boats we wanted to be on (based on speed/configuration). These were not special trip or fast boats. Just the one's that are included in the regular price. It wouldn't hurt to ask to be on the same boat again if you find one you like more than another.
You can also book special trips out to the farther sites and/or on fast boats. FYI, the fast boats don't have heads, but the trip is faster, so you might not need to use them.
I'm not sure if all dive packages at Hotel Cozumel/Dive Paradise include it, but ours included a free welcome shore dive tank. They do it so you can check any gear/weighting prior to your first boat dives the next morning. Pretty smart if you ask me. The shore dive is fairly blah during the day, but we did several night dives there and they were great, lots of life. Just jump in, hang a left towards the lighthouse and drift or fin back with the very slight current when you turn around.
One other thing on the gear lockers. Each room gets one, but the resort was nowhere near capacity and we asked for a second one at the front desk and they just had us sign for it, no extra charge. You can cram two people's gear in one locker, but it was so much better each having our own.
d_lafleur
January 31st, 2010, 11:16 PM
Come down end of March and we'll both do it. First round is on me.... :)
What does the exit point at Margaritaville look like? I will be at Hot Coz and havent done the Margaritaville shore dive, past due. :) Is there a place to hang your gear? I could have the non diving wife meet me there with the car and towels.
Looks like a 3/4 mile trip from Hotel Coz.
UnderwaterBumbleBee
February 1st, 2010, 03:07 AM
We stayed at Hotel Cozumel in December for the second time and booked with Dive Paradise for our second time. This last trip, there was a large group trip so we were on different boats often. They have quite a few boats (including a fast boat for more $$$). Some trips we weren't that full because they had so many boats running. We always had two DM's in the water and they split into groups and always try to take you in opposite directions. We were partial to a few DM's, some of them seemed like they were just "present" on the dive and nothing more. Our absolute favorite DM with Dive Paradise is Gregorio and in my opinion is their best and has worked for them for like 16 years! We met him on our first trip and this guys LOVES his job, loves diving, is incredibly hard working and will make the effort to point out as much as he can on his dives. For that reason alone, I would book with them again and again and always request to be on his boat! For the most part their prices are decent. You can shore dive right there and since their handicap renovations you now have about 3-4 entries into the water. It's a pretty shallow dive but it was pretty good at night, lots of interesting things out there. Love how close they are to town. Cheap cab ride or an easy walk.
fishin42
February 1st, 2010, 09:07 AM
Very nics pics BBee. Love the beautiful octos and squid too. It didn't look like there was much to see on the wreck in Coz. One of the few dives I haven't done there.
durandal
February 1st, 2010, 04:15 PM
I just got back from a trip to Cozumel, we stayed at the "Coral Reef Inn" and did all our diving with Dive Paradise. The staff and DMs were great, I would recommend.
cvchief
February 1st, 2010, 07:54 PM
Awesome photos, Bumblebee. What kinda camera set up do you have? Expensive? I have a canon point and shoot in a waterproof housing. Think I need more light, but I *not* a photo guy, I'd just like to have more color and less blue.
billindenver
February 1st, 2010, 08:51 PM
cvchief, do you white balance often? I use a canon point and shoot without a flash and get fairly decent color in cozumel as long as I manually white balance alot.
Bill,
Not the camera guy. All I have done was put it in underwater mode. Yours look way less blue than mine. Like this:
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/147142
**Ok so I don't know how to post pics. I put them in scubaboard gallery and copied the pic link here with the insert picture thing.
diveprof
February 1st, 2010, 09:38 PM
Both are good ops. For experienced divers, I like DWM, Fast boats, small groups, though not a lot of hand holding. Dive Paradise might cater a little better to newer divers (depends on the DM, DWM DM let us do our own thing while he provided 1:2 attention to newer divers). Dive Para boats are larger, slower - but the journey is the experience as much as the dive with them.
UnderwaterBumbleBee
February 2nd, 2010, 03:58 AM
Awesome photos, Bumblebee. What kinda camera set up do you have? Expensive? I have a canon point and shoot in a waterproof housing. Think I need more light, but I *not* a photo guy, I'd just like to have more color and less blue.
Thanks, I was very frustrated with my Curacao shots in November since I just got a new camera & strobe upgrade. I didn't have much time to set it up or read the manual before that trip and my shots were terrible. I used to have a Sea&Sea DX8000G point and shoot digital with the YS-27DX strobe (maybe about $1500 new, I have a used one to sell now actually :D) . It was a great first underwater digital camera. Now I have the Sea&Sea DX-2G with the YS-100a strobe (with built-in focus lite which I LOVE). Still a point and shoot but it has a lot more settings on it, more auto focus points... It also has an underwater shooting mode which doesn't seem to get very good shots compared to the settings I've been using. I just got my first DSLR but I'm only using it on land for now. Working my way up to a DSLR eventually but the P&S is enough of a flooding headache.
There wasn't a ton to see on that "wreck" but it was the first I'd even heard of it. We saw a small lion fish hiding inside, a nice crab. The highlight was when an eel slithered through a cracked pipe at the base of a door I was about to swim through.
billindenver
February 2nd, 2010, 11:32 AM
CV,
My camera is an SD850 as well, and it's in the canon housing. I do all my shooting in Manual Mode (M on the dial). I set it up so that the printer button on the back is a white balance button (its a setting in the menu - put camera on M mode, hit menu button..at bottom of first menu). Every so often I point the camera at my white pencil board and push the print button. It resets the white balance for those lighting conditions. I also shoot at 80 ISO setting which helps reduce noise, but you have to be as steady as possible when you take the shot (Camera in M mode, ISO is set with top of the four way rocker). I leave the flash turned off on all shots. If it's too dark to take a shot, that tiny little flash isn't going to get it done anyway and proper white balancing helps a lot and does away with the dreaded blue or green pics.
If you want to get more complex, this camera will shoot in RAW mode if you install the CHDK hack - CHDK Hack (http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK). RAW is a 10meg picture though, so you would need a large (ish) SD card if you don't want to download every day. RAW also takes longer to write each picture to the card, but being a much more detailed file....you can do a lot more manipulating it in photoshop. For instance, you can change the white balance on your computer screen and correct the shot if say you dropped 15 feet and forgot to white balance again. Remember the water filters out light in ranges, so each time you change depth you should white balance again.
Once you are used to doing so, you can white balance in about one second. I have my white board (one of those plastic ones you write on) hanging from a D ring at the bottom left of my BCD. When I see a picture I want to take, I roll on my right side so that the white board is not shadowed by my body..grab the board in my left hand and put the camera up so that the white fills the screen and push the button. The camera is then good to go and I get decent colors in the shot. The colors would be better if I had $1000 in Flashes hanging off both sides...but then it just isn't that important to me.
Bill,
Not the camera guy. All I have done was put it in underwater mode. Yours look way less blue than mine. Like this:
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/147142
**Ok so I don't know how to post pics. I put them in scubaboard gallery and copied the pic link here with the insert picture thing.
cvchief
February 4th, 2010, 08:40 AM
:happywave:Bill,
Thanks for the 'schooling' So you just hold the board a infront of it and do this white balance thing? I am just going to have to get serious about scheduling a dose of Coz so I can check this out.
billindenver
February 4th, 2010, 10:21 AM
CV, yes sir...just hold the board so that it fills the screen and press the white balance button. It really helps with the blue/green screen photo thing. There is a photo section of scubaboard that you can check out, and those photo buffs have forgotten more about underwater photography than I ever intend to know. They start talking about F-stops etc and my eyes glaze over....but I can make my point and shoot take decent pics. :)
d_lafleur
February 4th, 2010, 11:36 AM
For some real fun, do an afternoon drift from Hotel Coz down to Margaritaville just after dark. Climb out, get a marg or two and a monster size nachos plate....taxi home. Life is good....
I hate rehashing things, I have been enjoying the photog chat. However I do need to know if there is something significant at Margaritaville to mark the exit point.
My underwater odometer isnt as accurate as my compass. I would hate to have to snorkel my way back, if I missed the exit. By then the Drinks will be warm and chips soft. :)
Thanks again.
cvchief
February 4th, 2010, 03:11 PM
Thanks, Bill. To continue the off topic discussion,:offtopic: do you have a link to the instruction for posting photos here? I loaded stuff in photo galley on SB, then loaded the link using the image insert here. Didnt work though.
idocsteve
February 4th, 2010, 03:29 PM
My underwater odometer isnt as accurate as my compass. I would hate to have to snorkel my way back, if I missed the exit. By then the Drinks will be warm and chips soft. :)
Thanks again.
You can exit just about anywhere. The road runs parallel to the shore in that area.
d_lafleur
February 4th, 2010, 05:45 PM
You can exit just about anywhere. The road runs parallel to the shore in that area.
Ok, so there isnt a place to get out, temporarily store gear etc. at Margaritaville.
I have walked that section mucho, I just havent drifted the shore there.
Down in Roatan, I have been known to shore dive from one resort to the other, leave my gear in a corner on the dock, do a little visiting and night dive back. Shallow water dives let me do two dives on the same tank. I just have to flex the gills a bit. :)
billindenver
February 4th, 2010, 05:56 PM
There is a dock/exit point at Margarittaville as I recall. There is also one next door at no name bar. Neither have rinse tanks or hang areas or anything that I know of, but the dock at Margaritaville has tables and chairs so you can set your gear next to you.
As for how to tell you are there from underwater....I can't help you there other than surface and take a look around. It's pretty shallow the whole way, so not much of a sawtooth profile.
d_lafleur
February 4th, 2010, 07:14 PM
:wave:
There is a dock/exit point at Margarittaville as I recall. There is also one next door at no name bar. Neither have rinse tanks or hang areas or anything that I know of, but the dock at Margaritaville has tables and chairs so you can set your gear next to you.
As for how to tell you are there from underwater....I can't help you there other than surface and take a look around. It's pretty shallow the whole way, so not much of a sawtooth profile.:wave:
Thats what I needed, I am going to scout the surface a bit before i make the trip. :)
scox
February 5th, 2010, 09:07 PM
First time at Coz last year and we dove with Xtabay divers. Dario was our DM and I can't say enough good about him without seeming to "cheerlead". Small boat....6 to 8 divers max. Once he determines your abilities, let's you do your thing as long as you stay in sight and follow the profile.
But...... as we found out quickly, if you ignore him and his profile he sets, you are not welcome on a return visit to his boat. We had one rogue on board that thought he could do whatever he wanted, and he was set straight as soon as we got back on the boat after the first dive.
