Diving with More than One Operator

[Truckmanforlife]

Hello all, I am new to the board as a poster, but have been an avid reader of the board. My question is this. Is it better and/or necessary to make a reservation with one operator for a week of diving 7 days mostly A.M. dives or can you just float and try a couple or three during the week. My biggest concern is making the most of my vacation and checking out some other operations for a return trip. I will be in Coz from the 19th through the 27 of July. It seems that most think you cannot go wrong sticking with the rep. operations. I was thinking about Blue Angel and Liquid Blue, Dive XtC, and Living Underwater all rated high on the board. Is it reasonable to expect that if I don't reserve ahead of time that it will be difficult to get a couple of spots on a boat the night before on each day of diving. Also I will be there with my 15 year old son any recommendations for things to do after diving. He likes to skimboard so I was thinking of renting a car and visiting the East side beaches.

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[MMM]

HI there Truckman. I've dived with multiple operators during one trip but it's been when I've been there for a 2 or 3 week visit. I like to give each op about a week of business because it's enough time for each of us to get to know one another, and I think you are treated better than if you are just someone turning up the night before. I'm pretty unstructured on my holidays, but I'd worry that you won't necessarily get the dive ops you want if you leave it until the night before to make arrangements. I think at a minimum, I'd contact one op and say "I'd like to dive with you days 1-3" then contact another one and say "I'll dive with you day 5-9" or whatever. You can float but it's a bit riskier with the smaller ops that only have one boat as they may not be going out because they didn't have enough divers booked, or they are full (less risky with Blue Angel as they have several boats). And it might work for one day but not for multiple days. You won't get the full flavour if you only go out one day with the premium ops. My 2 cents worth.

Is it better and/or necessary to make a reservation with one operator for a week of diving 7 days mostly A.M. dives or can you just float and try a couple or three during the week. Is it reasonable to expect that if I don't reserve ahead of time that it will be difficult to get a couple of spots on a boat the night before on each day of diving.

 

[TheRedHead]

I was thinking about Blue Angel and Liquid Blue, Dive XtC, and Living Underwater all rated high on the board. Is it reasonable to expect that if I don't reserve ahead of time that it will be difficult to get a couple of spots on a boat the night before on each day of diving.

Yes, you would run a risk of not being able to dive with them. Both Liquid Blue and Living Underwater keep your gear and have it set up on the boat for you each morning. Frankly, I don't see why you don't pick one and dive with them.

 

[renpirate]

I often dive with more than one op when I go someplace new. I definitely agree if you are planning on a return trip that it is nice to see what different ops have to offer. However, you really should dive with each op about three times to get a good feel for how they run things.

As for after dive activity, defintely take your son to see the various ruins on the island. If the park is open again, you should visit there too. The shops downtown are fun, but for more extensive stuff take the ferry over to Playa Del Carmen.

 

[scubawife]

My last trip just a few weeks ago I was in Cozumel for 8 days and did 7 days of diving, including 2 night dives. I dived with Liquid Blue for 4 days and Living Underwater for 3 days. I agree with MMM in that you will have a better experience if you do multi, consecutive days with an operator. In 7 or 8 days, I personally would not try to dive with more then two. And since you are looking at the smaller, personalized operations, do book in advance. LB, LU and Blue XT Sea each have two boats but, it's 6-7 divers per boat and depending on the week, you may not get a spot if you just call them the night before.

I enjoyed diving with two shops. It gave me the chance to do a couple of my favorite sites with a different DM and see them a bit differently.

 

[ggunn]

The time of year you are going, the larger ops probably won't have trouble getting you aboard the next day, though the smaller popular ops (like Christi's) you pretty much have to reserve ahead no matter when you go. One thing to consider, though, is that most ops won't take you to the more advanced spots until they dive with you for a day or two no matter what it says on your cert card.

 

[Divedoggie]

This year we did all of our dives with Blue XT Sea. As long as I can make reservations in advance, I will always dive with Blue XT Sea.
In the past, I booked my vacations at the last minute, and Blue XT Sea could only get us in for a day here or there.
So we signed up at the last minute and dove with Deep Blue, DiveHouse, Paradise, and Blue Angel.
I preferred them in that order, with Deep Blue far in front of the others, but a little behind Blue XT Sea.
IMHO!

 

[driftin' by]

I think sticking with one all week definitely has it's advantages. Based on the amount of information available here and the one's you're considering you can't go wrong. I'd be willing to bet that after trying a few and seeing how good they are it wouldn't only make your decision in the future more difficult. For me, having to decided between one or the other would basically come down the their availability which might be your only constraint at this point. Most people find one op and stick with them... in Cozumel my op is Papa Hogs. I know Blue XT Sea, LU and LB all offer a bit more then PH but for me PH is just right.